Tuesday 16 December 2014

What a welcome

Kids from Rata Street and Pomare schools joined together to form a Kapa Haka group to perform with a Powhiri followed by entertainment at the recent Rotary International Zone 7b and 8 Institute and District 9940 Conference at the Michael Fowler Centre on Friday 5th December.


We (Rotary and the two schools led by Kaumatua Kura Moeahu) welcomed Rotary’s World President Elect Ravi Ravindran and his wife Varanathy, Rotary Director Guiller Tamanga, Rotary Trustee Jackson Hsieh and Rotary Past World President Bill Boyd and Lorna to the Conference.  There almost 600 attendees from Sri Lanka, Philippines, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.  Senior Rotary leaders, past, present and future Governors and their partners and the public were invited.  
 
It was a moving occasion.  Kids arrived in a red double decker bus and then did what they do best – entertain and endear.  They made sure our visitors got to their feet to dance with them.  Memorable for both kids and visitors.

Monday 15 December 2014

More Far North schools to roll out digital classrooms


Chromebook Day. Students at Tautoro School unwrap their
Chromebooks and log in to a whole new way of learning.
A $130,000 Rotary grant has enabled a Far North education trust to expand a revolutionary internet-based teaching system across the region. Paihia School, Kawakawa School and Northland College will join a group of low-decile schools leading the introduction of ‘digital classrooms’ when they open at the start of the 2015 school year in February.  

The initiative, led by the Kaikohekohe Educational Trust, seeks to improve academic results and reduce truancy. The founding principals are Jane Lindsay, principal of Paihia School, Lee Whitelaw, principal at Ohaeawai Primary, and Meralyn Te Hira of Kaikohe West School.

It gives children from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to embrace the wealth of learning resources available on the Internet and to learn anywhere, any time and at any pace. At its heart is the concept of learning by sharing, something the internet has made much more possible than before.

The grant from the international Rotary Foundation is being administered by the Rotary Club of Kerikeri. It will enable hundreds of Chromebooks to be introduced into many more schools now and in the future, and will fund the implementation of the project and the training involved.

Chromebooks are laptop computers with limited offline capability, designed to be used primarily while connected to the Internet. They are the face of the ‘digital classroom’ system and provide access to a closed and secure environment where sharing, pivotal to this new approach to learning, can take place.

The digital classroom concept was introduced to New Zealand by the Manaiakalani Education Programme, an initiative promoting new learning approaches across a growing cluster of decile 1a schools in the low income, predominantly Māori and Pacific communities of East Auckland.

The Kaikohekohe Educational Trust has already introduced the new system in three Far North schools; Kaikohe West, Ohaeawai Primary and Tautoro. It has been in place here for a year.

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Mrs Lindsay says students at these three flagship schools have already demonstrated higher levels of engagement with their studies and a greater willingness to talk about what they are learning and what it means to them. Parents are more engaged, too, and truancy levels have dropped substantially.

Students say their Chromebooks keep all their work in one place, it keeps their work neat and tidy (unlike their desks used to be), and they are digital citizens so they love them. Students are reading more, writing more and far more engaged – this is resulting in improved outcomes in all curriculum areas. Students are sharing their work and learning from one another. Furthermore, parents and whānau have access anywhere, anytime so they can be involved in their child’s learning and support them.

“It’s not a replacement for old-fashioned education values,” Mrs Lindsay said. “It is a replacement for old-fashioned education techniques which have been failing our children for far too long.”

Kaikohe East School, Bay of Islands College and Okaihau College have expressed interest in the Kaikohekohe Learning and Change Network. It is anticipated that numerous other local schools will join in the next few years.

Any school can apply to join the network but its approach is geared to be of greatest benefit to lower-decile schools.

The $547 Chromebooks come loaded with all the software and teacher management tools needed for students to share their work with their peers, pupils in other schools in the network and with their teachers. They also come with a three-year warranty and a robust case. They will belong to the Kaikohekohe Educational Trust until they have been paid for by the students’ parents. The parents of every child signed up to the programme must agree to make repayments of at least $3.75 a week.

The scheme is not mandatory but Mrs Lindsay said take-up had been “close to 100 percent” in the three Far North schools in the network so far.

She said many of the students’ families had no access to computers or the internet.

“If a large proportion of them had devices at home we’d have followed the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model, but the single-device Chromebook model is the best model for these schools in this community. By reducing choice we have increased opportunity,” she said.

The Rotary grant will be used primarily to fund the implementation of the project, the extensive training and professional development of the many teachers involved, and the salary of a facilitator and a part-time administrator identified as essential to its success.

 

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The money has been raised by Kerikeri Rotarian Keith Day, using a Rotary Foundation project-funding mechanism which draws on various ‘pots’ established by various Rotary administrative zones around the world. The Rotary clubs of Kerikeri, Kaikohe and Bay of Islands have all contributed to the project, as has the Harold Thomas Trust and several other community Trusts across the region.

 “This is a classic example of the power of the international Rotary network being accessed in support of a worthwhile community project,” said Kerikeri club President Bruce Mathieson. “There is absolutely no way our various Far North clubs could have made this happen on our own. Not a chance.

“What Keith has done is to focus the attention of the massively influential Rotary Foundation on our little corner of the planet – and our children have emerged as winners. Big time.”   

Mrs Lindsay said the Rotary grant had given the Kaikohekohe Learning and Change Network “traction” which otherwise would have taken many more years to achieve.
 
“What Rotary have done for us borders on unbelievable,” she said. “They’ve allowed us to fast-track the implementation. Without them we would have been really struggling.”

For enquiries please contact:
Peter Heath, Due North
09-4074695 / 021-45635

Monday 1 December 2014

A selection of exciting projects


Read about the many exciting projects featured in the December-January issue of the Rotary Down Under magazine at http://tinyurl.com/n8anyw5 

Local and effective




A local dog walker's favourite route past the Tuatara Classroom
at Rotary Park in Otorohanga
Rotary Club of Otorohanga members wanted a project that would make a significant contribution to their community, but one that was driven by Rotary and involved help from many sectors of the town in a way that ensured the club was a relevant contributor to their community.  The cause they have been proud to support is the iconic Otorohanga Kiwi House which provides a truly authentic New Zealand nature experience while contributing to the conservation of the country’s native wildlife.


During the past three years, the club has been involved in several projects at the Kiwi House as it goes through its program of refurbishment that has brought this back to its former glory, much to the delight of locals and the many visitors. These projects included: building the deck and access ramp for the "Tuatara Room", an educational facility for visiting school children and other groups to learn about the Kiwi House programs, including New Zealand’s fauna; the cleaning and refurbishment of the "Kakapo Aviary"; cleaning out the pond where the large native eels live; and the construction of the "Morepork Aviary".

The latest development involves the club using $25,000 from its Charitable Trust to purchase a toilet block which will complete the Tuatara Room.  This building project comprised a partnership between the Rotary Club of Otorohanga, Otorohanga Kiwi House Trust, and Otorohanga Development Board, plus local tradespeople and businesses.

Rotary in Otorohanga now uses the Tuatara Room as their base and visitors admire both the room and its surrounds – 60 year old Redwood trees (which were a Rotary project) and a beautiful park surrounded by the Kiwi House breeding and recovery pens. The Tuatara Room is in "Rotary Park" opposite the main Kiwi House area and alongside the breeding and rehabilitation aviaries. Rotary Park was also developed over the past 50 years by hard working Rotarians and it is used by many for lunches and picnicking. 

Adjacent to the Kiwi House is the domain where cricket and soccer are played. With help from the local Rotary club, the cricket fraternity have built a double wicket all weather practice facility, again helped by local tradespeople.  There are Rotary signs throughout all of these projects because Rotary is proud of its achievements helping develop these much valued town amenities.
 


Two local Otorohanga College students chilling out at Rotary Park
between end of year exams


 More: www.oto-rotary.org/