What we did on our staff only day ...

Term 2 Staff Only Professional Development Day

Educators from the Uru Mānuka Kāhui Ako gathered together at the Hornby Club for the day to immerse ourselves into understanding, responding, and developing our own culturally responsive practices for our tamariki and their whānau. The day allowed us to collectively discuss, and explore our current practices to better serve and empower our Māori students and their whānau.

Exploring the Niho Taniwha model allowed us to organise our thoughts and ideas, through a clear learning cycle to investigate our own understandings and pathways.

Whai - new learning, my own wonderings, connecting with others, gathering evidence.

Ako - Learning to deepen knowledge, challenging previously help concepts

Mau - connecting to new skills, learning and understandings

Tipu - Action, responding to our own new learning.

An important component of the day was the opportunity to korero with colleagues from both our own kura and others, serving to better deepen our understanding of culturally responsive practices and beliefs. For many staff, building relationships that go beyond the surface was a major takeaway. Listening and truly understanding the people that we work with is important when developing this key skill and building strong, respectful relationships.