West Coast School Visits - Kokatahi Kowhaitirangi School

Kokatahi was a fabulous little school of 48 students about 20mins from the Hokitika Gorge.  Our visit began with a welcome from the whole school, who presented a mihi and songs to our group. The school is made up of predominantly pakeha students from farming families.  Students sang Waiata and the Principal presented a Mihi.  I was impressed with the effort gone into the songs and the mihi, made all the more special because the Principal was South African and not long in the school.

The school itself is in its second year of the Manaiakalani Outreach programme and the progress they have made over that time is phenomenal.  Students were confident and enthusiastic in showing us what they could do and revealed that they use a variety of apps in their learning.  One app that they shared was Aurasma an app they described as augmented reality.  Holding an ipad over a painting they created, a video clip of the student who created the painting popped up and it was of them saying their pepeha - relating to the painting.  

Students also shared their work via QR codes which were posted on the walls around the room.  This had me thinking about how teachers could use the QR code idea for collating evidence of student's rich assessment tasks.  

Visiting this small school gave me insight into what teaching is like in a rural setting.   Conversations with students and teachers was warm and open.  Learning about learning from their perspective, within a rural context, was really interesting.  Some of the students had never left the community they lived in.  Some of them had been to Auckland and were excited about the Sky Tower and Harbour Bridge.  When I mentioned that I was from a little school in Auckland of 230 students, students were amazed and 'woah' was the reaction I received.  I did wonder what students from Tamaki schools would think if we were to take then on a trip to the West Coast to see how these children lived and were schooled.  I'm sure they'd give a 'woah' reaction too.  I know that some schools in the Manaiakalani programme have blogging links with schools on the WC...my next goal is to hook up more of our classes with students from there too.

Manaiakalani Principals Tour

This year the Manaiakalani Principals Tour ventured down to the West Coast of New Zealand to look at school who are part of the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme.  The schools were all part of the Toki Pounamu cluster which covers Kumara, Hokitika and Greymouth.  There are 13 schools in the cluster which spreads approximately square 200km.

There were 25 Principals, DPs, APs, HODs, Col leaders and Manaiakalani administrators all come along to see and learn.  The organisation by the Manaiakalani team has been exceptional, with all staff being kept inform of every facet of the trip, before, during and after.  Transport, accommodation, school visits, meals, gifts, speeches...all timed to perfection.  I have to say a huge thank you to the Manaiakalani team who made this whole trip happen.  Their foresight and group management was excellent...there was something for everyone on this trip.  The schools we visited were wide and varied from small schools of 20 students to others of over 300.  Listening to individual teachers and students on their own Manaiakalani learning journey put a lot of what we are doing into perspective and I could relate the different points people were at in their learning.

We were kept busy everyday, leaving our accommodation at 8am and returning between 8-9pm each night.  We did manage to do a bit of sight seeing and touristy stuff in between visiting all the amazing schools along the coast.  Among the pit stops between schools we were fortunate to  experience fantastic southern hospitality and exceptional sights and views that our beautiful country has to offer.  Highlights included the bus trip from Christchurch over Arthurs Pass to the coast, ably driven by our bus driver Cedric where we learned all about the Pass, the highest power pole in NZ, very old hedges and the erection of kia signs.

While I will be more writing posts around the learning I received on this tour, for this post I am focusing on the relationships that were built during the trip.  As we are part of a Col (Community of Learning) I know who the management teams are in the surrounding schools but I don't 'know' them personally at all.  During Hui or PLD meetings, there isn't really a chance to get to know people well and most schools who attend these meetings go with colleagues, so generally sit together. 

This tour gave me the opportunity to get to know the Principal's, DPs, lead teachers and Manaiakalani staff a little better.  Professional conversations were optimal and it was great to share thoughts, opinions and new learning with new colleagues.  Being able to share what is happening across our schools with others and making connections for further sharing when we get home was a real positive.  There was also a lot of laughter and collegiality, making the tour a lot of fun.  I was given the idea by one principal, of arranging a 'get together' of DPs/APs across our CoL to establish a support network with colleagues carrying out like responsibilities.  An opportunity to share, compare, collaborate and network would be beneficial to professional practice around leadership.  Principals to do it, so maybe we should too! Watch this space...