Christmas 2015

A lovely relaxed Christmas Day with Ang and Mark and their pool.

Off to Perth

Spending Christmas and New Year in Perth this year.

Heading out of Auckland on December 21.

A Staff Farewell!

       Click here for Movie

Leaving Today

Five and a half years ago I was a Principal of a medium sized mono-cultural Pakeha dominated Primary School in the middle of Wellington city. I had spent ten years there and leaving was difficult and sad. It was a great school with awesome staff- many of whom are still good friends and fantastic students, some of whom I’m still in contact with today.

In July 2010 I was appointed as the foundation Principal of a new area school in Te Karaka 32 km North West of Gisborne.

I had been to Gisborne exactly once in my life.

Te Karaka is a small village with a predominantly Māori population with strong links and allegiance to the local marae.

I hadn't been on a marae for 15 years.

As an area school we were going to have a projected roll of 140 Year 1-Year 13 students.

My knowledge of NCEA was restricted to that of a parents, and even that had been six years previously. 

I knew there would be some suspicion of me; I was female, I was white, and further to that I did not have much cultural experience behind me apart from two years as a Principal in Fiji. I came from a Decile 10 school and I was from the primary sector. I could hear the whispers and rumours being spread around the community.  How was I going to understand the needs of kids in a school with a predominantly Maori roll? How was I going to handle the situations, both at school and in the community, when it was evident that people felt a male should be in the lead? How would I possibly understand the needs of, or relate to the kids in a Decile 1 environment? How could I possibly understand the curriculum demands of secondary students, or the intricacies of NCEA?

I’d been involved in, and a part of, some really exciting innovations in the ten years before I came to Te Karaka and I wasn’t prepared to accept that rural kids living in perhaps a more deprived area, than the Decile 10 urban kids where I’d come from, were entitled to anything less.

Things weren't always easy. The kids didn’t always understand the different approaches, and neither did others looking in from the outside. We had a vision for kids to meet their full potential and for that to happen they needed to understand a whole lot about themselves and they needed to become self managing, a concept difficult to understand for those who wanted us to simply exert our authority in a traditional way. 

There are still suspicions from some corners about the way we operate; we don’t look like a ‘normal’ school, and we actually never will. That’s not because we are small, or rural or anything else. It’s because we don’t believe a normal school meets the needs of lots of kids any more, if it ever did.

There have been immense challenges, some to bear and some to guide others through. And there have also been immense rewards. 

Today is my last day at Te Karaka Area School. Before I head into school for the day I reflect on the last five years.

I've had the privilege of working with a group of staff that pulled together and dared to dream, explore and discover new ways of learning that would re-engage these young people in learning that is authentic and real and meaningful for them.
I've worked with teachers and leaders some of whom I am sure are going to make a real mark on the development of education in this country going forward.

Over the last week I've listened to staff working together to plan next year and been able to reflect on where they are and where they’ve come from. There is such strength and such beauty in those conversations I’ve heard. I leave knowing that education on te Karaka is in great hands.

Ive made some of the best friends Ive ever had. Living in an isolated community certainly inspires close bonds and I leave behind some very good friends, as well as having a few now spread all over the country who have left before me.

I’ve met some amazing local people and some incredible young people. 

I've said it a few times now but my life has been forever changed by the experiences I've had and the people I've met in Te Karaka.

I understand bi-culturalism and the history of Aotearoa now on a deep level. I might have thought I knew that before but my knowledge was so superficial.

I understand the difficulties of living in an isolated village, and in an isolated province, with the issues of unemployment and declining populations.

There have been great times, and difficult times, but I’ve never had any regrets about taking this journey. I may not have thought I had the ability to deal with some of the difficulties if Id known what they would be before I came. But I did and I have.

There have been so much I have learnt, and so many skills I have developed.

So as I head off to school for my last official day as the Principal of Te Karaka Area school I say a huge and public thank you to everyone who has allowed me to be part of their lives over the last five years. I’m sure the day will have some laughter in it, and I’m also sure there will also be  tears. But in my heart the strongest feeling is gratitude. Gratitude for what I’ve learnt, for the people I’ve met and the ways my life has been enriched.

Flying In and Out of Gisborne

Sitting on a plane flying back into Gisborne after a full on family weekend and I suddenly realise it is quite possibly the last time I will ever fly into Gisborne airport.

When I leave for good in two weeks time I will be driving.

I've seen more of airports and aeroplanes than I ever realised I would when I made the choice to come to Te Karaka five and a half years ago. There have been months where I've flown in and out of Gisborne three or four times in quick succession.

A combination of holidays and being on various committees has seen me both value and dread flying. I certainly no longer see it as something romantic. It can be exhausting, and when you fly into Wellington on one of the small planes it can be scary. 

But I do have to acknowledge the service from Air NZ. They try really hard to run to schedule and when they cant they keep you very informed of what’s happening. They tell you when it will be smooth and when it will be bumpy. They are always friendly and helpful.

       

The service they provide to the regions is really important. Without the ease and convenience of air travel even less people would visit or ultimately live in more remote parts of the country like Gisborne, and that would be a shame.

I have to also give a shout out to the great check in staff at Gisborne airport. They somehow manage to be extremely professional but have a strongly personal touch at the same time. They've become  very familiar faces over the last couple of years. I've seen them deal with a range of situations, and always keep their cool and do what they can to help everyone travelling.

There is much I will miss in two weeks. People and places mostly. And I will miss the flying. The superb Gisborne air NZ staff and the Gisborne airport I've spent so much time in.

I probably wont miss flying in those small planes to be perfectly honest, but in saying that I have admiration and respect for the men and women flying them.

Thanks Air NZ for the great service over the last five years.

My TKAS Journey is Soon to End

Nearly five and a half years ago, I won a position as Principal of the newly established Te Karaka Area School, 32 km NorthWest of Gisborne. I began at the end of August 2010, and the school opened in February 2011. We are now nearing the end of our fifth year in operation. Many of our learners are vulnerable learners who have not been well served by education systems of the past. Hopefully they are now being better served.

These five years have been amazing. We have all learnt so much. We have learnt that innovation is not only as possible in a lower decile school as it is in a higher decile school, but that it is vital. We have learnt that buildings don't make innovative practice happen- its teachers and students and a trusting BOT that do that. We have learnt that schools can operate in order to be personally responsive to the needs of every individual learner- that the don't need to be a machine focused around restrictive structures like timetables and traditions who’s time is way past. We have learnt that learning can look way different than it has in the past and still be learning.

Ive seen both students and staff grow in so many ways and take some giant leaps of faith that is now represented in their daily practice.

And me, personally- what do I get out of the last five years? I have learnt what it truly is to live in a bicultural world. My life has been immensely and forever enriched by the students, staff and whānau I have worked with; by developing an understanding of their culture and beginning to understand their language.

What I have gained at Te Karaka has been incredibly more enriching than the normal trajectory of going onto be a Principal of a bigger school, like many people expected.

I now understand a corner of Aotearoa I didn't know existed five years ago and I appreciate so much more about the history of this beautiful country and its inhabitants- especially our indigenous cultures and people.

So it was with some sadness last week that I announced to our BOT, staff, students and community that I am leaving at the end of this year.

I feel privileged to have been offered and accepted a position as a Director of Learning at Haeata (formerly known as Aranui Community Campus) in Christchurch. 

http://www.aranuicommunitycampus.school.nz

I am truly excited by this position and the opportunities and challenges it will bring. I am looking forward to the move and the possibilities.

But for now I will spend the remaining four weeks of school soaking up everything I can in Te Karaka.

Thank you to Andy and the eBOT at Haeata for having faith in me and giving me the opportunity to join your exciting venture as the next stage of my educational journey.

and

Thank you TKAS whanau- there will be proper goodbyes said later, but thank you for everything.

Kia Orana

There are holidays to discover.

And there are holidays to learn.

And there are holidays to relax.

Compared to some of the trips I've done in the last 18 months 7 days in Rarotonga was definitely a holiday for relaxing.

I still discovered, and I still learnt.

But there was lots of time for lying in the sun, reading and relaxing.

No internet- or internet that is prohibitively expensive- certainly helped. I finally get what people talk about when the talk about the power of disconnecting from networks for a little while. No emails, no facebook, No twitter for 6 days. I was a little reluctant to turn it back on at the end of the week!


There are some beautiful scenes on Rarotonga.

And some big fish.

Locals who skim up and down coconut trees.

There were lot of interesting connections to Māori traditional, language and performing arts.

I particularly enjoyed visiting the site of where the seven waka left from in the Great Migration to Aotearoa. And the palace of the tribal queen was fascinating as well.

An awesome week of relaxing in the Cook Islands. I'd recommend to anyone needing to just turn off and rejuvenate.