Educationally powerful partnerships

The following principles are derived from research and aligned with policy. They were an outcome of the Ruia project, a project that sought to support principals and school leaders to improve outcomes for Māori students by working in an educationally powerful partnership with whānau. They are based on the understanding that real partnerships imply high-trust, reciprocal relationships.  

Elaboration 

These initiatives promote teaching aligned with, informed by, and reliant on the knowledge of community members. They also enable whānau to support their children’s learning at home. Examples include a series of interventions carried out by the Poutama Pounamu Research and Development Centre (see the School leadership and student outcomes BES, Robinson, Hohepa, and Lloyd, 2009, page 160). 

As part of the Ruia development process, whānau, teachers, and leaders at eight schools were interviewed about how the schools have built relationships that have contributed to Māori student success. The findings from this exploratory work were checked for alignment with research based principles of effective school–whānau relationships. They were then grouped into seven themes. 

You can use these resources to help you monitor your progress towards developing and sustaining educationally powerful partnerships with parents, whānau, mana whenua, their community, and others who have a stake in the outcomes for learners at your school.

Review the way you currently engage with whānau and mana whenua 

Many schools want to improve their relationships with whānau and mana whenua, but it can be hard to know where to start. A useful way to begin is by evaluating the story of your engagement with whānau, using the guiding questions below. 

What kinds of experiences do whānau and mana whenua have with your school?

• Who is involved in these experiences? 
• Who is in charge of the experiences? 
• Where do the experiences take place? 
• Where do the experiences take place? 
• How much time has been allocated to the experiences? 
• What has changed as a result of the experiences? 
• How are these changes communicated to whānau and mana whenua? 
• What beliefs do whānau and mana whenua currently hold about your school? 
• How reciprocal is your relationship with whānau and mana whenua? 

These questions are from the Local Curriculum Strategic Planning Guide (p. 14). The Guide includes practical guidance and ideas for engaging with whānau and mana whenua and making this part of your strategic plan. 

Review the impact of changes to your whānau–school partnerships  

When you have made changes, you need to review what happened and what the impact has been. This involves addressing two questions: 

• How educationally powerful are our whānau-school partnerships now? 
• What impact are they having on students? 

Both questions require schools to include the perspectives of all participants, including whānau, parents, school leaders, teachers, and students. It is also essential that all parties collaborate in deciding on the process for addressing the first question. 

To answer the second question, the responsibility for collecting the data rests with teachers and school leaders, especially when the outcomes being measured are academic. However, if parents, whānau, teachers, and school leaders have accepted joint responsibility for promoting student learning, make sense of the data in a collaborative process. 

Whānau need to: 

• understand how their children have progressed in relation to the valued outcomes established at the start of the process 
• know whether their children are succeeding at a rate that enables them to achieve their potential and their long-term aspirations.  

With these understandings in mind, school communities can engage in frank discussions about what the data is telling them. Bring together the information and data in response to both questions to draw inferences about the impact of the changed interactions on students and the implications for the future. This discussion provides a foundation for re-engaging another cycle of collaborative inquiry. 

Reflective questions  

• What happened for us, our students, and their whānau (intentionally and unintentionally)? Why? 
• What aspects of this partnership cycle worked well? What didn’t go well? 
• Where to next? 

Reviewing your school–whānau partnerships tool 

This tool was initially developed for the Ruia project. You could use it with whānau to determine how the current interactions between whānau, teachers, and leaders contribute to the outcomes whānau and your Māori community want for their children. 

Reviewing school-whānau partnerships will generally be a collaborative, face-to-face process for school leaders and whānau representatives. However, after this tool has been introduced to whānau representatives, they complete their review independently of school leaders. This provides valuable information about the views of whānau compared to those of the school. The analysis of this information and ongoing review of partnerships should then occur collaboratively.  

The tool is not used multiple times by multiple users. Instead, it is worked through twice, once by the school leader(s) and once by whānau representatives. For this reason, users should follow these steps: 

1.  Agreeing on a process and deciding on roles 

The school: 

• Decide who will work through the tool from the school’s point of view. This will most likely be the principal and three to five other leaders and/or teachers. 
• Decide how this group will gather the views of other staff. 
• This group (or the principal) should give whānau representatives a briefing on the tool so that they can get started on Step 1.  

Whānau and the local Māori community:  

• Decide how to gather the views of whānau, Māori students, and the local Māori community. 
• Determine who will act as representatives to work through the tool. 
• See Step 2 for examples of possible approaches.  

2.  Gathering information 

Before working through the tool, have a full picture of current school–whānau partnerships and evidence for their effectiveness. To achieve this picture: 

• listen to and record the full range of perspectives among those you are representing 
• use the tool to collect evidence and suggestions for next steps and professional learning. 

This is an especially important step for whānau and the local Māori community. Here are some examples of approaches they could take to consult and gather information: 

• A group of about five Māori representing whānau, the community, and students could consult with a broad range of those whom they represent and then work through the tool with the information they have gathered. 
• Whānau could be sent (electronically or on paper) the document to complete individually and return to one or more representatives, who collate the responses. 

Instead of setting up a representative group, whānau and the local Māori community could meet together several times to work through the tool, with one person recording responses and decisions as they are made. 

3.  Completing a review 

The tool covers seven areas – an overview and six areas served through partnerships. For each of the areas, there are indicators for opposite ends of a continuum of school–whānau engagement. 

At one end of the continuum, school and whānau engage in a limited way that is usually determined by the school. At the other end, school, whānau, and the Māori community engage in genuine, long-term partnerships for learning.  

As you work through each area, enter your response for each pair of indicators and the evidence, next steps, and required professional learning for that area. 

4.  Conducting subsequent reviews 

As you work together to improve the quality of your partnership, you will likely want to conduct another review in the following year to see what progress has been made.  Comparing two or more reviews will provide information over time on progress and on those areas that need attention. 

See Materials that come with this resource to download the tools that cover the material for this resource.

Relationships for learning 

The Designing Local Curriculum toolkit offers another option. The Relationships for Learning tool helps you strategically identify the community relationships that can support the learning of all ākonga in your school. It does so by providing a process for classifying these relationships into different types and considering the purpose of each relationship.  

The tool focuses on your school’s relationships with individuals and groups whose roles or expertise offer a potential resource for learning. Each of the settings associated with yours already has its own network of relationships (for example, hapū and iwi, local government). This tool enables you to build on and sustain these relationships as a community-wide network that extends beyond the network of each setting. This tool was developed for Kāhui Ako but can be adapted to a school context. 

Download the guidance: Relationships for Learning: Guidance   

See the suite of tools: Local Curriculum Design Tool  

Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in Aotearoa New Zealand are developing a more nuanced understanding of the characteristics of relationships that make a difference for ākonga and how such relationships can be constructed. The research examples below give access to some of that developing knowledge. 

Building genuine learning partnerships with parents: teaching approaches and strategies that work (ERO, 2018)  

This report synthesises findings from 40 primary schools to establish eight partnership approaches and strategies that work: 

• Moving to genuine relational and learning partnerships with parents, families, and whānau.
• Using and responding to an inquiry to improve learner-centred relationships with parents.
• Genuine learning partnerships with parents to help both the children and teachers. 
• Improving educationally powerful connections with parents. 
• Comprehensive information enables parents to support their child’s learning at home. 
• Working closely with families to accelerate children’s progress in mathematics.
• Working with parents during a child’s transition to and within a school.
• Simple strategies that enhanced learner-centred relationships with parents. 

See the report: Building genuine learning partnerships with parents: teaching approaches and strategies that work (ERO, 2018) 

Educationally powerful connections with parents and whānau (ERO, 2015)

This report-based on ERO reviews of 256 schools, identifies what is involved in creating educationally powerful connections and relationships with parents and whānau. Four big ideas emerge. 

The relationship intends to extend learning opportunities  

Leaders and teachers created educationally powerful connections with parents and whānau when they understood that the purpose of these relationships was to extend learning across home and school. Teachers and leaders who understood this intent of the relationship: 

• knew about, valued, and built from one learning experience to the next 
• removed the separation between home and classroom learning experiences 
• developed a shared language about learning and achievement with students and their whānau 
• valued student wellbeing and were genuinely interested in them and their whānau.  

School characteristics make a difference 

Teachers and leaders at schools with successful working relationships with parents and whānau: 

• involved most parents in setting goals and agreeing on next learning steps with their child 
• regularly reviewed their working relationship with all parents and whānau 
• responded quickly and nimbly to information from tracking and monitoring student progress 
• persisted in finding ways to involve all parents of target students.

It is important to be systematic in strengthening relationships  

Leaders used an inquiry framework to help teachers systematically strengthen their working relationships with parents and whānau. They did this by: 

• having regular conversations with parents and whānau to learn more about who each student is in the wider context of school and home, to develop holistic and authentic learning goals and contexts 
• extending learning by designing and implementing multiple and aligned learning opportunities 
• evaluating these learning opportunities and whether whānau could use them at home 
• being persistent in using what worked, change and improve what did not work, and transfer what worked to support other students and their parents and whānau.  

Improving collaboration as part of the school’s approach to underachievement  

Students would benefit if school leaders and teachers involved parents and whānau in designing and implementing their responses to student underachievement. 

See the report: Educationally powerful connections with parents and whānau (ERO, 2015) 

School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why Best Evidence Synthesis (Robinson, Hohepa, & Lloyd, 2009) 

The school leadership best evidence synthesis identifies and explains characteristics of school leadership that are linked to improving outcomes for learners. One of these dimensions is “creating educationally powerful connections”. Educationally powerful connections have an explicit focus on student learning. They support students to experience continuity as they move between settings, including between home and school. 

"The purpose of school-home involvement is to connect in-school and out-of-school learning in ways that will support valued outcomes for students. If effective connections are to be developed, teachers need to value the educational cultures of their students’ families and communities, and parents need to learn about and value the education culture of the school. The principle of ako – reciprocal learning and teaching – is therefore fundamental to developing connections that work." (page 150)

Robinson et al. (2009) conducted a meta-analysis to identify the relative impact of various types of home–school linkages that impact student outcomes. The first five findings illustrate the dramatic impact on student outcomes when the relationship between whānau and school is focused on the core business of teaching and learning. They are: 

• Parent and teaching interventions.
• Teacher-designed interactive homework with parents.
• Strategy to access family/community funds of knowledge. 
• Teacher feedback on homework. 
• Parent intervention. 

See the report: School leadership and student outcomes: Identifying what works and why: Best Evidence Synthesis (Robinson, Hohepa, & Lloyd, 2009)   

Successful Home–School Partnerships (Bull, Brooking, & Campbell, 2008)

Researchers investigated elements of successful home–school partnerships and how these operate in different school settings. They reviewed the research and examined how these elements played out in seven schools that identified themselves as having successful partnerships with their communities.  

The team found that successful home-school partnerships: 

• are collaborative and mutually respectful 
• are multidimensional and responsive to community needs 
• are embedded in school development plans, well resourced, and reviewed regularly 
• are goal-oriented and focused on learning 
• incorporate strategies to help parents support their children’s learning at home 
• incorporate strategies to enable timely two-way communication between school and parents 
• take time and commitment. 
• plan for a flexible and sustainable approach. 

See the report: Successful home–school partnerships (Bull, Brooking, & Campbell, 2008)   

Working effectively with iwi and hapū (Melanie Taite-Pitama) 

Melanie Taite-Pitama talks about how schools can build and strengthen relationships with local marae or hapū to ensure their tamariki and whānau have connections to papakāinga and whakapapa. 

View the video and read the transcript: Edtalks: Working effectively with iwi and hapū 

A framework for partnerships (Kia Eke Panuku) 

Connecting with Māori Communities (an e-book used in the Kia Eke Panuku programme) includes a theoretical framework for developing effective educational connections between schools and their Māori communities. The framework is supported by videos discussing strategies that leaders could implement to address four themes of collaboration and partnership with Māori communities: 

• identify who you are 
• build relational trust 
• listen to communities 
• respond accordingly. 

See the eBook and videos: A framework for partnerships/collaboration (Poutama Pounamu website) 

Effective bicultural leadership: A way to restore harmony at school and avoid suspension (Berryman & Bateman, 2008)  

Mere Berryman and Sonja Bateman describe a significant incident in which three Māori boys in years 7 and 8 were found experimenting with marijuana during the school day and on the school grounds. It is a short, easy-to-read case study with a sound theoretical basis. 

The school’s principal did not want to minimise the seriousness of the boys behaviour. He had to be aware of the effect of his response to the event on the other students and teachers. However, he wanted a positive outcome that would acknowledge the seriousness of what the boys had done while providing a pathway for the boys to continue successfully at school. 

The principal turned to a respected kaumātua for advice and support. They worked together to set up a hui whakatika process in which responsibility, remorse, and restitution could be established, faced, and settled. 

This is a case study that occurred in a particular context and was handled in a way that had very positive, long-term outcomes for all involved. The article challenges school leaders to think beyond traditional ways of responding to critical incidents at a school. It is not about finding quick and easy solutions. It is about addressing serious misbehaviour so that the issues are confronted, and positive pathways are found that involve partnership, protection, and participation for all parties. 

Reflective questions  

• Consider a past critical incident involving students and staff at your school. How did you deal with it? What resolution was reached for all involved? In light of the information in this article, are there other pathways you could have taken? 
• In the event of a future serious incident at your school involving staff and students, what mechanisms do you have in place to provide partnership, protection, and participation without compromising to your school’s standards for behaviour? 
• How might you use the case study to develop an in-school professional development session to discuss the dilemmas and the possibilities of such an approach to handle a serious incident within the school? 

Read the case study: Effective bicultural leadership - A way to restore harmony at school and avoid suspension (Berryman & Bateman, 2008)   

The complexity of community and family influences on children’s achievement in New Zealand: BES (Biddulph, Biddulph, & Biddulph, 2003) 

This best evidence synthesis focuses on children from early childhood through to the end of secondary schooling. It is based on a wide range of New Zealand data and is informed by several overseas studies. Its authors find that families, whānau, and communities are key levers for achieving high-quality outcomes for diverse children. Such outcomes relate to both social and academic achievement.  

The findings are summarised in four categories: 

• family attributes 
• family processes 
• community factors 
• centre/school, family, and community partnerships. 

The findings are complex and endeavour to identify what applies to whom and in what circumstances. 

See the report: The complexity of community and family influences on children’s achievement in New Zealand: BES (Biddulph, Biddulph, & Biddulph, 2003) 

Accomplishing important work together (Timperley & Robinson, 2002)  

Dr Helen Timperley and Associate Professor Viviane Robinson examine what is meant by ‘partnership’ when applied in an education context. They suggest that one of the problems with the term is that partnership means different things to different people. For some, it is about power sharing; for others, it means involving particular people in achieving particular outcomes. 

The authors suggest that the strength of a partnership lies in the ability of the partners to integrate relationships and tasks in ways that enable them to work together and learn from one another. 

The article draws partnership examples from the Strengthening Education in Mangere and Otara (SEMO) initiative; partnerships between early childhood education centres and schools; and partnerships between the Ministry of Education, local schools, and a forum of board chairpersons. 

Reflective questions  

This article highlights that a partnership exists when each party shares some responsibility for the task to be completed.

• How do you develop partnerships with parents, whānau, mana whenua, and other community members involved with your school? 
• What do you see as the costs and benefits of power sharing? 
• Reflect on a recent example of partnership in your school. 
• Who selected the group and how? 
• Who made the final decisions? 
• How was this determined? 
• What happened? 
• The term ‘partnership’ indicates an equal relationship. The founding partnership that we have in New Zealand was established by the Treaty of Waitangi. How would you describe the partnership you have with your community in terms of being a Treaty partner? 

Read the article: Partnerships - Accomplishing important work together (PDF 461 kB) (Timperley & Robinson, 2002)  

Further reading  

Read further research about what works to construct powerful partnerships with whānau and mana whenua, along with policy frameworks that are informed by that research.] 

Research  

A study of in-school facilitation in two teacher professional development programmes (Hindle, Marshall, Higgins, & Tait-McCutcheon, 2007)  

How is my child doing? (ERO, 2013)  

How to build partnerships with families from different cultural backgrounds (Hargraves, 2022)  

Improving education outcomes for Pacific learners (ERO, 2012)

Learning in a Covid-19 world: The impact of Covid-19 on Pacific learners (ERO, 2022) 
Learning in a Covid-19 World: The impact of Covid-19 on Pacific learners - Summary (ERO, 2022) 

Learning in a Covid-19 World: A guide for supporting Pacific learners (ERO, 2022) 

Research Report: Parents, families and whānau and their information needs (Colmar Brunton for the Ministry of Education, 2012) 

Embracing Diverse Cultures: Schools’ Practice | Education Review Office (ero.govt.nz) 

Policy frameworks 

Tātaiako: Cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners (Ministry of Education, 2011)  

Tū Rangatira: Māori-medium educational leadership - te reo Māori (Ministry of Education, 2010)   

Tu Rangatira: Māori-medium educational leadership - English  English te reo Māori version (Ministry of Education, 2010)

Tapasā: Cultural competency framework for teachers of Pacific learners (New Zealand Teaching Council) 

These cases provide examples of how a range of schools are working to construct educationally powerful partnerships centred on ākonga learning.

Involve whānau in collaborative curriculum design

Context 

Kawhia School is a small, rural, full primary school.  

What motivated the school to improve their whānau-school partnership?  

Though 90 percent of ākonga identify as Māori, the tumuaki believed Kawhia School had been run in a very Pākehā way. She wanted greater involvement from whānau and community and to capture their voice about what they wanted their tamariki to achieve.  

What the school did  

The tumuaki organised a whānau hui led by external facilitators. She believed that external facilitation would enable whānau to talk more freely than if she were to lead it. It was important to get facilitators who were able to engage with the whānau culturally and personally.  

The tumuaki became just another participant. The facilitators asked whānau, “What would you like your tamariki to leave this school with?” “What’s your graduate profile?” Parents and whānau were unanimous that they wanted their tamariki to learn the stories of their hapū and iwi.  

After the hui, whānau said that it hadn’t felt like a consultation, but a get together. They were confident that the school had heard, understood, and affirmed their messages about what their tamariki needed to thrive. The tumuaki collated and analysed whānau responses and shared the summary with whānau. The facilitators continued to work with the tumuaki and whānau to develop their school-whānau relationship.  

The tumuaki initiated a process of evaluation that included:  

• noticing the current state  
• investigating what whānau wanted 
• collaborative sensemaking of the hui discussion 
• prioritising to take actions that whānau requested 
• monitoring and evaluating the impact on ākonga.  

What happened as a result  

As a result of collaboration between whānau, the board of trustees, and the school change team, the school’s strategic plan now emphasises whānau aspirations for their tamariki throughout. An example is that the responsibility for the school ākonga achievement goal is shared between tumuaki, kaiako, support staff, and whānau.  

Every week, ākonga visit a local landmark, and learn about its history. As a result, ākonga now really understand the stories of their people and their place.  

Leadership has played an important role in Kawhia School’s story. The tumuaki created high trust among iwi and whānau by building relationships and making connections. She talked to whānau in a relaxed way, kanohi ki te kanohi (face-to-face) and was genuinely interested in their ideas. For the tumuaki, belonging is key; if everyone feels they belong, they are more likely to actively participate. She said:  

"The best thing I did was to stand back and not drive it... standing back and allowing the whānau, BOT, kaumatua, and iwi to run that process of designing the curriculum. ... Empowering whānau to devise their local curriculum created a lot of collaboration that would not have happened before."

Involve whānau in learning conferences 

Context 

Aorangi School is a suburban, years 1–6 primary school. 

What motivated the school to improve their whānau-school partnership?  

School leaders and teachers were concerned about the low turnout of parents and whānau to parent-teacher interviews. 

What the school did  

Twice a year, the school has student-led conferences that focus on books that the students take home each term as a report of their progress. They contain examples of their work that have been either self or teacher assessed. 

The conferences follow a set protocol. The students show their parents examples of their work in reading, writing, mathematics, and the visual arts. They then introduce their parents to their teacher for a chat. 

This isn’t a formal interview, and the teachers say they have to restrain themselves from making it one. However, the teachers are pleased to report that most of the parents do talk about their children’s progress, their goals for the future, and the things to work on with them at home. 

Following the first round of conferences, the parents are invited to write a letter to their children responding to the work that they have seen. The parents are provided with the paper, an envelope, and a sample letter. 

After the second round of conferences, the parents are also invited to make their children a certificate. The school supplies all the glue, glitter, paper, and other materials required. 

Afterwards, the school holds a big assembly, where the children read their letters out and parents come to celebrate their achievement. 

What happened as a result?

The school has kept data on how many parents responded to the parent-led conferences. At the end of one year, 72% of parents came to conferences, and 100% of those parents wrote letters and made certificates. One student said: 

"It helps our parents know what we are doing and how they can help us with our learning."

A parent expressed the opinion that the conferences work because they are completely led by the students and parents in a process that redistributes power to them, away from the teacher. 

Support whānau to interrogate data 

Context

Sylvia Park School, a suburban full primary school. 

What motivated the school to improve their whānau-school partnership?  

The leaders and teachers at Sylvia Park School knew from their experience and reading of research that they could make greater gains in student achievement by strengthening the relationship between parents and teachers to work together.  

The school had tried a range of approaches to improve relationships with parents, including inviting parents to school for discussion on a focus, such as sports or literacy. The meetings were well attended, but the school leaders found parents were often too intimidated to ask questions. They wanted to explore a more personalised approach to develop honest, robust, and rigorous relationships with parents. 

What the school did  

The school received funding to implement a school and community learning partnership named Mutukarao. The funding enabled the release of a teacher to be the project manager. The project manager helped parents understand the assessments that students undertake, primarily through one-on-one review meetings every 10 weeks for up to an hour. Parents decide the venue and time.   

The process begins with the project manager checking with the child’s teacher about issues for discussion, with a focus on learning and not behaviour. When the project manager meets with new parents and whānau, she shares School Entry Assessment (SEA) results with them, to engage whānau at the beginning of their child’s school life. The intention of the meeting is to have learning conversations with parents about assessments and the ways they can help their child progress. The parents work with the project manager to identify 10-week targets for their child, which the project manager passes on to the teacher. After 10 weeks, the teacher informs the project manager of progress, and the project manager then reports back to the parents. 

The project manager reminds the parents that they have knowledge of their child that is important to contribute to the discussion. She builds their inquiry skills to ask demanding questions. 

What happened as a result  

Parents fill out an evaluation form after each visit. Their feedback indicates that they like the dedicated time to understand the assessment and know where to focus their support. Teachers have noticed that parents are more confident. The focus now is to build parent knowledge to ensure an equal partnership in discussions about their children’s learning. 

Share information about achievement data

Context 

Randwick School, a suburban full primary school. 

What motivated the school to improve its whānau-school partnership? 

The school was involved in professional learning and development in writing, which included teachers interpreting student achievement data. School leaders realised that parents could participate more actively in parent interviews if this information was shared with them. 

What the school did  

At a meeting with whānau, the principal used a PowerPoint presentation to explain what: 

• Randwick School’s new writing programme looked like 
• Randwick School’s writing assessment looked like 
• The Māori children’s data looked like (graphed)  
• The Māori children’s data should look like (graphs of expected levels) 

The principal went on to explain that this was the type of information whānau would see at the parent-teacher interviews, and she carefully unpacked what the graphs were telling them. She suggested whānau might want to ask the following types of questions during the interviews: 

• What level is my child achieving at now (with reference to graphs or data)? 
• Where should they be achieving? 
• What are you doing to support them in the classroom? 
• What can I do to support them at home? 

The principal also showed whānau some examples of children’s writing books with teacher feedback. She explained what this meant and what they should look for and discuss. 

What happened as a result  

Twenty-five Māori families came to the meeting, where the principal helped whānau interpret achievement data and prepare for the parent-teacher interviews. The meeting was followed by a 97% turnout to the parent-teacher interviews, which is the most the school has ever seen. 

One parent stated that she felt empowered by the experience and that it was the best parent-teacher interview she has ever had. The principal believes she needs to keep working on engaging whānau because she wasn’t able to reach as many people as she had hoped. 

Engage and support staff with the right expertise

Context  

Waverley Park School, a year 0–6 suburban primary school. 

What motivated the school to improve its whānau-school partnership?  

The principal realised that he did not have the expertise within the school to foster the deep engagement with whānau that the school aspired to. He needed to recruit a teacher who did have it. 

What the school did  

The principal went to the local college of education and asked who their best Māori student was. He then recruited her, explaining that he had a problem getting Māori parents to come to school. He told her what he had tried in the past, and she said she thought she could do it better but that he had to be prepared to take a back seat. 

The teacher leveraged change in whānau engagement by re-establishing the kapa haka group. The teacher used this involvement to start building relationships with the children’s whānau. She then invited parents to the first official whānau meeting, kanohi ki te kanohi. At the first meeting, the principal played the guitar, and the deputy principal and other staff supplied and served food while the new teacher ran the meeting. This let whānau see that the Māori teacher had the full support of school leaders and teachers. The meetings are now always organised this way. 

The first meetings were simply about the kapa haka group, but over time the teacher introduced other content. She asked whānau what they wanted for their children's education. One of the first things whānau requested was more Māori signage around the school. They also wanted children to know basic te reo, marae protocol, karakia, and pōwhiri processes. 

What happened as a result  

The whānau group meets once a term. About 24 whānau members turn up regularly, and sometimes there are as many as 60 families.  

Enact deliberate acts of leadership to honour Te Tiriti 

In this ERO video James Hargest High School talks about developing a bicultural school context and a reciprocal relationship between the school and the local Māori community. 

Engage in cycles of talanoa ako  

The Ngāue Fakataha ki he Ako 'a e Fānau project involved Pacific parents, schools, and teachers working together to enhance children’s learning, progress, and achievement. Project participants developed the Talanoa Ako cycle to support their work, along with a set of tools to help them enact it. 

Project background 

The project took place in 2013 and 2014 and involved three primary schools. The proportion of Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Māori, Niuean, and other Pacific students enrolled at these schools ranged from one-fifth to more than three-quarters. 

The project investigated and responded to the challenges faced by schools, parents, and students, in working effectively together to support student learning and progress. It found that strong governance and leadership are essential if schools, teachers, parents, and families are to work together in an effective, consistent, and sustained way to support Pacific and all students’ progress and achievement. 

Talanoa Ako Cycle approach and tools 

The project team developed a Talanoa Ako Cycle to support the process of working together.  ‘Talanoa ako’ means ‘talking together about education.’ 

The Talanoa Ako cycle draws on research-based principles of engagement and sets out processes, actions, and expected outcomes. It provides clarity about what leaders, parents and families, teachers, and students could do, and when, so that they work together to support progress and achievement throughout the school year. The team also developed four tools to help schools to implement the Talanoa Ako Cycle.   

When the participating schools trialled aspects of the Talanoa Ako Cycle, there was evidence of positive changes. For example: 

• during reporting meetings, teachers didn’t dominate talk as often 
• parents were encouraged and better supported to ask questions and provide feedback 
• parents and students had greater understanding of the contents of the written report of progress and achievement 
• there was more discussion about next steps to jointly support the child's ongoing progress. 

See the reports: 

• Ngāue Fakataha ki he ako 'a e Fānau: Schools, parents and families working together to better understand and support Pasifika students’ progress and achievement at school: Summary  (Tongati’o, Mitchell, & Kennedy, November 2016) 
• Ngāue Fakataha ki he Ako ‘a e Fānau: Report on the development phase (Phase One) of a research and development project (Tongati’o, Mitchell, & Kennedy, November 2016) 
• Ngāue Fakataha ki he Ako ‘a e Fānau: Report on the development phase (Phase Two) of a research and development project (Tongati’o, Mitchell, & Kennedy, November 2016) 

Build teachers’ cultural knowledge  

Juliet Small discusses Oranga School’s experience building teachers' knowledge of Pacific cultures to better meet the needs of their students.  

Other reflections  

Partnership with parents  

We see more parents at school, in classrooms, at our three-way conferences, in parent interviews, and more parents in assembly. They feel valued and empowered. Our Samoan parents, particularly, drop their children off in the morning and meet under the trees, and talk. Some of those chats are informal, and some of them look more like formal meetings. 

Our plan is a living document, and we are focusing on consultation with our Pacific communities, in particular trying to involve more Pacific parents in decision-making and shaping the direction of the school. When children come to Oranga, the family view is that they come to school to learn English and we are trying to give the message to all our communities that the children’s first language is vitally important. And at the moment, to a limited extent, you hear children speak in their first language, and that is something I would like to work on as a school. 

Learning from parents  

A few years ago, one of our Niuean students died (not here at school). As the principal, I’d said that the class were not to go around and visit the little boy. A group of parents arrived at my office to talk with me. They said, “We know you’re the principal and we respect your decision, but you’re wrong”. 

They said that, as principal, I needed to go and see the family and say that I would speak. They talked about what to wear. They collected money and bought lace on behalf of the school. They talked with the class about a visit to the child. All the children took a flower and sang a song. Many parents went with their children. 

The parents helped us walk in a world that wasn’t our world, and it was a very emotional time for all of us and a great time of learning. 

Nurture learning relationships

Finlayson Park School principal, Shirley Maihi explains the importance of focusing on students’ social and academic development and total well-being, and of nurturing the relationships between the student, the school, and the parents. 

Our school community  

Finlayson Park School is a large South Auckland school with high transience rates and students from low socio-economic areas. It’s a multicultural school – about 24 cultures altogether. Our school is close-knit, very welcoming, and open to its community. And although our parents don’t have too much to do with the school academically, they are willing to assist in practical ways if need be. 

We have many students who, for various reasons, don’t get a lot of one-to-one assistance at home. So, we employ 25 teacher aides. That means a lot of extra bodies on the staff, but it's imperative here that our children get one-to-one adult assistance, or one-to-two, or small group assistance. 

Educational beliefs 

Part of my philosophy is that we must promote and nurture the triangular relationships of learning; that is the parents, school, and children. I believe that our students must have parental involvement for them to get the best out of their education at school.  

I believe that our students need to be nurtured in every way – socially, academically, and mentally – with the whole well-being of the child being looked after. 

As an experienced principal, I realise how important it is for teachers to be upskilled and responsible for their learning so that we can offer the best possible education for our children. I have a strong belief in children learning in their first language, so I have found it necessary to keep myself upskilled in that area. My learning has never stopped, and I have completed various papers in bilingual education and those about leadership. That has been an important part of assisting teachers and encouraging them to do the same thing. 

Supporting physical needs  

Looking after our children is a top priority for all who work at this school. I make sure that students are looked after from early in the morning. We provide a breakfast club for students who need food or whose parents go to work early. Children bring their home readers and unfinished homework, and they have a place where they can work. At the end of the day, we may have children who can’t be picked up, or who can’t walk home, so we are part of a taxi service for them, too. But I believe that’s all part of looking after our students and keeping them safe. 

Involving the family  

At Finlayson, we like to involve the whole family. We have had adult literacy and numeracy programmes in our school for the past three years. Parents opt into either literacy or numeracy. As part of that learning process, parents go into their own child’s classroom and become part of the child’s lessons. That’s had a huge impact on the unity of the family, family learning, and parents’ ability to support their children in homework tasks. It’s been very successful. 

Another way of involving the parents is through inviting them to our three-way conferences where parents, the child, and the teacher are involved in setting specific goals for the following six months. These goals are evaluated, and then new goals are set. It’s been an enriching process for parents to understand that they have a responsibility for their child’s learning – not just the school. 

We are enticing our parents to school by providing for all sorts of musicals, sports, and fun days, and this is all part of looking after the whole well-being of the child. We have employed our own ful-ltime fully registered school counsellor. She is available for our children and parents, at no cost. As an add-on to that, we have a full-time school social worker. With the backing of these two people, we have supported many families to be more available for their children and encouraged them to get their children back into school and fully immersed in education. 

Staff childcare 

Our board recognised the need to attract good quality, and experienced, staff. To encourage this, we purchased a house next door to the school and turned it into a registered childcare centre for our teachers’ children. Now we are reaping the benefits of having that crèche right on our doorstep. 

We find that teachers who go on maternity leave come back earlier. With their babies in the crèche next door, they can see them at lunchtime. It’s certainly been a wonderful way to attract and keep staff at our school.