Aims, objectives and research questions Introduction Linwood College is an urban, co-educational, decile 2 school with a roll of 880 students from Years 9–13. Its student population is diverse in many ways: culture, race, academic ability, attitude to schooling, home socioeconomic status, personality and personal interests, and ability to cope with instructional English. In terms of ethnicity, the students are predominantly European New Zealanders, Mäori, and Pasifika. The school also has international students from Asia, South and North America, Africa, and Europe. The college delivers a broad curriculum, inline with national requirements, and caters for students across the academic and social spectra. In its strategic vision and its policy statements the