Kia ora, talofa lava, greetings everyone

One of our school strategic goals is to foster and grow Creativity for all students.  The word 'creativity' can be difficult to define, but the more I explore this, the deeper my understanding is becoming.  Creativity is something that is within us all, and it's not just limited to The Arts - it's much more than that.  

Creativity can be explored and developed through a range of ways,  things as simple as playing with friends.  It's also special in that creativity can be enhanced through the other Clearview Competencies.  For example, creating a solution or designing something new can be best done collaboratively,  or by being curious.  From a personal perspective, some of our best ideas have come from working together.  I value the creative ideas we can produce when bouncing ideas off each other.   Is this the same for you in your work or home life too?

Earlier this week, I traveled to Auckland to listen to Sir Ken Robinson speak about the importance of creativity in schools.    Back in 2006, Sir Ken Robinson spoke at a TED Conference about creativity and this captured the interest of millions of people across the world.  If you have a spare 20 mins, this is well worth a watch.  Ken Robinson's TED Talk

Attending this conference to hear him speak was uplifting for me.  He reminded me of the importance of providing our children with opportunities to find new passions and to explore their talents through a range of learning experiences.   This is something we are wanting to encourage, nurture and grow at Clearview.  We are currently into our second year of NPDL (New Pedagogies for Deep Learning) which is a project aimed at deepening student learning through the use of a robust framework developed through extensive research.  Creativity is one of the future focussed skills of NPDL.

So,  creativity has a strong presence at Clearview.  It's one of our strategic goals as well as a  Clearview Competency.   We believe it's just as important now as it will be in the future.  The world simply needs it. 

On a different note, on Sunday this weekend, we look forward to the Clearview Fete and this event will be an amazing opportunity to bring our local community together.  Thank you very much to everyone involved in making this event happen.  Also to the volunteers helping on the day and to all of the families who have contributed by selling raffle tickets, donating goods, sponsoring the fete and much more.  

The weather is looking great for Sunday, so I hope to see as many of you there as possible....bring a friend and spread the word.

Naku iti nei, na

Rob Rush

Principal/Tumuaki