Week 6 Inspiration

6/10/2016

It's all about culture...

One of the highlights from the conference last week was the consistent theme about the importance of developing a shared understanding and ownership of the learning culture that makes our place unique. There is no other school that has the people in it that we do. Our children, our teachers, our whānau all combine together to create the learning culture is embodied everyday in what we do together at this thing called school.

So much of what we do is trying hard to engage, enrich, challenge and respect each and every learner and family - and yet we are human - and so some of that effort and intent from all of us (whether teacher or parent or child) can be misrepresented and misinterpreted. The very nature of life complicates this as the traditional (what we know or remember school to be) interacts and collides with the now (what we want or inspire to create or be as school). The picture below examples this in a school culture sense:

The tug of war that goes on within a vibrant school community and learning culture environment is nicely exampled by the tug of war! For all of us who face change and challenge in our everyday life the atmosphere and intent of school is working together with you to develop the knowledge and skills necessary for our children to not only cope, but to thrive and adapt in the age we live in and the future we face.

My job as Principal is not only to manage the day to day running of the school but to lead the development of a vibrant teaching and learning culture that is based on an enriching, engaging wide curriculum that encourages our tamariki to be resilient, respectful, courageous and creative in ways that compliment the uniqueness that is their own. (Needless to say I think that I came back from conference inspired...)

Keep an eye out for the separate email coming home to you where I would love your feedback on the developing learning vision that we have been co-constructing over the past six months with our staff and our different parent groups. With your support we can continue to grow this together!