The college has 822 boys in years 7-13, reflecting the diversity of West Auckland. The school aims to educate, inspire and empower young men. And now, even more Liston students are achieving their best.
With the help of the Your West Support Fund, Liston College has purchased online learning programs to support numeracy and literacy in 2022.
The school already has a mentoring programme for junior students in years 7-10 who are behind in maths and numeracy. The Tuakana-Teina initiative sees senior students partner and support their junior peers. Sam Knowles, Head of Mathematics, explains more: ‘Some of these students were significantly behind in their maths learning. This had worsened over the last few years with lockdowns and missed school time due to Covid,’ he says.
Liston College has invested in the online learning program Education Perfect for the current school year so students can practise and develop their numeracy skills at home. And already, it has had a significant impact. According to Sam, there’s been a big improvement for students in the Tuakana-Teina Numeracy Programme. ‘For example,’ says Sam, ‘last term, one student passed his first maths test ever at high school, an achievement he’s very proud of.’
The college has also used the funding from the Your West Support Fund to purchase licences for the online Lexia literacy program. The aim is to add value to the reading skills of the weakest 15 percent of junior boys. According to Patrick Houlahan, Head of English, the great beauty of Lexia is that students can self-access the program anytime and anywhere. ‘They can also pick and choose which strand to work on and do a small or large amount depending on how much time they have that day,’ Patrick explains.
The Lexia program is a vital part of reading support. Around 70 boys from years 7-10 use Lexia every week. And it’s helped close the learning gap for these less able students.
Margaret Hudson Liston College’s Director of Advancement advises that the school is extremely grateful for the help from the Your West Support Fund. ‘It’s enabled us to provide at-risk junior boys with vital tools for improved outcomes,’ Margaret concludes.