Read
Wairakei School – Working in partnership with Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Schools in the Taupō area, including Wairakei School, have worked in partnership with Ngāti Tūwharetoa to ensure students learn about their iwi, its history, places, and stories.
Rangikura School – Pasifika parent group leads learning
During Samoa Language Week the staff, students, parents, and wider community of Rangikura School came together to enjoy an array of activities and celebrations which were organised by the school’s Rangikura Matua Pasifika Parent group.
Arrowtown School – Lighting up minds through project based learning
Year 7 and 8 students from Arrowtown Primary School designed and created illuminated ski suits for a competition run by the school in collaboration with NZ Ski. Teachers Grant Hammond and Joe Bailey explain their journey in implementing “Illuminate” – a project that has lit up the minds of their senior students and strengthened community engagement at their school.
Papakowhai School – Celebrating Samoa Language Week
Jo Henderson is a teacher of year 5 and 6 students at Papakowhai School. In this snapshot, Jo describes an integrated art and social sciences project that she planned for her students for Samoa Language Week. Find out how Jo enlisted the support of a parent in classroom learning.
Watch
Growing educationally powerful partnerships with whānau has been a key priority across the Mt Roskill campus. This video explains how the development of Māori graduation ceremonies has led to deeper community connections and growing pride in student achievement.
Watch
The staff, board, and whānau at Te Kura o Hiruharama went through a process to identify their priorities. This digital story explains the process and the outcomes of this exploration and how this has transferred into the life of the school.
Discuss productive partnerships
A productive partnership in education means a two-way relationship leading to and generating shared action, outcomes, and solutions. Productive partnerships are based on mutual respect, understanding, and shared aspirations. They are formed by acknowledging, understanding, and celebrating similarities and differences.
A productive partnership starts with the understanding that Māori children and students are connected to whānau and should not be viewed or treated as separate, isolated, or disconnected. Parents and whānau must be involved in conversations about their children and their learning. They need accessible, evidence-based information on how to support their children’s learning.
Ka Hikitia – Ka Hāpaitia
- What are the priorities of your whānau for student learning? How could you find out?
- In what ways are whānau involved in their children’s learning at your school?
- In what ways do whānau contribute to curriculum and strategic decision making at your school?
- What opportunities do whānau have to share their knowledge and expertise within your school curriculum?
- Can you harness community knowledge and expertise further?
- Once you have a relationship with whānau how do you embed and sustain it?
Watch
The staff and Board of Trustees at Matakohe School worked with their community to re-design their school curriculum. Through listening to the values and ideals of everyone, they developed a set of student competencies that everybody owned.
Discuss
Matakohe School's graduate profile communicates a shared understanding of the skills, knowledge, and attitudes their students will need to participate in a range of life contexts beyond school.
- Do your teachers, students, families, and communities have a shared understanding of the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that your students need?
- How is this vision for your students brought to life at your school? Could you relaunch your vision or graduate profile in a different way to give it new life?
- How relevant is your vision for learning today? Is it future focused and does it reflect the values and aspirations of your current school community?
- In what ways do you work with your community to share aspirations, values, and ideas for teaching and learning at your school? Can you recognise opportunities to invite more community input?
Watch
Chrissie Rumpler from Owairaka School discusses how to ensure an effective open classroom door policy through making connections with the community and having a school structure that values the engagement.
Watch
The staff at Owairaka School have explored ways to build deep connections and partnerships with the many cultural groups and families at their school. This story tells how the community worked together to construct a traditional Sāmoan fale.
Discuss effective engagement
The School Leadership and Student Outcomes BES found that the most effective home–school partnerships are those in which:
- parents and teachers are involved together in children’s learning
- teachers make connections to students’ lives
- family and community knowledge is incorporated into the curriculum and teaching practices.
Discuss:
- How could you work together with diverse families to enhance student outcomes?
- How could you draw on the resources in your parent community to support teaching and learning?
- What opportunities does your current planning provide for including the knowledge and expertise of our diverse school community?
Watch
Saga Frost, a parent at Owairaka School, discusses what it is like to be a partner in the learning community at her school and reveals that she didn't realise, until she got involved, how much she could impact on her child's learning.
Discuss home-school partnerships
The School Leadership and Student Outcomes BES found that the most effective home-school partnerships are those in which:
- parents and teachers are involved together in children's learning
- teachers make connections to students' lives
- family and community knowledge is incorporated into the curriculum and teaching practices.
Discuss:
- How do the partnerships with parents and whānau at your school help parents to support their children’s learning?
- Do partnerships with parents and whānau enable consideration about students’ competencies across school and home contexts?
- What systems, initiatives, and programmes in your school best support the achievement of an inclusive school community?
Watch
Parents and teachers from Pomaria School describe the way whānau are supported at the school and the way whānau voice is used to create directions for learning.
Discuss
The School Leadership and Student Outcomes BES found that the most effective home-school partnerships are those in which:
- parents and teachers are involved together in children's learning
- teachers make connections to students' lives
- family and community knowledge is incorporated into the curriculum and teaching practices.
The Family and Community Engagement BES found that the most effective partnerships:
- treat families with dignity and respect and add to family practices, experiences, values, and competencies (rather than undermining them)
- build on the strong aspirations and motivation that most parents have for their children's development
- offer structured and specific suggestions rather than general advice
- provide group opportunities as well as opportunities for one-to-one contact (especially informal contact)
- empower those involved by fostering autonomy and self-reliance within families, schools, and communities.
Discuss:
- Which of the above indicators of effective partnerships are demonstrated at Pomaria School?
- What do you do at your school to build effective partnerships with your parents, families, whānau, and communities?
- How can you further empower parents and whānau to support their children’s learning?
Watch
Teacher, Chrissie Rumpler explains how Owairaka School has supported staff to understand and engage with the different cultures in their school community. She also provides inspirational examples of what engaging communities can look like.
Discuss - Community engagement
Chapter 7 of the School Leadership BES focuses on creating educationally powerful connections with families, whānau, and communities. A key finding in the BES is that there is great potential for school leaders to change patterns of underachievement when they work with parents and whānau to build home–school connections that are focused on teaching and learning.
- What does Pomaria School do to engage with families and whānau?
- How do their strategies link to the evidence about what works?
- What does your school currently do to engage with your families and whānau?
- How can you ensure that you are focused on students' learning and achievement in your interactions with parents, families, and whānau?
