By Robin Wilkins – Puriri Teacher, Primary

In Montessori, when we talk about the ‘prepared environment’ we are talking wider than just the equipment which is on the shelves. Ākonga want not only an environment to be enjoyed and mastered, but also one which will help establish the whole personality – moral, social and intellectual. The much needed emotional safety this environment provides is built upon support, consideration, mutual contribution, a sense of belonging, protection, acceptance, encouragement and understanding.

It is interesting to note that emotional safety and the ability to learn have been correlated in contemporary education and brain research. This research has shown that the emotional centre of the brain is so powerful that negative emotions such as anger, fear and anxiety automatically ‘downshift’ the brain to basic survival thinking. Under such stress the reasoning centre of the brain shuts down.

To create a desirable environment therefore, it is vitally important to put the study of relationships at the centre of the curriculum alongside the ‘core subjects’. In Montessori classrooms therefore, we have two curriculums – emotional and intellectual, each of equal importance; each balancing the other.

In the emotional curriculum the children are learning behaviour and self-management. While we all accept that children need to learn to read, to write and the processes of maths, it can be easy to forget that their knowing how to behave socially is not inherent, but also must be learned, therefore many lessons are given in class on grace and courtesy.

We also provide ākonga with new opportunities in which to learn ways to express themselves, listen to others and work interdependently so that they become primary contributors to the cohesiveness and vitality of the classroom. We help them to think about how their actions impact the class community. Role plays are powerful ways to step into another’s shoes and also offer ways of both expressing and listening from the heart.

There are numerous ways in which the classroom is an aid to the moral life of ākonga – their developing sense of right and wrong and their ability to act on their values and beliefs.  An important part in the development of their character is their growing awareness of their (and also of others’) developing integrity, ie, the inner part of them that drives their actions. Who is their true self when others aren’t looking?

Remembering the steps in any activity is difficult and needs to be practised many times. By giving children the opportunity to practise with the freedom to make mistakes, they will be able to undertake the hundreds of repetitions needed to master a skill.

And then, one beautiful day, they will arrive at a place where they have both the necessary experience and skills to manage themselves in situations of a social or moral nature – not by accident but through the safety of the prepared environment and lots of practice.

By Tara Israelson –Nikau Teacher, Preschool

For many, the outdoors holds a special place.  The wide open spaces, the ability to get lost in nature, the many scientific discoveries to be made – these are all unique in the outdoors. I want to share with you how we are extending our Montessori vision into the outdoor environment in the preschool.

Years ago here at Wā Ora Montessori School, we made a conscious decision to do away with a traditional lunchtime recess and to rather have children be free to move between the indoors or outdoors as they felt the need.  As we made the shift to the ‘indoor/outdoor’ flow we began to notice a sense of calm come over both the tamariki (children) and the kaiako (teachers) as we began to find some purpose in our activity outside.

The space was changed to give way to more purposeful activities, often to assist with physical development.  We set up these activities like the ones inside, so that each activity met with a specific purpose.  Each activity was created to allow a beginning (the choice to engage), a middle (getting lost in activity) and an end (satisfaction and leaving the activity ready for the next person to use).

Since we have made this shift we have developed a productive garden that the tamariki are incredibly involved in.  How thrilling is it that a child who plants the carrots in December gets to harvest and then eat them in February?  We have introduced activities to care for animals, as well as activities to care for the space itself.  We have given the children space to just “be” outside.  We have searched our own childhood memories for games to teach the tamariki such as “Mother may I?” and “Duck, Duck, Goose.”  Sometimes they come up with their own games and we watch and learn from their enthusiasm and joy.

It is lovely to see the calm, satisfied nature of the children who use our outdoors every day. I believe that we can see this because we have decided to treat the outdoors with the same respect as we do the indoors.

When we, as parents, decided to send our children to a Montessori school it is likely that we loved seeing how peaceful, happy, kind and helpful the children were.  So often one of the comments made by observers is, “I can’t believe how peaceful it is and how independent the children are!”  This peace and independence is afforded by the prepared environment that the children manage and we are now seeing this evidence outside too!  It is due to the consistency that we are allowing now, as the children do not have to deal with two sets of expectations.

The child in the 3-6 classroom is desperate for order and needs to trust that the environment (and the people in it) will uphold the order.  I am pleased and honoured to say that with the dedication of the kaiako (teachers) and the trust from the community, we are well on our way to achieving our goal of a seamless indoor/outdoor flow.

By Jan Gaffney – Principal

Kia ora Koutou whānau

One more week of school to go and then it’s the break. It’s been a long term filled with lovely sunny days, but with mornings being a bit nippy, it’s easy to see that the cooler months are on their way.

Periodically, we have a Montessori expert come in and review the school and give us feedback on what we are doing.  This helps us to keep improving what we do and assists us in refining the programme we are delivering to be the best it can be.

This year, we are having Carla Foster come and review the primary part of the school. Carla is from the States, and is the person who trained Carol in her three years of going over to the States every summer. She has been a Montessori teacher for many years, in both the USA and Norway, and for the past several, has moved to working with future Montessori teachers. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge to share with us.

From a teacher’s point of view, it can be quite daunting to have an expert come in and review your practice, looking at what you do with a magnifying glass and asking questions about why or why not you are doing a particular thing. Our teachers are always interested in receiving feedback about how they can do things better and continually impress me with their openness to feedback and improvement! Montessori reviewers are usually no holds barred when they feed back their thoughts, as their main interest (just like ours here at Wā Ora), is that the quality of Montessori delivered, by schools claiming to use the philosophy, is the best it can possibly be.

Carla will be coming to review the school during the same week she will be delivering the public talk on resiliency.

Resiliency is the quality in people to stay intact, to recover, or ‘spring back’ from adversity. It is a kind of strength and is the topic that is increasingly relevant in these days of high anxiety and stress. How we deal with stress is an indicator of how much resilience we (or our children) have.

Last week, I read several articles on anxiety in children and how it’s increasing. Here is one opinion piece on how “good” parenting can be contributing to this upward trend – scary to read and see all the things that I did! (sorry Sophie J). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/04/01/6-ways-good-parents-contribute-to-their-childs-anxiety/

So, if there are all these things that we can do to increase a child’s anxiety (which can lead to a decrease in resiliency), then what are the things we can do to increase it? Come along to this evening and find out more. I’m very much looking forward to hearing what Carla has to say.

This parent evening is a public talk so is going to be available to parents from other Montessori Schools. It should be a great evening.

Meanwhile, enjoy the last week of term 1 and have a great break. See in you term 2.

By Jan Gaffney –Principal

At the last Board meeting the Deputy Principal in charge of the high school, Ava, presented her report on the NCEA achievement of students from Wā Ora. Our thanks to Ava for a well prepared report, the gist of which follows.

The graphs and percentages don’t really mean a lot because of the low numbers of students we have in our high school but the great news was that all of our students passed the level they were sitting and those that needed to, gained university entrance as well. This can be seen in the following table (Wā Ora is a decile 8 school).

	Yr 11 NCEA L1	Yr 12 NCEA L2	Yr 13 NCEA L3	Yr 13 UE
National results 2015	85	88.1	82.5	63.0
Decile 8—10 schools, 2015	91.7	92.5	88.1	75.7
Wa Ora results 2015	100	100	100	100

To get into University, students need NCEA level 3 and university entrance. All of our Year 13 students who stayed until the end of the year gained both. One student left school half way through the year to attend a course at Open Polytech. This student left with NCEA level 2, the qualification the government has as its goal for all school leavers to attain.

It is wonderful to know that our students are achieving at the desired level and leaving school to follow the career path of their choice. That is, after all, what we want for them. Even better, is that our past students report that they are well prepared for life as a tertiary student, knowing how to manage their time, plan assignments, get work in, ask questions and seek help if needed.

These are the things they are learning from a very young age here which are consolidated through the college programme and, along with the ability to adapt to new situations and expectations and solve the problems that come their way, are the skills that are more likely to lead to a life well lived than academic results on their own.

Our school is always looking to see how we can do better and while, overall, results are looking great, there are areas to focus on in order to do even better. One of the areas we want to continue improving this year is external exam preparation. The Board of Trustees has also asked us to answer the question: are students meeting their potential? We will let you know our findings.

By Tanya Laybourn –Sports and EOTC Coordinator – Primary and High School

What do you get when you combine 11 days of sun, lots of ocean, plenty of adventures, 55 amazing, respectful and resourceful adolescents and 6 tireless teachers? Well, you get Kawakawa Odyssey 2016 in the Marlborough Sounds! As always, the Adolescent Programme started the year with some intense community building and a power collection of learning experiences.

The learning focus for 2016 was the ocean – marine conservation, historic whaling, paua farming, endangered birds, salmon farms, marine rescue programmes, history in the Sounds, tangata whenua history and a bit of fishing. And the challenges of sea kayaking, mountain biking, day hikes up big hills and cooking meals for the class.

We loved our long stay at Mistletoe Bay, a beautiful, eco-friendly spot with a fabulous jetty for jumping off, excellent kitchen and comfy cabins. We also relished a couple of days cruising around on the cosy Tutanekai (a 75 year old Kauri-planked, classic launch) viewing the Sounds through stories from a couple who have campaigned for years to protect this area. Our last few nights were hosted by Waikawa Marae in an ornately carved wharenui and treated to catered dinners!

The Odyssey meets several of the learning the needs of the adolescent. Firstly, the adolescent is wired to learn in a very social and interactive way; living alongside your peers for 11 days certainly involves a lot of social interaction. Secondly, the adolescent learns in a very experiential and hands-on way and the Odyssey provides lots of opportunities to learn from actually being there at the place of action/history and by doing things. For example, we visited the site of the historic whaling station to learn about the whaling of yester-year and were guided through a fascinating paua farm for a first-hand look at how they are grown. The students’ encounter with the very endangered Hector’s dolphins made a lasting impression and many personal challenges were overcome during mountain biking and sea kayaking. And let’s not forget cooking in a team to feed 60 has its challenges too!

By Carol Palmer –Tawhai Teacher – Primary

Spend any time hanging around with Montessori types and you will hear us use phrases like ‘sow all the seeds’ or ‘give the children the keys to the universe’.  These are grand ideas which imply that we intend to make huge amounts of knowledge and information available to the children so they can feed their every fascination.  It may seem strange then, that when you look in a Montessori classroom you will only find a few (excellent) books on each topic, just enough to whet the children’s appetites for more, but not actually fulfil them.

This limitation is quite deliberate as a major part of the Montessori Primary programme should take place outside the classroom.    Once children find a subject that interests them and have exhausted the materials immediately available, they will be compelled to ‘go out’ to find more.  This may involve visiting a museum, a geological feature, a local expert, factory, business – anyone or anything that can help them with their research.  And whilst on the surface it may appear that the children (and adults) are going to a lot of effort just to get an answer that could have been provided by Google – the benefits of ‘going out’ are huge.

As adults we take for granted the process we have to go through in order to take a trip somewhere.  For children however, each step in this process is a challenge that requires specific skills: they need to gather their group, locate a source of information, contact the source and arrange a visit, plan questions to ask/information to gather, arrange transportation, budget, draw maps, take notes, conduct themselves with dignity whilst out, overcome unforeseen challenges, return to school and organise their findings to present to the rest of the class.

The learning which occurs from these experiences is huge.  It allows the children to take part in the wider community in a protected way at exactly the time in their life when they need to start pressing geographic and social boundaries and finding their place in society. Each ‘going out’ is an entire course of study on independence, responsibility and good citizenship — to say nothing of the intellectual rewards that children get from such experience.  ‘Going out’ also teaches children that the answers to their questions are not just in one specific place – they are everywhere and they have the power to find them.  This is an essential understanding for moving into the wider world when they no longer have a classroom.

For this reason, the adults who volunteer to accompany children on ‘going out’ expeditions are an enormously valuable part of the school community, as well as being in short supply.  If you feel you could make yourself available to support the Going Out Programme, please contact Tania Gaffney (tania@waora.school.nz) who can provide you training and add you to the contact list. You don’t have to be available all the time, the children are very flexible!

 

By Tania Gaffney – Rata Teacher & Deputy Principal Primary

After reading Krista’s column a fortnight ago about the Sensitive Periods, I thought I would follow with the Human Tendencies, since after the 1st plane of development (i.e. Preschool) we do not talk of Sensitive Periods any more, rather how we are catering to the Human Tendencies of the 2nd plane child.

Human tendencies are innate characteristics that every human has from birth throughout life which they use to meet their own needs. They do not follow any sequence, rather they work with each other in an interconnected way. They are as follows:

– Tendency to Order, e.g. following a sequence, understanding cause and effect, following a train of thought or an argument.

– Tendency to Orient, e.g. adapting to new situations.

– Tendency to Work or Manipulate, e.g. putting ideas into action, manipulating equipment.

– Tendency to Repeat, e.g. repeating a skill/s to build competency.

– Tendency to be Exact or Perfect, e.g. getting something to match the idea in your head.

– Tendency to Explore, e.g. the urge to investigate, to broaden our knowledge or horizons.

– Tendency to Abstraction, e.g. beginning with the concrete form which leads to being able to play with an idea without the concrete form.

– Tendency to Communicate, e.g. sharing, cooperating and collaborating with others.

When a Montessori teacher thinks about their class they ask themselves, “How are we allowing for the human tendencies to be lived out by the tamariki?”  Communication is an example. When I was young, we each had our own desk which the teacher generally arranged individually or occasionally in pairs but always with the idea of restricting the flow of communication and movement.  Consequently, we did everything in our power to communicate covertly with each other by whispering or passing notes.  Our ākonga have the freedom to move about and communicate with each other in class. This leads to children helping each other, collaborating on projects or chatting over morning tea.

What about the Tendency to order?  The 6-12 mind is quite different from the 0-6 mind where for the young child, the tendency to order is more about the external environment.  At the older level there is always creative disorder during work time, but everything still has a home and the environment should still be as beautiful as the 3-6 class.  The order that is being developed here is more in the mind of the 6-12 year old, e.g. learning about the order of the universe, the world and society and how they work.

It might be interesting for you to watch your tamariki and see how they are trying to fulfil their human needs through these tendencies and ask yourself, ”Is there something I need to do to help my child communicate with me or adapt to some new situation?”

By Krista Kerr – Preschool Head Teacher

Dr. Montessori began to wonder how and why it was that children at a certain age were universally drawn towards the same things in their environment. She discovered it is because human beings have special times in their early lives termed sensitive periods. A sensitive period is a particular moment in a person’s development in which they have an intense reaction or heightened response towards a particular part of their environment for a set period of time. Dr. Montessori likened this specific focus of the child to a torch in the dark; the beam of light focusing on one direct point.

These sensitive periods assist the child in their construction and occur at particular times in a child’s life during the first six years in order to help with his/her development, providing an unconscious pull towards specific parts of the environment. Montessori observed six sensitive periods – language, movement, order, refinement of the senses, small objects, and social behaviour.

The sensitive period for order begins between birth and one year of age. This also underpins all the other sensitive periods, as without order a child will not be able to absorb language, fine detail and other human characteristics. When we have a sense of order of the world we live in, knowledge of routines, objects and people in our environment, we feel safe and secure. However when a child is born, they have no such knowledge and no past experiences to base anything on. So, as Dr. Montessori puts it, the “young child has a vital need for order” (1972). As they are learning what everything is in this new world, it can be distressing if things are suddenly changed in some way, whether physical changes within the environment or intangible changes, such as changing the way you do things or changing the daily routine.  This sense of disorder is often the cause for the phrase “the terrible twos”. At this age, the child likes knowing what to expect and takes great pleasure in doing things ‘the right way’. A variation to this can cause frustration and not being articulate enough to voice this frustration, leaves the child resorting to tears and/or anger.

The environment and support needed for this sensitive period is for there to be external order. Everything in the environment should have a specific place, the adult’s behaviour should be consistent and the routine should remain as unchanged as possible. This is handy to remember as we all start to get into ‘back to school’ routines. Ideally, for the younger tamariki especially, the more you can keep the morning routine the same, the more likely they are to arrive at school happy, on time and ready to come into the akomanga (classroom). Tamariki will know what to expect each morning and will feel safe and secure and be able to settle into their day of exploring. Setting up these routines now will help lead to a wonderful year ahead.

By Carol Palmer – Tawhai Teacher, Primary

As the end of the year draws nigh, attentions in the primary classes are all turned the climatic experiences of the year – school camp for the 9 -12s and EOTC week for the 6 – 9s.  It would be easy to think of this as a way to make the last few weeks of term go quickly, or perhaps a reward for the year’s hard work, but the value of these events is far more than either of these things.  In Montessori education we talk about the dual environment where the classroom is only a starting place for the child’s discoveries and the wider world is freely accessible to them for their research.  We encourage children to ‘go out’, both because we want them to see that there is so much more to learn about in the world than that which is contained within their classroom, and also as the primary child has an ingrained need to explore the world beyond their immediate environment.

When we go on camp we disconnect from technology and bring living back to a basic level.  Last year children built their own shelters and slept in them overnight, the year before they made fires – without the use of matches – and cooked bread from scratch over them.  In doing things like this the children learn that with a few basic techniques they really can be independent and could, if necessary, take responsibility for their own survival.  It is a great and empowering realisation for the child that, as Dr Montessori said, “… it can go through life, carrying on its back all it may need.”

In the same vein our 6-9 students have EOTC (Education outside the Classroom) week currently and are utilising environments such as the Marine Life Centre, Wellington Zoo and shared bush walks with Montessori students from Berhampore school to expand their learning.

Dr Montessori, who was a friend of Lord Baden-Powell and a supporter of his scout movement, was a huge advocate of encouraging the child to “put their pack on their back’ and get out into the world.  Where Dr Montessori said that the child is asking us to ‘help it to do it by itself’, Baden-Powell instructed his boys to ‘Be Prepared’ – both ideas being designed to propagate confidence and independence.

The fast approaching summer holidays is the ideal time for children to explore their growing independence and interest in their environment. Here in New Zealand, we are fortunate to have such great opportunities to explore nature with the easy accessibility of bush walks, beaches and rivers to explore. There are several scout, kea and cub groups in the area and geocaching is an example of another innovative way to get out and about.

Geocaching sees you participating in a ‘sort of’ global treasure hunting community who leave ‘caches’ for each other to find.  The possibility of something secret hiding somewhere along the way is an enormous motivator which leads to all kinds of adventures of its own – the Palmer family highly recommends it – have a great summer!

By Kerry Pratchett – Rewarewa Head Teacher

I have spent the last two years going backwards and forwards to what my family call my ‘Sydney Apartment’ to do my 3 – 6 training. The last 3 weeks were spent reviewing the theory of the Montessori approach with exams at the end.

Dr Montessori had many strange terms that she used and one of these terms was ‘normalisation’.  This term is strongly linked to self-discipline. She observed that tamariki (children) are constructing themselves and in order to do this they are driven to ‘work’.

In her writings, Dr Montessori speaks about tamariki needing to have the freedom to do purposeful work.  I am sure that you are aware that in the preschool environment the tamariki undertake a variety of purposeful work – they prepare their own morning tea, wash laundry, clean windows, set tables and much more.  It was observed that when the tamariki are involved in this type of purposeful work their concentration is built up and ‘deviations’ are left behind.

We support the tamariki in the 3 – 6 environment by allowing them freedom within limits.  For example, they are able to work with a material provided they have had a lesson on how to use it, or they can choose to work anywhere they like so long as they do not distract others.

With each of these freedoms however, there are limits or consequences and responsibilities just as there are at home.  To illustrate, a child can prepare morning tea but must also clean up after him/herself.  Through this journey towards self-discipline and normalisation the child’s will develops meaning that they are able to obey themselves; they are no longer under the command of their internal drivers.

Some examples of a developed will at play are listed below:

– When the child expresses patience.

– When he persists with something for a long time.

– When she corrects her own mistakes through the material’s control of error.

– When the child does not need praise as this is an attitude of the mind.

– When he carries a glass of water on the line so carefully as not the spill anything.

– When she restrains herself from being disorderly in her movement.

– When a child overcomes his/her anger and uses the appropriate emotions.

With a developed will the child is granted an even greater amount of freedom and trust within the environment.  The child now has control over their mind, muscles and nerves.  They are normalised!  Dr Montessori stated that “A unique type of child appears, “a new child”; but really it is the child’s true personality allowed to construct its personality normally”. (Secret of Childhood, p. 185).