Principal's Page

Kia Ora Friends - Our Warmest Greetings

Our Pōhatu Tūmu (Foundation Stone) focus for this year is Pākiki - Curiosity and Wonder.

Like most kids, I was endlessly curious, but in my own way. I always wanted to climb trees - or the haybarn walls - to look for birds' nests and hopefully unusual eggs. I never took more than one of any kind and was careful not to touch any of the other eggs in each nest. 

I also loved taking things apart. I wanted to see inside things, to figure out how they worked. Sometimes, that curiosity led me down dangerous paths - for example, when I took apart shotgun cartridges.

I never had LEGO kits growing up, but I had some homemade wooden farm gates that I loved making mini farms out of and making up stories to accompany my constructions. Over the years, I took apart clocks, mixers, grinders, old radios, old record players — anything old and take-apart-able. Sometimes, I got them to go back together right - but not often.

Then, for quite a while, that curiosity went on hold. High school, sports, *books and girls were more interesting. 

Until I discovered History. I loved it at High School, but I really fell in love with history at Teachers' College and University. One assignment - I chose the Origins of World War One as my topic - was supposed to be 8 to 15 pages long. I spent six months researching everything I could get my hands on - even books translated from German and Russian on the topic. The end result was 69 pages, which earned me an A++.

 Curiosity is a wondrous thing. When I met my first Apple MacIntosh computer in 1988, my curiosity again took over. I found a way to use it to hook a deaf five-year-old on school and learning and was then hooked myself. Eventually, that curiosity for all things technological (especially Apple-based) led me to gain a paid trip to Apple Headquarters in Cupertino in 2009 and the qualification of "Apple Distinguished Educator."

My curiosity has been a source of some of my best achievements and some of my greatest times of happiness. Curiosity is a gift all children are born with, but so many things can take it away. As teachers and parents, we have to nurture our children's curiosity. I believe this is a vital responsibility for us.

One of the first ways to do this is to take away those small screens - and the big ones too - for a while and get kids outside exploring, looking, testing, wondering, finding out and putting themselves in situations of manageable risk. And we need to be out there with them - directly involved when they ask, commenting, questioning, challenging and championing them, and stepping back out of their road when that's what they need.

As teachers and parents, we don't know where our children's curiosity will take them. We do know the journey will be magical sometimes, frustrating often, slow sometimes and scary sometimes, but definitely worth it when we see that spark of curiosity bloom into wonder, excitement and a new pathway of learning, experience, and maybe even passion.

We don't have all the answers but we do have an answer - stay curious and keep exploring.

*The books were historical novels such as James Clavel's 'Shogun', 'Taipan' and 'Nobel House'. Most of James A Michener's books - especially 'Centennial'. Fantasy such as Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' and William Horwood's 'Duncton Wood'. Science Fiction by authors such as Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein and the brilliant Isaac Asimov. That led to all the spy novels by John Le Carre, all the detective novels of James Lee Burke and Jo Nesbo, and now all the spy novels by the brilliant Mick Heron. 

I do think not having television until I was ten or screens until I was 29 was a big advantage. The gift of reading is a wonderful thing and a great way to feed curiosity too.

Adi in room 23 produced a stunning art work that I love. I also love the name he chose for it - "The Sun's Opportunity". It features a hockey player and maybe the sun's opportunity is getting to see someone loving to play hockey on a bright day.

The art style is based on the work of international artist Keith Haring - learn more about him here  https://www.haring.com

As always - if you have questions or concerns about anything school-related - email me at macash@mac.com, and I will get back to you asap.

My very best regards to you all,

Ash Maindonald

Principal.