Criteria for the Award of the Cornerstone Values Logo
Introduction
On application a school board of trustees may be awarded the use of the Cornerstone Values Logo. The logo will communicate to parents and the community a school’s commitment to the development of character through the teaching of cornerstone values.
The Cornerstone Values Logo symbolizes a commitment to the development of character through teaching, enforcing, advocating and modelling cornerstone values.
A school board of trustees may apply to be awarded use of the Cornerstone Values Logo at any time, during the process of implementing the Cornerstone Values approach to character education.
Use of the Cornerstone Values Logo will be awarded for a maximum period of three years or earlier if there is a change of school principal or board of trustee policy on character education.
The New Zealand Foundation for Character Education will publish an annual list of schools that have been awarded use of the Cornerstone Values Logo.
Criteria for the Award of the Cornerstone Values Logo
The school principal must:
- Demonstrate, through leadership and active participation, a commitment to the development of character through the teaching of cornerstone values
- Practice principle-centred leadership
- Effectively communicate the school’s aspirations to foster the development of character
- Ensure that there is ongoing staff training in values education and teacher effectiveness feed back
- Ensure that parents are informed about the school’s goals and teaching methods for values education
The board of trustees must:
- Demonstrate through policy and practice, a commitment to the development of character through teaching cornerstone values
- Demonstrate that the school’s approach is comprehensive and not confined to specific times, curriculum areas or aspects of school life
- Demonstrate that other policies, teaching practice and resources reinforce Cornerstone Values objectives
- Make annual budget provision for appropriate and adequate character education teaching resources and staff development
- Demonstrate involvement in the leadership process that guides the on going planning and implementation of the Cornerstone Values approach to character education
Together the board of trustees and principal must:
- Demonstrate that all school staff, including teachers and support staff, share responsibility for the implementation, and expected outcomes of the Cornerstone Values approach to character education
- Demonstrate that regular and adequate time is made available for staff planning and evaluation of values education
- Explicitly affirm that parents are the first and most important teachers of character to their children
- Include parents in the leadership process that guides the on going planning and implementation of the school’s values education
- Demonstrate that through appropriate and adequate consultation the school and the parent community have identified the core values which the school will promote
- Demonstrate an effective strategy to communicate to parents the current focus of the teaching of objective values
- Demonstrate that parents are involved in the life and work of the school
- Have parents identify the character traits that should be fostered by the school
- Ensure that cornerstone values and character are comprehensively conceived to include understanding, caring about and acting upon core ethical values
- Intentionally help students acquire a developmentally appropriate understanding of what cornerstone values mean in everyday behaviour and grasp the reasons why some behaviour is right and other behaviour wrong
- Ensure that the school’s approach to value education is intentional, proactive and comprehensive
- Demonstrate that the school is a caring community
- Provide students with opportunities for community service
- Demonstrate that its academic curriculum challenges all students to do their personal best, support personal responsibility, a strong work ethic, and the development of such qualities of character as: self-discipline, diligence, perseverance, and concern for excellence
- Demonstrate that its approach to classroom and school discipline is centred on developing the student’s commitment to doing what is right, following legitimate rules and respecting the rights of others. That logical consequences for wrong doing are administered in such a way as to strengthen a student’s inner character resources such as moral reasoning, self-control, and provide strategies for responsible behaviour in the future. That students are taught to take initiatives to make active restitution when they do something wrong
- Demonstrate that there is going assessment of the effectiveness of values education
- Document hard data to show that there have been improvements in student behaviour since the implementation of the Cornerstone Values approach to character education
- Include assessment of student character or character-related behaviours as part of the school’s written reports to parents
If awarded the Cornerstone Values Logo the board of trustees shall undertake to:
- Sign a formal agreement with the New Zealand Foundation for Character Education Inc
- Continue to apply the criteria for the award of the Cornerstone Values Logo
- Provide the New Zealand Foundation for Character Education with a written report on the application of the criteria within one month of the school board of trustees’ annual meeting
- Permit representatives of the New Zealand Foundation for Character Education on reasonable notice to visit the school and review the implementation of the criteria
- Allow the New Zealand Foundation for Character Education to share relevant information about the school in the promotion of the Cornerstone Values approach to character education
- Advice the New Zealand Foundation for Character Education of any situation that may bring the Cornerstone Values Logo into disrepute
This document is also available from here (14KB / PDF format)
