Kia ora e te whānau

I hope it isn’t just me that is feeling like things are hard at the moment?!

There is plenty on and there is a general feeling of fatigue! Students are tired, staff are tired and the whole disruption with Covid and winter illnesses seems relentless! It has really challenged putting wellbeing practices that I teach and preach into practice in my own life and I feel like I am learning some lessons along the way! I promise the rest of this is going to be positive now I have got that out of the way! The first lesson I learnt recently about my own wellbeing is something that is probably pretty obvious to many! Tuesday came around, 3:30pm in fact and I realised I was late for staff Te Reo Māori lessons. I literally stood in the door way of my office wondering what to do. Do I finish off paperwork and maybe leave a bit earlier than normal or head over to the whare where we have a staff lesson every week. I hadn’t made it over to a lesson yet and I thought I would be behind. Something told me to just go, so without thinking any more about it I walked as quick as I could over to the whare, whipped my shoes off, realised I had a bad choice of socks on and joined straight in. No surprises with the outcome – I loved it! I learnt and laughed with people that I don’t see much around the College. The time flew, I now knew stuff I didn’t know before and walked back to my office buzzing. There is a lesson in that I reckon, and for me it was a reflection that I am energised by being around people and while there is always a place for sitting on the couch and watching TV, for me in that moment doing something with a purpose that is social did the trick!

Another really cool thing happened recently – I accompanied Beni Rae and Zyon Taukamo to an afternoon with Christchurch School Leaders to listen to the Prime Minister. It was so great and the Prime Minister was fabulous. She spoke openly about her time at school and her challenges and successes. Interestingly, she reflected on Christchurch Schools and their impressive uniforms. She said about being intimidated by these uniforms when she competed against schools from Ōtautahi in debating. In comparison, Morrinsville College had a jersey and a skirt. It struck a chord with me as I think I had the best dressed students there and they were in their own clothes! See the photo above and I’m sure you will agree with me. Two take away messages for me, from what the Prime Minister said, was firstly that at school and after she never saw herself as a leader. She fell into leadership roles as she was asked to do them not because she was self-promoting. She didn’t see herself that way. I think that is a great message for our rangatahi. Leadership can be lots of things and leadership doesn’t just come because you have a title - it is a way of working. You can also lead from the front, side or back! You don’t have to be the one up the front talking to people to lead. I love that at Te Puna Wai o Waipapa we don’t have those titles, anyone can join things like the student council and our clubs, activities and sport promote lots of students to explore their own style of leadership.

Secondly, the Prime Minister (it doesn’t seem right to casually use Jacinda) spoke very fondly of her High School history teacher as someone that was a huge influence on her and that really made me think. Are we teaching a future Prime Minister? Ok not just that, but the privilege that goes with being able to mentor and support young people in our classes as a teacher and never to underestimate the impact a teacher can have on their students. That is so powerful. This history teacher was fresh out of College and in her words: “He taught me how to think.” I found that really motivating and as for her ability to public speak – Wow! She was sharp, funny and super at relating to teenagers.

I look forward to catching up with you at parent teacher and conferencing evenings. As always if you want to get in touch, email is best – rw@hagley.school.nz

Nāku noa, nā

Rowan