What it means to be an EnviroSchool

We've been made aware that a couple of parents are wondering about the decision to close playground rubbish bins. This decision is an important part of our commitment to being an EnviroSchool. A growing number of other schools near us are all bin free, including new schools. The EnviroSchools programme (www.enviroschools.org.nz) is a national strategy which now includes a quarter of all schools - that's over 200,000 students! This number is growing as schools see the importance and relevance of what the EnviroSchools programme has to offer.

The purpose (kaupapa) of Enviroschools is to develop the well-being of the whole school, community and eco-system. It’s about working out how to live so that our society and economy nourishes the natural systems that give us life. Read here to learn about some of the other benefits to this programme...

Of particular note are the underlying kaupapa (or principles) that are very closely aligned with our school values of: Respect/Whaikoha, Achievement/Angitu, Tikanga/Responsibility and Whakapono/Strength or Self-Belief:

1. Empowered Students are enabled to participate in a meaningful way in the life of their schools and community, their unique perspectives are valued for the knowledge and insight that they bring, and they are supported to take action for real change. Our EnviroGroup does a wonderful job of leading this in our school.
2. Learning for Sustainability recognises the types of teaching and learning that foster student empowerment, decision-making, action and sustainable outcomes.
3. Māori Perspectives honours the status of tangata whenua in this land and the value of indigenous knowledge in enriching and guiding learning and action.
4. Respect for the Diversity of People and Cultures acknowledges the unique gifts, contributions and perspectives of individuals and groups, reinforcing the need for participatory decision-making in Enviroschools.
5. Sustainable Communities act in ways that nurture people and nature, now and in the future, to maintain the health and viability of our environment, society, culture and economy.

We are teaching children to take responsibility for their rubbish by taking it home. This includes yoghurt pottles which children rinse and take home to reuse or recycle. Already we are seeing children take increased responsibility and show more respect for our school environment.

One advantage for parents is that you can see whether or not your child is eating their lunch/snack. Some parents report that they are even changing what types of packaging they send lunches/snacks in, which is most encouraging!

This is only one aspect of our EnviroSchools programme, and the EnviroGroup will be exploring ways to continue to improve the system based on feedback. If you would like to give us feedback then please do so. You can do this via the school office, speak to a staff member or me, or comment on our blog posts.

Remember - the best way to strengthen our partnership is through positive communication in the right forum.

Talented Tamariki

Over the last couple of weeks we've been treated at our kura to a whole range of talented students all showing strength and self-belief to share their talents. This is one of the many examples of our amazing place of learning and the partnership that supports this. Children have shared jokes, dances, songs and musical instruments. Congratulations to the Student Leadership Council, in particular Jayden and Cameron for your leadership. Organising this event has involved our SLC figuring out how to make this happen and they have led it from the start.

 

The children have learned that two important aspects of leadership are how effectively one communicates and how well we organise special events such as these. Well done to our performers, these talented tamariki have shone not only through the skill of their performances, but also in the values and competencies developed as part of taking the risk!

 

EQ - Developing Resilience

Recent events have tested everyone in one way or another and are a powerful reminder of how lucky we are, as well as how adaptable we are. This is an area of learning which is of great interest to me because it impacts on all other areas - the issue of developing resilience.

Our school values research indicated that Strength/Self-Belief was one of the top rated values by parents, children and staff. This important value is an essential component of all learning and it comes under the general area of emotional intelligence.

In this week's newsletter I briefly touch on the idea of how our children gain strength. I believe children gain strength/self-belief mostly from the role models around them but they also gain this from the environment in which they develop.

Some of key messages from our Community Support Meeting, run by NZDF personnel last week, included:

1. Children gain their strength from us as the key adults in their lives. This means that if we aren't coping well, this is likely to affect our kids. Get help or ask for it if you need/want it.
2. Every reaction to traumatic events is normal - everyone responds in different ways. Many children may not respond/react straight away, so monitoring our kids for the next few weeks is important.
3. Providing reassurance, love, positive communication and hope are key to learning to become more resilient.

Some authors believe resilience comes into three main areas, as follows:

I HAVE

• People around me I trust and who love me, no matter what
• People who set limits for me so I know when to stop before there is danger or trouble
• People who show me how to do things right by the way they do things
• People who want me to learn to do things on my own
• People who help me when I am sick, in danger or need to learn

I AM

• A person people can like and love
• Glad to do nice things for others and show my concern
• Respectful of myself and others
• Willing to be responsible for what I do
• Sure things will be all right

I CAN

• Talk to others about things that frighten me or bother me
• Find ways to solve problems that I face
• Control myself when I feel like doing something not right or dangerous
• Figure out when it is a good time to talk to someone or to take action
• Find someone to help me when I need it

Some questions you might like to consider over the dinner table:

• How does our environment enable our child(ren) to gain self-belief/strength?
• What is the relationship between making mistakes and developing self-belief?
• How can we work more closely with school to further develop self-belief in our child?
• How does self-belief/strength link in with self-esteem and how can we maximise this?

Here are some great links for further reading that I've found...

If you have ideas please feel free to make comments on this blog post.