Kāhui Ako: First meeting of the year

Last Thursday we had our first Kāhui Ako meeting of the year. Russell and Chris challenged us to rethink our inquiries for the year, pondering what is realistic and important in the world we are currently living in. Russell gave a personal example with his own inquiry, "How do we reliably get a 'threefer' - three core subjects accelerating simultaneously, 3 years in a row?" Realising this was no longer a realistic expectation with so much disruption to school, he has considered changing his inquiry to, "How do I have present, happy, healthy, engaged tauira who are learning in the goldilocks zone." Russell then discussed the fine balance between social connection/ building relationships and risk mitigation/ public health goals. These two things are so important at the moment however class terribly in terms of giving them both 100%! So how do we do it?

Russell's korero got me thinking about what I can be doing for our tauira to ensure they are coming to school engaged and happy, and to continue to build their confidence - something my programme lends itself beautifully to. 

My role is divided between teaching in the Creative Space, teaching the Extension classes and teaching children through the daily production of the Pt England Network News (PENN). All of these programmes are things that already engage and excite our children. So how can I develop these programmes deeper, to better develop the confidence and key competencies of our children?

Going through lockdown last year made me realise that the children I connect with the most on a daily basis whether I am at school or at home, and therefore can have the largest impact on in this world where we have to be so flexible and resilient, is my PENN crew. During the long 2021 lockdown, I was in daily email contact with these children to ensure the news was created and online each day. This real experience in itself created a huge amount of motivation for the children involved.

Since we have returned to school, a group of keen presenters come to school early to film for the day's news. The motivation is there. So what can I do to further benefit children in our school? In particular, which children would benefit the most from participating?

Since I know I already run creative-based programmes which provide a high level of motivation for the children involved, I now need to consider how I can support children who need to develop confidence through presenting, videography and photography, and editing.