Rangikura School tamaiti mua programme

Rangikura School’s ‘Tamaiti Mua’- Children first.

Rangikura School – Ascot Park Porirua East . Full primary (Y0 – 8).• Roll 367 students: • Decile 2• Pasifika 48% • Maori 32% • NZ European 13% • Other 7%• Male 52% • females 48%• 18 FT teaching staff, 13 support staff, 1 dog (Buddy) & 1 cat (Sox).

Our School /Community engagement initiative – ‘Tamaiti Mua.’TM is all about putting our children first. We needed to create a strong bond/partnership between teachers, kids, parents and the community.

Our goal: Total collaboration between and collective ownership (staff, kids, parents, community) in the education and well being of our kids.

Our value system/School vision: RESPECT * for self* for others* for our environment (inside and outside school).

The 1st step – “Clean up our backyard!”AGREEMENT – The TM/Rangikura way!

ALL STAFF agree TO:• Model respectful behaviours/dialogue between each other

anywhere, everywhere!• Take the time to praise peers in public/pull up in private…• Have the hard conversations - ‘The cuppa tea’ face to face -

Kanohi ki te kanohi OR it goes no further!• This agreement is “walking the talk” and will always be

on-going and revisited. This will be our classroom/school culture…

This is now… The RANGIKURA WAY!

‘Tamaiti Mua’ must be VISIBLE everywhere at Rangikura. – Inside…

Staffroom… Classrooms…

The Library, Junior school, the hall….

…and Outside. In our school Signs

And kids’ artwork.

To help instil pride in our school for all. Staff, students and community.

The 2nd Step – How can we NOW make stronger connections with our community? By opening up Rangikura School & inviting our community in with NO AGENDAS! Just forming relationships over time - through TRUST & RESPECT! We must make this 1st move.

Rangikura’s garden. A ‘Green Team’ was formed through TM, inviting parents who had time during the day to come share their expertise. This group consists of a lead teacher, kids & volunteer parents & grandparents. The ‘Green team’ meet regularly every Wed 1pm.

Y5 – 8 Maths Tuition class. Wed 4.30 – 5.30pm.A class offered to parents & kids to work on or learn strategies in games contexts. Our library is open every lunchtime & Mon to Fri 3-4pm for our kids and parents to use.

TM toddlers’Playgroup.Every Tues 8.30–11am. An opportunity for our parents to drop off the older kids to class, then pop into the playgroup for the li’l ones to mingle with future classmates & for parents to catch up, swap tips, stories…

TM ‘BoXFiT’ classes. Every Tuesday night 6 -7pm. Adults class $3 entry. The money from these classes has paid for refreshments for TM Playgroup, kids in need & koha for parents who have assisted the school in anyway.

Local sport teams like the Porirua Norths Rugby Club teams & Porirua North city Rugby League team have booked private sessions or the hall in the winter. A lot of our mums, dads, uncles & aunties play for these clubs. For some, these classes were the 1st time they’d set foot in our school!

Mrs G’s Dance classes. In summer, every Wednesday after school. Pre-school & junior kids Dance group Adults & senior/Ex students Dance intro Class.

TM ‘Hula-Active’ classes. Every Monday night 6–7pm. Run by one of our Mums & a very popular class with our girls, mums, grandmothers, Aunties, ex-students, staff…

TM Termly events. Each term we have school/community event like: picnics, breakfasts, games/movie nights, the Arts evenings, Mothers/Fathers Grandparents Day assemblies. All with simple messages; the importance of family relationships and the importance of school relationships. No judging, no finger pointing just… HOME + SCHOOL = RANGIKURA!

Fathers/Sons Games Nite Father’s Day Assembly

Staff/Parent v Kids Annual Hockey match & BBQ.

Mothers/daughters Evening with… …guest speakers!

* We also now have the ‘Breakfast ‘Social club’ run by parents. We have a 750 member facebook page (Rangikura School Notice Board). 11 of our weekend sports teams are run by parents. Our BoT is committed to role modelling being hands-on and visible, as are our staff. We have a 50 student strong Kapa Haka Group/PolyClub tutored by our parents…

Boys from our Kapa Haka/Poly Club practicing with a couple of Dads.

Parents and caregivers of our community have stated that, “The atmosphere and culture of the school has changed.” That the “…school is a more welcoming place…” This has been reiterated by visitors like our Mayor Nick Leggett, MP’s Kris Fa’afoi, Hekia Parata, all Guests/Visitors to our school, ERO...

The increased numbers of our parents, as visitors, helpers, volunteers & coaches in our school over the last four years have shown, TM is working…

“The principal effectively leads ‘Tamaiti Mua.’ This is a specific school focus, developed by staff & community members, which emphasises children first. Staff have developed clear, shared understandings about how they do this & positive teacher/student relationships result. Class environments are calm & settled & students are purposefully engaged in their learning.”

“The school’s 2012 end-of-year data showed that two thirds of students achieved at or above National standards expectations for reading and writing, with three quarters achieving at or above the mathematics National Standard.Pacific student achievement was similar to whole-school results for mathematics and higher in reading and writing.”

Latest ERO review March 4 – 8th March 2013

The 3rd step: Consolidating events/adding to – now with an academic focus.

Rangikura School is a community school…

The school is open for use to our community with the onus on trust & respect. Our hall is usedTo reward families through cheap or free hireage for the work they may have done for our school. The school receives a lot of goods,food and donations from our community for us to help those in need.

Sooo where are we at now…?

Four years on…• The community presence in our school has increased. During & after hours.

Vandalism has all but ceased at Rangikura School for over a year!

• More Parent involvement in trips, in-school activities & events, parent interviews.

• Our roll has surpassed the previous record of 365 and is still climbing.A lot of the families enrolling when asked, why our school? “We’ve heard of the great community things this school has been doing!”

• ‘Silos’ have all but been broken down in our school. Collegiality is key.

• Staff are prepared to have the difficult conversations more readily than in the past. These are focused on: Putting the child 1st.

• A shift & Improvement in Staff-parent relationships – both sides are prepared to have the ‘cuppa tea’ over issues. The focus is always on: Putting the child 1st.

• Our Pasifika students’ achievement results are now as good as whole school & in some year levels in reading & writing, they’re outdoing their peers! Is there a correlation to TM?

• Weekly TM activities with an academic focus have been established. Y5 – 8 Maths Tutorial class. ‘Reading Together’ Programme. 1 on 1 NCEA Maths tutoring of ex Students.

TM has made it the Rangikura way to help our children & families in need; but ensuring to keep their mana intact. Rangikura whanau have rallied together to raise money, contribute food, support families in grief & families in need. We believe in ‘Hand up not hand outs!’ We promote that everyone, Staff, students, parents all help to pitch in; because one dayyou may need it…Together we can remove barriers. The education and well being of our kids…comes first.

OUR NEXT STEPS…

Our Maori students results have improved a little in the last two years but are still a major concern – in particular our boys. This is our current TM focus with our Maori community in particular.

* We are about to start PLD on ‘Mutukaroa’ which is also a community based initiative that once relationships are established, an academic focus based on school data is introduced to the parents. Personal workshops that are 1 on 1. This has come out of Sylvia Park School in Auckland. Academic results in Maori & Pasifika have dramatically improved.

* We have just established a ‘Boys Club’ for our Y4 Boys. This is a weekly hour long session with a Role model within the school or community.

* Key staff members & parents are part of a Planning team whose goal is to establish a ‘Whanau/Fanau’ Group. One main goal – ‘The raising of achievement of our Maori students.’

Through our own Rangikura School Notice board facebook page (750 members), the Porirua facebook page (21000) and local papers, the people of Porirua were able to see all the work our team at school were doing for and then with, our community. I was very proud to receive this award on behalf of Rangikura school team & school Whanau in recognition of our all hard work together.

This ‘Warehouse’ version of TM was brought you by the Principal. For a full version of this initiative – come see us for a cuppa tea! Contact: [email protected]