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Rangikura School’s ‘Tamaiti Mua’- Children first. Rangikura School – Ascot Park Porirua East . Full primary (Y0 – 8 ). Roll 341 students: Decile 2 Pasifika 48% Maori 32% NZ European 13% Other 7% Male 52% females 48%
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Rangikura School – Ascot Park Porirua East . Full primary (Y0 – 8). • Roll 341 students: • Decile 2 • Pasifika 48% • Maori 32% • NZ European 13% • Other 7% • Male 52% • females 48% • 18 FT teaching staff, 13 support staff, 1 dog (Buddy) &1 cat (Gareth).
Our school - Community engagement initiative – ‘Tamaiti Mua.’TM is all about putting our kids first. We wanted to create a strong bond/partnership between teachers, kids, parents and the community.Our goal: Total collaboration between and collective ownership (staff, kids, parents, community) in the education and well being of our kids.Our value system/School vision: RESPECT* for self* for others* for our environment (inside and outside school).
The 1st step – “Clean up our backyard!” • Model respectful behaviours/dialogue between each other • Take the time to praise peers in public/pull up in private • Check or have the hard conversations - ‘The cuppa tea.’ face to face - Kanohi ki kanohi. • This agreement is “walking the talk” and will always be ongoing and revisited. • This will be our classroom/school culture.
‘Tamaiti Mua’ is VISIBLE everywhere in Rangikura. – Inside… Staffroom… Classrooms… The Library, Junior school, the hall….
In our school Signs …and Outside. And kids’ artwork. To help install pride in our school for all. Staff, students and community.
The 2nd Step – How can we now make stronger connections with our community? By opening up Rangikura School and inviting our community in – no agendas. Just forming relationships over time - through trust. We must make that 1st step. The TM toddlers’ Playgroup. Every Mon 8.30–10.30am. An opportunity for our parents to drop off the older kids then pop into the playgroups for the lil ones to mingles with future classmates and for parents to catch up, swap stories. Rangikura’s garden. A ‘Green Team’ was formed through TM, inviting parents who had time during the day to come share their expertise. This group consists of a few of our mums & grandparents. The ‘Green team’ meet regularly every Wed 1pm. Our Y5 – 8 Maths Tuition class. Wed 4.30 – 5.30pm. A class offered to parents & kids to work on or learn strategies in games contexts. Our library is open every lunchtime & Mon to Fri 3.30 – 4.30pm for our kids and parents to use.
Mrs G’s Dance classes! In summer, every Wednesday after school. Pre-school & junior kids Dance group Adults and senior/Ex students Dance introduction Class. TM BoXFiT classes. Every Tues nights all year round. Adults class $3 entry. This money has paid for kids’ lunches, trips, fees, my coffee on way home, stationery . Local sport teams like the Porirua Norths Rugby Club teams & Porirua North city Rugby League team have booked private sessions in the winter. A lot of our mums, dads, uncles & aunties play for these clubs. For some, the 1st time they’d set foot in our school.
TM Termly events. These events we invite the whole community to join us in: picnics, for breakfasts, games nights, Art evenings, Mothers/Fathers Grandparents Day assemblies. All with simple messages; the importance of family relationships and school relationships. No judging, no finger pointing just…HOME + SCHOOL = RANGIKURA Fathers/Sons Games Nite Father’s Day Assembly Staff/Parent v Kids Annual Hockey match & BBQ. Mothers/daughters Evening with… Our guest speaker!
Parents and caregivers of our community have stated that, “…the atmosphere and culture of the school has changed.” That the “…school is a more welcoming place…” This has been reiterated by visitors like Mayor Nick Leggett, MP’s Kris Fa’afoi, HekiaParata, ERO... The increased numbers of our parents, as visitors, helpers, volunteers & coaches in the school over the last four years have shown, TM is working…
The 3rd step – Consolidating events adding more – with an academic focus. Latest ERO review March 4 – 8th March 2013 “The principal effectively leads ‘Tamaiti Mua.’ This is a specific school focus, developed by staff & community members, which emphasises children first. Staff have developed clear, shared understandings about how they do this & positive teacher/student relationships result. Class environments are calm & settled & students are purposefully engaged in their learning.” “The school’s 2012 end-of-year data showed that two thirds of students achieved at or above National standards expectations for reading and writing, with three quarters achieving at or above the mathematics National Standard.Pacific student achievement was similar to whole-school results for mathematics and higher in reading and writing.”
Rangikura School is a community school… The school is open for use to our community with the onus on respect. Our hall is used to reward families through cheap or free hireagefor work they may have done for the school. The school receives a lot of goods, food and donations from our community for us to help those in need.
Sooo where are we at now…? • Where before parents felt they were being judged or blamed:We now have parent interviews where we have a huge improvement in turn out and participation. Our two-way interviews are such that the teacher/parents get to further understand the child in both settings. • Improvement in Staff-parent relationships – both sides are prepared to have the ‘cuppa tea’ over issues. Putting the child 1st. Relationships are at a stage now where these are now seldom needed. • Since TM started there has been dramatic improvement in our pasifika achievement. Can these be attributed to TM? Who knows, we are sure however that TM has definitely made it easier for both teachers, parents and kids. • Our Maori results have improved a little but are still a major concern – in particular our boys. This is our next TM focus with our community. • TM has made it the Rangikura way to help those children, families in need. Ensuring to keep mana intact. Rangikura has rallied together to raise money, contributed food, supported families in grief.. This Readers Digest version of TM was brought you by the Principal. • For a full version of this initiative – come see us for a cuppa tea! • Contact principal@rangikura.school.nz