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A class act:
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How an isolated school showed the way forward to the
knowledge economy: (2002)
By Ruth Wynyard and Karen Laugesen - Communications
Graduates AUT 2001
Photos by David Somerfield
An impressive turnaround by a decile-one rural school
in the isolated Whirinaki valley means a glowing Education
Review Office report is now proudly published on its
website.
Following a scathing 1996 ERO evaluation, the Te Whaiti
School Board of Trustees and community in this zero
employment area (native milling was stopped a generation
ago) decided that they had a challenge: "To give
our children choices for their future that some of us
may have missed out on."
 Current
chairman Chris Eketone says one of the first things
members had to do was stop using excuses for failing
to meet with 21 ERO criteria and become responsible
for student learning outcomes.
"Rural isolation and high unemployment rates are
not an excuse anymore.
We decided just to get on with it - we just thought:
'Let's do what we can'."
Following the sobering report, board members and parents
discussed key issues facing the school in a marae-style
environment. They came up with 28 barriers to learning
at the school, including isolation and transport difficulties,
and decided to tackle these head-on.
 Parents
were insistent that their children should recapture
the strength of their rich Maori heritage and become
fluent in Te Reo. As a result, juniors now start with
total immersion and migrate to bilingual classes in
the senior school.
All students sit School Certificate Maori in form 1
or 2 and start their secondary schooling with a top
grade SC pass.
A school bus was bought because many of the 56 students
were having to leave as early as 7.00 am and not getting
home until 6.00 pm on the local high school bus.
 This
example of removing barriers to learning has brought
with it many other benefits to this isolated community.
A big band of whanau now accompany school teams competing
in Rotorua on Saturdays - providing a day out an doubling
as a supermarket stop for the shop-less Te Whaiti locals.
This example of removing barriers to learning has brought
with it many other benefits to this isolated community.
A big band of whanau now accompany school teams competing
in Rotorua on Saturdays - providing a day out an doubling
as a supermarket stop for the shop-less Te Whaiti locals.
The leased laptops were chosen to minimise funding,
ensure equipment was up to date, and to conserve space
- regular PCs would have required a new classroom costing
around $200,000 to be built.
Ms Doherty says that the Internet has given the pupils
access to the outside world that they were previously
denied.
"Now we can just hook up on line if we can't afford
to go to a museum for example."
The computers have brought additional benefits. Last
year one Te Whaiti school pupil won an award for information
technology at an Australian competition.
"It was nice to be recognised externally…
that it wasn't just us saying that our kids could do
it," say Te Whaiti teachers.
Board members believe that the school's success is directly
proportionate to the level of involvement of parents
and the wider community.
The 1999 ERO report backs this up:
"Parents expressed their expectations for the
children at a community hui. The values by which they
live were outlined…the achievement statement was
devised from this and reflects values the community
believes important for its children to develop."
 Principal
Genevieve Doherty sharing local wisdom with AUT 2001
Communications Graduates Ruth Wynyard and Karen Laugesen
Ms Doherty explains that parents are spending more
time at the school and are becoming more involved. A
number of them are taking up study again.
"They didn't really feel like it was their place
before, it was an institution removed from them,"
she says.
Now the staffroom rarely shuts before 6.00 pm, and
parents often drop by for a cup of tea and a chat.
Energetic parents have also been responsible for converting
the old school bus shed into a classroom - which would
have cost the school at least $10,000 without volunteers.
Past board of trustees chairman Earl Rewi reflected
on the scale of this achievement: "In prosperous
communities parents come along to working bees with
tractors, equipment, and materials. Here, we have to
provide everything including the shovels!"
Getting funding for new projects has been a challenge,
but board members say that they have learned to believe
in themselves, and work as a team in partnership with
the Ministry of Education.
"In the early days we got used to being tagged
over the head and people saying: 'You're not doing that
right,' all the time. It was that insidious negativity
that you don't even realise is happening…but it's
different now. Now we don't go away and say: 'To hell
with your legislation,' but we go away and think: 'Well,
how can we do this together'."
This togetherness includes the Tuhoe Education Authority
- a cluster of similar remote schools in the region
that share their heritage, language, knowledge and resources
for the mutual betterment of their people.
It is this kind of lateral thinking and community
cooperation that has generated widespread interest in
the Te Whaiti school.
 The
lessons learned now extend well beyond Te Whaiti. Inspired
by their innovative processes, ex pupil Peter Goldsbury,
Project Management Consultant, Auckland University of
Technology (AUT) has helped them publish the Tipu Ake
Lifecycle - A leadership model for innovative organizations,
which was recently launched on their marae.
" I feel immensely privileged to have had Ngati
Whare and the people of Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi share such
powerful wisdom with me", he says. "Already
other proactive organisations use Tipu Ake to help them
emulate the school and grow their own places in the
knowledge economy."
 The
full name given to the model is "Tipu Ake ki te
Ora - Growing from within ever upwards towards wellbeing",
and it uses the image of a giant totara swelling from
a tiny seed. The pupils, school and community at Te
Whaiti certainly know about that!
A spokesperson for the Education Review Office declined
to comment on the school, saying it was policy to let
their report speak for itself.
Related Websites:
Te Whaiti School: www.tewhaiti.school.nz
(includes their 1999 ERO report)
Tipu Ake Lifecycle www.tipuake.org.nz
(model downloadable here)
W orkshops previously run at AUT
Leading Projects and Innovation in your Organisation
(first use of Tipu Ake)
©2001/2 Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi. In the knowledge
sharing tradition of Toi the Tipu Ake Lifecycle is in
shared with the world to be used for the wellbeing of
its future chldren. For a copy please see the website.
www.tipuake.org.nz In return a koha (gift you can afford
based on its value to you) to help further voluntary
education and community development in the valley and
beyond is appreciated.
Editors wishing to publish this story please contact
Peter Goldsbury pgoldsbury@stratex.co.nz.
It must be footnoted with the following copyright statement:
Tipu Ake Lifecycle - A leadership model for innovative
organisations. (c) 2001/2 Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi,
see www.tipuake.org.nz
* This article was first published in part in the NZ
Listener Feb 2 2002
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES WITH OUR SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY:
If you are a teacher or have other skills (particularly secondary school level Science, Maths, Environment, Technology, Multimedia, Film and Television etc) and would like to work as a volunteer for a month or two alongside our teachers to help them raise the bar for our children and open the learning opportunities our natural environment offers them, then please contact The Chairman, Te Kura Toitu o Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi, PO Box 3013, Te Whaiti via Rotorua. Ph 07 366 3221. We can provide accommodation for the right people and offer a unique opportunity for you to help us pioneer the development of some innovative experiential learning programmes and resources that we want to be able to share with the world via the web. See our community's planned "Whirinaki Interactive" Project
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