Week 10, the final week of Term 4 2018 has arrived. While we continued to take ownership of our magnificent brand new school, some tradesmen still finished up their tasks. We really enjoy having Joseph around who looks after the property, a super helpful and happy person. Thanks to Kate and Anoushka, we have a lovingly decorated Christmas tree in our Whare hui (staff room) which gives it a homely feel, indeed. This week saw us summarising, finalising and sharing back many of our projects as well as strategically looking forward to Term 1 2019.
Communicative....
We started the week off by reflecting on our Whanau Focus Group event and on the feedback we received from our
amazing parent community. We could sense the excitement among our future learners and their parents and we are
thrilled that many aspects of our learning design and strategies are in alignment with what parents foresee and wish
for their children’s education.
amazing parent community. We could sense the excitement among our future learners and their parents and we are
thrilled that many aspects of our learning design and strategies are in alignment with what parents foresee and wish
for their children’s education.
During this week, our Learning Coaches have visited some of our future learners in their current educational setting
and had a chat with their current teacher. We are mindful to ease the transition for our learners and we do our utmost
to getting to know our learners and be prepared for their arrival in Term 1 2019.
and had a chat with their current teacher. We are mindful to ease the transition for our learners and we do our utmost
to getting to know our learners and be prepared for their arrival in Term 1 2019.
We have been busy designing introduction letters to our future Hapu learners which will be sent out n mid January.
Further, Wendy, Kirstin and Diana informed the team about ordered resources which will arrive after the holiday break.
We also reviewed budgets for next year as well as determined who are the budget holders. We talked about
guidelines which will serve budget holders successfully working together and ensuring that resources are purposeful,
appropriate and connected within the school. During a feedback and sharing session, all project groups reported
about their progress and the action they have been taking during this term. Moreover, our Whare Hāpori (Library)
team engaged into another AccessIt Training. Engaging with our future learners and their parents, Diana, Kirstin and
Wendy continued Whanau (family) enrolment interviews throughout the week.
Further, Wendy, Kirstin and Diana informed the team about ordered resources which will arrive after the holiday break.
We also reviewed budgets for next year as well as determined who are the budget holders. We talked about
guidelines which will serve budget holders successfully working together and ensuring that resources are purposeful,
appropriate and connected within the school. During a feedback and sharing session, all project groups reported
about their progress and the action they have been taking during this term. Moreover, our Whare Hāpori (Library)
team engaged into another AccessIt Training. Engaging with our future learners and their parents, Diana, Kirstin and
Wendy continued Whanau (family) enrolment interviews throughout the week.
Also, during this week, we celebrated Kirstin's Birthday - Happy Birthday, Kirstin.
Creative....
Now is the time that all our learning from visiting schools comes to fruition. We clearly remember the advice we were
given by Mike Anderson emphasising that the hard systems need to match the soft systems. While we did not have
input in the design of the building, it is still up to us to select spaces and furniture and match these with our soft
building blocks (aka our learning design building blocks). This involves some deliberation among the team which also
means furniture gets moved back and forth until we reach the “Eureka” moment and we’ll know it is going to work.
In our Kāinga, we have decided and finalised the footprint-layout. In the new year we will do the fun part and hang out
signs, labels and decoration so our home away from home will be inviting, appealing and charm our learners
from Day 1. We also spent a considerable amount of time on forming, shaping and molding our learning design for
Term 1 “Ko wai au? Ko wai tātou?→ Who am I? Who are we?”.
given by Mike Anderson emphasising that the hard systems need to match the soft systems. While we did not have
input in the design of the building, it is still up to us to select spaces and furniture and match these with our soft
building blocks (aka our learning design building blocks). This involves some deliberation among the team which also
means furniture gets moved back and forth until we reach the “Eureka” moment and we’ll know it is going to work.
In our Kāinga, we have decided and finalised the footprint-layout. In the new year we will do the fun part and hang out
signs, labels and decoration so our home away from home will be inviting, appealing and charm our learners
from Day 1. We also spent a considerable amount of time on forming, shaping and molding our learning design for
Term 1 “Ko wai au? Ko wai tātou?→ Who am I? Who are we?”.
On Thursday Diana surprised us with some hilarious presentations which she produced with the help of JIBJAB .
These display the team singing and dancing which got us cracking up laughing. Some of us were a little jealous that
we do not have these skills in real life. (Please note - these will not play, we leave that to your imagination.)
These display the team singing and dancing which got us cracking up laughing. Some of us were a little jealous that
we do not have these skills in real life. (Please note - these will not play, we leave that to your imagination.)
Collaborative...
We continued to negotiate the fine detail in our MATES and with that constructed our collaboratively agreed norms
owned by all involved. Working closely together requires a shared understanding and we want to ensure we know
how we can support each other to be our best self every day. Additionally, we reviewed the A-Z handbook and
double-checked that the listed information is agreed and acknowledged by all. Also, we co-constructed our Whare hui
(staff room) and resource room norms.
owned by all involved. Working closely together requires a shared understanding and we want to ensure we know
how we can support each other to be our best self every day. Additionally, we reviewed the A-Z handbook and
double-checked that the listed information is agreed and acknowledged by all. Also, we co-constructed our Whare hui
(staff room) and resource room norms.
Diana, Kirstin and Michael have done a brilliant job in designing the frame of our Kāinga websites and deciding
what information will be displayed in which sub-page. This sets us up for consistency between the Kāinga and
surely our virtual visitors will appreciate this.
what information will be displayed in which sub-page. This sets us up for consistency between the Kāinga and
surely our virtual visitors will appreciate this.
Diana, Kirstin and Kate have been sifting and sorting through the numerous learning progressions listed on LincEd
and identified learning progressions that are relevant for the ubiquitous learning pathway for our future learners.
and identified learning progressions that are relevant for the ubiquitous learning pathway for our future learners.
Jenny and the team from New Era have been really busy to set up all the digital devices.
Curious
Having engaged in our professional learning badging throughout the term, Week 10 was the home stretch in this
project. Kelly has been the leader on the badging board for a long time but others have slowly caught up and
therefore it remained open to the very last day who is winning this competition in Term 4 2018. Congratulation to Kelly
and Kate for being our first badging winners. They both scored the same amount of points. Again, a big thank you to
Michael and Kirstin for designing such a brilliant system to engage in professional learning. Of course, we will
continue to badge in 2019.
project. Kelly has been the leader on the badging board for a long time but others have slowly caught up and
therefore it remained open to the very last day who is winning this competition in Term 4 2018. Congratulation to Kelly
and Kate for being our first badging winners. They both scored the same amount of points. Again, a big thank you to
Michael and Kirstin for designing such a brilliant system to engage in professional learning. Of course, we will
continue to badge in 2019.
Throughout the week presents appeared under our Christmas tree. Yasmin, our incredible social committee person,
organised a Secret Santa and that meant that we all had a present to open on Thursday during our final Christmas
gathering. The Learning coaches really went the extra mile and gifted thoughtful presents to our very hard working
deputy princesses and our awesome principal. #Dreamteam
organised a Secret Santa and that meant that we all had a present to open on Thursday during our final Christmas
gathering. The Learning coaches really went the extra mile and gifted thoughtful presents to our very hard working
deputy princesses and our awesome principal. #Dreamteam
We wish all our virtual visitors, readers, future learners and their parents and our friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
What's coming up:
- Resources
- Whare Hāpori setting up resources
- Assessment Focus: modelling and practice
- Linc Ed and Progressions: training
- PB4L - Kahui Values Design
