Mā roto hoki kia ora ka pai te kōrero.
If the inner man is refreshed, the conversation will be agreeable

Autumn has arrived and you have just returned to school after enjoying a well-earned recovery break!  To relax and recover with whānau and friends after the intensity of a term dominated by COVID, will have given you the opportunity to revitalize, reenergize and reflect.  As we start this term, it is to be hoped we can get focused and stay focused on our core business of teaching and learning.

Regathering, reconnecting and reengaging

Last week the government made its first pre-budget announcement.  The Education sector is to get an $88 million injection to improve attendance rates at school.  Since 2013, attendance rates have been in decline and the reasons for this are varied and complex.  What we do know for certain is that for students to have success in learning the first step is to attend school every day.

We now need to regather, reconnect and reengage students who have been absent.  As leaders, we need to lift those attendance rates. Why? Because every student matters.

The motto for one of the kura in my local area is ‘Whatever it takes’.  It is an aspirational motto, because it challenges everyone to aim high, to reach every child and to think beyond the obvious, until success is achieved.  In the context of attendance, ‘whatever it takes’ for us as principals could be setting ourselves a personal or professional goal to ensure every child reconnects with their friends, their teacher and their learning. 

So what can we do? 

Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, re-engaging students with school could be as simple as providing the means to get to school, food, clothing, books and stationery, showers, health care or a place to sleep if needed. 

At another level, our focus could be building stronger relationships with students and their families and knowing more about their strengths, interests, talents and aspirations.  Gone are the days when it was acceptable for teachers to frame their job as teaching a subject, or content.  We teach students.  To do this successfully, we need to know them.  We need to know who they are, the languages they speak at home; who is in the household that can support their learning.  We need to know how they learn best and ‘what it will take’ to create ‘Ngā whakapiringatanga’ – optimum conditions for learning.

To motivate students to attend school we need to align school with the things that excite them.  It could involve brokering friendships.  It could be creating exciting, dynamic programmes that they really want to be part of.  You may seek input from teachers, students and their whānau to co-create a learning programme that will work for them.

It is a puzzle of practice to be solved, one student at a time and one family at a time.  

                               “Nau te rourou, naku te rourou, Ka ora i te tamariki ma”.  

With your contribution, and the contributions from us all, including the Ministry of Education, our children will be well”.    

Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories webinars

On 17 March the finalised Āotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum content was released. From 2023 all ākonga will experience learning Āotearoa New Zealand’s histories as part of their classroom programmes. 

The histories curriculum content uses the Understand, Know, Do elements and the progressions model. This model also underpins the New Zealand Curriculum refresh work being done in each curriculum area.  It is an exciting time for schools in Āotearoa. For the first time ever, we will have the resources to teach our own history, to deepen our understanding of it and to build a collective knowledge of our place, our turangawaewae.  The latest gazette has inspiring stories about school principals who are leading the way in this new era of place-based, authentic, powerful localized learning. 

To support teachers and others with the new content and model, the Ministry of Education is hosting a free interactive webinar in Terms 2 and 3, open to school leaders, Year 1 – 10 teachers and relevant support staff. 

You can register by following the link - Support for schools and kura | Aotearoa NZ's Histories (education.govt.nz)

The webinar covers

• An overview of the Āotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum content.
• How the Understand, Know, Do model weaves together to support learning.
• Exploration of stories, using the histories content as a framework (to think about how to approach the teaching of Āotearoa New Zealand’s histories).
• The opportunity for questions on histories to be answered.

RNZ – The Āotearoa History Show

Resources to support the new histories are being developed and one of these is the Radio New Zealand’s The Āotearoa History Show. Episodes can be found here -  https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-aotearoa-history-show.

Seven new episodes will become available on Mondays in this term, and then seven next term. Teacher Support Materials related to the show’s second season will soon be available on the Āotearoa New Zealand’s website - Home Page | Aotearoa NZ's Histories (education.govt.nz)

This is part of the first package of support for Āotearoa New Zealand’s histories. The Ministry will provide ongoing support through 2022 and beyond, for histories and social sciences.  

As schools get back into routine, with students reconnected and reengaged, you will be able to focus on how to deliver bespoke, localized curriculum to inspire a generation of learners who will be the first to say ‘We learned New Zealand History at school – You didn’t? So, what can I teach you?’

John Fleming (1944 – 2022)

It is with sadness that I acknowledge the passing of John Fleming, previous principal of Pt. Chevalier Primary School.  John was NZPF president in 1994 and 1995 at a dynamic time in the history of the Federation.  In his era, the first NPZF office was established in Auckland.  The first MOOT was held in Wellington.  Membership grew to 2,000 because of the focus on connecting with the regions and amplifying principals’ collective voice.  On behalf of the Federation, I passed on our condolences to Anne his wife and their tamariki, mokopuna and whānau.

NZPF Moot

The NZPF Moot will be held on Friday 10 June at The Intercontinental, Wellington.  This is a one day event which provides an opportunity to give feedback from regional membership. 

Invitations have been sent out to all regional and large cluster presidents. Please let us know if you will be attending.

What we look forward to is a robust debate on prominent issues that you raise.

NZPF Conference - Early Bird Registrations

Registrations for the 2022 NZPF Conference are open.  The conference will be held at the new Te Pae, Christchurch Convention and Exhibition Centre, on 14 - 16 September.

Register before the early bird deadline of 31 May to save up to $100 on your registration. 

Visit the website to register now. 

NZ Principal Magazine also Online

You and/or your team members can easily access the NZ Principal Magazines online, as an e-magazine or as a PDF. Additionally you can search for a previous issue, an article by title or by the author of the article. All magazines back to Term 1 2012 are available in this format. To view or search click here.