tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63734485321693468422012-01-29T13:09:52.238+13:00Andrew Bird's blog about education and leadershipAndrew Birdnoreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-46553187052020167112012-01-29T13:09:00.001+13:002012-01-29T13:09:52.250+13:00

The senior management team began the year at a 2 day conference in Hamilton called Learning at School. This conference  focuses on the current trends around the future of learning and is enlightening and challenging. It also gave us a chance to hear our new Minister of Education, the Honourable Hekia Parata. You may like to hear her 17 minute conference opening speech.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-89292111220407657652011-07-11T16:41:00.002+12:002011-07-11T16:44:45.376+12:00

Insight, a Sunday morning show from Radio New Zealand,  investigates the ongoing opposition to national standards for primary schools as they face the deadline for setting targets in reading, writing and maths. This show, written and presented by John Gerritsen and produced by Philippa Tolley gives a very balanced view on the struggles each party, either for or against, is experiencing, as

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-22126342486421421262011-06-23T11:06:00.000+12:002011-06-23T11:06:59.027+12:00

  On May 18th 2011, Stanford University professor Linda-Darling Hammond was awarded the Teacher's College medal for devoting her life to a long and dedicated career in education reform. Below is a transcript of her acceptance speech, as posted on the Nation. As you might expect, she's got some pretty powerful things to say. Click to read this very powerful speech..

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-41453944398080187042010-11-15T23:06:00.005+13:002010-11-16T09:01:26.362+13:00

I found this article in the Scotsman newspaper by Andrew Whitaker. This is the perennial commentary around schools today where one generation thinks it is superior to the next, even though the society that schools are working in is vastly different that the 40 years before. Today's markers might like to find out what it really was like in their day. One thing that intrigues me is when was

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-51565499693539860622010-10-16T16:36:00.005+13:002010-10-16T16:54:00.325+13:00

This animate is a visual adaptation to a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert, and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award. His speech, on Changing Paradigms of Education, puts some of New Zealand recent educational policy in a global context, (not is a positive way). It is very interesting and the amazing animation makes it a very

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-49864234608056816492010-09-09T10:05:00.005+12:002010-09-09T19:31:46.857+12:00

One of the great thing about web 2.0 and social networking is the connections and people you meet (although not really)! Luqman Micel commented on Sarah's dyslexia blog recently, inviting her (and us) to see his blog on dyslexia, teaching and learning from Malaysia. No air tickets required, and of course I was able to click and read his content which was very useful, challenging exisiting

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-2653090418962384852010-09-02T10:54:00.004+12:002010-09-03T12:36:10.389+12:00

Ewan MacIntosh is someone I really admire. He has made a strong contribution to 21st century education with a prominent role in England and Scotland, including work as Digital Commissioner 4iP (Scotland, Northern Ireland and The North East) at Channel 4. Some of the Muritai staff subscribe to his regular posts. He is a strong advocate for student voice and engagement of children in their

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-2641966961920136862010-08-30T21:25:00.004+12:002010-08-30T21:41:26.547+12:00

Many of us know Nigel Latta, a psychologist and parenting expert from his excellent 'Politically Incorrect Parenting Show' TV show last year. Nigel has an excellent website which you can access here.I have been enjoying his regular sessions with Kathryn Ryan on National Radio where he shares tips on how parents can support and grow their children in a pragmatic and realistic way. You can choose

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-72381294406617897602010-08-18T23:15:00.004+12:002010-08-18T23:26:29.644+12:00

One of the best sources of quality discussion around education can be found at good old National Radio. This discussion on Kathryn Ryan's 'Nine to Noon' slot sees an excellent interview with Dr Monica Martinez about the future of education. Listen to this excellent podcast by clicking here.Monica Martinez is lead developer of the US-based KnowledgeWorks Foundation's influential '2020 Forecast:

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-5352117296572523852010-06-04T20:05:00.007+12:002010-06-04T20:28:15.803+12:00

I had the pleasure of attending a 4D conference on Dyslexia in Auckland this week. The morning session was presented by Neil Mackay, a teacher and trainer who created the concept of the Dyslexia Friendly School, something we are aspiring to achieve. Our determination to improve access for children with learning difficulties to the curriculum is based on our desire for all children to be achieving

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-58970020144320497452010-05-27T10:29:00.003+12:002010-05-27T10:52:32.486+12:00

In 2006 Sir Ken Robinson shook the educational world with his talk at the TED conference which outlined 'how schools can kill creativity'. In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning -- creating conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish.Using a large amount of humour, a series

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-15594320534536843172010-04-26T10:32:00.004+12:002010-04-26T10:36:48.549+12:00

An old friend sent this to me recently and I found it very, very clever and moving. As we all know a palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward.Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite too.This is only a 1 minute 44 second long video, but it is brilliant. Make sure you read it as well as listen...forward

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-3987581327434275232010-04-21T19:29:00.004+12:002010-05-27T19:58:36.368+12:00

We shared this with some of our older children today. Developed by high school students in Santiago it covers all the reasons why kids could not be part of contributing to a school cultures and success and then shares why offering no excuses is their school mantra - to succeed. What a powerful clip.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-3019553707757373712010-04-01T08:50:00.004+13:002010-04-01T08:57:23.002+13:00

This short clip is how leadership works. I hope you enjoy viewing how you can get the desired results in unusual ways.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-25627537576673301432010-03-05T06:42:00.001+13:002010-03-05T06:46:01.042+13:00

The impact of National Standards in literacy and numeracy on primary and intermediate schools across New Zealand must not be underestimated, and the approach taken to incorporate these into the successful programmes that schools are already running requires careful consideration. Some key points from policy -• The standards describe the benchmarks all children need to meet to keep up with the

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-87523187265255344902010-02-04T15:36:00.005+13:002010-02-04T16:03:15.538+13:00

This discussion was on National Radio on Monday. With Kathryn Ryan were Professor Robin Alexander of Cambridge University; Professor Tom Nicholson of Massey University and Ray Newport of the School Trustees Association. It is a rigorous debate really as each person advocates their point of view.National standards discussionThis is a worthwhile discussion, particularly from Robin Alexander who

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-16467566054568028012009-12-30T09:19:00.002+13:002009-12-30T09:42:24.192+13:00

I particularly enjoyed Natalie Anderson's commentary on a different set of essential skills that children should be taught through education - resilience, risk and rebellion.Resilience is one of the foundation attributes she would like her kids to develop. Life has its knocks. It just does. It isn't fair and it isn't always easy. But the ability to pick yourself up and box on is essential. Risk

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-12338984281197752522009-10-26T20:52:00.005+13:002009-10-30T21:21:16.869+13:00

National Standards were introduced last week. Sadly the teaching profession was absent from the celebrations, not because they weren't invited, but more to do with their frustration at the process and based on the empirical evidence that they won't improve student achievement. While the process around the excellent new curriculum has seen it richly embedded into schools, through a lengthy

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-50507279363255582962009-10-18T16:03:00.005+13:002009-10-18T16:13:13.044+13:00

I enjoyed listening to Ned and Samantha being interviewed by Jim Rose on Chris Laidlaw's sunday morning radio show. The whole article is 45 minutes long but Ned and Samantha are first up. they did really well - sounded so articulate and confident. We have become a leading school through our Gold award. Overall it is also an interesting discussion about education and action learning.Listen here

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-56623527407663156962009-10-16T18:57:00.012+13:002009-10-16T22:43:00.398+13:00

This is the most comprehensive independent review done on the UK education systems in the last 40 years. It is very telling and worth a read as it suggests the government has gone down the wrong path - narrowing the curriculum and placing children's education at the whim of a testing regime. Sadly the UK Labour government has distanced itself from it preferring their own commissioned report which

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-17819652454903333152009-10-16T13:36:00.006+13:002009-10-16T13:48:26.156+13:00

Hi all. I have been enjoying my study break and with 4 weeks to go before I head back to school I thought I'd get back into the blogging cycle again. I decided to quit for a bit and focus just on reading and researching. Anyway - just to get back on the bike I thought I'd post this excellent talk from Rory Sutherland. He is an advertising man and talks about real v perceived value/change.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-56136979673017130122009-02-27T11:27:00.006+13:002009-02-27T11:37:32.704+13:00

I have been out of school for a week and I am slowly getting my head around being away for the next 32 weeks from Muritai School. After 8 years at the helm it feels weird not being there. I been removed from all distribution lists and am receiving no emails at all from school. It has given me a huge realization about how much time, effort and commitment we put into our schools. This is a great

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-3334095634379981972009-02-12T15:12:00.006+13:002009-02-15T11:03:28.327+13:00

I love this brilliant 3 minute presentation from Richard St John at the TED website. He talks about how he identified the 8 secrets of success which he gleaned from 500 interviews /coffees with successful people over 7 years. So much these days is said of a person's connection to their environment that they are engaged in. We looked very hard before school started at key elements we had to

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-20175907116936785722008-12-09T15:20:00.011+13:002009-02-06T14:09:13.087+13:00

I love using wordle. Here is a wordle image which displays all the key words in our Charter and Strategic Plan. Lots of these words were reinforced through our recent community survey and when we asked the children what was great about Muritai School. It covers a lot

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-17965803202975290582008-12-04T20:39:00.005+13:002008-12-04T20:49:28.925+13:00

Once again the Muritai School Eastbourne Village Carnival was a huge success. Developed 7 years ago as part of our commitment to our community the carnival is principally a fundraiser for the school but the size of the event must also have huge spin offs for the community of Eastbourne. About 10,000 people came to our little village to see what was on offer and experienced various forms of

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-79651717928718655172008-12-01T20:32:00.005+13:002008-12-01T20:43:05.903+13:00

We have, at Muritai, an increasingly competent school orchestra. Started early in the year by Kate Donnelly we were treated to a performance by them at a recent school assembly. They have really improved over the last half year and should be proud of their efforts. After Kate left to go to Cambodia, Oli Ryks, Ruth Hooke and Jenni Champion, all extremely competent musicians in their own right,

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-55454093928052004452008-11-21T13:36:00.004+13:002008-11-21T13:57:16.486+13:00

As you know all classes have blogs. A trip to feedjit indicated the Stu Devenport's blog in room 13 was the most visited blog in Wellington with Kim Cookson in third place. It is nice that people are visiting our class blogs as it opens our classrooms to the wider community without having to visit into class. Stu and his year 5 class have made an awesome video of how to make paper and Kim and her

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-68987690104285325962008-11-15T20:16:00.009+13:002008-11-15T20:39:33.258+13:00

We were pleased to be able to be part of the Armistice Day celebrations at the Eastbourne War Memorial last week. The Eastbourne RSA invited the senior students to be part of the procedings and we chimed in with haka and waiata to show our appreciation of the contribution our armed services have made to our countries history. Feedback from the RSA has been hugely positive and it is nice to be

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-26460435541583228152008-11-05T11:42:00.005+13:002008-11-05T12:05:57.442+13:00

This week we have hosted the Life Education Trust's mobile classroom so our year 7-8 children could partake in the From the Shadows programme about drug education. This is another part of our lives today that 'would never have happened in my day".Life Education has a mission statement to help give the young people of NZ, through positive health-based education, their knowledge and skills to raise

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-15192726364776054312008-10-31T09:18:00.006+13:002008-10-31T09:43:20.344+13:00

Today in New Zealand we are celebrating World Teacher Day. Teaching is a profession that is immensely rewarding and working with the children is an absolute privilege. The rise of the world wide web has enable education to much more global in nature and we have abetter understanding of the key issues our colleagues are confronted with in their own communities.The teaching profession across the

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-56558343296964027332008-10-22T10:23:00.006+13:002008-11-05T13:42:42.978+13:00

I follow the class blogs quite closely and always enjoy the presentations that the teachers and children make to share the things that they are doing at school. Kirsten Berry and Room 22 has been doing some great stuff lately and by visiting their class blog you can see the extension that the children have involved in as they enter the last term of the year. I found the Dangle experience a

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-9178911937074227892008-10-03T10:21:00.006+13:002008-10-06T08:27:57.694+13:00

Just to prove that the school never sleeps we have been working hard to put the Eastbourne Carnival together to raise money for the school. We are looking to refresh and expand the library and so will need lots of money to develop this and bring it into the 21st century. The carnival is our biannual fundraiser and it allows us to meet one of our school objectives - to play a leading part in our

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-6981371819088979892008-09-25T19:28:00.001+12:002008-09-25T19:30:12.809+12:00

Tomorrow is the last day of term. Sad in some ways as it has been fantastic but we are all very tired and could all do with some family time. The Lorax last week was a huge success and I was so impressed with the confidence and the capability of the children. It is well documented that the year 8 children were my new entrant group when I started and they really raised the bar when performing in

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-6893301597086834252008-09-18T17:01:00.004+12:002008-09-18T17:12:58.192+12:00

In an email chat staff were having around a website called Free Rice that involves children playing learning games to donate rice on correct answers to countries that are experiencing famine, Stephen introduced this stunning, factual website called Breathing Earth on population growth and CO2 emissions. Check it out and be amazed, educated and challenged all at once.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-10066474142083566082008-09-15T14:47:00.004+12:002008-09-15T15:25:26.649+12:00

On Saturday Muritai hosted Michael Pohl, an international expert on using thinking skills in the classroom. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day based around three main sessions - a school-wide culture of thinking, using thinking skills in the classroom and developing students interaction with thinking skills. Michael really stretched us throughout the day and really challenged us to think about

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-59384514975019457342008-09-11T20:57:00.004+12:002008-09-11T21:21:57.716+12:00

We always have new things on the go at Muritai. One of the latest things is the prospect of linking up with Genesis energy and their SchoolGen programme. Schoolgen is a programme developed by Genesis Energy to bring solar energy to life for children and schools across New Zealand. When our year 5 and 8 children looked at renewable resources as part of their inquiry, solar and wind power was

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-85926229537707694932008-09-08T17:00:00.005+12:002008-09-08T17:08:06.454+12:00

Each year our choir performs at the Artsplash festival at the Michael Fowler Centre. Most schools do this and the show is performed using a variety of different choirs over a number of evenings. It is always an excellent show. What I love about this opportunity is how inclusive the event is. Any one of our children over year 4 can be involved and then they have to work hard to know the words and

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-88400911899853063702008-09-08T16:49:00.003+12:002008-09-09T16:29:48.993+12:00

Today was International Literacy Day around the world. We celebrated with a dress up day where staff and children came as their favourite book character. This afternoon at 1.30 we jumbled teaching and support staff and children around and had shared reading sessions with staff reading their favourite books to the children. Every day this week staff are reading to the children in the library at

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-85656411481644344502008-08-26T22:35:00.002+12:002008-08-26T22:44:32.636+12:00

Recent visitors to the school from the Horowhenua were most impressed with what was on display. Their cluster keeps a blog record of their development in Inquiry. You may like to view some of their thoughts on what they saw at Muritai. Oroua Downs KoputaroaOpikiLevin NorthThanks guys. We loved hosting you here.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-90372365455291268342008-08-26T22:17:00.002+12:002008-08-26T22:30:36.060+12:00

We do many forms of Professional Development at Muritai. As a school we have main focus which we collectively work on. Teams have learning talk each week in team meetings where they problem solve a learning or teaching aspect putting their collective minds together to identify best practice to improve learning outcomes. Staff attend various workshops based on their identified development goals.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-86497292341379357802008-08-19T15:08:00.005+12:002008-08-19T15:39:36.571+12:00

Often at Muritai we have visiting schools. They are specifically interested in our learning ecology and in particular our inquiry learning and ICT programmes. Last week we welcomed 39 teachers from the Horowhenua district who spent the whole day at school. I spoke on the work we had done to develop our learning ecology and then three groups of children fielded questions on their learning

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-21384327047587943832008-08-13T14:51:00.015+12:002008-09-15T15:29:40.946+12:00

During the holidays I attended the New Zealand Principal's conference. Keynote speaker Malachai Pancost urged us to set aside a day a week to work with the children and the teachers during the process of learning. This term I have been out and about on Wednesdays. Today I enjoyed my time in the junior school. A neat thing that I saw was buddy classes - room 4 and room 11, split in half and were

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-88601539003423667372008-08-12T18:41:00.002+12:002008-08-12T18:47:08.833+12:00

Here is something different. For those that shake your heads at the education of today might like to have a look at this movie from the 1940's which is where it all came from. Controversial - not anymore; appropriate - yes. To think 27 years later this group of children put a man on the moon! Education must change with the times.">

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-63640751740414579552008-08-07T11:12:00.005+12:002008-08-12T18:39:19.516+12:00

Children from year 3-8 have been all issued with a neat little flyer from the Ministry of Education called Step Up, Be Safe. This booklet which folds down into a pocket size, is an excellent resource that defines behaviours on promoting an awareness on bullying,friendships, types of bullying and some strategies to help children dealing with situations of bullying. You can access the booklet

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-49231062934689636072008-08-06T14:50:00.008+12:002008-08-06T20:30:59.475+12:00

With a new curriculum that is innovative in structure we are constantly trying to formulate learning that best suits the children as they prepare for their future. The days of replicating the classrooms of the 1960's are over and workspaces and jobs have changed dramatically over the last 17 years that I have been involved in education. I really like this short video on what the kids need to be

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-29843839475670164372008-08-05T16:12:00.004+12:002008-08-05T16:18:54.016+12:00

I am so impressed with our new teachers Kim Oaten and Kim Cookson. Picking up a class half way through the year is very tricky and can be very overwhelming as there is so many new faces to 'instantly' know. Have a look at their blogs to see what they have going in the classes already. Kim Oaten is from Australia and her teaching experience is really showing through with the kids continuing on the

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-90196879374059686972008-08-04T21:24:00.004+12:002008-08-04T21:40:18.118+12:00

I've been missing in action in regards to my blog of late. I enjoyed a decent break in the holidays with the family and have been chasing my tail ever since. If you are wondering what is happening with Muritai check out the teacher's blogs. They are all updated and have information about what is happening in classes this term.This term we have a short dash until we get into production mode. This

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-83980482329221505212008-07-01T15:06:00.006+12:002008-07-02T07:42:52.723+12:00

With 3 days before the end of term I am looking forward to heading to the NZ Principal's conference in Christchurch tomorrow. A good chance to catch up colleagues from around the country and listen in to keynotes focussing on the concept of leadership. These sort of events tend to fill your head with possibilities and the challenge is to convert good ideas into action. I look forward to

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-22564356123153268032008-06-18T11:51:00.006+12:002008-06-18T12:27:43.644+12:00

This week is Dyslexia Awareness Week. Check out the website. Defining dyslexia is a complex and contested process and there are no agreed definitions internationally. The Ministry of Education has drafted this definition as a starting point for our work and as such, it is as a working definition with further refinement expected. The key is the Ministry has recognised dyslexia as a learning

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-14719083300208987912008-06-11T12:33:00.003+12:002008-06-11T12:47:38.483+12:00

As a village school we try to play our part in keeping up our profile in the community. This involves being responsible and making a contribution. One way we do this is through our Enviroschool strategy. Kirsten Berry has posted some information about being involved in the Dunes for Restoration project. They also managed to see some nesting Blue Penguins and understand the power of why we look

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-27260430477933771572008-06-06T15:12:00.005+12:002008-06-06T15:54:36.088+12:00

Looking at this wave power generator - don't you find it fascinating that someone thought of that?I read an interesting article the other day in preparation for some strategic thinking exercises. The report was by the NESTA and focussed on students interaction with schools, employers views and skills needed for the future. 'Ready for the Future' explores the skills that will drive innovation in

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-78917018581292705632008-06-04T16:38:00.005+12:002008-06-04T17:00:03.595+12:00

Team-Up is a fantastic website designed by the Ministry of Education to provide information, ideas and materials to help parents support their children and get more involved in their education. You may have seen these advertisements on TV led by Team-Up education ambassador and former All Black captain and legend, Tana Umaga. Read about Tana's foundation for under-privileged children. Research

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-15672285284193345962008-05-31T20:25:00.005+12:002008-05-31T20:37:43.292+12:00

Hayley Skilton teachers a year 2 class in room 4. Hayley used to be our thinking skills teacher before returning back to full time teaching last year. The children really benefit for her extensive experience. I really like the way the she has blogged a simple example of EOTC. Muritai, of course, has a split site - our senior school is on the other side of the room. Hayley has used our senior

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-25039925481883080832008-05-29T20:31:00.003+12:002008-05-29T20:42:33.298+12:00

I really like the way that Stephen Eames uses his learning log. When you visit the log it reflects a very interesting collection of things that the children have been doing in class this year and shows the incredibly diverse nature of the 'modern' classroom. It shows their learning journey.  Stephen uses the children to do the posting and you can see with the accuracy of their work that they have

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-53449373182794247192008-05-28T16:34:00.003+12:002008-05-28T16:42:09.951+12:00

Room 14 were very lucky today when parent Lindsay Mitchell ran a workshop for the children on drawing. Our Eastbourne community is a wonderful source of expertise.  Lindsay is a very accomplished artist in her own right and gave up her time to work with the children on understanding all those little bits and pieces that creates accuracy in the art work which often frustrates children so much.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-3576791023607581102008-05-27T16:12:00.007+12:002008-05-28T12:20:38.545+12:00

Yesterday I wrote about Richard Dobson's use of digital learning objects. Today I want to steer you to year 5-6 senior teacher, Karen Chao's blog and her work on improving basic facts outcomes with her class using a wiki. All teachers this year are undertaking action research to gather information that shows gains in learning through the use of ICT. Karen is looking to improve basic facts by

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-76405930157686491932008-05-26T21:53:00.003+12:002008-05-26T22:02:54.070+12:00

The Internet  is very much part of our daily life these days. Often very contentious, our children are growing up in a world that is online and interactive. Someone who is at the forefront of promoting social software in education is Ewan MacIntosh from Scotland who provides an interesting commentary on the use of social software in his blog .I like the way Richard Dobson, senior teacher and year

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-69341142561023442102008-05-22T21:49:00.004+12:002008-05-22T21:55:52.002+12:00

At Muritai we have a wide stretch of skills. All our kids have strengths in different areas, whether it is arts, sports, language, maths etc. Muritai kids are great thinkers and our inquiry model supports the children in being creative thinkers. Each Thursday 16 children from year 5-6 join Mr Skilton for a day to work on one of his ideas. It is a fantastic programme and I know how much the kids

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-90631059988889199862008-05-09T16:36:00.005+12:002008-05-10T14:46:23.825+12:00

Well it has been a long time coming but the New Zealand flag is now flying above the war memorial in Muritai Rd. This is something we have been keen to do for a long time and we are grateful to the Eastbourne RSA of being supportive of us to use their flagpole. Our road patrollers are responsible for raising and lowering the flag and observing the correct protocol that comes with such a

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-59084903442949374082008-05-07T19:37:00.007+12:002008-05-08T09:18:48.665+12:00

I was really impressed with year 3 teacher Sarah Drinkwater tonight. She was out at 3.00 with 22 6-7 year olds working with them to develop their netball skills, with parents Astrid Cheyne and Hillary Beadle in support. Sarah is a fantastic first year teacher, much loved by the children and she has the right ethic. One of the things our teachers have to do is contribute something else to the

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-76055608430692276642008-04-29T13:56:00.001+12:002008-04-29T14:17:45.725+12:00

The children, teachers and parents of year 5-6 had a very successful camp early in term 1. Well organised by senior teacher, Karen Chao and well supported by Stu, Pete, Matt, Ruth, Lisa and many parents, the venue was Forest Lakes, just out of Otaki. This experience used to be a camp for Muritai's senior school and we changed it to year 5-6 in 2002 to share the opportunities around a bit more.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-44097480369310774382008-04-28T19:59:00.000+12:002008-04-28T20:12:00.831+12:00

Eastbourne provided a wonderful setting for the Anzac Day commemorations on April 25th. Many of our children were part of the ceremony through the scouts, cubs and the keas. With the RSA looking at enhancing the memorial, through an initiative from our BoT, there was a new addition to proceedings through the discovery of 28 names from the rugby club of soldiers that died serving their country.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-9184507717378532362008-04-15T17:02:00.001+12:002008-04-15T17:26:53.691+12:00

I love this short clip. Last year we had a couple of short movies at a Board of Trustees meeting just to promote discussion about global trends in education and to see a different view of how education works. The first one was Sir Ken Robinson's fantastic speech at Ted, a leadership website. His speech was on creativity at school - a funny but extremely poignant speech that we can all identify

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-31032720225783283342008-04-09T08:57:00.000+12:002008-04-15T12:52:16.838+12:00

Most of our professional development focuses on linking our content knowledge with the art of teaching so our children can interact with the essential learning they need to know to get on in the world . From time to time we need to stop and look at the wider aspect of our jobs and look at how children are made up and how each child offers us a different menu in the 'restaurant' that makes up the

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-90357965411369392432008-04-03T13:46:00.000+13:002008-04-15T17:01:28.185+12:00

CARE awards ~ Citizen, Achievement, Responsibility, EffortThe importance that the children place on CARE awards should not be underestimated. The recognition for doing something that is acknowledged as a positive and appreciated behaviour is a developmental experience that all children deserve. However a critical factor in making this happen lies within the ability of others, particularly adults,

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-9783309088933892662008-03-28T10:04:00.000+13:002008-03-28T10:26:37.534+13:00

Competition is alive and well. We have just completed the third of our swimming sports which concludes our swim programme for this term. We will swim again in term 4. One of the things that you notice about the swim sports is how hard the children try to do their best - they want to win this despite the media push that schools are all about participation, some of the children were so determined

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-74226066974735270232008-03-21T09:23:00.000+13:002008-04-14T10:12:32.971+12:00

Kirsten Berry and her class, room 22, with the help of Emily Tilley, a parent of the school, have been working through the process for starting a vegetable garden in the senior school. This is part of their commitment to our school focus of being an enviroschool. We hope to receive our gold award this year and join the 10 or so other schools around NZ with this honour. Yesterday they completed

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-75314258808907990622008-03-19T18:35:00.000+13:002008-03-19T18:39:40.497+13:00

At Muritai this year we have made a commitment to use blogging/wiki platforms to share work and learning experiences that are happening in the classrooms with the wider school community. At the beginning of the school year we dedicated a session during a teacher only day and get everyone set up with a class blog or wiki. These have now all been linked to the main school website for easy access.

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-67704695830410656642008-03-16T16:20:00.000+13:002008-03-16T16:32:42.289+13:00

I enjoyed reading room 9's blog the other day. They have been very busy this term and have done some delightful art. You may like to pop in and see their good work. Kate won't mind. One of the things that was on the blog was the sharing of the visit from one of our parents, Russell Smith. Last year Russell organised for all the children to grow swan plants so that we could attract more monarch

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-57738996971510452902008-03-03T12:59:00.000+13:002008-03-03T20:46:10.224+13:00

I spent some time in the school today having a look at what was going on. It is a bit of a luxury but something I try to do as often as possible. I really enjoyed what I saw. In the junior school the classes were so focussed on their maths, Nikkie's year 1 class were practicing writing their numbers. Hayley was introducing exercise books to the children as the year 2's were working in squared

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-29062324292560870652008-02-21T15:50:00.000+13:002008-02-21T16:26:50.023+13:00

I was thrilled to see the Enviroschools blog this morning. The teachers have spent some time showing us all about what they are doing as we seek to receive our Green/Gold award some time this year. It is very much a focus for the school and the children are right on board as we try to emphasize environmentally sustainable practices. Have a look at what is going on at http://

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-60454192761502599082008-02-21T14:10:00.000+13:002008-02-21T14:12:59.294+13:00

Swimming is given high priority in our physical education programme in term 1 and 4. Teachers are well aware of the need to promote ‘swim safe’ attitudes, water confidence and swimming for survival., especially as we live next to the sea. The importance of this was supported by all staff doing a swim coaching course in the holidays. A group of parents also run swim club at the Eastbourne Pool on

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-76149304476234413782008-01-12T11:17:00.000+13:002008-02-05T10:43:00.283+13:00

The 2007 McKinsey report analysed what made the best education systems in the world, well, the best.In the top performing school systems learning occurs when students and teachers interact, so the quality of interaction is vital. But it follows naturally that for teachers to learn to be better teachers they need coaching practice, teacher training in the classroom, the development of stronger

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-35504146831017873512007-12-12T13:34:00.000+13:002008-02-21T14:18:36.828+13:00

Wednesday 12th December, 2007Volume 22Dear Parents / Caregivers A reminder that school finishes at 1.00pm on Thursday the 20th December.REPORTS AND PORTFOLIOSTeachers have been working hard to complete these over the last month. I have been impressed with the positive themes that have run through each class. There is a good dose of honesty there for some but generally I think the teachers have

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-66333283815745407182007-12-12T13:31:00.000+13:002007-12-12T13:32:50.168+13:00

Class lists will be coming out on Friday. This is always a stressful time for many. We have encouraged the children to write down who they would like to be with and this has formed the basis of forming classes. In addition to this we use parent information and teacher observation throughout the year and we have formed 16 classes that look as though they will be very successful. It is important to

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-82697877013044163872007-11-07T21:25:00.000+13:002007-11-07T21:47:43.052+13:00

Today I had the pleasure of accompanying, Stephen Eames, our senior teacher from the senior school, and five children - Freya, Franscesca, Kate, Emily and Lulu to the Wellington Regional Council Environmental Awards in the city. We were very pleased to receive two awards - the Miro award for the work that the Enviroschool group has done in sustainable waste management and the Kahikatea award for

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373448532169346842.post-14155198132767836632007-11-06T13:38:00.000+13:002007-11-06T14:08:26.873+13:00

I am in Nelson with the lower North Island, top of the South Island ICT cluster schools. It has been a great trip with some great collaboration and sharing of ideas between Principals, lead ICT teachers and facilitators working within MOE ICT clusters. Yesterday we were talking about developing systems for sustainability beyond the end of the cluster, at the end of the third year. It shows the

Andrew Birdnoreply@blogger.com0