School mission statements and mottos

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Keeping on with the theme of schools :,)
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These are the things that are typically printed on school marketing material at shopping malls for private schools, on school websites and on school uniforms. It used to be more of a private school thing, where they would plaster a latin motto statement, now it's pretty much everywhere.

Some examples of mission statements are:

Spoiler

-   We are a well-resourced school with modern, well maintained buildings and facilities and have students who are respectful, engaged, ready to learn, and who show pride in their membership of our school through proudly wearing our school uniform and representing us with distinction at all times.

-   The school seeks to provide a safe environment with programs promoting student self- responsibility for behaviour and learning, respect for the rights and needs of others, enjoyment in learning and the pursuit of knowledge and skills for success in the post-school world.

Some examples of mottos are:

Spoiler

-   Deeds not words
-   Sincerity, Scholarship, Service

They are usually a public declaration of what a school stands for and what they want to instil, but are they useful or do they have little to no substance? By little substance, I mean that in the essence of:
- Do they actually represent the school’s students?
- Does it represent the schools culture and teaching?
- Does it represent the schools teaching?

Additionally, according to the Conversation (2018), school mottos and mission statements have LITTLE impact on how schools operate.

Side note: personal anecdote.

Spoiler

When I was in high school and primary school, we didn’t really care about these mission statements and mottos. Half the school didn’t even know what it was or meant! At first they drilled the mottos into us at assemblies, but people didn’t believe in them as the school results were consistently bad.
Our school motto was “Virtus et Integeritas”, which meant virtue and integrity.

Our students skipped and left classes during lunch, to the extent that they had to lock up the gates!  It was hardly the image that we wanted to show!

What are your thoughts on school mottos and mission statements? Do you know your school motto? Are school mottos and vision statements important for you? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts, since most of you are in HS!

As much I’d like to say that school mottos do have an impact and are reflected in schools, I’d say that they are very much a hit and miss. Teachers change, management changes, school cultures change. Ultimately, I didn't know the meaning or how to recite my school motto and/or vision statement until say Year 11... HAHA.

[Calebark]

My last school's motto was 'prosperity through diversity'. The only time it was mentioned  (except when the principal was in the middle of a monologue) was when it was being mocked. Granted, the jokes were diverse, and they came from a very diverse student body. Personally, mottos just sound really pretentious, and any representation of tge values echoed are probably just a coincidence than any pride in the motto.

My school pride was about the students and some exceptional teachers, not the words on our logo. This is from a public school, so maybe it's different elsewhere, but here it's just a walking meme

[PhoenixxFire]

My school's mission statement thingo is 'to co create high quality learning experiences within an inclusive and supportive community.' I mean they try I suppose. I only know it because our principal was giving out freddo frogs to anyone who could recite it

My old high school's was something in latin, I can't remember what, and I have no idea what it meant.

I don't really have a problem with mottos so long as they're actually followed. Like you can't just put fancy words there and then ignore it (well they do, but they shouldn't)

[owidjaja]

Yeahh, school mission statements and mottos weren't taken seriously.

In junior school. our first topic in our Year 7 Religion class was looking at the role of the community and Church and we had to read the mission statement a few times and understand it- I look back and now (as a cynic) I kinda view that as the school trying to teach us the mission statements but tbh I don't even remember the mission statements since it's a long-ass list. Since my junior school used to be an all-girls school, our old motto was 'Love and Truth.' We had this in our school song (which has 3 verses btw) and when I was in Year 7, I kinda feel that the school actually feel like a community. But as the Year 10s kept graduating and new students came in, it kinda became a cycle of hating the year group below us and we didn't really get along well. When the school amalgamated in 2016, the school had to change the motto to 'Inspired By Christ'- again, no one really took it seriously and only used this motto for SRC nominees and try and force this statement into their lives. So yeah, people just kinda forgot about the motto unless if an SRC needs to address the school or something.

Senior school had a different motto- 'Striving for excellence.' Tbh, no one really pays attention to the motto, but the inner cynics kinda come out when we have HSC High Achievers assembly because the motto is all about aiming to the best of our abilities (e.g. academically, being an all-rounded student) but our Dux ATAR decreases year by year so we tend to joke about setting low expectations, which is funny because private schools tend to have the reputation of being high-end rich schools but our students are like 'Why would you wanna come here our school is broke' lmao

[pha0015]

My school has taken to putting up posters of our school motto in every classroom as well as having it on every imaginable outside wall of a building on huge, cheap A2 sized metal plaques (is that the right word). I can't not see one wherever I look but despite this, I don't know what the motto is. Or maybe it's that I've subconsciously repressed it. I think it's more for publicity than anything.