10 minute read
Parents & Friends Dance Studio
We were so excited to open our new Parents & Friends Dance Studio in Term 1 thanks to our generous community’s donations. We celebrated this amazing addition to our exceptional Performing Arts facilities with a very special event for our donors.
Head of Dance Laura-Beth Warne and Parents & Friends Chairperson Elisabeth Bell cut the red ribbon proclaiming the Studio open after a moving blessing and prayer from Reverend François Joubert.
Earlier in the evening, guests were treated to an outstanding performance of Rosas Danst Rosas by ‘The Company’, as well as delicious dance-themed finger food by Kelda Skelton and her team – ‘banana split’ tarts, prawn ’twisters’ and ‘rock and roll’ sausage rolls.
Head of Performing Arts Judy McIntosh, who spoke on behalf of Principal Justine Mahon, shared her reflections on the journey of Dance at the school and how the subject has grown hugely over the years. The St Cuthbert’s Dance programme is offered as an option from Years 9 to 13, and all Year 7 and 8 students also experience Dance as part of their curriculum.
The new studio with its sprung floor is already making a big difference to the students who are enjoying a purpose-built space for their Dance studies. Thank you again to our donors for your very generous support of this space.
Laura-Beth Warne, Head of Dance at St Cuthbert’s, is our secret weapon as to why Dance has become so popular.
Laura-Beth Warne is one of those lifechanging teachers whom a student will always remember. The impact she makes on so many of our girls is incredible, not just as dancers, but as young women.
“ ‘Ms Warne you taught me to be myself’, a past student once said to me, which hit home as this is the most important thing students can learn.”
“Most of the girls don’t need me to teach them how to dance, they already come to me knowing how to, but I hope I am teaching them how to use that part of their brain that creates and analyses so they can be creative analysers in all aspects of their lives. These are the most rewarding moments.”
Laura-Beth has been at St Cuthbert’s since 2010, starting off as a Drama teacher before souls in what they are doing, they can’t create a project at home and submit it. In what they are doing with their bodies out there for everyone to see in real time, you are asking them to create performances that are quite personal, and they can’t get to that place if they don’t feel safe.”
A huge focus of Dance is to instil in girls the confidence to give things a go in a safe environment. Laura Beth says, “I talk to the girls about trusting the process. It’s not just about the finished dance, but the journey we went on together to get there, and what they have learnt through this.”
Laura-Beth is thrilled with the new Dance Studio saying “The new Dance Studio helps our girls feel that their subject is valued. We now have two dedicated Dance Studios, which means we can offer more girls the chance to dance, and our facilities now match our amazing teachers and the professional choreographers who come in.”
Laura-Beth is incredibly excited about the growth in girls taking Dance and is proud of the impact she has made. “It’s just been so terrific to see Dance grow over the years. This is the first year we have had separate Year 11, 12 and 13 classes and it’s so amazing. I feel like I have achieved something, we have dance here because I made it happen, and it’s a gift to have been given the chance to do that.”
introducing Dance as part of the curriculum in 2014, drawing from her background as a successful dancer and gymnast.
A key part of Laura-Beth’s success at St Cuthbert’s has been teaching the girls how to celebrate their mistakes along the way, as this is when our students learn and grow.
“I say to the girls ‘There are no mistakes only solos.’ It’s about getting girls to experiment; teenagers feel the need to be ‘right’ and it’s a real pressure on them. So, to empower them to make decisions and know that failing is part of the fun because it teaches us something, that’s the challenge.”
Laura-Beth says Dance forms strong bonds among the girls. “The bonds that they form in the classroom are quite unusual for a school environment as you are asking them to bare their
We are very excited to have recently re-launched our best kept secret, the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre. We feel the new name better reflects the way in which our specialised enrichment programmes help our girls ‘blossom’.
The overarching goal of the PLC is to cater for the needs of diverse learners at St Cuthbert’s. Diversity encompasses many characteristics including giftedness; our Learning Enrichment programme and learning differences; our Specialised Learning Interventions programme.
The Learning Enrichment Programme includes the Gifted and Talented Programme (GATE) for children who already perform or have the ability to perform at a level significantly beyond their chronically aged peers. Giftedness can apply to either one or a variety of learning areas. While some students find themselves falling behind the expected achievement levels of their peers, our Specialised Learning Intervention Programme focusses on helping these students recognise their learning differences so that they become more effective learners. This can include English as a second language learners (ESOL).
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Cherie Sowter, Sue Downes, Julie Mahoney, Judi Paape, Felecia Tomich, Rochelle Lawrence, Barbara Stewart Brown, Beth Rush, Susan Jackson. Not pictured: Linda Ward. The PLC uses enriched learning techniques to help students recognise their learning differences to become more effective learners. This is underpinned by a belief that every student should be given the opportunity to develop their understanding of themselves as a learner so they can watch their improvement. Students spend most of their time within mainstream classes to ensure they always feel socially connected to their peers, whilst also having this one-on-one support to raise their confidence.
Senior Mentor, Judi Paape, who has been instrumental in the relaunch of the PLC says “It’s about building the girls self-esteem and at the same time making them responsible for goal setting; it’s a two-way process. As Socrates said, ‘Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.’ ”
Thanks to the generous donation of one of our parents, Anna Mowbray, we have extended our team, including two new staff members trained in educational psychology and one undertaking a PhD in curriculum design. We are very lucky to have Felecia Tomich as our Head of the PLC for Years 0–9, and Linda Ward for Years 9–13. Our two Heads cross over in Year 9 to ensure a seamless centre for the girls as they move into their more senior years at school.
Identifying your child’s learning superpower
Anna Mowbray, Parent at St Cuthbert’s
Co-Founder and Director of ZURU, Anna Mowbray, has a daughter at St Cuthbert’s in Year 2 who has been flourishing from the support of the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre. We spoke to Anna about enabling girls to find their learning superpower and the importance of celebrating the unique ways children learn.
Do you know your child’s learning ‘superpower’? For Anna Mowbray, discovering this is key to having a confident and happy child.
“So many in my family are dyslexic and that’s why alternate learning needs are so close to me; these learning difficulties can actually be your superpower if you allow them to be as they speak to a different way of processing; you’ve got to be able to unlock this knowledge and acceptance and then you’ll build confidence in your learning, I truly believe the key to learning is being happy and confident.”
After 15 years in Asia, Anna returned from Hong Kong in February 2020 to celebrate Chinese New Year. During her time in Auckland the global situation with COVID-19 worsened and Anna knew it wasn’t the time to be travelling so decided to stay. As a parent of five, with two children who have diverse learning needs, finding a school that not only understood these needs, but celebrated them, was key. “I was very intent in putting Maile into the right place; she is an amazingly beautiful child and has additional learning needs with which she needed support. I felt that there was something special at St Cuthbert’s, that warmth, that holistic feel, that entrenched culture and values subset that’s come through generations, and I wanted her to have that platform to support her in achieving greatness.”
Anna believes so deeply in the benefit enriched learning support can bring children, she was keen to make sure this could be offered to as many St Cuthbert’s girls as possible, giving a gift to the school to sustain a new senior specialist Learning Support Teacher.
Anna says children with learning difficulties have so much to give and have an incredibly unique and inspiring way of looking at life.
“My daughter’s pearls of wisdom and how she looks at life is just so enriching. She’s got this completely alternate way of looking at the world, and she’ll come up with the most magnificent statements that you would never assume would come from this little seven-yearold girl.”
It’s because of the confidence with which Maile has been instilled at the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre and in the wider classroom, and of course at home, that is helping her embrace her way of learning. Anna says, “The biggest thing for me is that children have so much to give, if they feel confident. So, it’s important to become a confidence catalyst for the kids by empowering them in their alternate way of thinking. My passion lies in figuring out how the individual learns, playing into those strengths and allowing them to be their best selves by nurturing their confidence.”
Anna says it is incredibly important to make learning support a positive experience, and to celebrate diversity, as that’s when society succeeds.
“There is no standardised way of learning or a standard individual; we are all so unique. For me, having children that have learning difficulties but seeing their greatness, and knowing that if that can be unlocked then the gift of their greatness can be shared onto others, I know that’s when they can enrich others’ lives.”
Anna sees the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre positively impacting the lives of every girl at St Cuthbert’s.
“The happiness of every child ultimately has a ripple on effect to those around them, and if you are feeling stressed, if you are feeling undervalued, if you feel you are not unlocking your potential because of a barrier you have in how you learn, you ultimately are not being your best self and that affects others around you. So, it’s about helping every girl understand that unlocking your best self and celebrating people’s uniqueness, is actually the biggest form of kindness you can give to anybody.”
Anna’s advice to parents is to celebrate every win on their child’s learning journey.
“Celebrate the unique differences in your individual child, and, more than anything, celebrate their hard work and those incremental gains that they get on every single one of those challenges. Don’t look at their learning difficulty as a weakness but rather figure out how to unravel and understand where their strengths lie because every single individual in this world has so much to give.”
For Anna, the support she is providing St Cuthbert’s is just a first step and she is looking at a way of replicating this into more learning environments to help children across the country. Before you know it, our skies will be filled with many super girls!
