Awe and Wonder Across 7 Continents

"Art has a role in education, helping children become themselves and less like everyone else."

This term we have been on a mission to learn about ourselves and each other. We have worked hard to understand the concepts of identity and culture and what they mean on a number of different levels. We really wanted a celebration of our rich diversity at the heart of this Art Exhibition.

Around the world in 2 nights !! This art exhibition took us on a magnificent journey across all 7 continents. Finally, the secret was out and many were left wondering how we pulled this off with our daily 60 minutes of Writing, Reading and Maths but the short answer to that is - We worked super hard making links and connections galore.

Where you see a curated collection you see opportunities to count, arrange in arrays, add, subtract, multiply and divide. You see our children expressing their inquiry ideas around identity and culture through writing. You see poetry that compliments our works inspired by Frida Kahlo. Last but definitely not least, we harnessed our strengths of reading to learn about the 7 continents and the wonders they bring.

Here is some specific information on our artworks.

Oceania

"Dreamtime art holds the stories of creation, a vibrant thread

connecting the past, present, and future of Australia.

Inspired by this rich cultural heritage, our young artists have

channeled the spirit of the land into their own works. Through dot

paintings, intricate line work, and bright palettes, they

have explored the ancient tales of the Rainbow Serpent,

the journeys of ancestral beings, and the deep

connection between people, animals, and the landscape.

Each piece is a personal interpretation of the

narrative about the Rainbow Serpent. This is a celebration

of storytelling, and a bridge between their imagination

and the profound beauty of one of the

world's oldest living culture." 

This was our dreamtime dot art that was inspired by the story of the Rainbow Serpent.  

Tongan tapa is known as ngatu. It is type of bark cloth made from a special tree.  Once practical for everyday use, ngatu is now a significant cultural treasure, exchanged as a gift during important occasions like weddings and funerals and as a symbol of respect. The intricate designs on ngatu often document historical events, and the tradition of making it, and processing the bark, creating patterns.  They used rubbing blocks and nature.  Tonga Tapa remains a vital part of Tongan cultural preservation.  

Asia

Here is our collaborative art project inspired by the works of Yayoi Kusama. 

North America

Our Frida Kahlo inspired mixed media art with our self portraits front and centre.

 

                                                                            

South America 

We were inspired by Emi's Retablo that she bought in to share with us.  

                . 

 

Here are our Retablos that tell our stories of whānau celebrations. 

Africa 

       

Europe 

 

A big thanks to our Tautoru artists and their whānau that helped collect and curate some amazing collections, showcasing our rich and diverse identity and culture.  Our collections brief was open to interpretation with no expectations apart from having 100 and some link or connection to whānau, identity and or culture. Some pretty big words when you think about it.

It was truly amazing. We had 100 grains of rice, 100gm of sand, 100 pieces of seaglass, 100 favourite beads, 100cm of nanas wool from knitting, stamps, collectables and many other curios. They ranged from rare artifacts and treasures to beauty in the most obvious and common everyday objects. The sky was the limit and we certainly went there. Ka mau te wehi ! 

Thanks again Team for your ongoing support.

Shroud of Secrecy

You will have noticed some fun happening under a shroud of secrecy this term.  Well, as secret as we can get when kids are bursting at the seams to share their exciting news !!  

  All will be revealed next week at the Arts Celebration but here is what I can tell you: 

We have dialled up an incredible amount of Creativity to take you on a journey across all seven continents, exploring art that celebrates identity and culture from around the world. We've delved into the rich tapestry of global art, focusing on the fascinating patterns, symbols, and diverse mediums used by different cultures and various artists that have inspired us. 

Our students have not only honed their artistic skills but have also made meaningful connections to the New Zealand Curriculum. This celebration directly links to the Arts curriculum area, developing the ideas, skills, and knowledge across the arts. It also strongly supports the Social Sciences curriculum, as students have explored how cultures express their ideas and stories through art..

We invite you to join us in honoring the hard work and vibrant imaginations of our artists and musicians. Prepare to be inspired by a world of color, creativity, and cultural connection!  

The Childhood Magic of Play

We have been out and about in the sun whipping up all kinds of potions and measurements.  In Tautoru we know that having a playful element is important for learning.  Play can be such a powerful tool in a variety of ways.  We want to really emphasis that play isn’t a break from learning, it is learning.  Our role as teachers is to prompt and nurture discussions peppering in the learning we know our children need at different ages and stages. This last month we have been dialling up our hands-on experiences and it has been so rewarding to see our learning about measurement come to fruition.  

When our students start school we know that play has been so deeply connected to Te Whāriki, our early childhood curriculum. Te Whāriki emphasises the values of child-led exploration, celebrating the unique strengths, cultures, and identities of every learner. When we think about our children it is not so long ago that they were in amongst this ECE curriculum, embracing these values and qualities so It makes sense to hold on to these values especially with our curriculum refresh. 

We know that play isn’t just fun, it’s foundational. For our learners, play is how they explore, problem-solve, connect with others, and begin to make sense of the world around them. It builds the critical skills they’ll need for lifelong learning while developing the confidence they need to tackle the stuff that is perceived as the ‘harder’ stuff like reading, writing, and maths.    

As the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum continues to roll out, there is a continued focus on wellbeing, identity, belonging, and going deeper with learning. Learning in playful ways supports these goals beautifully by allowing children to follow and develop their interests, feel confident in who they are, and engage in learning that is meaningful to them. It also has great benefits socially and emotionally as they learn and communicate their ideas.

Play encourages:

• Curiosity and exploration aligned with the Understand, Know, Do framework

• Culturally responsive teachings that reflects our children's cultures and backgrounds

• A strong foundation for literacy, numeracy, and all other learning areas in developmentally appropriate ways.  

In a time of curriculum change, it’s important we don’t lose sight of what works for children. Play remains a powerful, research-based approach to learning in Years 0–3 (and beyond), helping children become confident, connected, and capable learners.   After all 'We are Powerful' !

When Life Throws You LEMONS !!

When life throws you lemons .......you make as many links to the curriculum as you can !! 

 

We have had some fun this past week putting our measurement maths learning into practise through baking and making.  We have been inspired to make lemonade, lemon slice, bliss balls and muffins.  We are grateful to our village for giving us the lemons and helping us make these experiences happen.  

There’s something magical about baking with children. The smell of fresh lemonade, the feel of different ingredients, and the excitement of sharing and eating what we have made. But beyond the joy, baking offers something else just as valuable,  a rich, hands-on opportunity to develop key mathematical ideas, especially measurement.

For 6 and 7-year-olds,  measurement can be a tricky concept. That’s where the baking comes in,  a real-world, sensory experience that aligns beautifully with the NZ Refreshed Curriculum.  

At this age, children are beginning to explore and understand the world in more abstract ways. Measurement,  including length, volume, weight, and time becomes more than just using a ruler or reading a clock. It's all about making comparisons, estimating, and using standard and non-standard units to make sense of real tasks.

Baking naturally incorporates all of these skills in a context that’s familiar, fun, and engaging.

Measurement isn’t limited to maths. Baking naturally brings in:

• Science (understanding change through heat and mixing)

• Health & PE (learning about food and wellbeing)

• Technology (using tools and making food for a purpose)

• Literacy (reading and following instructions)

Here are some examples of how we made further connections in writing. 

We wrote recounts and descriptions about our process of making lemonade.  Our writing needed to have an interesting hook as an opening sentence and of course, some 'juicy' describing words to build a picture in the readers mind.  

As an extension task we used these same pieces of writing to craft poems.   These poems were made from highlighting the interesting words that could be mixed up and thrown together as a poetic piece.   This was an example of how words can be used in playful ways, not neccessarily following a simple, compound of complex 'sentence structure'. 

These hands on tasks have allowed us to make connections across learning areas, fostering curiosity and exploration through rich contexts.

We are always being encouraged to bring learning to life in ways that are meaningful and connected to students’ lives.   Baking has been a perfect vehicle for this by combining mathematical thinking, collaboration, and real-world relevance.  

So next time you're in the kitchen don't under estimate a conversation or an opportunity to practise maths or even some story telling or writing too.  

             Enjoying our yummy Lemon Slice ....

Learning Celebration

 

Week 5 welcomed our annual Learning Celebrations.  We are so grateful for this home school opportunity where students can really shine.  By now students are well and truly thriving in their own individual ways. They prepare samples of work that they can talk to in some detail, related to their individual goals and aspirations. Yes, even little mistakes are included because we know this is an important part of our learning. When we reflected with students they were able to talk in depth about their learning. Writing was one of the curriculum areas we reflected on.

Goal setting and feedback is such an important skill for both teacher and students.

This year Teachers have been looking into the research from Helen Walls as part on ongoing writing PLD. Her work talks about the importance of goal setting and feedback and how these develop metacognition.  They help students develop the knowledge of oneself as a learner and the strategies to manage a thinking task.  Teachers are continuing to be really explicit about a single deliberate learning goal, providing targeted feedback for each student on that one aspect of their writing that will propel them forward tomorrow.  Writing goals in particular are referred to as micro goals. You will be seeing and hearing about this in your child's learning celebration.   You will see little visuals on their writing samples and these are usually in green.  

There is so much to think about as part of the writing process ! 

To guide our learning celebrations we prepared some prompts or questions to get our students thinking about their aspirations and their whole experience at school.  We know that so much happens during the day, socially, emotionally and academically.   We aimed to come up with questions or prompts that might give you a different insight into your child's day.  They also have a focus on embracing challenges, being OK with mistakes and applying GRIT and a Growth Mindset.  We also wanted to make sure that our students could celebrate their progress and learning.   

Here are the prompts we have been using: 

 

Working with the Experts ! Touching, Exploring, Observing and Noticing.

We have been so fortunate to be able to work with 2 experts in their fields this last fortnight. We met Bob Kerr, Writer and Artist. He shared his life's work with us and it was truly inspiring and fascinating to learn about his process of creativity, writing and painting the artworks for his books. He shared some beautiful watercolour paintings that feature in his book - Changing Times. He talked us through some of his work that showed changes in landscapes over time.  The kids were able to make lots of connections to Te Motu Kairangi and Whetūkairangi Pā.  

"Thank you Bob for inspiring us with your passion of writing and art.  We look forward to reading the new book about your Uncle and his adventures as a gold smuggler across the desert !"

We have also had fun across the school working in whānau groups exploring and observing our playground closely.  We explored drawing shapes, texture, and patterns.   We used our senses to see, touch and feel to explore a collection of found treasures from around ‘Our Place’.  Drawing with our left hand certainly blew our minds to the point where we were able to exercise our GRIT and perseverance amongst many other character strengths.  This is part of a much bigger ‘secret’ and we are so grateful to be working alongside Fiona - our resident artist who is encouraging us all to embrace the wonder and awe that is Worser Bay. 

"Ngā mihi nunui ki a koe Fiona !  We are having a blast exploring our place through a child's eyes.   Thanks for inspiring us to see the beauty, making the ordinary - extraordinary."  

Feet in the Dirt

 

Part 2:  Celebrating our Place with Feet in the Dirt 

This BLOG Post is a follow on from last week's blog post that was inspired

by our workshop with Kathryn Berkett. The great outdoors and the role this plays

in helping develop young brains also featured in the key messaging.  We were able to

make links to our Pos Ed workshops in Term 1 where John and Rose shared

the importance of getting out and about and the effect that nature can have

on our wellbeing. 

As I listened,  Kathryn posed some pretty simple questions to us:   

• How often do you see a child playing roly poly down the grassy hills or sand dunes ?  

• How often do you see a young person on a device, gaming, engaging

• with social media, and watching tiktoks?  

• Which one are you more likely to see these days ? 

Many of these simple physical games and skills help developing brains learn more

about their body through movement.  This aspect is definitely something we will be

exploring more of as a staff ! 

As Kathryn described her childhood and growing up we were able to make those

generational links (well some of us of a similar age and stage) to the fun we had,

where time was no barrier, weather meant fun in the mud and puddles and times

where you may have been raised by ‘the village’ rather than 1 parent or 2.  

I was very aware that times have changed in a number of ways.  Expectations and

safety being 2 reasons. The most alarming change over time has been around

access to devices and screen time for our kids and the massive impact it is having on

developing brains.  

There are many pros and cons for screens but in reality screens rob our young

developing brains of opportunities to experience faces, people and their world. 

They miss life happening, they miss playing and taking turns, they miss faces and

they miss opportunities to develop their knowledge of social cues and their sense of

safe and unsafe etc.  Screens mean less fun times out and about. Our kids shared

some things they love to do when out and about.

We are fortunate to be surrounded by like minds at WBS that value the importance

of being barefoot in the mud, sand or grass and the grounding effect that this has on

our bodies and minds.  Kathryn Berkett spoke about how screens have become an

easier way to manage behaviour, fill in time or entertain kids in a busy ever changing

world and the kids are only getting younger. 

Learning in nature and "Stress’ went hand in hand in lots of ways.  The

importance of letting children explore independently, walking to school, playing

unsupervised, or visiting parks and outdoor spaces to promote resilience was a key message.  

All these nature-based experiences offer challenges that count as Positive or even tolerable stress,

helping children learn coping skills in safe, supported ways - teaching them about their

bodies and what they can do.  

Modelling coping skills, maintaining secure relationships and having solid relational

trust is our role as adults in helping children build resilience.  We need to be allowing

safe challenges and having the expectation that kids can do a lot for themselves

including in play and outdoors.  A simple analogy came to mind.  Think of a  ‘lawn mower’

that is clearing the way so that there are no obstacles or prickles stood on in the grass. 

Once you have experienced prickles you are not going to walk in that same spot or go

without shoes next time, right ?   

This really was a workshop that got me pondering long into the night about what

safe risks  our kids are taking and where and how we can support them to push

and go a little further.  What challenges them and helps them learn in other environments. 

Do safe risks look the same at school and at home and if so, why ? if not, why not ? Fascinating.  I wondered how we can work together,  sharing more between home and school ? 

We would love to know how your children are risk takers, question askers and inquirers at home ?

Are we doing too much ?  What are they curious about ? What does play look like ?

What interests and passions do they pursue ?  What does positive stress look like at

home ? maybe its taking turns or sharing with younger siblings ?  is it achieving mastery on the trampoline ? 

How are we making the best use of our outdoor classroom - the beach, the bush,

the community, the parks and reserves.  How are kids challenged outside ?  With the

many demands of the curriculum we need to ensure that this is seen as valuable and

part of our philosophy.   This key messaging also sits very much front and centre within our Whetukairangi document.  

I felt very fortunate to be part of a school that has a philosophy based on the science

of Wellbeing and a solid Positive Education foundation.  I am certainly inspired to keep

learning. 

Kathryn Berkett has many webinars and podcasts and she speaks with some important

messages for our adolescents too.  If you get a chance or are just as inspired as us, check out: 

https://www.engagetraining.co.nz/