Ice cream team: How Hutt Valley High is providing inclusive pathways
Secondary school psychology surges in popularity
Supporting attendance through relationship building and persistence
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Editor’s note
Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi – with your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive. This whakatauki speaks to community and collaboration, acknowledging that everybody has something to offer, and by working together we can all flourish.
For our team at Education Gazette, we see this in a multitude of ways – kaiako and tumuaki, supported by their communities in diverse ways, creating enriching environments that allow tamariki and rangatahi across Aotearoa New Zealand to achieve.
Engaged in learning.
Read about the relationship-building attendance model that works collaboratively with community organisations to support young people back into education, and the programme boosting attendance and engagement in Hawke’s Bay through meaningful sport experiences.
Learn about the ice cream-selling students being supported to develop long-term skills at Hutt Valley High School, providing pathways for their future, and the leadership and community engagement programme in Methven ensuring ākonga experience success.
Discover the school whose rapid growth spurred a community-wide journey of belonging and identity –providing incredible learning experiences for everyone involved – and the mana- and hauora-enhancing practices encouraging tamariki to connect with nature.
Noho ora mai rā, nā Keri McLean, Ētita | Editor
the PLD, general notice listings and vacancies at gazette.education.govt.nz
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Playcentre: 70 years of paint, playdough and parent-led education
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On the cover
Page 2: Meet the students scooping and selling ice creams as part of Hutt Valley High School’s SNAP Frozen programme.
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Some of the ice cream team: Krystal, Taylor and Ina (front), and Holly and Max (back).
PATHWAYS
Ice cream team: How Hutt Valley High School is helping students look to the future
Each Thursday lunchtime, Hutt Valley High School’s wharekai swaps out hot chocolates and milkshakes for ice creams. Education Gazette was invited to visit the school and meet the students scooping and selling ice creams as part of the school’s SNAP Frozen programme.
Each Thursday lunchtime at Hutt Valley High School’s wharekai, a team of students assembles. One oversees the till, while another tips berries into a mixer.
A different team member scoops the ice cream, while someone else checks stock.
They’re all smiling, proudly wearing orange caps and ‘SNAP Frozen’ badges.
They each get one ice cream on the house. The ice creams are delicious, real-fruit, mixed-berry ice creams with just-the-rightsized scoops popped atop the waffle cones.
Some days, a line of students and teachers snakes around the building. Even on a cold day, plenty of people are in the queue.
Hutt Valley High has 24 students in their Tautoko Supported Learning Centre, eight of whom currently participate in SNAP Frozen.
The centre’s head of department Heather Lear had the idea, deciding that an ice cream stall inside a building would be simpler than a food truck. The programme is run as a business enterprise and has direct benefits for ākonga.
First and foremost, they enjoy it, and it boosts their confidence. It enhances teamwork and their friendships, and they have more interaction with other students at the school. The profits fund outings (including bowling and laser tag), trips away, and recently even an overnight Airbnb experience to give them a taste of flatting life (should that be their path).
Importantly, they also learn hospitality, retail and other transferable skills that may help them get jobs.
Meaningful, long-term skills
SNAP Frozen was established in 2021 as part of the school’s wider ‘sustainable networks and pathways’ (SNAP) programme.
SNAP had been established three years before that, after staff in the Tautoko Supported Learning Centre grew concerned that, although they worked with whānau to help graduating students access some short-term training, this often didn’t evolve into meaningful long-term jobs.
“SNAP is a collaborative, personally tailored transition programme intended to build students’ confidence and resilience, and provide them with purposeful, meaningful, long-term work and the ability to participate actively within the Hutt community,” explains Heather.
Initially supported by the teacher-led innovation fund, the programme is now self-funded through the profits from SNAP Frozen and a recent garage sale run by the SNAP group.
Hutt Valley High’s timetable has five classes a day. The SNAP students might join one, two or three option classes in the wider school, either independently or with a teacher aide. Otherwise, they’re based in the Tautoko Centre. And, of course, some are busy with ice creams on Thursday lunchtimes.
Heather says students gain numerous valuable skills through SNAP Frozen.
“They’re learning skills including food preparation and food hygiene, teamwork, money management, stock and portion control, customer service and communication skills,” she says.
For instance, ākonga keep an eye on when supplies are needed and go and buy them, ensuring they don’t purchase anything that could go to waste.
“They develop an understanding of how a business operates and are able to transfer these skills into work-experience placements in the wider community,” adds Heather.
Currently, both Ina and Damyen are getting work experience at two local cafes.
“All the students participating in SNAP Frozen aspire to have a job, whether it’s full-time or part-time,” says Heather.
“It’s certainly something that their parents hope for them. All of them except one are doing work experience in the community at the moment, ranging from elderly-care centres, cafes and retail to the library.”
Improving outcomes for students
Mentorship is key – each SNAP student has an adult mentor and two Year 13 mentors.
Heather says the mentors are a critical part of the programme’s success – and with reciprocal benefits. For example, mentors are able to develop leadership or guidance skills. In some instances, mentors see their mentees at work which generates ideas about what jobs they might enjoy in the future.
“Our SNAP students take pride in taking the lead and showing their mentors how SNAP Frozen operates,” she says. “Another key element is that SNAP Frozen students gain confidence in training new ‘employees’ – as in when other students join the programme.”
The programme is making a difference. A project report has found the programme is improving a range of academic and social outcomes for its students.
“Our students have grown in confidence and are more engaged in their learning and more in control of their future pathways,” says Heather.
“The students are doing things that some parents thought they’d never do. The SNAP programme has built deeper relationships with whānau and raised awareness of how the expectations of whānau and teachers can inhibit or encourage learners’ growth and development.
“The greatest success is when everyone works together.”
Tautoko Supported Learning Centre head of department Heather Lear.
Brayden enjoys a lunchtime treat.
Ngā kōrero a ngā tauira | What students say
“I like scooping ice cream because I like being in the background working hard.” Max
“There are different things to do, we are working as a team and I like serving people.” Ina
“I like taking the customer orders because it’s fun and I get to meet new people.” Taylor
“I like making the ice cream for the customers and getting a free ice cream.” Damyen
“The students are doing things that some parents thought they’d never do. The SNAP programme has built deeper relationships with whānau and raised awareness of how the expectations of whānau and teachers can inhibit or encourage learners’ growth and development.”
Heather Lear
Ina makes a real-fruit, mixedberry ice cream.
that physical activity is a tool that can help them learn and feel better.
Mauria Te Pono is about teaching ākonga
All photos by Lynda Forrest.
ATTENDANCE & ENGAGEMENT
Mauria Te Pono: Believing in yourself at Waipukurau School
At Waipukurau School in Hawke’s Bay, ākonga are taking up boxing in a programme that is showing how quality sport experiences at school can boost attendance and engagement in learning.
It’s 11.30am on Friday at Waipukurau School. A group of Year 5 and 6 boys are eagerly waiting for access to the school hall which, for the next hour, will be transformed into a boxing gym.
The ākonga are part of a programme called ‘Mauria Te Pono – Believe in Yourself’ where, under the mentorship of local boxing coach Matua Edz and Sport Hawke’s Bay Healthy Active Learning lead Dani Paki, they punch pads and talk about what they are enjoying or finding difficult at school and home.
“Mauria Te Pono is about building students’ belief and trust in themselves and then noticing how good they feel as a result of physical movement,” says Dani. “Then it’s about taking that into the playground.”
The weekly sessions started last year after the school contacted Dani and her team for support with a group of boys struggling with school, attendance, behaviour, and self-regulation. This year, the school was able to buy their own boxing equipment through the Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa fund.
Dani says Matua Edz provides a positive male role model for the group of students.
“Mauria Te Pono is about building students’ belief and trust in themselves and then noticing how good they feel as a result of physical movement.”
Dani Paki
A positive difference in the classroom
The impact of the programme at Waipukurau is impressive.
Dani says one student, who had previously been stood down, entered their first year of intermediate motivated and engaged in learning. Another has learned to articulate his feelings when frustrated, and several others have shown improvements in their numeracy and literacy because they’re able to focus better.
The results they’re seeing support Sport New Zealand research that shows the importance of physical activity for the developing brain and cognitive functioning. There
is also a clear link between sport and higher academic performance, attendance rates, punctuality and fewer standdowns.
Dani says the beauty of the programme is how adaptable it is to the needs of ākonga. Based around the health promotion framework Te Pae Māhutonga, Mauria Te Pono was initially developed to support primary schools affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
One of these was Westshore School where, in order to feel safe in and near water again, Mauria Te Pono sessions were focused on learning poi and the atua Tangaroa (Māori god of the sea) and Tāwhirimātea (Māori god of the wind).
Ben (right) says being physically active helps him learn better.
Year 6 student Ben is part of the programme at Waipukurau this year. He says he learns better when he’s moving, which is why he likes Mauria Te Pono.
“It’s not boring. You are not sitting inside listening to the teacher talk. You are outside having fun,” he says, adding that he never misses a day of school when it’s on.
Ben also says physical activity gives him energy so that when he returns to the classroom, he is alert and able to take in more information.
Fostering tuakana-teina relationships
Regardless of the needs of each school and student, Dani says the goal of Mauria Te Pono and her mahi through Healthy Active Learning is simple: she wants young people to know that play, sport, and physical activity can make them feel better and learn better.
That extends to kaiako – Dani encourages them to use short, sharp movement breaks to support engagement in the classroom.
“I’m all about getting out into te taiao (the environment),” she says.
Acting deputy principal at Waipukurau School
Kathryn Donnithorne says the intention has always been for the programme to foster tuakana-teina relationships for her ākonga. Those involved become the leaders of
the programme and kaitiaki of the values it teaches the following year.
Year 8 student Ezra is an example of this: part of last year’s cohort, this year he’s started coaching younger students’ basketball at lunchtime. He says he wouldn’t have started that up without Mauria Te Pono, which taught him “to just get it done”.
Ezra hadn’t tried boxing until last year but says that it is a good sport to let anger out. He says when he was first told to go to the office and heard about the programme, he thought he was in trouble.
“And then I got put in the group and then ever since, on Thursdays, I always came to school.”
Kathryn is proud but not surprised by Ezra’s success this year.
“He was chosen for the programme because he has so much leadership potential in him. He’s a very good basketball player himself, and now he’s using those skills to teach others.”
She says the key to students attending and enjoying school is making sure it’s a safe environment where they feel a sense of belonging. Quality and regular sport and physical activity opportunities can play a big part in that, as shown by the success of Mauria Te Pono.
Mauria Te Pono is teaching ākonga how to use physical activity as a safe tool for emotional regulation.
Shooting for the stars at Methven Primary
To better prepare Year 6 students for high school, Methven Primary School has introduced a leadership and community engagement programme, Shooting Stars.
Based on the school’s “STARs” or values, the initiative is founded on student agency and creating a range of opportunities for ākonga to be successful in their learning.
It might be a small-town school, but Methven Primary School certainly doesn’t think small when it comes to the future of their rangatahi.
It has developed Shooting Stars, a leadership and community engagement programme for its Year 6 students. Launched to align with a leadership day at the start of the academic year, the programme is designed to equip ākonga with key leadership skills before they start high school in Year 7.
“We wanted to give our student leadership group a way to further their opportunities to lead,” explains deputy principal and Shooting Stars coordinator Richard Loten.
By being given an increased level of responsibility, ākonga are creating ripples of wider connection across both the school and the local community.
Self-driven and directed leadership
The inspiration for Shooting Stars came from Richard’s past teaching experience – he was supported to set up the programme by his previous school, Ōrātia District School, by deputy principal Katherine Goldsmith.
The two looked to other well-regarded leadership programmes such as the William Pike Challenge and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Drawing from these and other inspirations, Richard then created Shooting Stars, tailoring it to the setting and students at Methven Primary School.
Just like the other well-regarded programmes that Richard and Kath drew inspiration from, Shooting Stars is self-driven and directed.
Students earn badges that are aligned to the school’s
Students earn badges that are aligned to the school's four values.
four values, known as the ‘MPS STARs’: sporting, trustworthy, accepting and responsible.
“Our MPS STARs are at the centre of our vision for teaching and learning for tamariki,” says principal Sue Furndorfler. “These values are the personal qualities we believe will ensure children learn, work cooperatively and play alongside each other successfully.”
For the duration of the programme, students engage with challenges or experiences that relate to each of the STARs.
“We want the badges to be truly earned and not led by a teacher,” explains Richard, highlighting that student agency is the foundation of the programme.
For example, if a student volunteers their time at one of the local preschools, it’s up to them to contact and arrange their volunteer times themselves.
“We encourage them to show initiative,” says Richard. “It helps to prepare them for their move to high school.”
As a record of their star journey and evidence of their work in the programme, students create a workbook, where they record written reflections and share photos or videos, thinking deeply about their experiences before the book is signed off by a teacher.
“Students love being in the programme,” says Richard, observing the positivity he sees among them.
“For me, being a leader is amazing, something that I really love,” says Methven student Elise.
Creating opportunities for success
Richard says one of the strengths of the programme is that it’s not purely academic and gives students the chance to demonstrate a broad range of skills and attributes.
“It gives every child the opportunity to be successful,” he says, noting that their successes have other impacts, too.
For example, Elise ran a hui, providing her with the opportunity to use organisational and responsibility skills while building a sense of self-esteem and creating community engagement.
“It was the first time that I’ve been able to experience what it is like being a leader. I am proud of myself,” she says.
One of the highlights for students this year was attending the National Young Leaders Day (NYLD) in Christchurch – a valuable opportunity to see where leadership can take them in the future, and be challenged to not only reach their own personal goals but also support the goals of those they are leading.
“There were lots of people who came on stage and told us a bit about their lives,” reflects student Rykie, who enjoyed the diversity of leaders represented at the event.
With schools across the country sending their top student leaders to different NYLD events, Methven ākonga found the day equal parts inspiring and gratifying – many expressing pride at being able to represent Methven Primary and the Shooting Stars programme.
“It was so cool for me and the other team leaders to be there representing our school,” says Milly elatedly.
“We encourage them to show initiative. It helps to prepare them for their move to high school.”
Richard Loten
Year 6 student Elise.
Methven Primary School deputy principal and Shooting Stars coordinator Richard Loten.
Top left: Rykie and Emily on office duty.
Bottom left: The Stars led this year’s Pink Shirt Day activities.
Right: The programme has seen Year 6 ākonga take a more active role as student leaders.
Changing dynamics
The programme is already changing student dynamics within the school.
By engaging in leadership, Richard observes that Year 6 students are taking a more active role as student leaders, many adopting tuakana-teina relationships with young students.
“It’s breaking down age barriers across year levels,” explains Richard. “Our Year 6 ākonga want to run things for our younger students; they show a high level of understanding towards them.
“Younger students don’t see them as scary bigger kids. Our ākonga now have so much more confidence in interacting with their peers.”
He points out that the programme isn’t just a bridge between older and younger students, it’s a bridge to the wider community, too.
“We’re finding that members of the community actively come to the school to suggest projects or to offer their time to assist students.”
This direct community involvement means students are seeing firsthand how their volunteer work impacts on the lives of the people they interact with both in and out of school.
Whether it is flyer dropping for local businesses, picking up rubbish, volunteering with the Methven Volunteer Fire Brigade or engaging in leadership through sport, ākonga are learning to see the positive effect they can have on their town and community.
They’re also seeing the positive effect they are having in their school community, with younger students aspiring to join when they reach Year 6.
“From our cohort of 41 Year 6 students at Methven Primary School, we had 30 sign up this year,” smiles Richard proudly. “As awareness has grown, we’re definitely finding we have lots of students in other years who are very interested in joining the programme.
“It’s something our Year 5 students in particular are very keen on!”
“For me, being a leader is amazing, something that I really love.”
Elise, Year 6 student
Secondary school psychology surges in popularity
Due to its engaging subject matter and numerous career pathways, psychology is one of the fastest growing NCEA subjects in secondary schools. Education Gazette talks to five kaiako from across the country to explore why psychology is relevant to students, and how it’s raising their cross-curriculum achievement.
NCEA
Psychology, the scientific study of human cognition, emotion, and action, has boomed in popularity as an NCEA subject in recent years – chiefly due to interest from the secondary school student population.
“Students want to study psychology,” says Long Bay College head of psychology Eric Wheater. “They see its importance in so many aspects of their lives.”
“Students are increasingly savvy about how they want to use their learning,” agrees Gaye Bloomfield, head of te huarahi at Nayland College and chair of the New Zealand Association of Psychology Teachers (NZAPT).
“They can see the power of understanding how different approaches to understanding behaviour can help them negotiate an increasingly complex world. Graduates who can communicate their understanding of issues and connect with others are in high demand.”
Mount Maunganui College kaiako Sally Jackson says the growth reflects a societal shift.
“Being in a country with severe rates of mental health disorders, our ākonga are very aware of the necessity of understanding the brain and the reason why we act the way we act,” she says. “There’s a fascination with and desire to understand human behaviour.”
Rototuna Senior High School kaiako Bailley West nods in agreement.
“With mental health issues on the rise, students see it as a relevant discipline that they want to learn about. They can also see it’s a growing part of their future job choices. So many industries – law, business, medicine, sports, education, design, and more – are seeing the need to incorporate psychology into their own practices.”
Opening up pathways
Avonside Girls’ High School kaiako and assistant head of social sciences Duncan Bond says psychology’s real strength lies in its variety.
“There are so many different pathways available,” he says.
“If you’re drawn to helping people directly, becoming a clinical psychologist lets you diagnose and treat mental health issues. Public health is another option, while health psychology allows you to contribute to initiatives that improve patient outcomes.
“Criminal justice is a fascinating area – forensic psychologists work with law enforcement to understand criminal behaviour and even assist in legal proceedings. Social work is a vital field where your psychology expertise can support individuals and communities facing challenges, or for those who want to provide guidance and therapy, counselling offers a rewarding path.
“At Avonside Girls’, we have been fortunate to make links with people who apply psychology in their careers who have spoken to the students. We’ve had psychologists explain the impact of schizophrenia and a prison psychologist analyse prison cases. It has made the subject move from theories into real life.”
“I have students who may have previously gone into, for example, a sports vocation now adding sports psychology as a further dimension,” agrees Eric.
“They can see the power of understanding how different approaches to understanding behaviour can help them negotiate an increasingly complex world. Graduates who can communicate their understanding of issues and connect with others are in high demand.”
Gaye Bloomfield
Gaye Bloomfield is head of te huarahi at Nayland College and chair of the NZAPT.
“Because it is so wide reaching, I try to get students to experience a wide range of different fields where psychology is applied and to identify their interests both within and outside psychology.
“If they follow what they’re interested in, there will be many psychology-related careers available to them.”
Contributing to achievement
Gaye says psychology gets ākonga ready for the demands of tertiary study and the workforce.
“It’s a literacy-rich subject. Psychology develops literacy skills by exploring contexts that are relevant and engaging and by providing students with different audiences to write for.
“They conduct research using scientific methods and in ways that has them uncovering primary and secondary sources of information. They learn to write in a range of styles – for example, from a scientific lab report to a persuasive analytical essay about how well intelligence theories can explain individual differences.”
The kaiako all agree one of the key benefits of psychology in raising achievement is due to the interdisciplinary skills it requires.
“Psychology requires literacy, numeracy and
scientific reasoning,” says Bailley.
“It’s dually both a science and a social science subject,” adds Eric, explaining how psychology engages students who may have previously been disinterested in traditional science subjects.
He observes that for many ākonga, psychology ignites curiosity and enhances an understanding of research.
“For instance, an excellence-level biology student told me that she had learned more about the nature of science in psychology than any of her other sciences. This was largely due to the complexity of research methods and the critical thinking required to determine appropriate methodologies.”
“For many students, what is learned in our class helps them across their subjects for years to come,” says Bailley.
Sally agrees, highlighting how psychology applies the science of learning, and teaches evidence-based study skills.
“Students develop critical thinking skills in this subject that they are able to transfer to other subjects.
“They perform better.”
Gaye says psychology gets ākonga ready for the demands of tertiary study and the workforce.
Aligning with the school curriculum
The kaiako say their individual school context is an important aspect of teaching psychology.
“Avonside is a kura that prioritises curriculum design alongside being full Te Tiriti partners,” says Duncan. “This ensures what we’re teaching and learning challenges, engages and supports learners if they wish to take psychology past school.
“In practice, it means our curriculum explicitly teaches mātauranga Māori and a kaupapa approach to psychology, research and the scientific method. We look at topics such as aggression, schizophrenia spectrum disorder, and different theories that apply in different fields.
“As an all-girls school we continually refer to gender and cultural issues as well.”
Nayland College introduces psychology early, with almost a third of Year 10 students completing a two-term module, in part due to how popular it is at a senior level.
“Psychology is extremely popular,” says Gaye. “We offer all five NCEA standards at both Year 12 and Year 13 – over half of our Year 13 cohort take psychology.
“Being a popular subject allows us to have specialist psychology teachers who can keep up to date with current
changes and adjust their course materials to be relevant and topical.”
At Mount Maunganui College, psychology gives students a head start in tertiary education.
“Psychology is a full-year stand-alone subject across Year 12 and Year 13,” says Sally. “Many Year 13 students also take psychology through Waikato University’s Unistart programme, which allows them to take university papers while they’re still at school.
“Across the full two-year programme, we focus on teaching students evaluation and critical thinking skills and research methodologies. We look at issues including ethics, socially sensitive research, gender and cultural bias. Debates are the backbone to our teaching programme.
“This year we are going to be teaching about the importance of sleep!”
Meeting demand Kaiako highlight that teaching psychology is not without its challenges.
“It’s one of the largest subjects offered at senior level at Long Bay and it’s still over-subscribed,” says Eric. “I first started teaching psychology in the UK, where it is a very popular and established subject.
Duncan Bond is a kaiako and assistant head of social sciences at Avonside Girls’ High School.
“When I first came to New Zealand, the first challenge was finding schools that taught psychology, the second was developing the resources, contexts and courses that would be relevant for ākonga in Aotearoa.
“For schools that have introduced psychology, the biggest challenge has been in meeting the demand.”
Rototuna Senior High faces similar issues, says Bailley.
“Our greatest challenge is keeping up with the students’ demand. Last year 440 of 800 students took a psychology course – but next year we will likely have a lot fewer because we may be unable to staff our module courses.”
That’s where the biggest challenge lies, agree Duncan and Sally in unison: Teacher recruitment.
“Students develop critical thinking skills in this subject that they are able to transfer to other subjects. They perform better.”
Sally
Jackson
“Having the universities support psychology as a viable teaching subject in their teaching pathways will be instrumental in helping grow psychology staff in schools across Aotearoa,” says Bailley.
It’s already underway, with Victoria University of Wellington now offering psychology as a specialist subject for teacher trainees, and the University of Auckland following suit with a planned programme for 2025.
“It’s great that there is recognition from teacher training institutions for more clear training opportunities for teachers coming into psychology,” says Eric. “Having teachers specifically trained in psychology will certainly help make the growth of the subject more sustainable and will secure the future of new developing departments in schools around the country.”
“It’s fantastic to see universities are now providing teacher training in this subject. It will help in the long run,” agrees Duncan.
Summing up the conversation, Gaye says the NZAPT has been instrumental in addressing challenges.
“NZAPT provides teachers with many layers of support. With the support of the Network of Expertise funding, we’ve been able to grow our regional networks to meet the needs of this fast-growing subject – we have quite literally doubled our membership in the last four years.
“We mentor teachers new to teaching psychology on how to create assessment tasks and we moderate student work, with a focus on teachers who are the sole teacher in their school. We also run regular regional hui (and zui) where we guide teachers through design and implementation of standards.
“We are very proud that the professional learning and development we can offer teachers is closely aligned with our tertiary colleagues.”
Ngā kōrero a ngā tauira | What students say
“Psychology encourages me to think deeper about the brain and is applicable to day-to-day life.”
Fiona, Nayland College
“It covers a wide range of interesting topics that I enjoy. I enjoy finding out how things work, especially people.”
Emmogen, Nayland College
“Psychology has given me an understanding how people ‘work’ and helped me develop empathy for other individuals.”
Joanna, Avonside Girls’ High School
“This subject is helping me understand what other people are going through and not to judge them.”
Zohe, Avonside Girls’ High School
“I like analysing people so I can understand why they are the way they are.”
Jorgia, Avonside Girls’ High School
“The topics are really fascinating. I find mental disorders really intriguing.”
Lillybel, Avonside Girls’ High School
“I like psychology because it helps me understand how my and other people’s brains work. I find it interesting to learn about the mind of criminals and why they do the things that they do.”
Emily, Mount Maunganui College
“I really enjoy learning about human behaviour and how we interact with one another. It is such a different subject from things like English and maths, which makes it so interesting.”
Kaia, Mount Maunganui College
“I believe it is important to learn about how the mind grows and how it develops as we grow.”
Keira, Mount Maunganui College
“I like learning new things that I can’t learn about in any other classes.”
Zoe, Mount Maunganui College
“We learn about things relating to teenagers and how things affect our brains.”
Millie, Mount Maunganui College
“There are a lot of teenagers that don’t know what they want to do when they’re older and this subject gives you a hint of what the subject would be like when you leave school. There are also so many people that are interested in studying the subject.”
Morgan, Mount Maunganui College
Bailley West teaches psychology at Rototuna Senior High School in Hamilton.
Ōmokoroa Point School’s vision for the future
What makes your school unique? What are your values, what is your vision and how do you embed it in your culture? Is it engaging, meaningful and attractive to staff, students and the community?
With her ‘little’ school experiencing exponential growth, Ōmokoroa Point School principal Sandra Portegys found herself asking these questions, beginning a journey to create a new narrative about belonging and identity.
An Ōmokoroa Point School student reads ‘Where We Belong’ with her sisters.
“He kāhui kuranui – we learn together, we fly together.”
Once upon a time, Ōmokoroa Point School described itself as the ‘best little school in the Bay’. But with a rapidly growing community and an ever-increasing roll, their slogan no longer applied.
“Our community was once mainly a farming area with a few baches. It then changed to kiwifruit and avocado orchards and is now almost completely urban with only a few pockets of horticulture left,” says principal Sandra Portegys.
“Our school roll has grown from less than 200 in 2010 to 370 in 2023. We have built six classrooms in the last five years.”
She decided she wanted to create a new narrative for this changing environment that conveyed the school vision and identity in a way that every student, family, and community member could connect with.
The result: a schoolwide narrative telling a story of belonging and a picture book – a taonga that is central to the school and its community.
A heart and soul vision
“Some schools have the vision on the wall, few have it in their heart and soul.”
Taking this quote from John Edwards and Bill Martin’s book Schools that Deliver to heart, Sandra says she knew she had a new leadership purpose: connecting people to people and place.
“I knew I had to connect history and our environment, to harness the power of imagery through a narrative, and to create a shared sense of our ‘why’.”
Mid-2020, Sandra spent time asking staff to engage with the school’s vision and mission statements. From these conversations, and in talking to students, the school’s board and their community, she discovered that there was no longer a consistent understanding of the school’s identity as it was once defined.
“So if we’re not that anymore, what are we?”
Sandra found herself wondering.
Every class in the school visited the kuaka at the Tinopai Bar.
Above: Author Vince Ford workshops themes with students. Below: Principal Sandra Portegys.
“I knew I had to connect history and our environment, to harness the power of imagery through a narrative, and to create a shared sense of our ‘why’.”
Sandra Portegys
She initiated a process of defining what their new values were, which began with the development of a learner profile –not just for students but for staff, too.
“The purpose of the profile is to identify two things,” says Sandra. “First, what do we want our ākonga to know? Second, who do we want them to be when they leave our school at the end of Year 8?”
Building this information was something of a jigsaw puzzle, she says, involving consultation, professional learning and development, teacher-only days, gathering data, and talking to students and local iwi.
“We talked with iwi to learn more about our area’s history. We asked a lot of questions,” explains Sandra.
“What does Ōmokoroa mean? Where are the important landmarks? What are pūrākau (legends) of our rohe? What do these stories tell us about?
“Through learning about and researching our environment and history, I learned about the kuaka.”
Hatching inspiration
The kuaka (bar-tailed godwit) is a migratory bird. After the world’s longest migration, approximately 7,000 kuaka spend their summers at Ōmokoroa.
“These birds are amazing,” says Sandra. “They’re small but achieve amazing things. They collaborate with and rely on their flock, but they also need an ability and resilience to power their own flight.
“They have the confidence to leave their home and travel the world, making connections in different places. I thought, this is us!”
Sandra says she shared the idea of a school narrative based on kuaka with kaiako and kaimahi, and they immediately embraced it.
“We all had to learn about the kuaka,” she explains of the school’s next steps. “Every class visited the kuaka at the Tinopai Bar before they started their migration back to the Arctic in early March.
“The community were all involved in these trips, so word spread fast about what we were trying to do. Staff and students both loved it!
“We researched, we read, we talked to experts about kuaka. We bought books, but there weren’t many out there –which sparked a brand-new idea.”
That idea? Writing their own book.
Creating their own pūrākau
“I put out a wero (challenge) to staff about writing our own story, creating our own pūrākau for future generations,” says Sandra. “One of our Year 7 and 8 teachers picked the wero up, and the process of writing a story began.”
Enter Vince Ford, author of 16 novels for children and teens, whose wife Andrea, a professional learning and development provider, was working with the school on the vision and values revision. It was Andrea’s idea to get Vince involved.
Vince says that to draft the story, they enlisted student writers, and went through a process of workshopping themes.
“By working with me, they had the firsthand experience of some of the things an author thinks about when they’re creating a story,” he says
Working with a small group of six ākonga, Vince established that, having recently moved to Ōmokoroa, many students were looking for a sense of belonging and a sense of community – even if they weren’t able to articulate it.
“It was fantastic to get their perspective. Stories are about overcoming problems, so in the first session we brainstormed what we knew about kuaka and what problems the birds might face.
“In the second session, we talked about the problems they faced as students and where there were similarities. It was interesting that belonging came out as a common factor – it wasn’t directly said in our workshop, but it was certainly the sentiment that came through.
“We also did some work on the characters. We thought about what we might call them and what they’d be like.
“In the end, the story asked the question about belonging for them, and then gave an answer through the school values. Stating it so clearly gave the community the opportunity to see it, and to see the relevance of the school’s vision to the whole community.”
Embedding the practice
After a marathon journey, Little Kuaka flies over the islands, harbour and ranges that surround Ōmokoroa and give the classrooms their names. She is welcomed home by Hakakao, a guide kuaka, but everything is different to the place where she hatched and lived.
“Why do I belong here?” she asks.
Little Kuaka learns the values of the flock – they are thinkers, citizens and navigators. ‘He kāhui kuranui – we learn together, we fly together.’ Over time Little Kuaka comes to realise that these are her values too – she feels like she belongs and she knows she is home.
“I enjoy the way the book is treasured and valued within the school and the community,” says Vince about the end result. “In many ways it’s as much about the whole community as it is about the school.”
“Our vision came to life,” adds Sandra, describing how she then began working to make sure the “community came on our flights with us” by embedding the narrative in all aspects of the school.
“Some members of the community established an annual ‘welcome home kuaka’ day to celebrate the migration, which we’ve embraced. It gets bigger and better every year. Inside the school, we developed names for our teaching teams based on the traditional names for different growth stages of the kuaka.
“We also wrote a karakia based on the kuaka for each team, and we wrote a school song, again based on the kuaka as well as the karakia,” she adds, noting that it was important to consult with iwi every step of the way.
“We wanted not just to make sure our reo was right, but also our themes, colours and the imagery we used.”
Moving forward, Sandra says next on the list is making a video documentary about the kuaka.
“This is so our knowledge doesn’t rely on current staff being here – the knowledge will always belong when those of us who are here have moved on.
“We want to make sure we keep our story alive.”
Embracing AI
Sandra used AI tools to create and refine the artwork for the book and included aerial photographs of Ōmokoroa.
“My initial plan was to have children illustrate the story, perhaps work with an artist,” she says. “But I was concerned about the consistency of the images in the story and how this could be done through children’s artwork.
“I was also concerned about making sure our students and community could recognise our school and places in our community. It was important to help connect everyone to our environment.”
Sandra says apart from using ChatGPT, she hasn’t explored AI much.
“A teacher had used AI images in her class, so I picked her brain. I experimented with a range of free AI tools, looking for one that could generate the type of pictures I wanted. It took me a long time to do – asking the right prompts is crucial.
“Sourcing drone footage was a challenge, because our community and school is changing all the time with new buildings. I used drone shots as prompts so the images were recognisable – AI on its own wouldn’t recognise prompts for specific places, for example, islands, our harbour, or the Kaimai ranges.”
Sandra says Ōmokoroa Point is just beginning to explore how they can use generative AI.
“Some teachers have used AI to generate reading texts for a special reading age on a specific topic, or which contain specific spelling rules,” she explains.
“AI is not something that is going away, so we need to explore its positives and negatives.”
Kaiwhakatere Mark
makes a homevisit to talk about supporting whānau.
Ieremia
ATTENDANCE & ENGAGEMENT
Supporting attendance with relationship building and persistence
Wanting more control and say over their school attendance, a group of West Auckland principals got together to take action. The result is Attendance West, a service model that puts the student at the centre and works collaboratively with community organisations to support young people back into education.
It’s only been operating since the beginning of last year, but so far Attendance West is working.
Since taking over the attendance contract, Attendance West has reduced the number of non-enrolled students in West Auckland by more than 53 percent. They have also reduced the average number of days it takes to get a child back into education to well below the national average –comparatively, the national average increased slightly over the same period.
“When we started, West Auckland had an extremely high number of students not enrolled,” says manager Tracey Dee.
With the previous model for attendance in the region held by a trust, principals were interested in a service where they could have input into the model. Attendance West Te ako Manaaki was the model chosen to move forward with.
Tracey was brought on to lead the team and says she basically had to start from scratch – but now works with a staff of 13.
“Our first six months were spent creating best practice and building connections in schools and the community,” she says. “When we started, there were only 15 of the 90 schools referring to the service. Now we’re at more than 80 schools actively engaging with us.”
Behind the barriers
Tracey says there are a lot of barriers to attendance in the area and there is no simple answer. The needs of each whānau and student are complex and varied, and the key has been connection with government and community organisations.
To combat barriers, Attendance West begins by looking at what is going on at home, identifying what the best outcome for that child is, and putting a plan in place to achieve that outcome.
“Our role is to get the child back in school – so how do we support the family? It could mean delivering food parcels, sourcing school uniforms, and helping with the transition from primary to intermediate so students don’t miss crucial parts of school,” explains Tracey.
But sometimes the solution isn’t mainstream, Tracey says, noting the best option for some ākonga is alternative education or correspondence learning. There are different course options available, including apprenticeships as young people get closer to 16.
“We have a number of 14- and 15-year-olds where school is just not working for them and they refuse to go back – but legally they are meant to be in education.
“The challenge is finding out what the young person wants to do in the future.
“We try to redirect them to complete the learning they will need at school to be able to do what they want to do when they do leave school – planning backwards to get them the qualifications they need so they can achieve what they want in the future.”
Persistence is key
Relationship building and persistence have been key to Attendance West’s success. The organisation has regular meetings with service providers, all 13 of the Attendance West team go along to build relationships.
They also don’t take no for an answer, and say consistency is key.
“Sometimes, success is us turning up and parents actually answering the door,” says Tracey.
“We had one case where a mum of two children refused to engage with us. Eventually she got so sick of us turning up she just started dropping the children off at school, because it was easier than having to deal with us.”
Attendance West works with students aged six to 16 and is funded to work with students with chronic attendance issues.
Legally they can knock on any door to have a conversation about attendance, as long as they have a referral for the young person. Tracey says the team are not perceived to be as ‘threatening’ as some other services whānau deal with.
“We are recognised as a support agency – we approach whānau and let them know we are coming in to find out how we can help and support them. The goal is ultimately getting the young person back into education.
“There are a number of issues whānau may be having that schools aren’t always aware of – whānau may not share for fear of judgement.”
There is a plan for every student referred to Attendance West, says Tracey.
A different approach for a diverse community Attendance West is governed by five school principals in West Auckland, who Tracey presents to twice each term. Although she only directly reports to the five principals, Tracey says they are accountable to every single principal across West Auckland.
“We have a diverse community made up of low and high socioeconomic suburbs. Some areas are more challenging than others – it’s not always the areas you would expect that have high attendance issues.
“In doing this work the team have come across young people who didn’t ‘exist’. Born at home, they have never been to a doctor and have no birth certificate. The process to get them into school is not fast.
“We have also found students who have been out of education for three or four years. As you can imagine, there is a lot of work that goes into getting them the support they need.”
Attendance West managed 2,113 cases last year and Tracey acknowledges that sending these children back into education can be challenging for the schools who then need to get them up to speed.
That’s when learning support gets involved, she says.
Results speak for themselves
Henderson Primary School principal Tony Biddick says starting Attendance West was about giving the principals a say.
“The previous provider we had essentially said that attendance wasn’t the principals’ concern and we had no say in it.”
Attendance is the main issue Henderson Primary faces, Tony says. This year alone they have referred 19 students.
“The main barrier is ingrained habits, and a lack of urgency,” says Tony, adding that the fact a student’s attendance had to be 70 percent or below before being referred is unsatisfactory.
“There are people in the 70 to 90 percent bracket that are falling between cracks,” he notes, explaining that if a child’s attendance is sitting at 80 percent, it’s the equivalent of missing one year of school over a five-year period.
“There’s a lot of kids between 80 to 90 percent but can’t be referred. They are only funded for those under 70 percent. Those less than 70 percent are entrenched habits and harder to move.”
Tony says he would like to see the model financially supported more to allow them to help more people, but is overall thrilled with Attendance West and the results it is getting.
“It’s not a stick to tell big people off, it’s a support service to wrap around the student. This model is different because we have a relationship with them. They know our school, our community, our whānau.”
Similarly, Sunnyvale School principal Katie Pennicott says she understands that attendance issues aren’t always just about coming to school, and that principals work hard to build and maintain trust and relationships with whānau and wanted to see that reflected in their attendance service.
“The social systems and structures that we all live within are failing, broken and designed to maintain the status quo. The economy, transport, housing, weather events, health, wellbeing – these all impact attendance,” she says, also pointing out that the results of Attendance West speak for themselves.
Sunnyvale is actively addressing the barriers to education whānau are facing, Katie says.
“The reduction in non-enrolled cases is an important measure. These students are at risk when non-enrolled and no one is monitoring them. These are often our most vulnerable students.
“With Attendance West, many of these tamariki and rangatahi have been located and re-enrolled in education.”
The Attendance West team: Mark Ieremia, Bon Ratahi, Jordan Fruean, Sateki Tameifuna, Sauofo Amosa and Joe Faumui (back), Emily Fisher, Sharlene Poliko, Tracey Dee and Jayde Taylor (middle), Svetlana Hawke and Patrice Philp (front).
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Creating nature connections for hauora
As a result of an online community of practice established for educators by the New Zealand Association for Environmental Education, tamariki across Aotearoa are creating important connections to nature that enhance mana and wellbeing.
Kaiako from Springlands Kindergarten and Sherwood Primary School share the practices they learned from the educators involved, and the positive effect it is having on the hauora and wellbeing of their tamariki.
Tamariki from Springlands Kindergarten explore their local park.
Every fortnight, tamariki from Springlands Kindergarten head out to explore their local Blenheim park. As the sun spreads across the sky, they start their session by finding a natural item of interest, and using mindfulness techniques they learn with their senses. As kaitiaki, they also pick up litter while they are there.
This programme is just one of many across the motu resulting from an online community of practice facilitated for educators last year by the New Zealand Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE).
Springlands kaiako Kate Harrison says encouraging tamariki to connect with nature nurtures their holistic wellbeing.
“There’s a lot of technology these days in society, so tamariki go home, sit around on their iPads or watch TV. They’re often not getting the chance to be out and about exploring,” she says.
With many outdoor areas of early childhood centres built with turf or fake surfaces, tamariki are not gaining real-life sensory experiences, Kate notes.
“But at the park, there’s grass, different sounds and smells, gardens to explore. And they’re also in the outdoor world rather than just being told about it.”
Environmental educator Ramona Millen, who works with Kate and took part in the learning with NZAEE, says this real-world connection is important because children learn to appreciate and respect nature.
“With the way our world is going, we need people passionate enough to want to look after it. And if you haven’t been exposed to something, why would you have any interest in taking care of it?”
Connecting to nature for wellbeing
Sherwood Primary School kaiako Karla Anderson echoes Ramona’s sentiment: nature connectedness is essential for wellbeing.
“We’re in such a fast-paced lifestyle, rushing around getting from school to after-school practice to the weekends, a lot of device learning,” she says.
“It’s really good to just slow down, breathe fresh air, feel calm and relaxed and have an appreciation to connect with the outside world and living things – for both ākonga and the teachers.”
Karla is supported by Sarah Sheeran, Auckland Council sustainable schools advisor, and has been integrating nature at her school for some time now.
Sherwood School successfully completed their Enviroschools Silver Reflection in August, nature connectedness an essential part of that achievement.
A core part of connecting the Sherwood students with nature has been working with Restore Hibiscus and Bays. This has involved practical learning focused on how to plant native trees, how to look after them, and why planting them is important.
“We’re educating the students around ecology and how having habitats for our native birds and insects will hopefully bring them back to our school grounds,” says Karla.
The ākonga can then share their learning with their family and wider community, who are also invited to support the native tree plantings. Sherwood also has a nature classroom, Taiao Akomanga, with rākau next to plants and QR codes to scan that provide information, a collaboration between nature and technology.
“It’s helped to support and strengthen our community,” Karla says about the classroom, adding that the first trees were planted before the first Covid-19 lockdown – and that those trees are now taller than the students who planted them.
She shares that feedback from Sherwood students is amazingly positive.
“For example, one Year 4 student who helped restore native ngahere (forest) at the local intermediate wrote about visiting the trees and feeling a sudden sense of calm looking through the branches,” says Karla.
“When we take the kids outside into nature, it always affects their mood and their energy levels in really positive ways.”
A living, learning journey
Springlands Kindergarten’s connection to nature has been an “interesting journey”, says Kate.
On the first few nature quests, the teachers brought resources such as binoculars, paper and pencils for the tamariki – but the children weren’t as interested as the teachers thought.
“It’s really good to just slow down, breathe fresh air, feel calm and relaxed and have an appreciation to connect with the outside world and living things – for both ākonga and the teachers.”
Karla Anderson
Kaiako encourage tamariki to be independent and act as their own expedition leaders and explorers.
Now, teachers leave the resources behind and only take the tamariki.
“It showed us that our tamariki don’t need items, they just need time to develop their imagination. They need time to be there without someone on their back,” she says.
“It’s been a living, learning journey for us kaiako as well.”
The teachers aim to let the tamariki be as independent as possible and act as their own expedition leaders and explorers.
“If tamariki discover something and they’re not sure what it is, we won’t tell them, we let them guess,” explains Kate. “There’s learning in discovering things, especially in this time where everything is so available and on demand.”
When the kaiako are involved, they help to guide tamaraki to notice the changing world around them.
On each trip out, the group takes a safety walk first to encourage children to identify hazards and risks. They look for changes in the trees – are they flowering? Have they lost their leaves?
Children guess what fruit the trees will bear and then go back to discover if their guesses were right later in the year.
There are also community connections as they also start to notice changes in the nearby vineyards, which
belong to one of the kindergarten families.
“This initial walk sets them up to have a successful day. They are given skills to look after themselves and be safe,” says Kate.
“They can reconnect with their environment and really develop their observational skills.”
A mana-enhancing experience
As a result of Springland’s nature expeditions, children are acting as kaitiaki outside of the centre grounds. Kate says parents have told them their children often pick up rubbish on family walks at home.
The kaiako often reference the atua, or Māori guardians along their walk. The tamariki observe as Tamanuiterā (a personification of the sun) melts away the morning frost but notice that his arms don’t reach into the shady spots. The walk begins and ends with karakia.
Ramona says looking at the programme through a te ao Māori lens is a mana-enhancing experience.
“The tamariki are building on their strengths and their interests,” she says, explaining how she has witnessed some of their quieter children grow in confidence and learn leadership skills in leaps and bounds.
It’s the same feeling of mana for Sherwood. When its students graduate and move to neighbouring North Cross Intermediate, they can look back and see the native trees they planted growing tall, proud and strong.
It is a practical way of connecting with nature, rather than just learning about it inside the classroom, and means tamariki have a deeper connection with the whenua.
“When children are using spades and putting on gloves to help plant trees, they’re actually involved in the mahi, it’s empowering for them,” says Karla.
“It’s essential to remind our tamariki that we are a part of the environment, we’re not superior to it,” adds Ramona.
Kate says they’re encouraging tamariki to connect with the nature around them – and that doesn’t have to involve getting onto a car or bus.
“It’s getting to know what’s within your local community and own backyard,” she says.
“Nature is accessible to everyone, and we want these children to know they can revisit the places in their own time.”
“If tamariki discover something and they’re not sure what it is, we won’t tell them, we let them guess. There’s learning in discovering things, especially in this time where everything is so available and on demand.”
Kate Harrison
Sherwood Primary School students have been learning to plant native trees and how to look after them.
As a result of Springland’s nature expeditions, tamariki are acting as kaitiaki outside of the centre.
Ōtaki Playcentre: 70 years of
paint, playdough and parent-led education
Ōtaki Playcentre, one of the oldest playcentres in Aotearoa New Zealand, recently celebrated its 70th jubilee. Education Gazette was invited to attend and see the impact the centre has had on generations of tamariki.
Jubilee attendees Niki and Heather.
Four generations of playcentre parents and children: Aileen, Ellena, Sue and Abigail (front).
Tracey Hall (right) shares the cake with Rosalie Chisholm.
Along the Kāpiti Coast, almost exactly halfway between Wellington and Palmerston North sits Ōtaki, a town rich in Māoritanga with a close-knit community.
It’s home to Ōtaki Playcentre, one of the oldest playcentres in the country; a community hub supporting generations of whānau.
Opening in 1954 in what was then the Wesley Youth Hall, the playcentre recently celebrated its 70th jubilee with a community celebration attended by a host of personalities from the past 70 years, many of whom still live locally.
“After many years here, one of the things I took away from playcentre was that anything my children did or didn’t do, was not due to me and me alone. Everybody’s tamariki were doing the same things,” said Aileen Lumley at the event, highlighting the celebration’s themes of community, friendship and ‘closing the circle’.
An Ōtaki Playcentre parent from the 1950s, Aileen was one of four generations of playcentre parents and children present at the event, including herself, daughter Sue, granddaughter Ellena and great-granddaughter Abigail.
She was also part of the group of parents who worked and fundraised extensively to build the centre’s current premises in Mill Road, which opened in 1975.
Marking the occasion was the brainchild of parent Tracey Hall, who found no shortage of people to draw upon to create the jubilee organising committee, with so many former playcentre members having stayed in the area.
The committee organised guest speakers for the celebration, each representing one of the seven decades of the centre’s history.
Aileen spoke on behalf of the first decade, being the first of four generations of Lumleys present at the jubilee. Thelma Pike and Gladys Pearce, whose involvement with the playcentre stretches right back to the 1950s, were given the honour of cutting the cake.
Community for families
Susan Barrett, one of the organising committee, has been involved with Ōtaki Playcentre since 1984.
She started taking her two sons, Apera and Manaaki, and continued to be involved for seven years. The experience inspired her to pursue an early childhood education teaching qualification, landing Susan a role at the Ōtaki Kindergarten, where she stayed for more than 20 years.
The kindergarten is still going strong, but after retiring, Susan migrated back to the playcentre.
“I was biking past the playcentre when some of the young women that I knew, said ‘come in, come in!’. I did, so that’s when the next chapter began.”
These days she takes her grandson Katoa there, a fourth generation playcentre attendee.
Playcentre is ‘the same, but different’ to other early learning services, she says.
Being parent-led, the playcentre model is run cooperatively by parents and member families, in contrast to teacher-led services such as kindergartens.
Ōtaki Playcentre members enjoy their new deck, 1990.
Celebrating 36 years of the playcentre, 1990.
Attendee Liz.
It’s a model that recognises the importance of parent and whānau training and involvement, allowing families to learn more about parenting, develop social and community networks and build greater confidence, as well as lead the education and care of their children.
“It’s a wonderful space for parents with young children, or babies and toddlers,” says Susan.
Emma Thompson, a playcentre parent, agrees.
“Playcentre offers something different, something special. It offers a community for families to become a part of,” she says. “A place where parents can share their joys and the challenges that come with raising children and feel supported.”
Māoritanga
Home to Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, more than 41 percent of the Ōtaki population identify as Māori.
Accordingly, it has three marae and a Māori university, Te Wānanga o Raukawa.
Susan says that Māori culture is entrenched in the playcentre’s values.
“Manaakitanga and whanaungatanga are always in strong evidence. It’s a homely sort of a place where people can be helped to feel comfortable. It can be daunting going
into a strange place but there is an overwhelming sense of welcome and lack of judgement.
“It’s also where circles can be completed, for example, me coming back in with a bit of experience in my apron pocket, hanging out with younger folk, and seeing our moko mixing in with a diverse group of children, which is what you get at playcentre. It’s a win-win.
“Māoritanga is also reflected in the way that layers of generations have gathered to acknowledge the role playcentre has played in their lives.
“I feel like events like this re-energise the actual whare itself. They add to its layers of history, which is very cool.”
Community threads
Susan says she got to know some of her best friends at playcentre and speaks of threads running through the community, criss-crossing and strengthening it. It’s a sentiment echoed by others at the jubilee.
Former playcentre parent Carma Simpson came for the occasion. A mother of three, Carma came to New Zealand from Australia in 1978, settled in Ōtaki and started coming to playcentre in 1984. She says it saved her life.
“When you first have babies, if you don’t have family around it’s hard,” says Carma.
“Playcentre offers something different, something special. It offers a community for families to become a part of. A place where parents can share their joys and the challenges that come with raising children and feel supported.”
Emma Thompson
After each decade’s speaker, there was a song from the ‘1980s crew’.
“I lived up the road and while walking with the pushchair, saw some children playing and thought I’ll go in there, said ‘hello’ and that was it.”
She still has great friends through playcentre.
“It’s like women down at the well, how they meet and talk and support each other. And we are still members of the book club, from my generation.”
She has since had three grandchildren attend the centre.
Emma, who attended the centre herself as a child, now brings her sons Max, six, and Zack, four. She says there is a real sense of community, and she also likes the style of teaching, with the emphasis on child-led play.
This is what originally drew Tracey in, too. She says she appreciated the playcentre philosophy, particularly in how it works ‘alongside children’ to understand behaviour from their point of view.
“There’s a definite sense of camaraderie in playcentres, it’s all about that connection and supporting each other,” adds Emma.
“As a community, we should feel proud that Ōtaki Playcentre is still going strong after 70 years. As a child I always had really fond memories of playcentre and just had that whole sense of belonging here. So I knew when I had children, I wanted to bring them here too.”
Now children at the centre are making their own memories. Aubrey, 11, and his sister Mieke, eight, remember playing in the sandpits with friends and enjoying their experience.
“If I hadn’t been going to anything like that, I probably wouldn’t have as many friends,” says Aubrey.
When asked to summarise their time at playcentre, Mieke opts for ‘nice people’.
“Nice people and a really nice place,” Aubrey adds.
Ōtaki Playcentre opened in 1954 and has just celebrated its 70th jubilee.
MĀTAURANGA MĀORI
Enriching connections between schools and iwi through pōhiri
Aimed at preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the Rangitāne o Tamaki nui a Rua iwi, Toikuranui is an initiative enabling schools in Manawatū-Whanganui to implement school pōhiri and integrate important aspects of kawa (protocol or etiquette), tikanga, pūrākau, reo, and waiata Māori into their school environments.
Dannevirke South School, Ruahine School, Weber School, Woodville School and Pahiatua School have all worked with Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne to implement pōhiri.
At the heart of Toikuranui, an initiative delivered by Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne, is the creation of haka pōhiri.
Haka pōhiri are the chants or dances that symbolically welcome manuhiri (guests) onto the marae. They serve as a symbol of unity and pride and reflect the shared heritage and values that bind communities together.
The haka, imbued with the spirit and history of the area, speaks to the unique connection between the land and the people, and encapsulates the essence of the region where the participating schools are located.
Working with five schools in Manawatū-Whanganui –Dannevirke South School, Ruahine School, Weber School, Woodville School and Pahiatua School – Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne provided pōhiri training to 66 teachers and whānau members, with the ultimate aim of creating a haka pōhiri unique to each school.
“Implementing pōhiri in schools has resulted in stronger iwi and school relationships, increased whānau support, schools leading their own pōhiri, and individual growth of students,” shares Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne.
A comprehensive educational approach Toikuranui took a comprehensive approach to integrate the pōhiri process into schools.
In the initial stages, a detailed proposal was presented to each participating school, outlining the importance of educating teachers on the correct pōhiri procedure. This essential step ensured that each school’s pōhiri process aligned with the traditional kawa (protocol or etiquette) of the Rangitāne iwi.
Once each school had documented its pōhiri procedure, it was submitted for review by the Pou-tikanga, an expert in Rangitāne tikanga and kawa. This review process ensured that the procedure was culturally accurate and respectful, providing a solid foundation for teaching the pōhiri to students.
“I have seen a pōhiri before, but learning about why it’s done, who can do it and all the steps that need to be taken has developed my understanding immensely,” says a teacher from Ruahine School after their staff training.
To support schools in their cultural journey, each was provided with a comprehensive set of rauemi (resources).
These included books containing the waiata, karakia and haka that were taught, along with supporting information such as translations, details about the composers, and the pūrākau (legend, story) behind each piece – helping both teachers and students to fully engage with the material and understand its cultural significance.
Strengthening cultural identity
The impact of Toikuranui was quickly evident.
Involving extensive collaboration with each of the schools, it has not only strengthened the cultural identity
of students but fostered a deeper understanding and respect for the traditions of the Rangitāne people.
Met with enthusiasm and appreciation from both students and teachers, the programme has led to a significant increase in the number of tamariki participating in cultural groups. This surge in interest not only highlights the importance of similar initiatives but also underscories the desire within these communities to reconnect with their cultural roots.
“I’d love help in continuing to grow our understanding of tikanga Māori so that we can best teach our tamariki and include our whānau and hapori as much as possible,” expressed a teacher from Dannevirke South School.
The data for student engagement is impressive: A total of 820 students across participating schools took part in the initiative, with Dannevirke South School alone accounting for 300 of these students.
Ruahine School engaged 62 students, Weber School 39 students, Woodville School 45 students, and Pahiatua School an impressive 374 students – figures that all reflect the widespread impact of the initiative and the enthusiasm with which it was received.
Building a sustainable future
The success of the Toikuranui initiative is a testament to the power of cultural education and the importance of preserving indigenous traditions.
By integrating pōhiri and other aspects of Rangitāne culture into the school environment, this initiative has helped to instil a sense of pride and identity in the students, ensuring that these traditions will be passed down to future generations.
The Toikuranui team is optimistic about its future.
The overwhelming response from schools and the community has sparked interest in expanding the programme to include more schools and possibly other aspects of Māori culture. The hope is that this will create a ripple effect, inspiring more schools across the country to take similar steps in embracing and preserving the cultural heritage of their local iwi.
“Rangatahi enrolled in these mainstream schools can now learn and participate in a Māori practice, allowing them to connect with their culture and expressing their pride in doing so,” Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne concludes.
Toikuranui has not only empowered local schools to implement school pōhiri and integrate Rangitāne culture into their daily practices but has also laid the groundwork for a more culturally aware and connected future.
Through this initiative, the schools have become more than just places of learning; they have become guardians of cultural knowledge, ensuring that the rich traditions of the Rangitāne people continue to thrive in the hearts and minds of the next generation.
MyN4L: Providing more visibility and control of your online environment
For Network for Learning (N4L), making sure schools and kura have more oversight of their online environments is one of the main drivers behind the development of new self-service platform, MyN4L. Te Maire St Francis of Assisi Catholic School has been one of the first schools to benefit from the platform.
MyN4L gives schools and kura more hands-on access to N4L’s range of services.
Network for Learning (N4L) has developed a new platform, MyN4L, so that schools and kura can get more hands-on access to a range of their services. The platform features six tools that reflect a school’s unique data and online environment, according to their phase in the Ministry of Education’s Te Mana Tūhono upgrade programme.
The tools are:
» Web filtering: Manages requests for any school supported by N4L’s firewall, to block and unblock websites according to the school’s needs.
» Network monitor: Shows schools that have received equipment replacement the performance and functionality of their wifi network equipment, for example, switches and access points.
» Email protection: Allows schools that have signed up for N4L’s email protection to safely see their spam or potentially harmful emails in quarantine, so legitimate emails can be released.
» Online activity: Provides schools that have ‘secure access’ a view of what websites are being accessed and blocked on their school’s network to help ākonga stay safer online.
» Guest access: Enables secure access schools to control wifi network access for different types of visitors.
» Device registration: Gives school IT leads and external IT providers the ability to add and remove third-party and shared devices, such as printers and CCTV, to a school’s wifi network during secure access migration. The tools can be accessed and used by any staff member authorised by the principal, including external IT providers.
Enhancing online safety for ākonga
Ōtautahi Christchurch primary school Te Maire St Francis of Assisi Catholic School gained early access to all of MyN4L’s tools as part of a pilot of the platform, and quickly adapted to using them, says principal Jo Earl.
“The MyN4L interface is really easy to use, it’s simple,” she says.
The St Francis team are using the ‘online activity’ tool to complement their existing classroom management software to enhance online safety in the classroom.
“There have been a couple of times when we’ve wanted to have a better look at what a couple of the kids have been doing, so we’ve used online activity at those times,” says Jo. In the event the school discovers students have been accessing an inappropriate game or website, they can use the MyN4L web filtering tool to request to block it, a task St Francis would previously delegate to their IT provider.
“The good part about web filtering is we can add requests for websites we want blocked ourselves. Being able to manage things ourselves and not have to wait is really helpful,” explains Jo.
Straightforward for IT providers
Because IT providers can use MyN4L with a school’s permission, another benefit of the platform is that it expedites communication between a school, their IT provider, and N4L where necessary.
Michael Walding, a system engineer at Fusion who manages a team assisting 16 schools across Christchurch, including St Francis, says MyN4L’s network monitor tool has made troubleshooting school network issues easier for him and his team.
“It’s really straightforward,” he says. “For example, if a switch or an access point is offline, the school can check those details, call us, and we can see the same information they’re seeing. This saves us time and enables us to take action and quickly fix the problem.”
IT providers can see multiple schools at the same time in MyN4L, which Michael notes is a plus.
“You just switch between schools using a dropdown,” he says. “Information about each school appears in the
same format every time, so when I’m training new team members that’s much easier than training people for multiple different sites.”
Michael looks forward to all the schools he oversees having access to the platform.
“All 16 schools would be pretty cool,” he says.
Staged roll-out
N4L has commenced a staged roll-out of MyN4L and aims to invite all state and state-integrated schools to the platform within the next year. There is no cost to eligible schools.
After using MyN4L at St Francis, Jo recommends schools access the platform when they can.
“I would definitely encourage other schools to take up MyN4L. You’ve got more control over what’s happening,” she says.
Learn more about MyN4L and how it can be used at your school.
Te Maire St Francis of Assisi Catholic School principal Jo Earl.
Permanent
Teaching positions in Years 1-8 Commencing 28 January 2025
We have a rare opportunity to join a highly successful school with state of the art property and resources. These include Sports Complex, Performing Arts Theatre, World Leading Library and a Lego Education Teaching Suite.
We are seeking caring, inspirational teachers committed to excellence and learning. If you are a Provisionally Certified Teacher then ERO states “this is the place to be”. If you would like to be a part of a supportive professional team we would welcome your application.
Please send to Jane Milner, Principal, Redoubt North School, 47 Diorella Drive, Clover Park, Auckland, 2019 or by email to office@redoubt.school.nz
Applications close on 25 October 2024 at 12.00pm and should include a current CV, letter of application and contact details of 3 referees.
Education Gazette Publication dates 2024
Do you have a vacancy that you would like to advertise to the education sector?
Place an advertisement in the vacancies section and reach both the passive and active jobseekers by contacting Jill Parker: jill.parker@nzme.co.nz 027 212 9277
Tumuaki/Principal U5
Royal Oak Intermediate School (Roll 456), one of the first intermediates established in Auckland, sits on the fringes of the suburb of Onehunga, near the Onehunga Bay/Te Tauranga Reserve and Auckland’s Manukau Harbour. This is an exciting opportunity for a visionary Tumuaki with outstanding interpersonal skills able to progress the direction of our school. Our tamariki and whānau represent bicultural and multicultural Aotearoa/New Zealand.
This is a wonderful opportunity to lead the rangatahi that learn at this level and their community into the future.
Applications and referees’ reports are due by 4pm, Thursday 10 October 2024. For an application pack or confidential inquiries, contact Stuart Myers, smyersmbl@gmail.com.
