Te Puke ō Taramainuku

Kāhui Ako

“Ko te akoranga e kore e mimiti”

Learning without limits

This is a working document that we expect will change and evolve as we work towards strengthening the pathway that our Kāhui Ako will be traveling on.

Our journey will be a collective one with contributions from all within our learning community, respectful of all cultures and individual beliefs.

We will maintain the integrity and purpose of our partnership with the Tiriti of Waitangi and the unique and special aspect of Te Ao Māori.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

• Our Kāhui Ako
• Our Schools
• Vision, Mission and Values
• Sharing our Journey
• Our Kāhui Ako Structure for Collaboration

2. Achievement Challenge

1. High Level Plan
2. Academic Challenges/Student Voice
3. Change levers / Key drivers
4. Our Process Targets: The ‘ How’
5. Our Learning Areas: The ‘ What’
6. Learning Support
7. Community Connections
8. Inquiry Methods
9. Monitoring and evaluation
10. Kāhui Ako Learning Development
11. Reporting
12. Appendix

1. Introduction Our Kāhui Ako:  Our journey

During Term 2 of 2017 Ministry of Education staff presented to the Otara Principals Association information about Kāhui Ako (Community of Learning). The opportunity was afforded Principal’s to share this information with their Board of Trustees and to decide if being part of a Kāhui Ako was something that they wanted to do.

Initial discussions for a possible Kāhui Ako (Community of Learning) took place in Term 3 of 2017 at Flat Bush School with those schools who had made an indication of interest.

Principals’ from Flat Bush, Tangaroa College, Rongomai and Ferguson Intermediate attended with the school’s Ministry of Education Senior Advisor and Lead Education Advisor.

Plans were made for a Kāhui Ako information evening for all school’s Board of Trustees. This meeting took place at Tangaroa College with input from the Lead Education Advisor and other Ministry staff.

Following this meeting each school indicated they would like to join a Kāhui Ako, this was communicated to the Ministry and the Tangaroa Kāhui Ako was created. In Term 1, 2018 the Lead Principal role was advertised and filled.

In Terms 2 and 3 of 2018 members of our Kāhui Ako met, initially the four Principals and then a wider group encompassing each school’s Senior Management teams. The meetings enabled us to identify the purpose for our Kāhui Ako, our Vision and Mission Statement.

In Term 2 we confirmed our Expert Partner, Dr Jan Robertson.

During Term 3, 2018 the name of the Kāhui Ako officially changed from ‘Tangaroa’ to ‘Te Puke ō Taramainuku Kāhui Ako’ with the full endorsement and support of our kaumatua Te Teira Rawiri. As shared by Te Teira; “Te Puke ō Taramainuku was one of two taniwha who lived in the Manukau Harbour. He provided support and protection for the Tainui waka when it crossed Te Tō Waka between the Tamaki River and the Manukau Harbour. Te Puke ō Taramainuku escorted the waka until it reached its final destination at Kawhia”. Therefore, our Kāhui Ako carries a name that is representative of  support, protection and guidance for all of our students, their whanau and each member of our learning community.

At the end of Term 3  we had identified the key themes and challenges through a process of collaborative sense-making of school’s achievement data. We would be focused on Academic challenges in Writing and Mathematics with process targets in learner agency, well being, Science and student retention. In Term 3, 2018 the decision was made for our process target of Science to be  extended out to encompass the STEM subject areas, i.e. Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Our Schools and Early Learning Services

The Schools and Early Learning Services in the Te Puke ō Taramainuku Kāhui Ako are located within a 5km radius of each other. Geographically we are close and the pathway that our students traditionally follow is from the end of Year 6 to Ferguson Intermediate and then from Year 9 to Tangaroa College.

Flat Bush Kindergarten

Flat Bush is a decile 1 school in Otara, Manukau City, established in 1964.

The school has a roll of between 440-460 students.

Our Vision for ‘ kia angitu tātou katoa’ which translates to Success for all.

Flat Bush School’s Values are:

• Tū pono: we know who we are
• Arohatia: we encourage others
• Atawhai: we help others
• Mahi Ngatahi: we work as a team
• Manaakitanga: we care about others
• Whakawhanaungatanga: we work for each other

We serve a predominantly Pasifika Maori community, with a significant number of English language learners.

We have engaged the support of our local Early Childhood Centres, and continue to be involved in the Working Together programme as a means of improving participation in Early learning.

Our children come from a variety of Pacific backgrounds and Iwi. In 2018 our specialist classes included three Samoan Focus classes, 12 e-learning classes, a Maori focus class (Nga Manaakitanga), the Garden to Table Programme, specialist art classes and specialist drumming classes for all year levels as well as Kapahaka lessons for Nga Manaakitanga.

Our school includes a satellite unit from Mt Richmond Special School consisting of two classrooms. This was completely refurbished in 2017.  

We have close links to our local kindergarten which borders our school grounds.

In 2019 we will be operating within 3 learning teams with each team consisting of six classrooms.

Tangaroa College is committed to meeting the educational aspirations and needs of all students. There are strong links to the community’s other educational establishments.

The school continues to forge and build on partnerships with tertiary and industry organisations (eg, the Health Science Academy partnership with Counties Manukau District Health Board) so that students can be supported in their pathway to continued education and employment.

Tangaroa College is a state co-educational secondary school catering for students from years 9 to 13. The school is located in the Otara suburb of Manukau City some 25 kilometres from downtown Auckland. The College opened in 1976.

It grew rapidly from a roll of 450 students in 2002 to a roll of 1050 students in 2011. The roll of this multi-ethnic college has: 80% Pacific Islands students (Samoan 45%, Cook Island Maori 21%, Tongan 14%), 12% Māori, 2% Indian and 6 % other. The school roll remains around 1050 which is near our desired upper limit as this size enables us to provide a wide range of curricula options as well as maintain a strong one-onone focus on assisting students to plan and achieve their learning goals.

The student population is a reflection of the local community. It contains very vibrant communities, strong in Maori and Pasifika values, proud of their cultural heritage and expecting quality learning outcomes for their children. The college reinforces these values and reflects the community’s wishes that all cultures are positively affirmed in the school and all students receive a well rounded education.The school is an exciting, innovative organisation; it prides itself on the opportunities and support it gives the students.

The curriculum programmes are based on the needs of the students and the quality staff has high expectations for student success. The curriculum programmes are supported by a wide range of cultural and sporting activities.

Rongomai School has a proud, rich heritage. Rongomai, was a chief on the Mahuhu canoe. His whanau settled in Kaipara around 1225. Legend has it that around 1350 his canoe came to rest near our site on the East Tamaki estuary.

VISION

Whaia te iti kahurangi, ki tūohu koe, me he māunga teitei.

Aspire to the greatest heights, should you bow, be it to a lofty mountain

MISSION STATEMENT

Empowered to take risks, determined to succeed

VALUES

R – Respect

I – Integrity

C – Courage

H – Heritage

The Rongomai School Community is inquisitive, reflective and aims to fully utilise the values that underpin what we do and why we do it (what is important to us) so that we can be successful academically, socially, culturally and also be competent in anything we choose to do.

This means that we identify who we are, being more aware of Māori and Pacific cultures, having the opportunities to celebrate these, having a strong sense of our cultural identity.

Ferguson Intermediate

Ferguson Intermediate, Otara caters for students from Years 7 to 8. The roll of close to 450 students comprises approximately 23 percent Māori students, 45 percent Samoan and a further 32 percent made up of Tongan, Niuean, Pākehā and other students.

Flat Bush Kindergarten   

Our kindergarten has a professional, qualified teaching team with a passion for providing early childhood education in Flat Bush. Teachers work alongside the children and develop their individual interests and strengths, providing quality learning and growth opportunities for our precious little ones.

Inclusivity is a focus here, and diversity of all kinds is celebrated and valued. We believe that each person is unique and that we can embrace those differences as a way to learn from each other and about ourselves. A creative and innovative curriculum is a key factor in the kindergarten experience.

Whanau plays a very important role in the learning of our children, and we encourage family and community involvement in our programmes. We follow the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, Te Whāriki. This is based around five principles of learning: wellbeing (mana atua) belonging (mana whenua), contribution (mana tangata), communication (mana reo) and exploration (mana aoturoa).

Sathya Sai preschool- Rongomai    

Sathya Sai Preschool - Rongomai is a privately owned and operated service that offers a free education and care service for children and their families. The centre is owned by 'The Sathya Sai Values Education & Services Trust (NZ)'. It operates under the principles and human values of right conduct, peace, truth, love and non-violence. The centre is located in the grounds of Rongomai School in Otara, Auckland, and caters for up to 40 children over two years of age.

This service has a higher proportion of qualified or trained teachers/ educators. The service operates on a small and personal scale for children and families. It is what we call a 'boutique' early childhood service.

The Trust is represented on site by the centre’s long-serving licensee/signatory. The licensee models the values of the organisation and is responsible for ensuring that they are followed. She is committed to community involvement and empowerment. She appoints local people and encourages them to extend their work experiences and qualifications over time.

Who are our learners?  (source as at 1.07.18)

Our Vision, Mission and Values

Vision Statement

Our Vision was created over a series of sessions that involved Principals, Deputy Principals, Associate Principals, BOT members, teachers, support staff our students and community having the opportunity to have input into what this vision would be.

Through this collective voice an underlying theme was clear, our Te Puke ō Taramainuku Kāhui Ako would be delivered as a platform that would build on the work already done and…

“ to  continue to have an inclusive community, that evokes and enables lifelong learning ”

“learning without limits”

Inclusive:

• all stakeholders, students, staff, whanau, local community, Community groups/organisations, tangata whenua (points of view are respected and valued)

What is a community:

• everyone, students, staff, tangata whenua,  whanau, businesses, supporters of the school

Evokes: 

• draws on our own identity/who we are/knowing who we are/culture, identity, language, Pride in who we are and where we are from

Lifelong learning:

• being successful into the future, having the knowledge and skills to achieve, being happy

• Being able to overcome challenges that come into their lives and having the skills to overcome them (resilience)

From the formative conversations related to forming a Kāhui Ako a very valuable attribute has been evident. That attribute is the strong relational trust that exists between the Principals of the four schools that displayed an indication of interest. These positive relationships enabled the Kāhui Ako to be formed upon a strong foundation.

From initial meetings with Principals and Ministry personnel, to the combined Board of Trustees meeting at the end of 2017 the focus has been on improving learning outcomes for the students in our schools.

This is aligned with Michael Fullan’s referral of the ‘moral compass’ that leaders need to have when leading change. Our collective compass is pointed towards our students utilising education as an instrument of change. This change ultimately resulting in an improved quality of life for themselves and their whānau/aiga/anau/…

With our ‘why’ firmly established our Kāhui Ako moved into a new space and we began to investigate into the common achievement threads that were challenging in our schools.

The support and encouragement that each school’s Board of Trustees have given to the Kāhui Ako has been an added bonus.  

As we have progressed our meetings have included members of our school’s Senior Management Teams, these have included our Associate and Deputy Principals. The increasing size of our group has transitioned well, a result of the unity that the Principals have shown for each other and the shared belief in the purpose of our Kāhui Ako.

Through meeting regularly and using this time effectively we have established our Academic Challenges and Process Targets.

STRUCTURE FOR COLLABORATION

Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological framework encourages us to look deeply into the interconnectedness that exists in our learners' lives.

Our structure for collaboration places our School Communities central to those factors that influence and impact on learner outcomes. As our learners move through different stages of their educational pathway they require the support and guidance of all.

HIGH LEVEL PLAN

We will make a difference to the achievement of our learners if we work collaboratively with our community in ways that are authentic, robust and focus on learning partnerships.

Building a local curriculum for our Kāhui Ako

Collaboration within our Kāhui Ako will enable us to develop a local curriculum that will support learning programmes across all sectors. A  local curriculum is the curriculum   delivered by a school/kura/Kahui Ako within  the broad framework of the NZ  Curriculum,   but   reflecting the principles, values, competencies, and learning contexts identified by  schools and their local community to provide authentic learning pathways for their ākonga. We will be empowering our learners through gaining an insight into how learning can take place beyond our individual centres and schools. A rich tapestry of experiences will be threaded together, making the most effective use of local resources, powered by the expectations and vision of our community for their child’s learning journey. Our local curriculum will engage all stakeholders and solidify our partnership with local iwi.

Our Kāhui Ako will maximise the resources available Local Curriculum Design . We will appoint an Across School Leader to drive this initiative. Their role will include the unpacking of the four tools and to facilitate our curriculum communities to engage in robust conversations about what our local curriculum will be for all of our learners. Support via Coaching and Mentoring for our ASL/WSL will be provided by our Expert Partner Dr Jan Robertson and our Ministry personnel.

Academic Challenges

Student Voice

In October, 2018 we invited a group of learners from each of our schools to be part of a ‘Think tank.’  Learners  were asked to answer these questions:

• What is good learning for you?
• What capabilities and understandings do you need to be successful in the future?
• How do you know you have learned something/what helped make that happen?
• In writing/maths what has it helped you to make progress with your learning?
• What makes a good teacher?

Our learners demonstrated a positive attitude towards their learning and a disposition to be challenged. Their responses to the questions relating to future focused learning exhibited an awareness of the speed at which the modern world changes. They also shared how working in groups was preferred and that they wanted teachers to extend them in their learning.

Our learners also commented on how they liked getting feedback from their teachers, and being able to use this feedback to help them learn more.

Student responses can be read at by following these links

Student responses Team 1  Student responses Team

Key Drivers

The following three drivers and theories of improvement underpin our thinking and actions, and are the interconnecting constructs of our model of practice.  Each of our schools comes with a set of beliefs about pedagogy that they have developed collaboratively, encompassing their charter and understanding of their student achievement data. The shift in teacher practice will be enhanced and inspired by these drivers.

Process targets

1. Learner  Well being (Years 0-13)
2. STEAM  (Years 0-13)
3. Retention - Attendance and engagement / transition (Years 0-13)

ACHIEVEMENT CHALLENGES    

Analysis of data that looked at trends and patterns, from all schools clearly identified a need in Writing. We have used 2017 overall teacher judgement achievement data as our baseline data for Years 1-8 and 2018 end of year overall teacher judgements for Year 10 Writing.

This is the first stage of scanning for our Spiral of Inquiry and will be used for determining our next steps in addressing the achievement challenge.  We will use current baseline data as a start point to drill down and identify particular needs to inform our spiral inquiries.

1. ACHIEVEMENT CHALLENGE  1:   WRITING  :  Years 1- 10

WRITING  Year 1 - 8

 Writing - Year 10

ACHIEVEMENT CHALLENGE  2:  MATHEMATICS  - Years 1-8

MATHEMATICS  Years 1 - 8

ACHIEVEMENT CHALLENGE 3 : LITERACY ACROSS NCEA LEVELS 2 and 3 - Increasing numbers of Students with UE Literacy credits

LEARNING SUPPORT

Our Kāhui Ako Schools, Kura, Early Learning Services (ECE) services and Ngā Kōhanga Reo working together with specialists, iwi and providers to identify what the needs of the community  make decisions about the best use of local resources, and address needs earlier.

Our Kāhui Ako schools will partner with students/family/whānau and agency professionals to foster learning, equity and to ensure an inclusive approach. At times, students may be prioritised by schools and the wider Kāhui Ako for additional support for learning and hauora, and we recognise that some students may require intensive or ongoing support from learning support agencies.

A key focus for the Kāhui Ako is to ensure that all students have equal opportunities and equity to learn as set out in the Universal Design Learning Framework on the MOE inclusive education website. Key aspects of learning support within our Kāhui Ako :

• Strengthen inclusion for all learners in our Kāhui Ako
• Utilise and coordinate how learning support (previously called special education) is delivered across our Kāhui Ako
• One plan that provides joined up and tailored support to meet a student’s individual needs.
• Constructive and purposeful sharing of student information is essential and will be carried out with a duty of care, and so they can plan for needs across the community.
• Ensuring that students and whanau are supported by school and learning support agencies if and when transitioning to new schools with regards to previous interventions. This is in an effort to ensure purposeful sharing of support and interventions to enable students to continue their learning journey when moving from school to school.
• Decision-making through collaboration among schools, family/ whānau and associated agencies as equal partners and involving students to the greatest extent possible.
• Connecting with wider social services in the local and broader community.
• Helping families/whānau understand the ways additional support can be requested and delivered, and supporting families when learning support is requested.
• Develop an understanding of the new Learning support delivery model: 6 elements

COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY APPROACH

“Collaborative inquiry holds the potential to transform learning, leading and teaching”.       - Jenni Donohoo

Schools in our Kāhui Ako are currently using versions of Inquiry that differ. Through the creation of our local curriculum the opportunity will be there  to develop our own collaborative inquiry approach based on existing inquiry models. Recent findings from John Hattie’s Visible Learning Research 2017, indicate that building collaborative teacher efficacy has the biggest/newest effect size in improving student outcomes. According to Katz, Dack and Earl 2009 “collaborative inquiry” involves two components ‐ collaboration (working together) and inquiry (a search for deep understanding).”

Using an inquiry approach, such as the spiral of inquiry in its various forms, teachers can explore the impact they are having on student learning. Through collaborative inquiry, teachers integrate new knowledge and understanding of student learning and classroom instruction into their existing knowledge of professional practice

Through discussion between Senior Leaders in Term 1, 2019 we know that Helen Timperley’s Spiral of Inquiry is one that all school leaders are familiar with.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Monitoring and evaluating the impact of any changes made is crucial to enhance educational outcomes for all students. Through robust analysing of information collected we will be able to ask and answer.

• What has happened as a result of our improvement actions?
• What evidence do we have of our impact?
• Is this good enough?
• Do we need to adjust what we are doing?
• What are we learning here?
• Where to next?

A wide range of methods and tools will be utilised or developed to measure the progress of the Kāhui Ako  in working towards or successfully attaining set targets and engaging all learners in our community.

This model will include:

● Analysis of student achievement data from the beginning and at the end of the year - with supporting commentary that evaluates results in relation to the set targets.

● Analysis of evidence of any changes in pedagogy, school practice or culture that has had an effect on the proposed outcomes of the target areas within the plan.

● A review of the roles of parents, whānau, student and teacher voice being an integral facet in the delivery of the plan.

Some tools and measures the Kāhui Ako will utilise includes:

Te Puke ō Taramainuku Learning Development:

Evaluation for continuous improvement will strengthen our thriving community.

Our Kāhui Ako will assess progress as a community regularly using the Ministry of Education’s Development maps:  Guide to understanding the progress of a Community of Learning/Kāhui Ako (2017).

REPORTING

Reporting to the Community and Boards of Trustees of the Kāhui Ako. The Kāhui Ako leader and the leadership group will coordinate the preparation of reports for Boards of Trustees to be supplied three times a year.

These reports will cover:

• Achievement challenges and priorities.
• Key aspects of implementation of the plan in regard to the achievement challenges.
• Charters: Each school’s Charter for 2020 will reflect the key drivers and achievement challenges of the Kāhui ako and these will be reported on in its Analysis of Variance.
• Analysis of student achievement data from the beginning and the end of year with supporting commentary that evaluates results in relation to set targets.
• Analysis of evidence of any changes in pedagogy, school practice or culture that impacts the proposed outcomes of the plan.
• Impact stories through qualitative and quantitative evidence.
• Commentary on any issues that may arise in relation to any and all facets that concern the plan or those influenced by the plan.

Whakatauki

“E hara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takimano, takitini”

Success is not the work of one, but the work of many.

Te Puke ō Taramainuku Kāhui Ako Memorandum of Agreement

PARTIES TO THE AGREEMENT

The following schools: Ferguson Intermediate, Flat Bush School, Rongomai Primary, Tangaroa College and the Tangaroa College Teen Unit and the Sathya Sai Preschool Rongomai  are party to this agreement and form a Kāhui Ako under the title of Te Puke ō Taramainuku.

AGREEMENT PURPOSE

UNDERTAKING TO WORK AS A COMMUNITY OF LEARNING

The Boards of Trustees and principals of the schools identified above undertake to work collaboratively as a Kāhui Ako to raise student achievement.

AGREEMENT TIMEFRAME

TERM OF AGREEMENT:

This Agreement is for a period of four years commencing from May 2018

AGREEMENT REVIEW: Two years prior to the end of this term, the schools in the Kāhui Ako will formally review whether to continue with its current composition.

SHARED ACHIEVEMENT CHALLENGES PLAN

We will create a shared achievement challenges plan

HOW WE WILL WORK TOGETHER

We will identify  shared achievement challenges that are relevant to the needs of the students within our schools.

 We will collaboratively develop a shared achievement challenges plan to address these shared achievement challenges in order to achieve the valued outcome we seek.

We will utilise and manage the dedicated resources provided (the Kāhui Ak  leadership and teacher roles and associated Inquiry Time) to best implement the plan.

We will involve parents, students, families whānau and communities in implementing the plan

Individual Boards will reference the Kāhui Ako plan within their own individual schools’ Charters along with the goals/objectives related to the needs of their own students.

We will implement systems for monitoring, reviewing and adapting the plan as necessary.

We will establish and operate an operational structure to manage the processes to implement the plan.

VARIATIONS TO THE ACHIEVEMENT PLAN

If changes are made to the shared achievement challenges plan an amendment to the plan will be attached to this original Agreement. Substantial changes could include:

• the challenges being addressed
• the approaches used to address them
• changes to milestone/review dates.

Substantial changes will necessitate our Kāhui Ako to agree to the amended plan.

PRIVACY

The Community of Schools Privacy Protocol (as set out in appendix 1 of the Community of Learning (Schools) Guide for Schools and Kura), which is compliant with the Privacy Act 1993, and the Official Information Act 1982 (sharing of aggregated data), has been adopted by our Kāhui Ako. All participating Boards agree to comply with and to ensure compliance with the privacy protocol when dealing with personal information about leaders, teachers, students’, parents, families, and whānau. The privacy protocol is attached as an appendix (1)

VARIATIONS

We acknowledge that the following must be recorded as an amendment to this Agreement and the Ministry of Education informed as per the following:

a) Change to the composition of this Kāhui Ako:

i) Joining: Where a kura/school is to join our Kāhui Ako, the Ministry of Education is to be informed of this prior to the change taking effect.

 ii) Withdrawing: Where any Board elects to leave our Kāhui Ako, they will provide notice no later than the end of term two to our Community of Learning and the Ministry of Education. The withdrawal will take effect from the start of the following school year.

This does not preclude a withdrawing kura/school from participating in another  Kāhui Ako without resourcing during this period of notice.

b) We acknowledge that our agreement to clauses A(a)(i) and (ii) have resourcing and employment relations implications for the schools in our Kāhui Ako. 

Particularly:

1. Where one of the roles is employed by a departing school.

2. Where the departing school is critical to the maintenance of the student pathway within the Kāhui Ako.

c) Changes to the composition of our Kāhui Ako  will require:

1. Approval by the Ministry of Education.

ii)   Amendment to the list of signatories to this Agreement.

d) Disestablishment of the Community of Learning: 

If prior to the termination date of this agreement, our Kāhui Ako determines to disestablish, we will notify the Ministry of Education of this intent immediately. We acknowledge the same conditions as in clause (A)(a)(ii) ‘Withdrawing’ apply to disestablishment.

APPENDIX

1. Working Together Overview/Structure for Working Together Learning Partnership/Working Together Implementation

2. Well Being Models Sir Mason Durie’s Whare Tapawha  and Karl Endemann’s Fonofale

3. Learner Agency (iv)

Working Together

( Learning Partnership in Action)

Working Together is a home-school learning partnership that seeks to accelerate learning progress and achievement for Flat Bush School students in their first 40 weeks at school.

It seeks to foster the active engagement of whānau in learning partnerships.

Whānau work with a coordinator to develop the knowledge necessary for them to support the development of core skills in their children. They are provided with tools to support learning with their children.

Working Together at Flat Bush School has been adapted from the Mutukaroa project which is underpinned by the findings of the Best Evidence Synthesis The Complexity of Community and Family Influences in Children’s Achievement in New Zealand .

Originally developed at Sylvia Park School, the Mutukaroa approach is designed to foster the development of fully engaged whānau who understand assessment.

Key components (How Working Together works) Working Together

Learners are assessed on school entry at 5 years old then again at 5 ½ years, 6 with the intention of tracking progress during their time at school. At each stage of the assessment process the coordinator reviews the data, discusses any issues with the teacher, and agrees the next steps in the child’s learning journey.

Next steps complement and support what teachers are doing in the classroom. Whānau are invited to a 45 minute – 1 hour meeting with the coordinator to discuss the assessment data and learning targets.  The coordinator utilises a learning framework and tool set to offer whānau structured and specific advice about how to support their child’s learning.

Structure for Learning Partnership

We will appoint an Across School Leader to drive this initiative. Their role will include leading the team of Within School Leaders who will drive WT in their centres/schools. Support via Coaching and Mentoring for our ASL/WSL will be provided by our expert partner Dr Jan Robertson

Sir Mason Durie’s Whare Tapawha

Each of the 4 concepts are applicable to student physical and psychological states which feed into their overall well-being.

• Taha Wairua/spiritual well-being

Supporting our learners to explore their relationship and understanding with their environments the people they interact with and their own culture abd heritage (tu pono)

• Taha hinengaro/mental and emotional well being

Actively encouraging our learners to share their thoughts, feelings and behaviour with their teachers and peers (whanaungatanga)

Communication through emotions is important and more meaningful than the exchange of words and is valued just as much.

• Taha tinana / physical well being

Promoting a healthy and physical active lifestyle for all learners and their whānau. Recognising and responding to the appropriate tikanga.

• Taha whānau

Working with our learner’s whānau as a united support system providing care, not only physically but also culturally and emotionally (kotahitanga)

The Fonofale model was created by Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann as a Pacific Island model of health for use in the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Although originally designed for Pacific people, this model can be applied across cultures, as it can help us to understand and support people in a holistic, safe and effective manner.

• The roof of the fale represents culture
• Between the roof and the foundation are four pou (posts). Each pou represents a different dimension of well-being. These dimensions are physical, spiritual, mental and other
• The foundation of the fale represents family

Around the outside is a cocoon where the dimensions have direct or indirect influence on each other, These dimensions are time, environment and context.

Physical: This dimension relates to biological or physical well-being. It is the relationship of the body which includes anatomy and physiology as well as physical or organic and inorganic substances such as food, water, air and medications that can have either positive or negative impacts on the physical well-being.

Spiritual: This dimension relates to the sense of well-being which stems from a belief system that includes either Christianity or traditional spirituality relating to nature, spirits, language, beliefs, ancestors and history, or a combination of both.

Family: The foundation of the Fonofale represents the family which is the foundation for all Pacific Island cultures. The family can be a nuclear family as well as an extended family which forms the fundamental basis of Pacific Island social organisation.

Mental: This dimension relates to the well-being or the health of the mind which involves thinking and emotions as well as the behaviours expressed.

Other: This dimension relates to variables that can directly or indirectly affect health such as, but not limited to, gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, employment and educational status. As our learners are predominantly Māori and Pasifika it is important that we develop a collective awareness across our Kāhui Ako of both approaches to student well-being. This will necessitate Professional Learning and Development for all members of our learning community and also provide us with another opportunity to engage with colleagues from the Health sector.

LEARNER AGENCY