1 October 2021

We have come to the end of another unusual term. The unusual is becoming more usual though, I guess! We are ready for anything!


With time away in Lockdown or school holidays, there is an interesting pattern upon return, we find. The first few days are blissful (-ish!), a honeymoon period, more on the tranquil side of relationships. Then, there is a bit of a flurry, the rearranging of the chair order in the playground, the who plays with who and the like. We try our best to get ahead of these dynamics with our strong Positive Education programme and supportive culture but, as proactive as we may be, there is always a settle in period that we are prepared for!


This year, we have been keen on building social coaching into our management of these situations (AKA Restorative practice). Although more time-taxing, the focus is on learning how to manage relationships that go awry and make amends. I thought as we go into a two week holiday and plenty of play dates on the horizon, some of you may be keen to hear some of the language we use at school. When on duty, teachers walk around with a lanyard with a script so we remember! I'm not suggesting you will need that at home - but here we go- variations of the following:


Are we keeping mana intact?

I can see you are upset/angry/sad. You mana has been affected, your bucket emptied.

What is happening from your perspective?

What were you doing?

What has been the impact of your behaviour on others?

You are feeling XXX because... teacher paraphrasing, child agreeing to teacher summary (check)

Use coaching questions, i.e.

How would you like things to be different?

What has worked for you in the past?

Scale 1-10 - how much are you willing to make this change?

Next step: action/resolution/rebuilding mana/solution.

Teacher records conversation plan and action.

Check in the next day. How is it going now?


We recognise how important language is. We also know how powerful it is when home and school have a shared language as much as possible. We will slip up at home and school - it's that human-ness!


Although, at times, children may do something that requires a stronger intervention - most situations can be solved very effectively through this learning opportunity. We have plenty of good news stories! What do you think? Please chat with your Base Group teacher with any questions/thoughts....


Arts Celebration

We did it! This year it happened and we loved it! What a fantastic way to end Term 3 and have all our whānau with us! Big congratulations to our talented artists and appreciation of our teachers/curators! The sophistication and depth of some of these pieces knew no bounds! It's amazing what we can achieve with the will and the way!


Now it is time to ease back a little before we have motors purring for Term 4. One of our 'summer' terms... we hope!