Dear Parents

As a school we are looking at how we as a multicultural, Christian community, can better reflect the bi-cultural nature of New Zealand.

It is our expressed desire that all our students flourish and have the best opportunities to succeed. Factors which promote success in education for Maori and Pasifika have been identified; one of the most significant influences on student success is the involvement of parents and whanau in the learning journey of their children. Partnership between parent, family and community is indispensable to the success of a student. This is one of the corner stones at JCS. Parents are invited to be part of educational discussions about their children. They need to be well informed and know how help with their child’s learning at home. This is something which has come up in the online survey out at the moment and something we are looking at improving going forward. There will be more real time reporting on what students are achieving and what they need to learn next and more resources given to parents to help their children with their learning. Quality teaching and learning and strong leadership and governance are also critical in allowing for educational success. Students learn best when new knowledge is hinged on what they already know. Making learning culturally accessible is a powerful incentive for successful learning. It is important to have high expectations and to be governed by potential and possibility rather than backward glances at historic failure. All students have the potential to succeed and improve and tend to perform better when they know they are believed in. Effective teaching and learning should be a two-way, interactive experience, (Ako) where both students and teachers are learning. Teachers should be reflective and base their practice on current research. The learning environment should reflect the culture of the community helping students to develop a strong sense of identity.

The staff and Board of Trustees who govern Jireh School are committed to serving all our students, giving them the best possible opportunities to succeed. We recognize that when a child’s culture, language and identify is affirmed and valued they will tend to be more engaged in their learning. The curriculum needs to reflect what they value and be responsive to their culture in content and pedagogy.

We have had a Korero with our Maori whanau this term and will be having a Fono with our Pasifika families tonight. We do this to engage with you as parents and hear how we can do things better for your children. Some of the initiatives that have come out of these talanoa are; staff are having regular PLD sessions to fill their kete with ideas on how to best teach te reo in class, the Advancing Pasifika Kids Homework Centre is running after school for four days a week with a focus on cultural identity and focussed learning. Funding has been secured to buy devices for students to use at the Homework Centre and for two teachers to help students with their learning.

Thank you to those parents who have filled in the online form regarding strategic development going forward. If you have not yet filled it in please do so as your feedback helps to inform our next steps in making our school and truly great place for students to learn.

Yours in His service

Sandra Bosman