News / Blog

 
Kingslea students and FASD
Ōtautahi / Christchurch is lighting up for FASD Awareness Day, Saturday 09/09! Every year it’s predicted that between 1,698 (3%) and 2,830 (5%) of Kiwi babies are born with Foetal Alcohol...Read more...

Ōtautahi / Christchurch is lighting up for FASD Awareness Day, Saturday 09/09!

Every year it’s predicted that between 1,698 (3%) and 2,830 (5%) of Kiwi babies are born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). It’s permanent brain damage caused by alcohol exposure in the womb. Ōtautahi will be the first city in Aotearoa to light up to raise awareness.

This is particularly relevant to Kingslea School. It’s predicted that up to 50% of Kingslea students will have FASD, mostly undiagnosed. These students, many in youth justice residences, attend our multi-campus school every day, and have a number of complexities that our specialist teachers and staff are equipped and supported to deal with.

Greater awareness of FASD, its prevalence, and how New Zealand society can achieve better outcomes for students like ours, is an issue very close to our hearts. Often where people see badly-behaved, inattentive, unengaged, or criminal young people, we see young people with a need for better support and our empathy as they deal with the complexities of having FASD.

Our thanks to Christchurch City Council and FASD-CAN Aotearoa for all your hard work. We look forward to seeing the lights tonight and tomorrow!

*Banksia Hill Detention Centre Project, 2018: https://alcoholpregnancy.telethonkids.org.au/our-research/research-projects/Banksia-hill-detention-centre-project/

...read less
A Gift for Our Teachers
An absolutely ka rawe Friday gift to our teachers at the Te Maioha campus in Rotorua, from their Oranga Tamariki team! The text on the display reads: “Kingslea School Whānau – words can...Read more...

An absolutely ka rawe Friday gift to our teachers at the Te Maioha campus in Rotorua, from their Oranga Tamariki team!

The text on the display reads:

“Kingslea School Whānau – words can never express our thanks for your patience, encouragement and educational nourishment of our rangatahi. We hope our little gesture of gratitude lets you know you are appreciated and gives you a lift in spirits for the day!”

This will lift our spirits for the year! Our teachers are the kind of people who are fuelled just by knowing they are making a difference – but that doesn’t mean their work week is an easy one. Feeling seen by our whānau at Oranga Tamariki means the world. Especially knowing how incredibly hard they work as well. Ngā mihi nui.

...read less
Our Staff: Gordie
‘What matters to you? Not what’s the matter with you?’. This approach, coined by Sir Mason Durie, is the kaupapa of Gordie. From Rotorua, with iwi connections in Te Whakatōhea,...Read more...

‘What matters to you? Not what’s the matter with you?’. This approach, coined by Sir Mason Durie, is the kaupapa of Gordie. From Rotorua, with iwi connections in Te Whakatōhea, Ōpōtiki and Te Rarawa, Hokianga, Gordie has a long teaching history. After an impressive forty years in mainstream education, in Aotearoa, Canada, and Australia, she was drawn to Kingslea School three years ago.

As of this year, Gordie is the Deputy Principal ki Waitaha. This means she has all three Waitaha (Canterbury) Kingslea schools under her wing. A key part of her job is to “get the best teachers in front of the rangatahi, as well as to look after/tautoko the current rangatahi and teachers”.

Several rangatahi are young dads and at Te Puna Wai o Tuhinapo Gordie and the other kaiako are able to offer them an opportunity to learn how to read to their babies. This is possible with support from the National Library’s Community of Learners’ group, who supply books for babies. The young fathers pick out books for their babies, often in Te Reo, and are modeled best practice when reading to young tamariki. Gordie and her team then wrap and post the books to the babies with a special note from the young fathers. Gordie shares one time when she was getting ready to post some books for an ākonga. He asked if he could keep them in his locker because he was going home soon, and he wanted to give the books to his baby himself. Gordie’s energy and passion shines when she talks about working with these young dads, nurturing a love of reading, and Te Ao Māori.

Gordie says that the learning space itself is also a unique experience. There are always additional adults in the classroom, supporting both rangatahi and teachers, so the teaching space gets very busy. But Gordie loves working with a team, full of others who want to make a difference, with a focus Te Tiriti o Waitangi tying everyone’s work together. Gordie speaks with warmth of her Tumuaki, Tina Lomax, who ‘leads from the front’, the other Kingslea kaiako, and Oranga Tamariki and the Pegasus Nurses team. She loves that no two days are the same.

Gordie says that she doesn’t look for good samaritans to work at Kingslea School – “The Mana of these rangatahi is too important to have them taught by someone who feels sorry for them”. Gordie looks for great teaching practitioners who really want to make an educational difference in the lives of rangatahi who have slipped through the gaps. If that’s you, make sure to keep an eye out for vacancies across the motu, on our Vacancies page, or follow us on LinkedIn.

...read less
Kingslea School Annual Hui 2023
Once a year our kaiako (teachers) from across the motu come together at our annual hui, held in late January this year, in Tāmaki Makaurau. From Ōtepoti, Waitaha, Rotorua, and Tāmaki Makaurau,...Read more...

Once a year our kaiako (teachers) from across the motu come together at our annual hui, held in late January this year, in Tāmaki Makaurau. From Ōtepoti, Waitaha, Rotorua, and Tāmaki Makaurau, from Care & Protection, Youth Justice, and community campuses, this is the only opportunity for these teaching specialists to meet kanohi ki te kanohi. The rest of the year we meet via Zoom, which can be a different experience to a mainstream school, where cross-department catch ups are easy to arrange. The annual hui is just one part of collaborating and coordinating our educational delivery for consistency of practice throughout the wider Kingslea School tīmu.

A photo of all the Kingslea School kaiako, outside, at their 2023 hui

Our ‘Mana Ako Practice Framework’ is a set of comprehensive documents that form Kingslea School’s pou herenga e toru (three mooring posts). These provide detailed guidance for our teachers that is evidence-based and supports our school values. At this year’s hui we launched our ‘Responding Authentically to Neuro-Diversity’ pou, the final mooring post in the framework. This joins our ‘Responding authentically to Trauma’ and ‘Responding authentically to Culture’ pou, providing guidance that complements and supports our kaiako. Ngā mihi nui for your mahi Dr Melanie Atkinson, Professor Angus Macfarlane, Associate Professor Sonja Macfarlane, Gordie Palmer, Jan Stevens, and everyone else involved.

As well as the launch, lots of re-invigorating kōrero and teaching and learning discussion was had. The hui is also an important time to welcome new teachers to our Kingslea School whānau, and reiterate our school vision of ‘rediscovering the magic of learning’, our Strategic Goals, and our school values. Ngā mihi nui also to Nigel Latta and Kathryn Berkett, our guest speakers, it was a joy to have you speak for us.

...read less
Our Staff: Jan
Kia ora koutou, hope you all enjoyed a wonderful break over the holidays. We are READY to kickstart this excellent year! Starting with this lovely chat and insight into the...Read more...

Kia ora koutou, hope you all enjoyed a wonderful break over the holidays. We are READY to kickstart this excellent year! Starting with this lovely chat and insight into the teaching experience of Jan 😊

Eight children, three (and a half) teachers – Puketai Residence is, like all Kingslea schools, unique.

A care and protection site, with children aged 8 – 16, in the care of Oranga Tamariki, children stay at Puketai for varying lengths of time. The length of stay is dependent on their individual needs. Jan, the assistant principal, confides “Don’t tell the others, but my school is the best”. Jan is being cheeky, but you can tell she means it – she has been teaching at Puketai for nine years now. The teacher to student ratio, as well as the circumstances of the children, create a very different dynamic to mainstream schools:

“There’s not often one teacher per child, so there is a lot of team teaching. We have less teaching plans, and you have to be really flexible. Things change all the time.”

Unlike a lot of Kingslea schools, Puketai is not fenced and is in the heart of the Andersons Bay community in Dunedin. The children often have multiple complex needs and can be distrustful of new adults. The impact is hard to imagine – helping them to feel safe is the first task. Puketai has a therapeutic way of working, and teachers are trained accordingly. They work with the children on how to self regulate, build relationships, engage, and then move on to reasoning and learning. Each student is taught in a unique way.

Jan and her team get to see a lot of change in the children, and share their successes. Seeing them build good relationships is especially rewarding, but also seeing some achieve NZQA levels, or reintegrate into mainstream school. Activities are focussed on practical skills or skills that the children can use in their free time. Three children have achieved their barista licences in the last few years. It’s so rewarding, just seeing them relax! Jan and her team have a clear fondness for these children, something that shines through whenever talking to Kingslea teachers.

But, it’s not all easy. You can tell that Jan embraces the day-to-day teaching challenges, but the situation of the children is hard “It’s not all about our school. Once the children are in the community, back in the mainstream, they need lots of wrap around support. There are a lot of influencing factors”.

Jan says that to get the most out of Puketai, teachers need to be resilient, flexible, willing to be life long learners and love to work in a team – a good sense of humour will help!

“A lot of ex-students like to stay in touch. They’re just really lovely kids!” shares Jan, unprompted.

Does this sound like your kind of challenge? Please check our Vacancies page, or follow us on LinkedIn for new openings.

...read less

Latest news

  

Contact

admin@kingslea.school.nz
PO Box 68, Rolleston 7643
LinkedIn