Thank you so much to all of you who were able to make it to our hui last night. It was so special to have such a great buy in to our programme. Hopefully you enjoyed the activities we did together - thanks for your patience with logistics - when I initially started planning this event I had no idea we would reach 75 attendees!
A huge thank you also, to our student presenters - you did a great job in front of a large group - Ka pai!
I know some of the details may have been a little softly spoken at times so I have included the essential points of the script here for you to have a quick read again. There are also some photos from the night.
Thanks once again,
Pou Toria
Kia Ora Welcome to our hui. Tonight we are going to explain about our gifted education programme here at Whakarongo School and share with you the new opportunities we have planned for 2020. To begin with, Wairangi is going to share our whakatauki with you.
E kore au e ngaro,
He kākano i ruia mai
I Rangiatea
I will never be lost
For I am seed sown in Rangiatea,
The place of potential.
This whakatauki was chosen because it speaks about Rangiatea, the place of potential. We have spent time over the last two years building an understanding of the potential we inherit from our whanau. The strengths and passions that you, our families, have passed down to us through the generations.
This year the gifted and talented programme here at school has been given a new name. Whakaaro means to think, plan, consider and decide. It refers to everything to do with the thinking brain.
When we come together in Whakaaro, whether it is as individuals or in a team we
work to produce and express our very best ideas.
Just like we have mentioned our inherited potential, in Whakaaro, we have learned
about the Kahu Huruhuru, the feather cloak. It takes many feathers to make one
cloak - and you, our families, are part of the Whakaaro cloak.
Our "Get to Know You" Q and A activity...
There are some nuts and bolts to the Whakaaro programme that you might find useful to know. Students are selected by their pod teachers when they show strengths in the three areas of giftedness outlined by Joe Renzuli. These are creative thinking, above average ability and task commitment. We need to be succeeding in the pod in order to be selected.
Whakaaro is not the only way we are stretched. Our pods provide targeted learning to meet our needs, so we can all be confident that we are continuing to grow and develop, even if we have a break from Whakaaro.
At the end of the year Pou Toria and the Pod teachers do extensive analysis of all our learning behaviours and decide if we will be involved the following year. Sometimes it is recommended that people take a break from Whakaaro so they can work on specific skills that need more development in the pod. This keeps the Gifted Register fluid and ensures that all of us kids are getting the best management of our learning.
We have a number of learning initiatives throughout the year. We have the Epro8 engineering competition at the end of this term and then later comes the Tournament of Minds. Pou Victoria is the Regional Director for Tournament of Minds this year and will be bringing this huge and exciting event to our school - we are looking forward to being the hosts in August.
There are also some new opportunities coming this year. These include a new opt-in Maths problem solving competition which runs over 6 months for Year 6, 7 and 8 students.
Additionally, Pou Toria is going to train shortly as a Future Problem Solving coach for the
year 4-6 students.
We have begun the year by looking at active gratitude. Over time, Pou Toria has noticed that
we can often be quite tough on ourselves, particularly under pressure. To help us manage this, we have begun to practice active gratitude.
Active Gratitude is proven to improve a person’s physical and mental wellbeing. This isn’t mumbo jumbo! Looking for the positive in a situation releases helpful chemicals in our brain called dopamine and serotonin. We call them the ‘happiness’ and ‘sunshine’ chemicals.
Out Active Gratitude task....
There are a few other housekeeping things that you should be aware of in Whakaaro as well. The best way to keep in touch with what we are learning about is to check in with the Blog.
There is a link listed in the school newsletter with the sports and library blogs every week.
Pou Toria doesn’t work every day so the best way to get in touch with her is by email. She will always email you back and may sometimes be able to meet if needed.
Also, we don’t get special reports in Whakaaro or have parent teacher conferences. We do get written feedback once a year on a specific piece of work though.
Our Creative Thinking and Collaborative art task...
We hope you have had fun tonight learning about Whakaaro and the thinking behind it.
Remember, the best way to keep up with what we are doing is to check in with the blog or email Pou Toria.
Thank you so much for attending our hui. Po Marie ....Good night.
