Muratai Visit

What a great atmosphere the school has. The Principal is a ‘real’ person, he doesn’t mince words or window dress efforts within the school. The transperancy of things that happen within the school and classrooms was admirable – it makes a pleasant change.

I was really inspired by the systems that are in place and being used throughout the school. In every classroom the same thing was evident, just in slightly different forms. Just reinforced the importance of the common language throughout the learning spaces. Reinforced for me the importance of scaffolding, not only for the kids but also for the staff – if we are going to take control of inquiry, it is no use wondering around in the dark – we must have a clear direction and to torch (supporting materials) in our hand to defuse the darkness.

I also really liked the idea of the theme throughout the year, POWER, with such a broad and powerful theme, the tangents are endless, we are thinking of doing something similar next year. However in say that, I’m sure that we have to consult with the children as to what they wonder about and see if as a staff we can come up with a rich concept that can be applied to many areas – just thinking about it at this stage.

A huge thanks to Muratai School, their Principal, the wonderful Kapa Haka group, the friendly and open staff for letting us invade their classrooms on mass. It was a great school to finish our school visits on, every time we visit, we always take something away with us. Thanks Jan for all the organisation.