Our staff really enjoyed the opportunity to visit other schools last Friday. It is always such a privilege to observe other teachers in school settings and reflect on our practices at the same time.

One of the practices we learned about that really appealed to us was 'Play Eat Learn'. Several schools have embraced this concept following the research Dr Kathleen Liberty, an Associate Professor at the University of Canterbury, lead and undertook after the Canterbury earthquakes. To help children to focus on their learning, the practice reverses times for morning tea, lunch and play so that children play first then return to their learning studios, to eat and be calmer and ready to learn.

Research shows the body physiologically responds differently to the two activities – Playing and Eating:

Play – the body response is more aroused and heightened.

Eat – the body response is to naturally calm.

The aim is to provide a time to focus on eating in a calm, settled way and then transition into learning programmes. We are considering how this might benefit us at our school and would welcome any feedback you may have.

On Monday evening we thanked Lee James and Shannon Spencer for the amazing job they have done in the past two years as Chairperson and Secretary of our PTA: GROW WRPS. Thank you to the numbers of parents who put their names forward for these lead roles.  It was humbling to listen to the passion these parents have for making a difference for our learners. Thank you to Nadia Ilalio who will continue as our Treasurer. Congratulations to the newly elected Chairperson Kylie Drake, and the newly elected Secretary Kelly Ewens. We know you will continue to work tirelessly for our school community in your new roles and I hope you are well supported by our parents and whānau. If you would like to be involved but you are not sure how then you can leave your name at the office and someone from GROW will contact you.

Ngā mihi nui

Sylvia