This was an awesome opportunity to work on our resilience - trying something new - and showing our School Value of Manaakitanga as senior students ensured some of our youngest tamariki made the most of their sessions.

There was lots of excitement, fear, and anxiety  as Tui 3 and 4 took to the 'ice' on Wednesday 13th March. Some children couldn't wait while others had to find inner strength to try something new.

Following the Teacher only day, where staff learnt about how to build resilience in our students, it was great to have some Year 7 students willing to help, encourage and congratulate the efforts and bravery of the children, many of whom had never tried to skate before.

The smiles when things went right, the laughter when the skates won and the overall sense of accomplishment were awesome to see. Many children started with a chair or a helping hand but by the end of the session we witnessed increased mastery, pure pleasure and even a twirl or two. 

Such an awesome experience for our tamariki, pushing themselves out of their comfort zones and doing it anyway!

PS: the staff also took on the challenge with a curling competition but those pictures are unable to upload....