The four minutes video below sees John share some thoughts with me around the importance of sleep in academic achievement,  social media platforms to connect teachers, students, and parents in their learning pursuits.

Every industry has a craft that they specialise in. For teachers that is education. The core role within that is developing an in-depth understanding of how to structure a learning programme that is reflective of the learner's needs. With the increased enlightenment over time of brain development and evidence-based learning research, it would be negligent of us as a profession (and as a school) to not be willing to challenge the status quo of what we, as parents, have come to assume learning looks like. 

20TH CENTURY EDUCATION
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Unfortunately in schools, most students continue to be educated in the same way as they were in the past, being taught a standardised curriculum through rote learning and individualised testing, at a one-size-fits-all pace. Far too many students are struggling to learn because they are disengaged and lack motivation. Why go to school when you could learn the same information faster by watching a Youtube video or playing a computer game? Why memorise facts for a test when you have all the information in the palm of your hand anyway? Past methods make little sense to today’s students who learn and think differently, and they make little sense in relation to the changing workplace, where making use of information is now far more valuable than simply knowing things. Schools are failing to teach students to respond to rapid change and how to handle new information because they are clinging to obsolete methods. The old adage still applies - if you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you always got!

Somehow, over time, a good learning environment has come to be thought of as something akin to a good office environment. Tidy, well managed, industrious, and focused on output. We are putting the focus back on the conditions we are providing for learning to happen. We are focusing on the environment we are providing for our children to be engaged, connected, and happy in both the how, and what they learn as a 21st Century Learner.

A 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION

A 21st-century education is about giving students the skills they need to succeed in this new world and helping them grow the confidence to practice those skills. With so much information readily available to them, 21st-century skills focus more on making sense of that information, sharing, and using it in smart ways.The coalition P21 (Partnership for 21st Century Learning) has identified four ‘Skills for Today’:

• Creativity
• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Collaboration

These four themes are not to be understood as units or even subjects, but as themes that should be overlaid across all curriculum mapping and strategic planning. They should be part of every lesson in the same way as literacy and numeracy.

A Typical day in the life of a Waipahihi Learner

8.55-9.15
The day starts with time to connect with their friends and guardian teacher/morning admin.
9.15-11.15
This part of the day is facilitated by teachers with a range of teaching and learning approaches, These will include: 
* Small targeted groups with individual learning goals with a numeracy and literacy focus generally these are called workshops
* The opportunity to practise and maintain skills independently
* Connected curriculum tasks/experiences 
* The opportunity to be active and embrace pockets of play inside and outside
11.15-11.30
Check connect and re-set in guardian groups
11.30-2.00
This period of time follows the same structure as above 
12.30-1.00 -KAI TIME (lunch eating) happens across the school in small groups supported by classroom teachers. Good to remember if you are dropping your child's lunch off! 
2.00-3.00 Continued learning programme within the teaching team

The exciting thing about our change of structure is that anytime between 9.15 and 2.00 there are multiple active outside Learning Coaches.

The role of the Learning Coach is to provide a balance of open-ended creative opportunities, teach specific sport and physical skills, social coaching, to challenge thinking, and be present and accessible for every child.

Over time, to compliment the trust you have in us as professionals, we will continue to inform you to build an understanding of what a learner-centered 21st-century school looks like.

We are all working with the same intent - that is we want the best possible environment and outcomes for our children and their learning. We've got this. 

To embed any change requires time, it requires staying focussed on the overall goal. This comes back to having a real living vision for our school and its learners and then strategically working towards it. Real culture change takes at least five years. Without the awareness of what time is needed a strong coherent, connected vision will never be realised. From the interview opportunity  I was given at Waipahihi to today I have talked about four key elements that our shared vision had to work towards. They were:

1. An enriching and connected curriculum - connecting strong foundation learning with authentic curriculum learning context.
2. Digital tools used effectively and for the right reason. The right tool for the right job!
3. Collaborative practice - working together as teachers to meet the learning needs of all our learners.
4. Professional Practice - how do we get the best out of ourselves in what we do and not just deliver curriculum content?

These key elements are in the background of bringing our vision alive. The strategic aims of our plan and the key initiatives that are being worked on to achieve our vision are all part of that timeline. We are staying the course to achieve our vision of learners (and teachers) being 'Immersed in Learning'.

A lack of inclusiveness - in the context of this diagram equals people operating in silos. Over the past few years our school has worked at developing an inclusive, or in our case, collaborative, work environment. The leadership team has put significant time and effort into building a workplace that reflects a high degree of professional relational trust and effective school-wide collaboration. Our leadership structure, in partnership with our team of teachers and support staff, have fostered a transparent team culture that values accountability and professional reflection. Our collaborative leadership approach reflects a clear commitment to growing leadership capacity across the school which in turn works together to develop, implement and improve our systems and processes for coherent and sustainable practice.

The inclusiveness within our staff team develops consistency of understanding and clarity of direction across the school. 

A living vision is one that is both aspirational and measureable. The key to making this happen is creating a visual alongside that a catchphrase that sets the foundation from which key elements of the school, its connection to place, and an indication of what culture its working is apparent. 

One of the first key elements of ensuring successful innovation is developing a strong culture of collaborative leadership. Over the past three years our school has been relentless in building capacity in this area. We have concentrated on developing:

• a culture of collaboration at the leadership table. Our schools leadership team has input from all areas of the school. All leaders have shared input and ownership into the overall direction of the school. Their team perspective is a part of that.
• coherent schoolwide systems that support a shared understanding and coherence across the school.
• a transparent and honest team culture that values accountability and professional reflection
• building leadership capability with targetted professional learning support
• a strong and clear school vision and values
  

Bringing all those elements together over the past four years has been a huge focus. Further detail about the Vision that then gives the foundation for further development is a post in itself so look out for this next week!

We have received confirmation that the mega teacher strike is confirmed for May 29th. This means both primary and secondary teachers and primary principals across the country will be on strike.

I continue to be frustrated and saddened by the spin in the media - and from Chris Hipkins (Education Minister) around this issue. The minister just announced $95 million to attract new teachers. This is such a common marketing strategy. Offer a deal to get people to sign up - but don’t look after your existing customers! This $95 million to train new teachers does not stop the flood of teachers quitting. It does not solve the massive percentage of teachers who resign within the first 5 years. It does nothing to value our experienced, hard working teachers. It also does nothing to attract our top students to teaching - we want the best and brightest school leavers to be considering teaching!

Some of the issues that remain for us are:

Primary teachers get 10 hours a term release time. Secondary teachers get 5 hours a week. The lack of release time for primary teachers impacts on the teaching in the classroom - and our students deserve better!

Our collective agreement expired on the 8th of June 2018. The govt is refusing to back pay us if/when an agreement is reached. The govt offered primary teachers a $500 bonus to sign the agreement. They offered secondary teachers $1000.

Teachers should be paid the same for equal qualifications - regardless of the age of the students. The government is refusing to commit to pay parity. 

The minister likes to talk about this being a ten thousand dollar payrise. Currently our beginning teachers spend a minimum of 3 years at university and then start on $47980. This offer gives them 3% straight away. So about $1400 before tax - or about $19 a week. This is one of the reasons we have a 40% reduction in people choosing teaching as a career.
Experienced teachers stand to get about $27 a week from this offer. Our agreement expired in June last year, but the Minister is refusing to offer backpay. Therefore - even if they accepted the $27 a week today - they have already lost somewhere in the vicinity of $2000 over the last year through this negotiation - both through strike days and no back pay. So in fact - if we signed today, it would take over a year for us to even make up what we’ve lost.
The support for learners with special needs - both learning and behaviour - is nothing short of pathetic. Limited release for primary teachers means they have no extra time to plan for these learners, or attend meetings, or support whanau.

When Hipkins was in opposition - he talked about how low teacher salaries are, and the need for drastic action in education. Now he is in power - he is facing the largest strike action in memory. All this on the eve of the announcement of their 'Wellbeing Budget"! National’s Nikki Kay is talking about how bad the situation is, and how teachers deserve a pay jolt - but it seems easy to say things in opposition and she forgets that nine years of Nationals neglect fro the public schooling sector has helped put us in this situation.

A decade ago we used to get a 100 applicants for a teaching job. Principals could choose the best candidates to meet the needs of their school. Now - we see vacancies having no applicants at all. We have classes being split because we can’t find a reliever. We see jobs being readvertised over and over again.

We have already battled this process for a year. It has cost teachers thousands - and we seem to have made little headway. We know it’s frustrating for parents - and we hear the messages from the Minister that try to turn the public against us. Please believe me that we are fighting for the education for your children. We have come too far to give up now.

I am forever hopeful that the government will finally be courageous enough to invest properly in education. Step outside the standard and really rattle the cage! Fund us so that we can be world class. Fund us so every student can get the best education possible.

So I understand that May 29th will be inconvenient. I expect it won’t be the last. Please continue to support us by going online and messaging anyone you can think of - Hipkins, Ardern - the Labour govt Facebook page - local MPs - anyone and everyone. Together let us be heard!

Earlier this term Kristin Mason - one of our Deputy Principals - submitted her resignation effective from the end of this year. Kristin has been on maternity leave this year and has recently made the choice to fully commit the immediate future to her children and family. Kristin has worked at Waipahihi School over the past 12 years and she has been a key part of the teaching and leadership team. I first met Kristin three years ago when she flew down to Invercargill with the then Board Chairperson, Kevin Insley, and Board member, Jackie Later as part of the Principal appointment process at that time. At that time, like today, I knew that if this school had the calibre of people at it like Kristin then it was a place that I wanted to be Principal at. Her passion for this school, its children, its community and the vision that she shared with me were a testament to her commitment to this school. I highly valued her support as a leader in where our school was moving and the way that she enabled those around her to be the best they could be.

Thank you Kristin for your personal and professional support over the last three years. We look forward to celebrating with you and the community next term to acknowledge your care and commitment to the Waipahihi learning community. We love that you have committed these all so important years to your beautiful young children. When you want to come back - let me know!