OUR APPROACH
At MAC, we recognise that every student has unique needs and learning styles. Our learning approach focuses on differentiated teaching and learning so every student can fulfil their potential and achieve success, whatever that looks like for them. We see the wellbeing of our students as a foundation for their engagement in their learning. Our teachers promote trusting relationships with their students and support and guide them on their education journey.
Learning habits
We create conditions for learning that equip our students with the learning habits they need to thrive in an unpredictable and ever-changing world.
Citizenship
Creativity
Critical thinking
Communication
Character
Collaboration
Leaver profile
We want every MAC graduate to leave our school equipped with the skills and self-knowledge they need to contribute to the common good and flourish in a complex world.
Mastery
Attitude
Citizenship
Junior years
To support the smooth transition of students into secondary school, our Year 7 and 8 students are taught mainly in a ‘homeroom’ situation where one teacher delivers the learning areas of Mathematics, English, Science and Social Sciences. Students also try a range of other subjects including Visual Art, Drama, Music, Computing and Electronics, Materials Technology, Spatial and Product Design, Spanish, Te Reo Māori, Food and Nutrition, and Physical Education and Health and Food and Nutrition. In Year 9, student integration continues with some cross-curricular delivery of subjects, and in Year 10, students can select a number of subjects based on their interests and future study and employment goals.
Senior years
In Years 11, 12 and 13, our students focus on NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3 as they prepare for their future study and/or career paths. We also offer vocational education and training courses that give our students access to a range of pathways offering practical skills and training to prepare them for employment or tertiary study. Students can also do correspondence courses to widen their subject choices and students who are developmentally ready can access tertiary-level courses. Students who are scholarship candidates are supported within the college by their teachers and deans.
NCEA achievement
Our school’s results are consistently well above the national average. In 2022:
At NCEA Level 1, 87.4 percent of MAC students passed, compared with 69.1 percent for decile 8-10 schools. Nationally, 63 percent of students passed NCEA Level 1.
For NCEA Level 2, 86.8 percent of MAC students passed, ahead of the 81.5 percent average for decile 8-10 schools and well above the national average of 74 percent.
At NCEA Level 3, 87.6 percent of MAC students passed. This compares with 76.9 percent for decile 8-10 schools and a national average of 67 percent.
- MAC students also performed strongly in gaining university entrance with 73.1 percent of students achieving the pass rate compared with a 64.7 percent average for decile 8-10 schools, and a national average of 47 percent.
