A Playground Experience Beyond

Just Fun

Your school’s playground is more than just a place to play, it’s also an extension of your school’s values.

At Creo, we understand the importance of creating a playground that not only provides fun and entertainment, but also promotes learning, physical development, and interaction.

That’s why we work closely with schools to design and build playgrounds that align with their values and culture.

At Silverdale School, that meant introducing the school’s learner profile through the design of the play surface and creating a waterplay environment to encourage exploration, curiosity, and creativity. When you work with Creo, you can expect a playground that not only brings joy to students but also supports their growth and development in a meaningful way.

EdiTOr

Liz hawes Executive Officer

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Email: Liz.hawes@nzpf.ac.nz

MagaziNE PrOOf-rEadEr helen kinsey-Wightman

EdiTOrial BOard

Leanne Otene, NZPF President geoff Lovegrove, retired Principal, Feilding

Liz hawes, Editor advErTiSiNg

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ISSN 0112-403X (Print)

ISSN 1179-4372 (Online)

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Liz hawes Editor

IF WE haD to pick just one thing that would symbolise a healthy society, I would pick connections. If we are connected, we belong. We can build relationships, communicate, share, be supported, care and be cared for. Connected people listen to each other, learn from each other, teach each other, are informed and have fun together. They understand each other, accept each other’s differences, form coherent groups, and respect each other. They do not feel isolated, excluded, uninformed or worthless.

The four-week long parliamentary protests of 2022, held when our Covid19 infection rates were at their peak, is a good example of what happens when people are disconnected. A disparate throng, peaking at around 3,000 people, gathered at parliament in desperate need of connection to a group, a cause, to feel a sense of belonging. These people represented the disenfranchised, the fringe, the angry, the oppressed and powerless. They were a diverse group of young, middle-aged and old; Māori, Pākehā, Asian; hippies, gang members, church groups, stoners; Donald Trump supporters, conspiracy theorists, and the politically far-right. Most of them were anti-vaccination and anti the vaccination mandates – which were imposed on people employed in certain occupations (Police, educators, health care workers). But in the absence of any cohesion or leadership, the protesters were quickly hijacked by the far-right fringe who advocated violence and threats.

If we imagine the parliamentary protest as a microcosm of ‘society’ then it is an example of a very dysfunctional one. Inevitably this ‘society’ lost any focus or coherence it might have had and disintegrated, ending in violent riots, with police called in to clear the occupiers from parliament’s grounds. It was a society devoid of connections.

In her first ‘President’s Pen’ column in this issue (p.3), President, Leanne Otene, also emphasises the importance of connections. She explains that connections between schools were a casualty of the Tomorrow’s Schools’ policy, as under the new self-management system, schools were set to compete with each other. This is contrary to the way in which schools operate best, which is to collaborate and share good practice for the benefit of all tamariki. Whilst Principals’ Associations play a role in connecting principals in their regions, and providing a certain level of professional development and social activities, largely, principals work in isolation from each other. Even when principals seek out connections through Ministry funded ‘Communities of Learning’ or Kahui Ako, there are only so many who can benefit. Those in small, rural, or isolated areas are generally excluded because of the travel demands and rarely have the spare cash to fund travel, or the release time to enable it. These are some of the inequities which vex the system.

None of this diminishes the need for schools to be better connected, however. Without connections, schools will not achieve the high standards of learning and teaching that all principals aspire to for the nation’s tamariki. This year the new and exciting Aotearoa New Zealand histories curriculum will be embedded. The histories curriculum holds huge promise and invites schools to connect with their local marae, hapū and iwi in learning the local stories of their place. It is a perfect opportunity for schools to work together regionally with mana whenua to give all tamariki the broadest experiences and knowledge of local Māori and their practices, the lands around them and the relationships between land and people. As has been said many times, when all tamariki understand Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a document of equal partnership and know the true stories and tikanga of their local whenua, the nation will be greatly advantaged and racism and discrimination will take a heavy knock.

Hard on the heels of the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum is the ‘Curriculum Refresh’. That too is expected to be implemented this year. The Ministry started preparations last year beginning with nationwide roadshows on the mathematics curriculum. Sessions were not held in every region and so again, there are those who could easily attend and benefit from the sessions and those who could not. Inevitably the roll out of the curriculum refresh will again be uneven with some schools competently well prepared and others not.

Is there an answer to the disconnects within our education system? Cathy Wylie, a former researcher for the New Zealand Council of Educational Research (NZCER) proposed a solution. She suggested, after reviewing the Tomorrow’s Schools policy, that regional hubs should be established which would not only provide the vital connections principals needed but would also provide a range of support and leadership services to schools, which they could choose to access or not. They would also employ principals. Principals roundly rejected the idea of hubs at the time, but maybe it is time to revisit this decision. Some would say it is vital that we do if we want education to be a healthy ‘society’.