Spring is here!!

Spring is here and it makes us all feel a lot better and more hopeful. It brings nicer weather, longer days and for most people a new outlook. Studies have shown that the amount of sunlight we are exposed to actually affects our mood and mental health, so even our mood starts to improve.

It was great to see everyone so actively involved, participating and having fun at our JUMP OFF on Friday. What was really wonderful to watch was the way the students all supported and encouraged each other as they were in mixed age groups and skipping is certainly does not always come easy to all children.

I also got to catch the Waimataitai Brass concert this afternoon which was the end point for their Band Camp. Not only did they perform as a band but we were treated to some of the band members other talents. Nurturing our talents and creativity certainly helps us try new things and allows us to realise the other opportunities out there. My apologies the sound was not on and the camera person was a real amateur (me)

7

What is a winner?

Today I saw a whole lot of winners as I moved around Timaru trying to cover as much ground as possible within a short time frame and tick of as many things as I could. I drove past West End Park twice and on both occasions I saw a different field of soccer players, their support crew and their supporters. I went up briefly to the netball and saw 4 of our teams all having a great time playing for the fun of it, it was the final day and dressing up was required!! One of our teams, however did not dress up as they were contesting the final of their grade. I was impressed with the "professional" attitude they were displaying, along with their very supportive followers. I am unsure of the final score or outcome from what I observed it was irrelevant - they were all winners as they were playing their hearts out and thoroughly enjoying themselves knowing how much they had improved and learned over the season. They are the winners. As are all the others who stick at it, persevere to the end and apply themselves because they have the satisfaction of being part something bigger than themselves, by participating and contributing to a team. A team works together to achieve, Together Everyone Achieving More makes us all winners.
Well done to all our team players in whatever you participate in, and contribute to, your effort makes a difference. I think we have a lot of winning teams associated with our school; the team of staff, the team of leaders, the team of parents, the team of students and the Board team who work as a team and achieve a better result by working together. At Waimataitai we are all a team of winners, motivated and reflecting doing better all the time.

What makes a winning team?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately for a variety of reasons; the success of Southland over Otago in the Air New Zealand Cup ( which I was personally thrilled about), the success of some of our school sports teams, the success of our recent ERO review highlighting the teamwork of the Board, the leadership and the staff of our school and the whole notion of being a team player at Waimataitai. I, of course mean winning team in the broadest sense, that of a team that is successful and achieves the result they are looking for. I think the key to it all is having everyone working together for the same outcome, on the same page, all wanting the same thing and knowing what their role is in supporting people to achieve this outcome. I think we try really hard with this at Waimataitai, I guess that is why I believe that student led learning conferences are an essential part of the team work that needs to happen at our school. What I struggle to understand is when parents think these are only worthwhile to them if the child isn't there. I can't think of anything more undermining than having adults talking about my learning when I am not in the room to have input. I find it particularly hard to understand why parents wouldn't want to be there to hear how it is for both their child and the teacher and how we can all work together to achieve something. I guess it would be like having the team talk without the team. If nothing else student led conferences are a time for students to have their time in the sun and show their parents how well they are doing and what their next steps are. It must be really disappointing for students not to have this opportunity and it must be really hard for them to understand why when everyone else is doing it they are not. I guess being part of a winning team is about focusing on what is important, working together to achieve this and having everyone on the same page ( or team). Research strongly indicates the children whose parents who are actively involved and take an interest in their child's education or any involvements are more successful. So what makes a winning team - being there.

Changing of the Guard

It is so good to be back. I have had a wonderful sabbatical but I am most fortunate to have the privilege of having the best job in the world. I get to work with some of the world's most fabulous people; adults, staff, parents and children who want to learn and see each day as opportunity. I think that is why I am so passionate about education, because it is so empowering and so hopeful, the people involved in it what to make a difference especially the learners.
The week went well, great to be greeted by so many children and adults who were keen to hear how my time away was. Of course I was more interested in what they had been up to and have spent some time catching up. I did however "miss the boat" on a couple of things - one was a really big error on my part - hopefully, my apology will be accepted...... I forgot to acknowledge last terms recipients of the Wai Learner Awards ( this is a biggee so I really mucked up). My only excuse was that there was a "changing of the guard" and I simply moved on without thinking about the last few days of term 2. So I am really sorry to the outstanding students who received these awards - not flash on my part at all however they will be in the newsletter this week. I understand they were recognised by at the last assembly for the term so at least some people knew.

CHANGE
I must say that I take my hat off to learning team 3. They have had to move out "lock, stock and barrel"( I am into using cliches obviously) from their rooms and shift to a new area whilst the remodel of the main block has begun. They did it so easily and if you could see how well they have set up their new environments you would be suitably impressed. Learning Team 2 however have shown how adaptable they can be by ignoring all the activity going on above and beside them. When you look at the way the main block looks from the South side at the moment you might start wondering how it will ever possibly be finisheds- I guess that is the thing about demolition, you do have to get rid of the old to make way for the new. I know there will be lots of people really pleased to hear we are completely replacing the locker bay and toilets and addressing the really noisy and unsafe stairwell. It will be well worth the wait.

Don't you just love term break!!

I do. Except this year I felt a bit of a fraud as I had had my trip overseas and sabbatical so I really was ready to go back to school. Fortunately I have had one or two distractions to prevent me from creating heaps of work for other people next term. One thing I love about term break is you get the freedom to work when you want where you want so working at home away from the noise of the builders was really good and as the power, water and heat was little unreliable I felt quiet guilt free. I also had the added issue of my home computer being out of action so I was really forced to think about how we used to do things before computers.

I have spent time with my family and friends and even had my two nephews up to stay over the school. They love Timaru and rightly so because it has so much to offer; a good crisp climate in the winter, great resources on our doorstep like skiing, skating and just being active. They know all the really cool places to go like the skate park, the Scenic, the board walk and really enjoy "shooting hoops" at school and playing on the playground. They both spent quite a lot of time climbing one of my trees and determining the best way to build access and a hut. The other thing that kept them on their toes and rather challenged, was my new addition. I am now the proud owner of a Jack Russell puppy called Flynn. He is now nearly 10 weeks old and is still learning a lot ( and so am I) about what to do and not to do. I can see that my life has changes substantially and I will now need to adjust a number of my habits for him. He is very cute and of course I think he is rather intelligent but I guess that is the usual bias showing. I can't help but I have included a photo - you will see what I mean when I say he is cute!!

I am sure somewhere along the way you will get to know him quite well.

This term looks to be an exciting one with the challenge of coping with all the building going on and the changes this has meant, the ERO visit, skiing, skating and Student learning conferences and of course we have simply getting on with our learning.

I can't wait till Monday when everyone turns up so pleased to be back, yes kids (and Parents) really do like school and the staff well they never sleep well on Sundays anyway because their heads are so full of everything they want to happen in the next week, this is worse on the eve of a new term. I hope you are ready for Term Three and all that it brings, I look forward to catching up with you all.

Working at Home

Thank you for all the questions I am getting about my trip. Bumble is fine and has now returned to school, he couldn't wait and he needs to get back to his job. I unfortunately have to finsih my work at home even if I really would ratehr be at school. I did pop in and see all the staff yesterday and that was great, they have all been so busy. I can see that Waimataitai Wai Learners have continued to be right into their learning. I am looking forward to seeing all of your wonderful work at the Art Auction.

It is hard to believe that last week I was in summer and this week I am in winter. Does anyone know how that works? It was light at 4.30am in the morning and didn't get dark till after 10pm in Scotland, I come back here and it is still dark at 7.30am and at 4.30pm it is getting dark again, I wonder why that is?

Next week I am off to some meetings and courses and will visit a school in Christchurch that has been trialling a Nurture Group this year. I want to find out how it is going for them. I can see the time to get all my writing done and all the other projects I have planned to do will go very quickly.

Bumble is Back !!

I know many of you wanted photos while we were away but that proved too difficult for Bumble. However now we are back we will be trying to work out how the best way to share these with you will be. This photo is from one of my favourite places.... Bled, in the background there is a church on an island where people go to get married. The man has to carry the woman up the stairs on his back and she must not say anything. It is a very interesting tradition. I know someone getting married I wonder if they might try it.

Bumble is having a rest in Hyde Park, London, he had been walking all around London that day and had had lunch at Convent Garden with the pigeons who are always very happy to talk to tourists having lunch.

This is a very famous fountain in Rome.

This is Bumble at the "Lizard", right at the southern end of Britain. It does not have as many tourists as "Lands End".

And one more ....... Bumble really enjoyed San Gigminiano in Tuscany, Italy. He liked the old buildings and streets and the beautiful Tuscan Hills and valleys.

Be back soon..

Hi to everyone and thanks for all the really neat comments while i have been away. I will be back in New Zealand on Sunday and maybe I might see some of you next week, but I have lots of writing to do before I come back to school officially.

I really enjoyed Scotland - I love the Scottish people they are so friendly, generous and helpful. A lot of Scotland is like New Zealand. When we visited Edinburgh you get off the train and you hear the bagpipes as some one is playing just outside the station. Every where you go you see the Scottish thistle which I really like also. I did manage to get some Scottish and Welsh rugby jerseys - some of you will know they are for.....

Today Bumble, Pauline, Sarah and I are going to Kew Gardens ( Miss Wilson and Mrs Vincent will be very jealous!). Pauline thinks that Bumble will get hayfever and maybe he should stay home but I think he will tough it out. Pauline can be so thoughtful sometimes. After Kew gardens we will have dinner in London and we are going to a show called "Sister Act". They have so many shows in London it is hard to choose. Another hot day here.

Might see you next week sometime...

What do the Scottish call Lakes?

HAve spent the last few days in a place called Pithlocry, can you find it? Back to near London now and have started thinking about the trip home and how to pack my bags. Did you know in Scotland and England you have pay to go fishing in the rivers and it is very expensive.

Bumble is off to bed already as we travelled over 560 miles today - not sure how many kilometres that is but it took us a long time. In Britain they use miles, pounds and pence. They still have 1 penny two pence, 5pence pieces too - really strange and quite annoying when you are not used to them.

Fly out on the plane from Heathrow Airport on Friday evening at 6.40 and we get to Christchurch by 11am on Sunday but we only fly for 21 hours so how does that work out I wonder????

Armadale, West Lothian

Thanks for all the comments. I can't believe the weather in Scotland, 27 degrees yesterday and looks the same today. Yesterday I visited three different schools - all very different. Uphall, Toronto and St JJoseph's in Whitburn. I saw a music therapy session and got to conduct the orchestra. We went to an assembly and presented certificates for brass exams. We saw the most amazing toilets ( yes really) at St Joesph's - beautifully painted with murals - have an idea....... about this.



I have met some amazing teachers and head teachers ( that is what principals get called here) and really neat kids. They are very interested in us.

Last night we caught the train into Edinburgh and went right past Edinburgh Castle. They are ripping up the main street in Edinburgh to put in trams, I wodnewr why? This is not the first place that has done this.

We are off to Pithlochery tomorrow for two nights and thenhead back to London until we catch the plane home. I think Bumble is ready to come home now, he has had so much fun adn learned so much but I think he misses school and everyone there. Hopefully he will back in time for the senior cross country.

Well best get going again we are off to Linlithgow to do some shopping.

I heard teh SING OFF was fantastic, am really sorry I missed it - did any one video it?

Miss you all - hope you remembered Mrs Donaldsons birthday last week too...

Hi there from Chipping Camden - can you find it?

I am really sorry it has been so long - we have just been so busy!! Bumble, Pauline and I have been all over right to the bottom of the country - no not the famous Land's end but "|The Lizard".

We stayed a night in Clovelly which is famous as it hasa steep street adn donekys are theonly things other than people to cart thigns up and down the hill. It is also the place where Charels Kingsley came from. Last night we stayed in Burford adn it has the most amazing array of houses. We are a day beign our plans as we satyed longer in Bath - it was 27 degrees.

In Bath I visited Jane Austin Centre - she is a famous author - do you know any books she wrote.
It was my birthday last week and I was given a beautiful book about an artist called Sue Dove, I saw some of her work and |I am going to try some out.

We will be heading off to Scotland at the end of the week and then we will be int he same place that the famous singer on Britains Got Talent is from - Susan Boyle. In fact I am visiting two schools there. The finals of Britains Got talent are this week - everyone here is talking about it - it seems really strange.

Hope the junior Cross coutnry went well and you all tried your best, the rest of you will be all training hard as well. I might be home in time to come and watch the senior one!

Keep working hard - Kakite

Bumble Bumble where have you been? I've been to L..........n to visit the Queen.

Bumble has had an amazing day. He,Pauline, Sarah (Pauline's daughter) and I took the train from Staines into Waterloo Station. We all had lunch in Covent Garden. The weather is better, we were worried Bumble would feel the cold but the temperature has improved as it is Spring here. We looked around the market and walked back through Trafalgar Square and past Nelson's Column. We walked back to Waterloo Station and were just in time for the changing of the Guard. We went past 10 Downing street, someone important lives there. (do you know who?)

Bumble was so excited about being in all these famous places that he forgot to get a photo but he also saw the L............ Eye, Big Ben ( which he felt rather overwhelmed by) and the wind picked up as we were crossing the large river that runs through L.............. and he was so pleased to be holding onto to my hand or it would have been a near catastrophe.

We had to "spend a penny" at Waterloo Station except it wasn't a penny it was 30, think that is inflation. ( You often have to pay or"spend a penny" in foreign countries!! New Zealand is lucky.)

Before we got to this huge city which is also the Capital of England we came from Zagreb having stayed in a Hotel famous for having guests of the Orient Express. It was very flash and Bumble really liked the luxurious corner room we had that overlooked the promenade. Before that we stayed in a place called Bled which was in a different country to Zagreb. It was in Slovenia. We really liked that as we had a beautiful lake to look at and we biked around it. We had visited the Castle at Bled and were enjoying a nice coffee in the sun when a tourist asked if they could take Bumbles photo. The tourist took 4 photos of Bumble with the lovely little island church in the background. Bumble hasn't stopped smiling since he was so pleased to see the look in Pauline's face as the tourist didn't ask her.

As you can probably see Bumble has been having the time of his life - I hope he settles down as we are visiting two schools on Thursday and Friday in a different country ( to the west of L............) and he needs to be on his best behaviour as he is representing all the Wai Learners from Waimataitai.

Plitvicka Lakes , can you find us?

We are in an absolutely beautiful place which is part of the National park. I saw a snake - it was about 15 cm long and it was quite fat. I was told it wasn t really a snake but a ˝blind snake˝ as it doesnt have any fangs or teeth. We were walking along havigng just finished awalk through this forest and by these very famous lakes and waterfalls and I just saw it in the grass. It gave Bumble quite a fright and I was little surprised also. At lunch today we vitisteda place with a restaurant and out the back they had two bear cubs. Their mother had been killed and they had been given special permission to keep them. I felt a little sorry for them.
Last night we stayed in a place called Split and tomorrow we are off to Bled. I have been texting lots of people but it seems that only some of their texts are getting through but I will keep texting just to let people know Bumble, Pauline and I are getting on okay. Pauline and Bumble have become quite close friends adn she ahs introduced him to anumber of people who have wanted to know about him. He squeaks away quite politely.

I hope everyone is working hard at school and having fun learning.

Z..........b

Hi we are somewhere in Croatia and it starts with Z and ends with B. We had to take 5 trains to get here coming from Riomaggiore, to Bolonga, Venice and then Villach to here and got to our hotel at midnight ' it was a long day. We were worried as our most important train was 30 mins late but believe it or not they held the train for us!! Which country is Villach in? The keyboards are different here and they were in Italy too. We had wonderful walk along the Cinque Terre - it is a beautiful walk some bits tougher than others, one art of the track was closed due to slips from rain. We also went out on a boat so I some photos just like Mrs Vincent.

Today we fly to S.........o in Bosnia Herzgovenia which I am excited about as I studied their history at school. There have been so many highlights I think Bumble has been overwhelmed with things. we will start our tour tonight meeting asll the other people. I think the Euro is great but now we ahver to deal with kuna and other things..... Can you guess what I am talking about?

Have taken photos with Bumble but so far been unable to put them on the blog, but be assured he is well looked after!!

Hope your first week gone well and that the LT3 camps were a hit.

Bumble's Big Adventure

Well our bags are packed and we are ready to go........ I think Bumble is a little nervous about the plane flight but I love flying so I will reassure him. I have never travelled with Bumble before and so far Pauline, my travelling companion, may soon be ex-friend, has been rather rude about him coming a long - I think she is jealous. I have the best of intentions to ensure Bumble regularly appears on my blog or through the email to school providing an update of our journey but I guess we will see what the reality is. Past experience tells me that finding access to the Internet when no one else wants to hog it in a hotel or an Internet cafe is easier said than done especially when you have more exciting things to explore.

We leave from the "Garden City" on Monday morning to head to the "City of Sails" where we fly out and have a stop over for a few hours in a very large city called H......g K......g. We then head to our first real destination -in a country shaped like a boot and with a lot of very famous buildings and once was the centre of a famous powerful empire. I hope to see a very well known man, even if from a distance, maybe he will give me a wave. Think that is enough clues for now.....

Term 2 2009

Term 2 2009 will be a different one for me. Not sure how I will cope actually. I guess we will find out. I am off on a sabbatical for a term , this means I am given leave to go and investigate an area of interest and refresh my self professionally and personally. So I get to be away from school for a whole term. I will find this hard as I struggle with being away a couple of days. This is part of me being a control freak I guess. Anyway I will be forced into keeping away as I will be travelling for 7 weeks beginning with a bit of refreshment in Italy and Croatia and then onto the UK where I will be visiting and meeting with people who have Nurture Groups in their schools. I heard about the concept of Nurture groups in 2006 and have continued to try and find out more since, not easy and they are generally an unknown phenomenon in NZ and I suspect because of the resourcing constraints they are not a concept that will be actively promoted. A nurture group is a group set up within the school environment to support children with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties to allow them and others to learn new skills to develop successfully in the school environment and society in general. They have been in place in the UK since the 1960's and have had huge success in supporting children to become actively and positively engaged in school overcoming many disadvantages in doing so. I look forward to seeing whether there is anyway the concept can be extended into our schools in New Zealand. I will return and write up what I have discovered in the last few weeks of the term and hopefully manage to stay away from school and let them get on with things in my absence. That might be the biggest challenge of all.

New Learning

Don't you just love learning new things? I do. I thrive on discovering about new ideas and things and I guess I like change and challenge. Today I sat in a meeting with a project manager, an architect and 3 engineers ( I felt old as 2 of these engineers appeared to be rather young but I guess that is a sign I am getting older!!) I found out about spandrels, daylight harvesting, proximity detection and lux measures. I don't know what BMS's are yet or what TRV means but I guess given time I will figure it out. Of course this is all to do with our remodel of the main block and it is incredibly exciting and somewhat worrying at the same time. I think what becomes obvious is the need to be clear about what you want as an outcome and for me we want the very best learning environment we can achieve within the constraints we have to operate within. It highlights for me just how important it is to be able to find out information that is relevant to what you need to know and how we can never ever possibly expect anyone to know everything about their field of interest because new knowledge is being created all the time. They just need to know where to find out more. It reinforces how important it is that we are developing in kids the skills, attitudes and values that will allow them to continue learning, seeking information and creating information as they head to an amazingly complex world. Knowing which questions to ask is incredibly important for all learners. I find myself writing a list of all types of questions before these meetings and asking rather a lot during them and the thing is even with this room full of specialist you can guarantee they all have questions to ask of each other to inform their learning as well. It shows how important all our key competencies are especially those relating to collaborating with others.

Community Whanau Time

On Friday afternoon we held our first real Community Whanau time session. I spent time with a couple of groups and then was able to wander around and see how things we going looking to see what might need some attention. I left school on Friday on a real high because of what I saw. I saw kids, teachers and parents actively engaged in meaningful work. I have been interested in "student voice" for a long time, that is letting students have input and make decision about what happens at their school but also in what they learn. Initially in developing community whanau time we were hoping to ensure that kids were getting an opportunity to commit and follow through on something they wanted be involved in. we have found it is harder and harder for kids to develop these interests due to all the time constraints in their school and personal lives. We also saw this as a really authentic way for students to develop the key competencies of ;

• managing self
• participating and contributing
• relating to others
• thinking
• using language symbols and texts

Students have chosen their areas of interest and being supported by teachers they are deciding what is they wish to develop that will contribute to their community whether it be our school or the wider community. some of these areas are;

• developing the Washdyke Lagoon
• community art - art to improve our environment or that of others - hospitals rest homes etc...
• community service - building relationships with others in our community by visiting and supporting them in some way
• student council
• kaitiaki - looking after and caring for our school environment
• Bay guardians - establishing ways we can ensure Caroline Bay is well looked after
• PALs - physical Activity leaders - supporting younger students with games and activities at break time
• CHAT - Children's Healthy Action Team
• Jump Jam leaders - teaching and leading others in jump jam for learning teams and at break time
• and many others - there are 21 groups in total.

During this time the year 1 students are all taking part in a developmental discovery programme where they are able to spend time exploring a variety of them based activities whilst developing key competencies and in particular their range of experiences that they can share with others.

What has struck me is the depth of thought the students have displayed, they are very aware of what it would be good to do for others and now they are actually being supported to do this in a problem solving way. This all contributes to our vision of Wai learners - motivated, happy, reflective, curious, respectful team players.

Watch this space.............

Wai Learners

Wai learner Awards
This year we are introducing a Wai Learner award for each learning team. At the end of each term one child per learning team will receive the Wai learner award for the term. This award will be presented at the last assembly for the term. The recipient of the award will keep this award for the following term until the new next recipient is announced.

Students who display outstanding Wai Learner attributes will nominated by each class teacher and these will be considered by the leadership team. Students in Learning Team 2, 3 and 4 will also be able to nominate their peers or class mates also providing an explanation for their nomination.
We will present these awards will be on Friday 3 April at 12.40pm. This assembly will be the inaugural presentation of these awards and therefore we have invited the people who have donated these awards along to present them for the first time.

to find out more about Wai learners at Waimataitai visit http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/digital_stories/school_snapshots/waimataitai_school

2009 What will it bring?

This is the time in holidays when I get excited with the anticipation of a new school year and what it will bring. Everyone by now should have had a reasonably good break and be thinking ahead to school and who will be their teacher and in their class for the year. Will there be any new students, any new teachers and how hard will the work be?

Last year I learned about blogging and found out two essential things to maintain a successful blog;
1. feedback and encouragement from others with their comments
2. a regular time set aside to blog so people will actually keep checking
SO I have set a personal goal to try harder with my blogging but I need your help!! I need feedback and possible questions - to allow me to respond otherwise you , may simply get to hear about my latest issue or bugbear.

I am hopeful that 2009 will bring us all lots of wonderful learning experiences, memories and moments that will contribute to an even better year than 2008, and it was pretty spectacular.
I look forward to learning alongside staff, students, parents and whanau of Waimataitai.