Kia ora koutou,

Whāia te mātauranga hei oranga mō koutou - seek after learning for the sake of your wellbeing.

This whakatauki (proverb) refers to the importance of learning for our own growth and wellbeing - if we follow the path of learning, we will be the better for it. This has certainly been the focus of the past week for us as a community. As a whole school we shared and celebrated our learning from our inquiry around 'Living Globally'. Our showcase performance last week showed dance, song, stories and wisdom from around the world and celebrated the wonderful diversity we have in our community.

We were delighted to share this with parents and whānau, and it was lovely that so many of you came to share it with us. We were incredibly proud of our tamariki; it was a big undertaking, as each group performed seven times on each day - an amazing 14 performances in all! We were particularly pleased that all tamariki across the school were involved in some way, even those who had only joined us very recently. Huge thanks goes out to all staff and parents involved in the performances in some way, and a heartfelt shout out to Onaitta and Angela who had oversight of the whole performance and the organisation behind the scenes. 

As this section of the inquiry came to a close, we reflected as a team on the key positives that have come out of this part of the learning. It was clear to us that the tuakana-teina approach (relationship between older and younger people) used in this inquiry brought clear benefits and engagement for students across the school. We noticed some great connections between tamariki of different ages, and the leadership that our older ākonga have shown has been wonderful. We are now looking to ensure that this tuakana-teina relationship is deliberately planned for and included in our learning programmes and inquiries next year.

Earlier last week kaiako (teachers) were also on a learning journey as part of our celebration of Diwali. Kirat and her husband, Manhor, very generously invited us into their home to celebrate Diwali and learn more about it. We learned about the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil, and of some of the different ways it is celebrated. We also enjoyed a wonderful feast of delicious treats, thanks to Kirat and her whānau. It was a fabulous way to gather together, learn more about this important festival and also learn more about those around us and in our lives. We are very grateful to Kirat and Manhor for inviting us to be part of this.

So, here’s to another exciting week ahead. May we all keep learning and celebrating together.

Ngā mihi nui,

Urs Cunningham