A few weeks into the year I thought I'd take a bit of a temperature check on what our children thought was going really well. The responses, as to be expected, came thick and fast, far and wide: - "I like drawing the best of all things, I can draw and draw and draw and am never tired."
- "I love playing outside but I get hot and sweaty, like today I was running around and playing soccer - it's my favourite."
- "I like solving things in Maths, I like addition and subtraction the most, well, subtraction is harder I think."
- "I like making up stories about all sorts of things and describing details."
- "I know a lot about birds, all sorts of birds.....did you know...? did you know.........? did you know........?" (and I really learned a lot in that short conversation with my ornithologist friend!)
- "The monkey bars is something I am now good at and I like dancing to the music at lunchtimes."
- "Learning all the tricky stuff, it's great, especially in Maths."
- "Now I am back at school I have things to do, in the holidays I didn't really."
- "Writing is my favourite thing, I especially like poems and haiku."
- "I missed my friends heaps and now I don't, as I play with them everyday!"
So I moved onto the staff: - "I'm enjoying getting the know the individual quirks and they are so funny."
- "I like the way they are feeling comfortable giving opinions and having a voice in what happens."
- "Some are being incredibly supportive of one another."
- "There is some settling in to happen, reestablishing connections and getting more focus."
- "The energy is definitely dwindling in the heat of the afternoon - for all of us."
- "I'm glad to be back into routines."
- "Feel like I am getting heaps of support from my colleagues."
- "Talk about full on!"
- "I'm having loads of fun and learning so much. I can't stop talking about it to friends and family."
- "I need to pace."
and then accosted some parents and spontaneously received some thoughts as well: - "A big relief.....I thought the transition to school could be very hard.....but no!"
- "Everyone is so friendly and we feel we belong already."
- "They are happy and tired - that's a good combination."
- "I am enjoying the positive vibe - so warm."
- "Looking forward to watching them grow - in every way - this year."
- "Seesaw is new to us and we are really loving knowing what's happening and the blogs are really great to go into too."
- "It's hard to get much out of them apart from an 'alright' or 'OK' and sometimes a 'good'."
- "A child in the seniors came up to mine at the picnic and said 'You can do it, you can do it if you persevere'. I was amazed and so impressed with what they are taught."
Children, staff and parents/whānau = the 3 sides of the triangle. The triangle - the strongest shape - sturdy and powerful when all 3 sides work equally in unity! All 3 sides will be also present in the upcoming Goal Setting meetings.
So, here's to the number 3, historically revered for its completeness and wholeness. That's a concept also worth striving towards - this strength - and also celebrating in 2019!
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