Hot Air Ballon visit

Friday April 4 sees us come together as a school community to enjoy a meal (breakfast) together, while being intrigued by a hot air ballon! An early start will mean watching the sun rise with very excited children! With such heightened levels of enjoyment- I wonder what will remain to grow and learn from for each of us?

Welcome to school in 2013!

I would like welcome everyone back to school for another busy year of learning. We have had a very settled start to the term with all children and teachers getting into a wonderful rhythm already!

Once again, there are a number of exciting opportunities being planned for learners and their families.These include:

• School wide BBQ to meet your class teacher
• 
  

Make sure you read our school newsletter and the Vardon website to keep up to date with the exact details OR-
Have you considered Following Vardon School  on twitter to get instant messages? Pop in to the office to talk to us about this if you're interested.

Reflections on learning

“When students become reflective about the teaching and learning process, they are strengthening their own capacity to learn. Central to this is the principle of reflection as metacognition, where students are aware of, and can describe, their thinking in a way that allows them to close the gap between what they know and what they need to learn.”

sourced: check out the new resource on literacy online

Restorative Practices - Marg Thorsborne Session One

Today we joined with a neighbouring school in developing our knowledge around Restorative Practices (RP).
The day consisted of layering the background to how and why we think and believe the things we do. Our ability to react to behaviour around us in classrooms (as teachers, teacher aides, or senior leaders in schools) is very much dependent on the mirroring that ocurred for us in our own family of origin. How we were parented hugely impacts the choices we make when making decisions around discipline - both for the children we parent, and for those children we teach.

Marg tallked us through a useful tool called the "Social Discipline Window". This offers us a way to understand the levels of control or limit setting and discipline, and the levels of support, or encouragement or nurturing, placed on children by us as adults. 

Interesting:
What I found really interesting about today was the background to how human society has dealt with, or treated, children and babies! The history of childhood shows the infanticidal mode from the 4th C onwards. And we know this continues on today in many 3rd world countries such as India. The abondoning mode ocurred from about the 6th C onwards, moving into the Ambivalent mode around the 15th Century. The 18th C saw the advent of the Intrusive mode  moving into the socialising mode in the mid 20th C.

What I wonder is - Do we really want to keep on doing what we've done for several hundred years?   Or is it time to try something different and begin to treat children in more respectful ways?

Enjoyable:
What I really enjoyed about today was the way the groups were set up. Vertical groups of people who don't normally work together, with an even split of staff from either school. This was a great opportunity for us to get to know each other across our schools, while stepping out of our comfort zones.
I also really enjoyed watching the highly developed skill Marg has in managing the pace of her sessions! This seemed so effortless, but have done some adult education sessions in the past, I know how difficult this is to arrange!! We were always given opportunity to talk (and how us teachers love to do that!) while never quite being left having to wait for others to finish. Marg strategically filled the day with a clearly  balanced delivery of detail and fact, intersperced with fun, flippancy, humour, and small group dialogue. The levels of challenge were scaffolded carefully.

Another excellent opportunity tomorrow to develop my skills in holding the scripted conversations with children to improve the outcomes for those who have been harmed!  

Ethical Leadership

On Thursday 29 March, I attended a forum at the Leadership centre (University of Waikato) lead by Chris Branson. Topic - Ethical Leadership.
His think piece:

Why has Ethical Leadership become an international priority in recent times?

the prvalence of unethical leadership worldwide!

• industry and empolyment
• media
• business and finance
• politics
• religion

The social impact of this unethical leaderhsip has been:

• distrust
• disrespect
• injustice
• Powerlessness
• Insecurity
• an increase in social discontent

There needs to be a balance between organisational needs and people's individual needs! Job satisfaction is alos important - not just making a living!
Ethical leadership in my view is leadership that comes from the heart of your truth. Working in ways that mirror your personal values. Walking the talk! Asking the hard questions and being true to the organisation's gain - not your own personal gain!

Is doing your very best enough?
How do I ensure that I am doing my very best every day? Are my decisions always ethical? how do I know this?
In order to be ethical, you need to be authentic!

1. Know what values are influencing your behaviour.
2. Acknowledge these values
3. Apply them.

What is the difference between you espoused values and your real values? Is there a difference?
I would argue that if you are not aware of your real values, by knowing what they are and how you apply them, then there could be a real difference between these two.
You have to have a clear alignment between your values and your behaviour!

Ethical leadership has come out of a need to see improvements in future leadership climates based on  public /recent very unethical behaviour internationally by economic leaders all over the world.

What are we, as individuals, going to do to improve the ethics of leading?

Our E-Learning Priority 2012

image source

E-Learning Priority

The purpose of  planning for e-learning is to:

• develop a vision, purpose and core values;
• manage priorities national and local;
• be responsive to change;
• use high quality information to inform decision making;
• use assessment to plan learning programmes.

The Importance of Planning for Change
Change is most effective in an environment where there is agreement on issues and directions. Shared agreement ensures that change is supported by a common understanding on areas such as:

• What is the core function and purpose of e-learning?
• Where are we at now?
• Where do we want to be?
• How are we going to get there?
• How will we know when we have arrived?