First two weeks of school

Review after the first two weeks of school:

The first two weeks of school at Longford have been incredible. All the staff have been so welcoming, helpful and supportive. The culture here is so positive and I have already seen how safe the environment is. People feel safe sharing their opinions and feelings about aspects and ideas brought up during meetings etc. I am so happy to be apart of such a compassionate and real group of people and I can't wait to see what 2019 holds!

The students have also been really amazing. Not only in my class but others as well that I have had the chance to interact with on duty. They are respectful and learning to take responsibility for their education and behaviour. The students are keen to learn and enthusiastic about school. Our classroom has already developed a friendly, positive and safe learning environment where everyone is able to participate. Room 19 is going to have a great year!

What have I learnt? What have I incorporated?

As this is my first time setting up a new class in New Zealand, I wanted to soak up as much advice from colleagues as possible. I learnt that the children need to feel like this is their classroom too and there are a few ways to achieve that sense of belonging. The students and I worked in partnership to set up our desks and groups. They have had the opportunity to move around and work with different people each day and I have had one to one discussions with each child as to who they would work best next to before setting up a seating plan.

The first few weeks is all about getting to know the children and them getting to know each other. I took advice from one colleague about different games and activities to do with the students to help build positive relationships.

I also took advice from Marcus Gough (Ministry of Education) and focused on getting to know the students individually. To do this I have been having small conversations here and there every day with different students. I try to talk to them about their interests and not only focus on the academic side of things. It is important to get to know the children outside of that too.