Nau mai haere mai, talofa lava, mālō e lelei, warm greetings parents and whanau

I have just spent four days travelling to support student events including Cantrices at the Big Sing Chorale finale in Dunedin and the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ National Tournament – Senior A Hockey in Auckland and Senior A Netball and Basketball in Nelson. I have been able to see superb performance, healthy competitive spirit and great teamwork. All through this our students were having fun and enjoying each other’s company and the experience of being away together. There was a wonderful camaraderie, support for each other and a healthy balanced attitude to the game of competing.

Six major New Zealand youth sport organisations (NZ Cricket, Netball, Rugby, Hockey, Football and Sport NZ) are taking a new approach to youth sport development and have launched their commitment this week. The key tenets are:

• Ensure all young people have a quality experience regardless of competition level
• Lead attitudinal and behavioural change among sport leaders, coaches, managers, parents and caregivers
• Provide leadership to sports in support of changes to competition structures and player development opportunities
• Work with sports and schools to keep minds open while identifying talent during the teen years and review regional and national tournaments to offer opportunities to more young people
• Support young people to play multiple sports
• Raise awareness of the risk of overtraining and overloading

These six tenets could also translate very effectively to schools and education leaders as we think about the future:

• Ensure all young people have a quality teaching and learning experience regardless of ability or qualification level
• Lead attitudinal and behavioural change around education among school leaders, teachers, parents and caregivers
• Provide leadership in schools in support of changes to structures and student development opportunities
• Work with schools, leaders and teachers to keep minds open while identifying talent during teen years and offer diverse opportunities to recognise and develop multiple forms of intelligence and ability
• Support young people to engage in multiple learning pathways and opportunities
• Raise awareness of the risk of focusing on narrow targets and overloading unrealistic and unhealthy expectations on our young people

A perfect example of new and diverse pathways of learning and community engagement was displayed last week when our Year 10 class welcomed new refugees to Christchurch with a waiata and gift packs collected by our students. I was so proud to see this learning in compassion, empathy, generosity and cultural diversity.

Food for thought! 

Ngā mihi nui

Christine O’Neill