News

Our Tumuaki Principal – Nathan Janes

Nathan Janes from Mairangi Bay School shares his school's journey in this Tumuaki Principal Speaks column

<h4>Being announced as the tumuaki of Mairangi Bay School &lpar;MBS&rpar; in May 2022 was a great pleasure&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>As the Principal&comma; it is a privilege to be the professional leader of a creative team and community that provides the best learning opportunities for our tamariki&period; We are passionate about building learning-focused relationships&comma; embracing the potential of all tamariki and cultivating a culture where &amacr;konga&comma; wh&amacr;nau and kaimahi work together through kotahitanga &&num;8211&semi; a sense of unity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;latest-print-issue&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Read the latest print edition of <em>School News<&sol;em> HERE<&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As leader of Mairangi Bay School&comma; I embrace several roles to enhance the teaching&comma; learning and opportunities for all&period; Through our school values of atawhai&comma; whakaute and manawanui — kindness&comma; respect and resilience — we can identify our tamariki&comma; kaimahi and community needs and aspirations&comma; as connections help us to build healthy partnerships in a culturally safe learning environment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4><strong>Embracing the power of our community &&num;8211&semi; Our Why <&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>At MBS&comma; we strive to collaborate&comma; communicate&comma; and cooperate through our actions and words&period; We believe equity&comma; coherence and alignment drives our mahi&comma; as we share our experiences and strengths to learn from each other&period; We care for one another and share the workload&comma; ensuring equity for all children and reducing disparities&period; Our clear&comma; cumulative pathway encourages continuous learning and growth&comma; embracing successes and failures&period; Inclusiveness and a shared language of learning bring clarity to our unified community&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4><strong>Giving effect to Te Tiriti &omacr; Waitangi &&num;8211&semi; A School in Aotearoa&comma; New Zealand <&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>We understand that schools are complex&period; The demands on kaimahi to continually navigate and adapt skills&comma; knowledge&comma; and attitudes by developing culture&comma; pedagogy&comma; systems&comma; partnerships&comma; and networks can often be scrutinised and challenged&period; By understanding our school&&num;8217&semi;s diversity and perspective&comma; we can adopt a culturally aligned leadership approach to embrace beliefs&comma; goals&comma; priorities and values&period; In turn&comma; this guides coherent expectations&comma; practices and commitment to Te Tiriti &omacr; Waitangi&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The co-construction of a set of norms for professional learning and leading can build trust and respect&period; Creating a shared understanding and commitment to our school&&num;8217&semi;s culture among kaimahi ensures that all actions and behaviours are consistent and inclusive&period; Everyone can feel valued and heard by providing space and time for questions&comma; contributions and feedback from all participants within our community&comma; including tamariki&comma; kaimahi and wh&amacr;nau&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Culturally aligned communities often demonstrate honesty&comma; integrity&comma; guardianship and awareness of the organisation&&num;8217&semi;s values and align daily interactions as a way of being&period; Our school values can be shared&comma; implicit&comma; collective&comma; and coherent at every level of our organisation&period; Together&comma; we can develop a positive and supportive work environment that fosters collaboration and teamwork&comma; rewarding others for exhibiting behaviours that align with our learning culture rather than a set of objectives or mission statements that could lack flexibility and adaptability&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Relationship-based classrooms are wh&amacr;nau oriented and involve wh&amacr;nau&period; They are place-based&comma; personalised&comma; and encourage role models and mentorship &&num;8211&semi; tuakana-teina&&num;8221&semi; &lpar;Macfarlane et al&period;&comma; 2007&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On Wednesday&comma; May 24&comma; 2023&comma; the Mairangi Bay School Board of Trustees and Mana Whenua Te Kawerau &amacr; Maki&comma; signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Mana Kura Kaupapa&period; This authentic partnership respectfully acknowledges Te Kawerau &amacr; Maki as Mana Whenua of this area&period;  During the past 12 months&comma; Te Kawerau &amacr; Maki&comma; ERO and Mairangi Bay School have been working closely together to capture and implement the aspirations of &amacr;konga&comma; wh&amacr;nau&comma; kaiako&comma; kaimahi and leadership&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Collectively&comma; we have developed a shared understanding of what it means to embrace a strengths-based approach to ensure effective&comma; coherent learning pathways for all &amacr;konga&period; With our Iwi support&comma; we are authentically co-constructing the most effective and sustainable conditions to foster a culture of learning&comma; ensuring effective&comma; culturally responsive teaching and learning practices that promote equitable and excellent learning outcomes for all &amacr;konga&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Together&comma; we are excited to be supporting our &amacr;konga and their wh&amacr;nau to demonstrate a strong sense of identity&comma; culture and language and connection to Mairangi Bay School&period; We are excited to continue our journey together as we deepen our understanding of our Turangawaewae here at Mairangi Bay School through the M&amacr;tauranga shared by Te Kawerau &amacr; Maki&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;31129" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-31129" style&equals;"width&colon; 515px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;" wp-image-31129" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;07&sol;SN65-EDU-PS-4&period;jpg" alt&equals;"school students " width&equals;"515" height&equals;"492" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-31129" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Image supplied by Mairangi Bay School<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h4><strong>The How -The MB Way  <&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>Distributive leadership at MBS is all about unity and inclusive planning&period; We use multiple sources to develop collaboration&comma; a learning culture&comma; and teamwork through regular meetings and reflective discussions to improve&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Social media helps us communicate across our community consistently&comma; guided by our values&period; Everyone can contribute &lpar;our kaupapa&rpar;&comma; fostering an accepting environment&period; We believe in reciprocal learning &lpar;Ako&rpar; and involve wh&amacr;nau to build strong bonds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Collaboration is key at MBS as we co-lead&comma; plan&comma; teach&comma; and learn together to thrive as a community&period;  This is our wairua &lpar;spirit&rpar;&period; It embraces the MBWay through kaitiakitanga &lpar;guardianship&rpar; and kotahitanga &lpar;unity&rpar; to guide our graduate profile and way of being&period; There is an expectation that these guiding values are tacitly interwoven into our daily practices&comma; thoughts and actions to improve outcomes for all&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He waka eke noa &&num;8211&semi; We are all in this together&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4><strong>School planning and reporting&colon; Te Whakang&amacr;rahu Ng&amacr;tahi &vert; Planning Together for &Amacr;konga Success <&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>On January 1 2023&comma; the new framework for school planning and reporting called Te Whakang&amacr;rahu Ng&amacr;tahi &vert; Planning Together for &Amacr;konga Success&colon; Our School&comma; Our Community&comma; came into effect&period; The requirements are in the Education and Training Act 2020 and the Education &lpar;School Planning and Reporting&rpar; Regulations 2023&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At Mairangi Bay School&comma; effective planning and reporting underpins all our work&period; The Ministry of Education state schools need to plan and evaluate their performance to&colon; intentionally give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and support M&amacr;ori-Crown relationships&semi; meet legislated board primary objectives and show how the school or kura has had particular regard for the National Education and Learning Priorities &lpar;NELP&rpar;&semi; ensure the needs of all &amacr;konga are met&semi; ensure the voices of all &amacr;konga and wh&amacr;nau are heard&semi; implement teaching and learning programmes that give effect to the New Zealand Curriculum or Te Marautanga o Aotearoa to improve outcomes for all &amacr;konga&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;31130" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-31130" style&equals;"width&colon; 536px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;" wp-image-31130" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;07&sol;SN65-EDU-PS-3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"School students" width&equals;"536" height&equals;"474" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-31130" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Image supplied by Mairangi Bay School<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h4><strong>ERO&comma; School and Iwi Partnership &&num;8211&semi; A Proud Experience <&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>In 2023&comma; our ERO advisor&comma; Te Kawerau &amacr; Maki and the Mairangi Bay School Senior Leadership Team worked together to identify our strengths and next steps as a kura&period; ERO identified how well we support the school in its goal to evaluate how MBS captures and implements the aspirations of &amacr;konga&comma; wh&amacr;nau&comma; Iwi&comma; kaiako&comma; kaimahi and leadership to inform all school-wide decisions&period; Mairangi Bay School were congratulated for&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Providing ongoing school-wide commitment ensuring genuine&comma; authentic relationships with mana whenua Te Kawerau &amacr; Maki is continued&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Providing &amacr;konga with experiences in a caring&comma; safe&comma; and inclusive environment where they are encouraged to take risks in their learning and to be the best they can be&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Ensuring kaiako and kaimahi collaboratively focus on improving equitable and excellent outcomes for all &amacr;konga&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Supporting leadership to collaboratively promote relational trust and enact the school vision and values&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Empowering wh&amacr;nau through meaningful&comma; interpersonal conversations that shape educational outcomes for their &amacr;konga&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<h4><strong>Where to next&quest; <&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>Moving forward&comma; Mairangi Bay School will continue to prioritise professional development supported by leadership and external personnel to enact culturally responsive pedagogy by&colon; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Developing a shared understanding with kaiako and kaimahi to use effective&comma; culturally responsive teaching and learning practices that promote equitable and excellent learning outcomes for all &amacr;konga&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Continuing to explore ways to listen and respond to the aspirations of the school community&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Authentically co-constructing at all levels of the school the most effective and sustainable conditions that foster a culture of learning with all &amacr;konga and the wider community&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>ERO&&num;8217&semi;s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to enhance outcomes for all learners&comma; and will support the school in reporting its progress to the community&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<h4><strong>Strategies to engage our community <&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>As we develop our Community Consultation 3YA Plan&comma; we are reminded to engage with our tamariki&comma; kaimahi&comma; and community to reflect on our progress and seek ongoing school-wide improvement&period; Wh&amacr;nau input and insights are invaluable as we shape the future of Mairangi Bay School to ensure equity and excellence across our decision-making and strategic plan&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As we embark on this exciting journey together&comma; we want to ensure that every member of our diverse community feels heard&comma; valued&comma; and empowered&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To support our community consultation strategy&comma; our principles ensure we&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Provide suitable space and adequate time&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Provide comfortable locations beyond the school gate&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Ask better and more relevant questions&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Provide language support&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Give alternative opportunities to connect&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Provide face-to-face conversations&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Respect our school history&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Reflective workshops &&num;8211&semi; Principal Cafes&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Give back to our community&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Listen&comma; respond and adapt along the way&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Use multiple sources of media to communicate&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Avoid overuse of jargon&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p>There is a quote from Trudi Brocas&comma; Special Education Principals&&num;8217&semi; Association of New Zealand &lpar;SEPANZ&rpar;&comma; that I am fond of that reads&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;DIVERSITY is having a seat at the table&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>INCLUSION is having a voice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>BELONGING is having that voice be heard&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>ACCEPTANCE is having your voice heard&comma; even when you are not in the room&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As we continue to gather perspective&comma; make collective decisions&comma; learn and grow together&comma; I wish to thank our Mairangi Bay School Board of Trustees&comma; our Iwi &&num;8211&semi; Te Kawerau &amacr; Maki&comma; our wh&amacr;nau and community&comma; kaimahi and &amacr;konga for their patience and understanding&period;  After all…<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He nui ake t&omacr; m&amacr;tou mana i te kura anahe &&num;8211&semi; We are more than just a school&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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