At the moment we are looking at the concept of 'Active Listening', or 'Whole Body Listening' which comes under our school value of Manaakitanga.

Listening is one of the most important skills we can develop. How well we listen has a major impact on our learning, as well as the quality of our relationships with others.

Research suggests that we only remember between 25 percent and 50 percent of what we hear. That means that when we talk to our students, colleagues, customers, or even our spouse, for 10 minutes, they pay attention to less than half of the conversation!

The way to improve our listening skills is to practice "active listening." This is where we make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, the complete message being communicated, by using our whole body.

We will be teaching our children to look at the person talking, to think carefully about what the person has said, to hear the key words or message, to share their ideas once that person has finished talking, to show empathy to the person talking (maybe by nodding, or smiling), to stand or sit quietly while listening, and to face the speaker.