Ha-pea-ness!

 

At last, the first of the Autahi peas are ready to eat!

We have been dialling up our Patience since we planted the seeds during Rising 5s at the end of August...

In mid-September we noticed that they were sprouting. Exciting!

We've tried to take care of them, with regular watering. They grew amazingly fast.

Now the pods are getting fat and ready to pick. We feel like cham-pea-on pea growers!

It's fun trying to discover where the peas are hiding on the plants. All the pods are ap-pea-ling, but we're trying to pick only the fat ones. That way, the others have time to grow a bit more before we eat them.

No need for a reci-pea: our peas never get as far as the kitchen. After all, what could be nicer than popping open a freshly-picked pod and gobbling up all the little, green peas inside? This is a new experience for some - but we're hoping that all our Autahi students will give peas a chance.

And our hardcore pea fans will hap-pea-ly munch through those sweet, pea-flavoured pods, too.

Peas are a wonderful, seasonal delicacy to share with children. We firmly believe that these are the experiences that are part of living our 'flourish' model for Positive Education, connecting us to positive accomplishment, engagement, emotions and health.

And watch out: there are beans on the way, too!

Philosophy for children

 Philosophy isn't just for old, grey bearded men from centuries past.

At Worser Bay School we explore philosophical ideas through philosophy for children. 

In this blog I'll detail how we build the skills for staging a discussion, highlight some of the resources we use and show some of the results of discussions that have happened so far this year.

The level of thinking and ideas that can come from even the youngest children never ceases to amaze me and philosophy for children is designed around the premise that everyone has something to say.

A typical P4C session will start with a reflection on our goals for the session. Recently we have been working on the goal that only one person is speaking at a time.

This means that we can hear that persons thoughts and practise our own listening skills. Their idea might start us thinking and building on to our own thoughts and ideas.

Then we move on to a story or big question for the group. Some good examples of picture books we use are:

After reading the story, children are invited to share some questions or thoughts they have about the story. Taking the Cat in the Hat for example, a child might ask whether the Cat should have been allowed to break the rules. This might lead into a discussion around rules where the children can define what rules are and how important they are to the world around them.

The teachers role in this is to facilitate discussion but not to lead it. The ideas all come from the children and are recorded by the teacher. Here is an example of this:

P4C encourages critical thinking and skills for positive communication. It is a part of the week I always am looking forward to as the ideas and respect that grow from it are tremendous. 

So next time you are reading a book at home have your own philosophical conversation and see if you and your Whanau can tackle some of the worlds big questions. Remember that there might be more than one answer for everything.

 

Our Place: a local history inquiry

 

Did you know that our school is 125 years old this year? (We may have mentioned it once or twice as we’re very proud of this fact!) This week, Autahi embarked on a mini inquiry to discover more about ‘Our Place’. This is as local as local history gets as we’re focussing on the place where our school now stands. How has it changed over time? Who was here before us? What was on this land before our school?

There is plenty to dig into and it's not hard to be engaged by a topic that is so close to home. But, learning about our place here up above Worser Bay gives us important insights into some bigger themes in our country's history. Where our school now stands, there has been an important Pā site and a farm. Whātonga, Tara (who gives his name to Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington Harbour) and the legendary voyager Kupe sailed their waka in the waters around our school. 

You may be aware of the new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum. In working on this inquiry, we are engaging with this rich resource. The curriculum is structured in layers. Children children return to the same broad topics as they progress through primary school, building extra layers of knowledge and nuanced understanding over time, as is appropriate to their age and stage.

Knowledge and skills are structured into three interwoven strands:

For this inquiry, we are drawing particularly on these key understandings:

UNDERSTAND

Māori have been settling, storying, shaping, and have been shaped by these lands and waters for centuries. 

The settlement of Aotearoa New Zealand has contributed to an increasingly diverse population, with many languages and cultures now part of its fabric. 

Individuals, groups, and organisations have exerted and contested power in ways that improve the lives of people and communities, and in ways that lead to exclusion, injustice, and conflict.

KNOW 

The ways different groups of people have lived and worked in this rohe have changed over time.

DO 

I can use historical sources, giving deliberate attention to mātauranga Māori sources, to help answer my questions about the past. 

(Here, we'll begin the process of introducing our learners to the idea of evidence and the beginnings of critical thinking. How do we know what we know? What forms can evidence take? Who made it and why? And - more sophisticated - is the evidence telling us the whole story? Can we tell this story in different ways?)

Working with the stories of 'Our Place' here at Worser Bay gives us an opportunity to introduce these big ideas in a context that will be meaningful to our young learners.

The new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum can be found at here and is well worth a look.

Our Inquiry has just begun. Getting a grip on history is tricky so we started by creating a collaborative timeline to explore what we know already about things that have happened in the past.

Based on these ideas, we also had a go at ordering some images from oldest to newest - for example, a waka, a camel, a dinosaur, a TV, a car. The discussion here is really important and helps to clarify and shape our thinking.

There is more exploring and learning to come and we'll be adding to our Blog as we go.

Learning in the great outdoors

 

This week, Autahi and Tautoru walked to Centennial Reserve to spend some time learning and playing in the great outdoors. 

Getting there was all part of the adventure. We were so proud of our Autahi students' Zest and Perseverance on the walk - especially on the way back, when it got quite hot!

At the Reserve, we had a little Morning Tea picnic before spending time sketching, building birds' nests and visiting the wētā hotel. 

We hope that experiences like this build our children's confidence to enjoy the natural world, and Curiosity about the plants and creatures in our local environment. As an Enviroschool, this is part of our mission. We know that we are lucky to have areas of native bush close our school, as well our beautiful beaches and coastline. Connecting with our local environment is a sure-fire way to build commitment to treating it with care and respect.

As a Positive Education school, we are also fascinated by the ways in which being outdoors benefits our brains, as well as improving our physical fitness. Activities like taking on the challenge of walking to Centennial Reserve or climbing a tree have been shown to build Resilience and problem-solving skills that transfer to other areas of life. Benefits for our mood and sense of wellbeing come simply from spending time in the natural world. For us in Autahi, this might be gardening, Te Wā Mahi Tahi, sport, play or simply taking our regular lessons outside. 

We will continue to keep finding ways to get outdoors for fun and learning, notice the bugs in the grass, hear the birds in the trees, and feel the wind in our hair.