A Note from the Principal . .

Nga mihi ki a koe, greetings!

Are we getting through?

As you are reading this I assume we are getting through to you, but in several recent conversations

with staff and parents I’ve become aware there are gaps in our home-school communications. It

can seem odd in this information age that we should struggle to communicate with each other, but

sometimes technology can be as much a barrier as a doorway to sharing information.

The fact is, we all have preferred ways of staying informed: email, Facebook, Twitter, websites or,

amazingly paper! You may be somebody who likes to be in constant communication via your ipad or

smartphone, or you may prefer the more solid reassurance of reading words on paper.

Whatever your preference we need to find ways of communicating that work for you. The decision

was made some time ago at Wakefield School to abandon paper newsletters and notices in favour of

emails or links to notices posted on the website. There is a feeling among staff that this has

resulted in poorer communication with some families.

We want to improve our information to you, so here are two invitations:

Join us on Facebook. Our Facebook page is a place where we will post messages and news, so

please ‘like’ Wakefield School.

Join our parent focus group. The focus group is a gathering of parents that will meet with me

occasionally to talk about things I need your input into. Meetings will run for no more than one hour

and your participation is completely voluntary – you don’t need to commit to more than one

meeting. The first meeting will be on Wednesday 12 June, 6.30-7.30pm in the staff room. Email

me now if you want to join, or contact the school.

Have a great Queen’s Birthday weekend – I hope the sun shines on you.

Oh, and don’t forget to vote in the Board elections!!

Peter Verstappen

peter.verstappen@wakefield.school.nz

Ph. 021 047 1092Nga mihi ki a koe, greetings!

Dear parent/caregiver, talofa, greetings,

Learning from chickens

In this newsletter you will find a story by Cameron in Room 13 called ‘My Skinny Chicken.’ You must read it – it is a beautiful insight into how a little boy sees the world. At first glance you might think, as I did, that it is just a simple little writing activity. You can imagine the teacher (Miss Kumar) setting up the writing lesson by talking about capital letters, full stops and similes (“as skinny as a pen”). You can picture Cameron toiling at his table to come up with something that will meet the teacher’s brief.

But if you read the story a few times you may, as I did, begin to wonder. Why did Cameron decide that the first thing he wanted to say about his chicken was that it is skinny? Why does he even like that his chicken is skinny – shouldn’t chickens be plump? Why does he call it a chicken and not a hen or bantam or chook? How does he know that his chicken likes houses? Where does the name Lulu spring from?

And from these questions you realise that Cameron knows an awful lot about Lulu the skinny chicken, more than he can tell with his pencil. You see how closely he has observed her appearance, her preferences and her habits. You feel how important she is to him - she is his chicken, not his sister’s or, probably, anybody else’s. And then you imagine how much Lulu is teaching Cameron about how the world works through concepts of ownership, friends, identity, nurture and difference.

As teachers we are inclined to over-analyse children’s learning, but we almost always do so with a checklist approach – are the full stops and capitals in the right places? Has the child mastered paragraphs? We overlook what the child is really saying and miss the wonder of glimpsing into the mind of that child. As a parent you have the time and intimacy to enjoy your child’s view of the world, but sometimes you miss out on the “skinny chicken” stories because they belong to school.

How we bring the two dimensions together so teachers and parents can both know their children better is a challenge and I offer two invitations for you to meet that challenge:
1. Join us tonight – Wednesday 12 June – at 6.30pm in the staffroom for an hour’s conversation about how you see home-school communications and other things.
2. Make sure you get to the parent interviews later this term. This is a chance to celebrate the “skinny chicken” moments in your child’s learning. Information about booking interviews is in this newsletter.

Have a great week.

Peter Verstappen

peter.verstappen@wakefield.school.nz