“Some schools have the vision on the wall, few have it in their heart and soul.” Edwards and Martin, 2016. What makes your school unique? What are your values, what is your vision and how do you embed it in your culture? Is it engaging, meaningful and attractive to staff,
Miley Harris uses the story of Pete the Cat to teach her Year 2 class about resilience. Matiu Cross uses learning buddies to tutor other Year 5 students on how to find lines of symmetry in an object. The reason both strategies are effective is because they rely on the social
At the start of the school year do you look for common links with your students? Do you find similarities where you have a shared interest such as swimming or you live in the same part of town, or you’ve taught their older brother or sister? Finding common ground with
Do you remember the teacher that told you that you were capable of amazing things? The one that painted a picture of a capable, talented, inspiring individual. Or are your memories of a teacher that slammed your art project, knocked your writing piece or shattered your dreams of becoming a
In a remote school in Northland a principal was doing things very differently. In this school, te reo Māori was used in interactions with pupils, kaumātua were regularly invited to address the students and ākonga worked on real problems drawn from their local community. The community and the natural environment
