Over the last two weeks, we have been unpacking and explicitly teaching the second of our new school values, Manaakitanga. Manaakitanga is about showing care and respect for ourselves and others.

Halswell students demonstrate Manaakitanga when they:

• use kind words and kind actions, and

• are in the right place at the right time.

At all levels across the school, teachers have been discussing these responsibilities with students and reminding them to demonstrate them both in class and in the playground, where our new Whānau rewards system is in use to acknowledge our values in action.

You can reinforce this value at home by:

• praising your children when they show kindness to others;

• when reading to your children or watching TV with them, discuss characters who are demonstrating manaakitanga;

• praise your children for being "in the right place at the right time" e.g. in bed on time, at the dinner table on time, ready for school in the mornings etc;

• do a random act of kindness family challenge;

• play an Empathy Game, and

• watch "The Science of Kindness" with your children.