Kowhai and Kowhai Iti have been working hard on designing Initiative Courses. This idea came from our Year 5 & 6 camp when we did an initiatives course. The students have worked in groups to identify the 6C’s which they used, and the reasons why we would need an Initiatives Course at Wharenui School. They wrote persuasive arguments in their groups and the final one which was read to the Board of Trustees had a part from every group’s persuasive argument (please see below). The groups worked at designing their course on Tinkercad, a programme which helped to develop their structures in 3D (please see below) which the students presented to the Board of Trustees last Thursday night.

Persuasive Argument

We are from Kowhai & Kowhai Iti & we strongly believe that we ought to have an exciting, fun, Initiatives Course for Years 5-8.

Although we have an amazing playground already built, (thank you by the way) we would like to build a full Initiatives Course for the school. A reason why is that we would like to build a place with plenty of mental & physical challenges for children to build up their confidence, happiness, & use our 6 C’s. A playground is a place to play & burn off energy. An Initiatives Course is a place to challenge yourself & work with other people within the school to build relationships. An Initiatives Course will build up brain development & trust around others, along with agility & balance.

Firstly, let's explain the 6 C’s, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, creativity, citizenship, & character. We believe that all of these skills can be practiced, & perfected. It will be possible, (if you allow us to build this) to be able to use the 6 C’s to help improve your body of knowledge & strength. For example; when we did the Initiatives Course at camp we saw Ethan, a Kowhai student, using his communication skills to help his groups get through a challenge. We all used collaboration to help each other get through as a group, sharing ideas and giving them a go. We used our creativity to come up with solutions for the problems, which we tried out when solving the difficult challenges. There are so many more examples of the C’s that could be used when we make the Initiatives Course.

Having an Initiatives Course, also increases a child’s use of the large muscles in the body to allow for balance, coordination, reaction time, & physical strength so that we can do bigger movements, such as larger leaps & faster speeds.

Also, if you do not get enough physical activity, it can lead to heart disease, obesity, & many other health conditions. We hear about things like that on the news all the time, children not getting enough exercise. Therefore, it is important, for children, and pre-teens, to exercise their minds and bodies regularly.

Now let's talk about the psychological upsides. An Initiatives Course will have individual, solitary, challenges to do yourself, but also some that would include working in groups, coming up with creative solutions with other people. During that, you’d have a chance to collaborate & communicate with possible future friends, while building up our own

mental trust & thought process. This would relax your mind, resetting & recharging you for the day ahead so you can be more concentrated when it's time to come back inside.

Lastly, with all these designs and reasons we hope this will convince you to give us permission to have an Initiatives Course at Wharenui School. Thank you!