Waihi Kahui ako reflective space

 Do you think our desired state drives the mahi within Waihi Kahui Ako? Are your schools genuinely using the Kahui Ako Strategic plan to inform the Charter and other processes and to what level? Is the Treaty of Waitangi being a lived reality  at the forefront of your kura? Just some food for thought as we move in to korero about Local Curriculum and how we can utilise Local Stories to guide our desired state. I hope everyone is enjoying the break Tena tatou 

   Enjoying the Learning Process or Arriving at the Destination??   This is a reflection that I wrote to share with my kura after our meeting together last Friday. I thought it would be worth sharing here, as it shares where I am at right now with this WSL role.   I am of the firm belief that we should allow children to enjoy the learning process and discover for themselves along the way. If you really see children as capable and competent learners then they may even discover things that we hadn’t intended (hence questioning the whole purpose of planning??)   I try not to give children the ‘definitive answer to a question’ that they ask, as along the way they may come up with more ideas and wonderings, discover the answer themselves and encounter other people’s points of view. An example that comes to mind is a discussion we had as a group while sitting around a new emerged monarch butterfly.   I asked “I wonder why it is flapping it’s wings like that?” “Oh...

 Today the WSL collective gathered for hui at Waikino Kura. This was a great opportunity to start the journey of building relationships, Whanaungatanga, and re connecting with the mahi that has been done thus far. Suzie Gould our facilitator, presented an interactive and fun session, and judging from the energy in the room,  there is a positive mindset about the possibilities and opportunities ahead of us. I want to acknowledge the kaiako that have stepped up to this role and the expertise, wisdom and skills each bring to the table. You are the navigators of your kura's compass, not the map! Together with your colleagues you can decide a destination, but it is the many and varied routes that will lead to the transformational teaching and learning. We can all be change makers and culture shifters. To the principals, your commitment to ensuring your WSL's are enabled to attend hui and be supported in this collective, is integral to building their capability and capacity to effec...

Kia ora Koutou katoa   I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing, rejuvenating and re connecting time with self, whanau and friends. What an amazing summer, aren’t we are so blessed to be living here in NZ with freedom to live life pretty much without restriction. As I begin my journey as ASL, one that excites and makes me feel vulnerable and courageous, all at the same time, I thought it might be good to send you my presentation, as an insight to my intentions, commitment and absolute belief in the power of the collective and the amazing Kaiako and Kaihutū, we have in our community. I’m a big picture…big vision kinda gal. I believe anything is possible, challenge is change making and failure is just a reminder another way is always an option. Learning isn’t linear, it’s often messy, directions change, challenges take us by surprise and an expected outcome doesn’t always happen, but the power to rise up, dust ourselves off and keep going is absolutely in our DNA…we are in it for the outcom...

Our Hauora workstream will always be the first hui in every term. Here are some notes from our term 2 hui with next steps on our journey. What is happening in our different kura: WBS : Te whare tapa wha and schoolwide Hauora as a way of looking at staff Hauora   reflective sheet as a way of supporting tamariki Hauora Working from our staff and developing ways of bringing the staff together, understanding their own hauora to be able to find strategies to support themselves .  Staff reflective sheet to do this by recording and revisiting termly reflection of the different areas of Hauora through Te Whare Tapa Wha.  Ongoing. Beginning to use Te Whare Tapa Wha as a way of supporting our tamariki after returning to school from learning at home.  Resources available to inform kaiako understanding of Te Whare Tapa Wha. Central School: Hauora inquiry. Following on from the Distressed or deliberately defiant PLD from early 2019, planning around Te Whare Tapa Wha to improve Ha...

A great first hui for this work stream post lockdown! Some of the dialogue from this hui and our next steps are linked below. St Jo’s have had a facilitator in school over the last couple of years to work on agency, involvement in this workstream is to hopefully bounce ideas off others and give  ideas from their own practice. . New classroom has led the teachers to wonder "how can we make the students in here drive their own learning?" Waikino- Shared their journey towards agency and their reflection that even though you can feel ahead with your journey, having new students gives challenges as you try to unconditionally learners from one 'system' of education to lead their own learning. Whereas students that have been there from the start are ‘conditioned in agency’-know why they need to have conversations about their learning etc. Documenting the dialogue between teacher and students instead of using formalised planning supports the development of learner agency over...