This article comes to you from Melbourne.

Nunungeri nuningai

I write this article while sitting at the Future Schools Conference in Melbourne. I am here with our Aupaki Kahui Ako principals (our Community of Learning - CoL). The keynote speaker is Sir Ken Robinson. Many of you will seen his Ted Talk that on creativity that has been viewed over fifteen million times (Do Schools Kill Creativity). Being away gives the opportunity to network, discuss and challenge thinking around our own practice and the future direction of education. While here we have also visited several schools. It has certainly been an enjoyable experience and once I have returned and been able to reflect on my own learning, I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you.

In the previous newsletter, we had a snippet advertising the upcoming PTA (Parent Teacher Association) meeting. I am pleased to announce that we had an outstanding turnout. 20+ parents attended! Part of this initial meeting was about sharing the re-structure of the organisation. We are returning to having a class representative for each class. This role will be to communicate information back to parents, cheerlead for events and coordinate possible helpers for specific events where needed. We are working on the fact if every parent donated 4 hours to help support one event, we would have more than enough support and help to run the events over the year. When you think of it that way, it is totally achievable. Interestingly, this was one of Sir Ken Robinson's main principles around the future of education emphasising that parents being active parts of their child’s school is even more important. Not just around the academic progress, but being connected and participating as part of the ‘culture’ of the school. We certainly felt great with the level of support at this last meeting and look forward to seeing even more at our next meeting.

Teacher Only Day 

As you will be aware, next Thursday is a Teacher Only Day (ToD). These days are planned into the year where teachers have opportunities to come together on specific professional learning opportunities. You may be aware that the Aupaki Kahui Ako (AKA) is focussing on two achievement challenges:

• Writing more specifically boys writing (which is a national priority)

• Culturally responsive practice. 
  

This year, the ToD is to be held at the Rapaki Marae with all the staff from the AKA across the seven schools. Our keynote speaker is Murray Gadd who is highly regarded in the development of literacy. As a cluster we will then be working together over a sustained period of time to improve our practice in these areas.

Immediately after the Teacher Only Day, we have our Easter break. I have had a few questions regarding why we are closed on the Tuesday as well. In fact, many years ago, Easter was in the middle of Term 1 and the Tuesday was an official holiday. This has not been well known as usually Easter falls within the term break. This year Easter is earlier than normal. So… we hope our students enjoy the slightly longer Easter break. For those who are working, OSCAR will be open for the both the Thursday and the Tuesday.

Parking

I am told that this week parking has been a real issue. We had some problem last week on Cannon Hill Crescent with cars parking across yellow lines and making visibility difficult for children crossing the road. We also have a similar challenge on Major Hornbook with cars not rolling forward in the parking zone outside the main entrance. It’s timely to reflect on the importance of ensuring our road behaviour protects the students as they exit from the school at the end of the day. We appreciate these areas are challenging but ask for your cooperation to ensure the the safety of all community members.

Finally, it is my pleasure to announce we have a new librarian. Kristy Millar has been appointed to this position and we look forward to welcoming her to our staff. Kristy is a parent and has two sons at our school. I know the students will be excited to meet her and she has some exciting plans to share as she settles into this important role at MPS.

Yaluu maliyaa

Chris Nord