Glen Taylor goes digital .... Welcome to Manaiakalani

This year we welcomed a new school into our ever expanding Manaiakalani cluster of schools whanau....

A very big welcome to Glen Taylor School.  Going digital for any school is a huge undertaking, and many factors have to been taken into consideration before deciding to take on the digital world via the classroom.

On Tuesday 13 June 2107 Glen Taylor hosted their first whanau hui for their year 7 & 8 students.
Then on Tuesday 27 June 2017 we hosted year 5 & 6 whanau

What a lovely welcoming group of students I had the pleasure of working alongside.  Fiona has been working closely with these four classrooms this term, and streamlining the process to make it easier for the children and their whānau members to understand what is being taught. it was a pleasure to see so many parents come along to support their children's learning, and to gain valuable insight into how their children are learning via chromebooks now.

When parents and caregivers take an active interest in what and how their children are learning this translates into more engaged learners.  As parents we need to take an active role in what our children are learning, even though it may seem very different to how we were taught at school, just by asking our children how their day went, lets our children know that we are interested in what they are doing at school.

A very big thankyou has to go to Paula Sadgrove, Mary Siale, Christine Tupou, Poto Faalili and Natalia Ly, without all their hard work and dedication, getting these chromebooks home would not have happened the way it did.  Glen Taylor School has seamlessly undertaken this process and made it their own.

Smart learners from Room 10 at Ruapotaka School

Check out these smart learners from room 10 at Ruapotaka School.
What a great afternoon we had showing our parents and caregivers what these chrome books are all about, and how they are helping us become better learners in the classroom and at home.
A big thankyou to Mrs Buchanan for all her hard work organising such a successful day!
Thankyou to Fiona Grant for supporting room 10 in being able to take their chrome books home, this is a huge step forward in being able to help these children, take their learning to another level.
Congratulations Room 10 you guys rock!

Let's start with Cybersmart! by Room 10 at Ruapotaka

Room 10 at Ruapotaka School have been busy preparing for their whānau hui. Visit the Room 10 blog  to see more of their screencasts and blog posts about the hui.

Whānau Learning at Glenbrae School

The following is an original post from the blog of  Room 7 at Glenbrae School 

As part of Manaiakalani Education Trust, Glenbrae school supports tamariki and whānau to learn how to use their chromebooks in the best possible way. We call this our Kawa of Care and includes everything from looking after the device, being Cybersmart, and home learning. 

Last night we invited whānau to join us to learn about the Kawa of Care so that our new chromebook learners can begin to take their devices home. By taking their device home they can continue their learning journeys, anywhere and anytime! 

It was an absolute delight to see our talented tamariki, showing their whānau through our learning site, this class blog and their own personal blogs. Mothers, fathers, grandfathers all took part in using their children's chromebooks and practised writing thoughtful, positive and helpful comments on their blogs.

It was awesome for our fantastic Room 7 learners to share their learning with their families. They were very proud of their work and I was very proud of them for leading the learning in the way that they were sharing with their whānau!

Well done tamariki, and thank you to the wonderful family members who came along. We couldn't do this without you! 

Posted by Stephanie Parker

February is here - School's back!

Kia Ora Whanau,

February is here, school's back. Many of our students will be back to using netbooks or chromebooks again in the classroom, or perhaps are using it for the first time! Check out some helpful tips from our friend Andrey below. Ensure you and your children both understand clearly the Kawa of Care and being CyberSmart at home. If not, feel free to contact us or get in touch with your teacher!