Tuesdays | Inquiry Breakfast – 8.10 – 8.40 in the Staffroom sign up here.
Wed 11 Sept | Inquiry Learning groups in staffroom OR self directed Inquiry
Wed 18 Sept | Inquiry Learning groups in staffroom OR self directed Inquiry
Wed 25 Sept | Inquiry Learning groups in staffroom OR self directed Inquiry
A lot has been going on over the last few weeks. The Inquiry Seminar at Gladstone was a great success with people gaining lots from the session. Juanita and I have started the Inquiry Breakfast sessions on Tuesday mornings. There is a lot of brilliant stuff happening in peoples inquiries, and we will get to hear about these at our full staff sessions.
Congratulations to Simon Fuller who is our new lead Principal. The next few years are looking very exciting as Simon leads us in our Kahui Ako.
Learning Group Sessions | Please indicate your preference here. The options are Tuesdays 8.10 – 8.40 or Wednesdays 3.15 – 3.45.
Kaitiaki Academy
The Kaitiaki Academy continues to thrive. Both the rangatahi group and the kaiako group are working towards normalising te reo Māori. In the past couple of weeks we have been working on sentences and kupu for the home and kura. Each member of the academy will be taking the resources we made home with them at the next session so that they can immerse themselves in te reo. If you would like to learn some of the kupu and sentence structures, please talk to the ākonga from your school who attend, hopefully you will start to see them leading work in your school with this kaupapa, if you haven’t already. Otherwise, you are welcome to click onto the quizlets we are using as part of our mahi kainga:
This document has now been reviewed by our expert partners, principals, steering group and WSLs. It has been updated in response to feedback and can now be shared amongst the whole community. The aim of the document is to give clarity to the work happening throughout our Kāhui Ako, so that all members of the community can find a way to engage with the mahi and help us work toward the hauora of our community.
To finalise the writing rubric, we will add some hyperlinked exemplars to the document by the start of Term 3. If you have any exemplars for any level, please share them to homesk@kuranui-college.school.nz as soon as possible.
8th-11th July | Te Tiriti o Waitangi training – It’s great to see so many have signed up already. Here is the poster and signup link if you want to check it out.
Wednesday 3 July (3.15 – 4) | Inquiry session to finalise Inquiry question and to get into groups.
Learning Group Sessions | Please indicate your preference here. The options are Tuesdays 8.10 – 8.40 or Wednesdays 3.15 – 3.45.
Inquiry Session 1
Wednesday 19th June was the first of our Inquiry sessions. You can read about it here. All in all it was a successful session with some really good ideas being discussed.
Student Led Inquiry
One group are well into inquiring about “community perception” and how do we improve this as having a better image will build pride in our school. You should have received a questionnaire in your inbox to complete.
Waka Metaphor
We are now at the stage of putting together the videos that will contribute to the web experience that will be completed next term.
Panui from Alison Kathryn and Micaela …
South Wairarapa Matariki Celebration
We are very excited about our Matariki celebration next week. We have a wide variety of age ranges and schools from across South Wairarapa signed up for the expert sessions at 9.00m and 11.00am. Sign up is now closed but if you are still keen to pop along, you are welcome to come and view the artwork that will be exhibited in the wharekai. The whole day will be hosted at Hau Ariki marae.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi PD – Facilitator Opportunity
Our strategic vision for the Kāhui Ako involves a culturally responsive environment for all of our tamariki. In order to address this vision we have worked hard to secure funding from the Ministry of Education that will allow a wide group of people in our community to engage in some of the most powerful treaty training available. Please promote this among your schools.
Please be aware that you are welcome to sign up to be a facilitator so that you can continue to work with others around the South Wairarapa and spread this mahi. The only requirement is that you attend the Monday or Tuesday session. The facilitator training is on the Wednesday of this week.
Click here to sign yourself up on the day which is most convenient for you:
To finalise the writing rubric, we will add some hyperlinked exemplars to the document by the start of Term 3. If you have any exemplars for any level, please share them to homesk@kuranui-college.school.nz before the end of term.
Ngā mihi, Alison Woollard, Micaela Westrupp and Kathryn Homes
8th-11th July | Te Tiriti o Waitangi training – It’s great to see so many have signed up already. Here is the poster and signup link if you want to check it out.
Student Inquiry
A great session was held on Wednesday. We began the session with and introduction discussions about inquiry. The inquiry model we will be using is based on the Gwen Gawith Inquiry Model and the Lane Clark inquiry model.
Students at this session:
Taizak, Josh, Jayden, Jorga, Hamish, Amon, Kara, Oli
8th-11th July | Te Tiriti o Waitangi training – It’s great to see so many have signed up already. Here is the poster and signup link if you want to check it out.
Wednesday 5 June | 3.15 in the staffroom Witarina will be running a session on using the iPads. Sign up here.
Friday 7th June P1 | Student Led Inquiry Juanita and Witarina working with Josh Weigman, Rose Nobel, Evlyn Stokes, Emma Rose, Jayden Drinnan, Hamish Kill, Ruby Swanson, Oli Hammat and Jorja Holden. is underway and students are working on a houora theme.
8th-11th July | Te Tiriti o Waitangi training – It’s great to see so many have signed up already. Here is the poster and signup link if you want to check it out.
The time certainly is flying at the moment and there has been a lot going on over the last two weeks. If you are interested in reading about everything that has gone on in the Kahui Ako panui to date click here.
Coming up:
Staff PLD Session | Wednesday 5 June – This session will start together in staffroom. A session on how to use the iPads with Witarina will follow.
Student Led Inquiry | Friday 7th June P1 with Josh Weigman, Rose Nobel, Evlyn Stokes, Emma Rose, Jayden Drinnan, Hamish Kill, Ruby Swanson, Oli Hammat and Jorja Holden. is underway and students are working on a houora theme.
Kuranui students are digitising each schools Waka drawings. Students are also in the process of creating a video that showcases our schools values. Stay tuned … the website is under development and will be live in Term 3.
Teacher Inquiry Seminar
The inquiry seminars held at Featherston schools last week were really successful. The chance to meet with colleagues from other schools and share ideas was very useful. The next session will be an informal get together, stay posted for when and where your session will be.
Within School Leader hui
Within School Leaders met with Across School Leaders and Support Principal Simon Fuller on Friday 17 May to feedback on their progress within schools on their specific areas of responsibility; student led inquiry into learning, digital waka designs to connect to the history and character of each school, teacher inquiry and communication. We consulted on the communications document and Simon led a wonderful session around leadership. Thank you all for your contributions.
Matariki Art Exhibition
The South Wairarapa Kāhui Ako Matariki celebration which will be hosted at Hau Ariki marae and involve the active contribution of our Kaitiaki Academy.
Specific details for the day will follow, but for now please get busy with your artwork for exhibition and get it to Micaela asap.
Lead Principal and Support Principal roles
After three years, Gina Smith has resigned her role as Support Principal for Kāhui Ako. Gina was a fundamental part of the research that established the goals for the Achievement Challenge and has been part of the appointments process for many positions throughout our Kāhui Ako. As such, Gina has been an integral part of establishing the Kāhui Ako and its strategic vision. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Gina for all of her mahi and dedication to Kāhui Ako and look forward to continuing to work with her as part of the wider community steering group.
Sadly, Alison Woollard will also be stepping down as Lead Principal for the Kāhui Ako at the end of Term Two. Alison has been a very enthusiastic Lead Principal who has promoted engagement of the community and active collaboration. We are sorry to see Alison step down and again look forward to continuing to work with her as part of the wider community steering group. Processes are already in place to replace these roles within our Kāhui Ako. Part of the philosophy behind this is that other people can take over the role and take on leadership at different stages. Our work for the year, as planned, will continue.
South Wairarapa Matariki Celebration
We are very excited about the opportunity to bring you a South Wairarapa Kāhui Ako Matariki celebration which will be hosted at Hau Ariki marae and involve the active contribution of our Kaitiaki Academy. Specific details for the day will follow, but for now please get busy with your artwork for exhibition and get it to Micaela asap.
Steering group hui
The steering group for Kāhui Ako met last week. This hui involves all of our principals, wider members of the community, including DHB, Police, RTLB, iwi and many more. We are working together towards our shared vision of hauora for our community. At the hui we heard from Carterton Kindness Crew who fed back about the success of the Student Led Inquiry at their school. We shared our strategic and annual plan and consulted on our communication draft plan for Kāhui Ako.
Kiaora koutou and welcome to the first update post. You can expect to see an update of what we have been up to each week. A lot has been happening over the last few weeks.
Coming up this term
Inquiry seminars for all staff 22nd May at Featherston Schools (more details to be forwarded soon)
Matariki Community Celebration 24th to 25th June (Details to follow. Keep it in your diary)
Te Tiriti o Waitangi training 8th-11th July
Strategic Vision
Kaitiaki Academy
It has been an exciting start for students and staff who attended thefirst Kaitiaki Academy last Thursday at Hau Ariki Marae. You can read more about this here.
There will be more Kaitiaki Academies coming up for students and interested teachers. Keep an eye out for these as they come up.
Teacher as Inquirer
All staff should have had a Poutama Pounamu observation by the end of this week, and some of you will find that this experience useful in helping you to formulate your inquiry for this year.
Over the next few weeks Juanita and I will be supporting teachers to refine their inquiry for 2019 during the Wednesday afternoon slots, so come along if you would like to discuss your ideas with one of us.
Learning groups will also be forming in the next few weeks. These groups will meet regularly, and will provide an opportunity to connect with our colleagues in the primary schools and share ideas etc. Like last year the focus areas will be:
Student Agency
Cultural responsiveness
Transitions
Hauora/Wellbeing
Digital Technologies
Writing and Literacy
Maths
STEAM
Pedagogy
Student Led Inquiry
We have set up a group of interested students who will work on a student led inquiry.
As part of this project we will be doing an inquiry into inquiry models that could potentially be developed as a Kuranui Model for inquiry. Juanita is looking at things from a transitions perspective and following on from last years investigation is interested in developing a model that we could use across the Kahui Ako.
Waka Project
Students are working on digitising our schools waka over the next few weeks. They are also creating videos that demonstrate our school values. These will all combine with the primary schools to form and interactive web experience.
