By Richard Goodyear  – Kawakawa Head Teacher

Recently I was thrilled to be able to watch my daughter give a speech at her 21^st birthday party celebrations. She spoke to a crowd of loving friends and family and gave my wife and me a huge acknowledgement. More importantly she simply oozed with confidence in her place in the world.

It made me think a lot about the belief one has (or doesn’t have) in his/her own worth, and in his/her ability to achieve. In modern parlance it is called self-efficacy. In Montessori we call it ‘valorization’, and it has been said it is the most important outcome of our work.

So what does valorization look like here in the adolescent community at Wā Ora?

We start with respect, understanding and belief in the adolescent’s potential. There is a real tenderness and sensitivity in young adults, due to the physical and psychological turbulence going on, so being aware, and tolerant of this, is perhaps the first attribute of the adult.

Dr. Montessori put it like this:  ‘The teachers must have the greatest respect for the young personality, realizing that in the soul of the adolescent, great values are hidden, and that in the minds of these boys and girls there lies all our hope of future progress and the judgment of our times.’ (Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence 72).

Secondly we must set up the learning experiences in such a way to allow for valorization. Our two key methods for that are occupations projects and community work.

Occupations projects in Kawakawa see the adolescents working for four weeks in a group with one teacher on a particular hands-on project. These projects generally have some sort of problem to solve or opportunity that will benefit the community. For this type of work and to make it more meaningful to the adolescents, the ‘community’ is generally fairly immediate, ie, the class itself, so the fruits of their efforts are very visible.

In community work (in which Tawari students are also involved) the ‘community’ reaches a little wider, being the whole school on a regular basis, and also events such as Peace Day and Matariki.  Community work does also extend out into the wider community with students helping out at Naenae Library, Wesleyhaven Retirement Village and Taita Cemetery. Doing these things in the community are valuable in and of themselves, but they are also small ways to promote valorization – seeing that there is value for others in one’s own efforts.

There is much potential in this idea of valorization for the adolescent and perhaps at the moment we are just scratching the surface. But it is an important part of our work here at Wā Ora. We simply need to think of our current adolescents giving speeches as young adults in a few years time, to see that stepping up as contributing adults in our complex society is a hugely important task

By Jan Gaffney  – Principal

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to join you for Matariki on Friday, but I hear it was a great day, and the hakari at night went well.  Our next school community event is a presentation from the Brainwave Trust talking about the developing brain from 8 years old onwards.  Brainwave’s focus is on providing education about the vast potential within each child and how we as parents can help to bring it out.  Maria Montessori talked about this a lot also.

Another thing Montessori often talked about was being careful about what was said around children and the need to be extra careful when they could hear, or even see that they were being talked about. She counselled teachers not to talk ‘ill of the child’, whether the child was present or not. There is a very good reason for this.

When a teacher talks ill of a child, he or she is reinforcing an idea of how she/he believes the child to be, and this can then become a fall-back position as to how the teacher feels the child ‘always’ is. This is something teachers  are supposed to avoid; each day we are supposed to come to the class with a clean slate, receiving the child daily as though nothing bad/wrong/inappropriate (call it what you will), has happened.

When we speak ill of a child, we reinforce to ourselves a usually negative perception and each time we do so, it becomes more entrenched. Then, when we see that behaviour occur again, we say, “Oh yes, that’s just what they are like”, further and further attributing certain behaviours as being natural to that child, which soon enough becomes reality, as the child takes his/her cue from the teacher.

This happens too, when we as parents, speak about a child when they are near, inadvertently reinforcing certain concepts, traits or characteristics that they then make part of themselves. When we say in front of them:

She worries so much about….
He doesn’t like broccoli / vegetables / Sarah, etc
She is very shy
He is very / not so good at math / writing / reading / singing / drawing, etc
She is feeling very grumpy this morning
He is feeling a bit sick, so you can ring me if he needs to come home
She is such a good / bad / disorganised / scatter-brained / messy child

All of these things encourage the child to believe they cannot be any different than what is being said about them, and in the long run, this is not helpful to them at all. A child who is quiet and needs time to warm up can be just that. Giving the label ‘shy’ can become a trait that they take on as a personal view of themselves and can become an impediment to their feeling comfortable in social situations for the rest of their life.

Similarly, when we talk about a child not being good at art or maths in front of them, we give them the idea that we think that is the case. Since we are adults and know so much more, what we say must be right, and so the child believes what we say, and makes that an integral part of who they are and what they can or can’t do. When we do this in front of children, we limit them, and I’m sure you will agree, that that is the last thing we want to do!

This is easier said than done I know (from experience!!), but if we are mindful, maybe we can do it less.

By Sharon Udy  – Totara Teacher, Primary

It’s been an interesting start to the year for me professionally as I moved from teaching in one of our 6-9 classes to working with 9-12 year olds. You may be aware of Montessori’s ‘Planes of Development’ – the six-year cycles she observed in human development. The second plane of ‘childhood’ is from approximately age six to twelve, so I am still working with children in the same ‘plane’, but there are some fascinating differences to get used to.

Montessori advised that in each ‘plane’ we are dealing with a new person – a new set of characteristics, needs and behaviours, but within each plane are two sub-phases of about three years each – a time of creation, followed by a time of development or “crystallization.” This is what I am seeing in the tamariki of Tōtara. They are reaching towards a point of completion, before they start their journey to adolescence.

In the second plane we share a Cosmic Curriculum – everything is interrelated and we make the connections clear to tamariki. We give them a picture of the whole, then give smaller parts and show how they are related to the whole. This approach appeals to their characteristics of imagination and their reasoning minds. We show that everyone and everything has a task. Tamariki come to appreciate everyone and everything, which has come before them, learning gratitude for the creative forces in the universe and for the human beings who have shaped our world.

We introduce cosmic education each year through ‘Great Lessons’. When ākonga hear these stories for the first time at six, they often respond with excitement – the goal is to stir the awe and wonder that resides within these tamariki. They don’t hear every detail, but receive a colourful first impression. They might remember the volcano or another visually impressive part of the story, i.e. just a few of the details.

By the time tamariki are in the 9-12 classes, they have heard these stories a few times. We tell slightly different versions each time, adding more detail to some parts. Tamariki look forward to their favourite stories, knowing most of what is coming and wondering what will be new this time. They become aware of details they had missed earlier and they are more ready to explore details independently. They ask more questions as their minds put together all the information they have heard throughout the years.

These tamariki are ready to make more, and different, connections than they did previously because of all the additional lessons and independent work they have done. They are ready for deeper exploration and in-depth studies. They now have the information and the skills required for these deeper investigations.

It has amazed me how just a brief conversation or a word mentioned in passing, can excite these older ākonga into independent research. They often don’t say what they are going to do, they just go and do it, then ‘report back’ to me with amazing detail and great understanding. I’m loving learning alongside these deep thinkers!

By Jan Gaffney – Principal

Kia ora Koutou whānau

There is so much to take into account when working with children and such a lot of conflicting advice that comes out in increasingly large amounts. This is particularly the case with screen time. I read recently that from quite a young age, children were regularly watching screens for up to seven hours a day. This includes TVs, tablets, phones and more, and includes those times when children are in shops/waiting rooms where there is usually a big screen conveniently located. Also this number of 7 hours only counts time spent ‘out of school’ so for those children in today’s typical schools where each child has their own device, that number could well increase.

For the longest time, The American Paediatrics society recommended no screen time for children under two. While they maintain this as the ideal, they have however also acknowledged that it is almost impossible to avoid exposing young children to screens of one sort or another in today’s world, so instead are now saying to ensure that the total amount of exposure is monitored and have conceded that things such as skyping with Nanna do have other benefits so perhaps could be included.

Increasingly, we are hearing about devices (lap tops, tablets, phones) becoming synonymous with modern school environments and best practice in teaching and learning. After having read more and seen some in action, I remain convinced that our approach here at Wā Ora of limiting screen time while children are young is the right one.

The literature more and more tells us how young children’s brains are actually changing because of over-exposure to screens; in fact recently I read about how adults’ brains are changing as well. One study found that increasing numbers of adults are being diagnosed with ADHD, even though they have had no signs of this as children. Teenagers’ brains are also affected, especially those who are addicted to being on-line and gaming. Studies have shown loss and shrinkage in grey matter and damage to the area that controls empathy.

It’s a worry when you see groups of children/teens/adults out together but instead of looking at each other, they are staring at their screens or interspersing their conversation with texts and on-line behaviour. It is increasingly rare to see people out and about without their phone handy.

The problem is that screens can be very useful tools and help us in many ways. So then, what can we do to put limits in place – for ourselves and for our children – to stop the over-use and limit the addiction, that we adults, just as much as the children, experience?

We can simply start by keeping technology out of the bedroom – the blue light from the screen interrupts sleep, so instead, charge your phone in the living room and get an old fashioned alarm clock for your bedside. We can have designated screen-free times; meals would be a great time for this, as would ‘family fun nights’ or whatever you do as a family to be together. As adults we should model for our children (and I find this one really hard) not looking at our screens in the morning before school/work and not looking at them for an hour or so before bed time.  All simple strategies that can help to pull back over-use.

You may also have other techniques that you use – it would be great to share these on our face book page. I’d love to hear what you do!

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!