‘Success through Innovation, Determination and Courage’
Tongariro School supports building character through cornerstone values, principles that are consistent, universal and trans-cultural which inform and direct our behaviour and attitudes.
Corner stone values build character which in turn produces behaviour that benefits the individual, and those in our community.
They are the essence of healthy relationships and build a sense of community and reproduce themselves when they are practised.
The eight cornerstone values are:
While parents are the first and foremost teachers of values and the ones best able to convey cornerstone values, the school too, has an important role to play. Homes are undoubtedly the primary place where values are taught and observed. In a school, the most effective way of teaching cornerstone values is through habit, principle, and example; and because values are communicated through relationships, ‘quiet examples’ are the most powerful of the three.
Unlike character education, values education is more concerned with the quality of students’ thinking. By developing character our belief is to help children grow into young adults who in turn become good people and good citizens.
The following principles serve as criteria that our school can use to plan character education programmes: