19 March 2021

Post date: Mar 18, 2021 9:1:13 PM

I was reflecting on the term "home school partnership" this week. Probably as our first round of Parent/Teacher/Child Meetings are over and the first Parent Workshop happened... I think we do tend to view it more as the partnership between the teachers and the parents in terms of an individual child’s doings or not doing yets! It’s more than that.

A couple of years ago, we put the antennae out - "if we could do more of something, what would it be?" The parent vote was overwhelmingly Music. The old adage "it takes a village to raise a child" is alive and well. Orchestra kicked off last week and, by the end of the session, "They were playing music” exclaimed our energetic parent with the will and the way to make the Orchestra happen. YAY!

The upcoming Whānau Festival has an artsy musical theme and we have talents amongst our parent community too - can’t wait for the upcoming grooves at the Whānau Festival!

We had the Working Bee in readiness for the Festival and having a bit of a spruce, lick and polish, the prize sourcing for Running of the Balls, the design and printing of promotional material, the connecting, the networking, the overall communication and organisation.... the willingness of volunteers to give their time. Now that’s a huge aspect we can't underestimate in the home school partnership relationship.

So, on top of all things artsy, we also have things sporty happening with the Weetbix Tryathlon this weekend with parents who have been training and supporting our record number of Worser Bay School entries for many weeks. Many children for the first time - just keen to give it a go!

In 1989, the Government put the notion of ‘community’ back into schools with the educational reform known as "Tomorrow’s Schools". So, whilst this has been up for review again over the last couple of years, and some will say there is too much reliance on the school’s community which has created inequality between schools...., there are still more pluses than minuses to be able to create something unique to our context together. I wouldn’t wish to see that lost in any future changes - it’s too important.

So, here’s to the "Encouraging a Community to Flourish" mantra and to keeping this wider perspective on the concept of Home/School partnership. The ‘Home’ and the ‘School’ working together to make a positive difference to all and sundry at Worser Bay School.

Stargazers....... let’s go!