Saturday, July 23, 2011

Project Energise

It is wonderful to see that Project Energise's latest review on the programme’s effectiveness has produced such wonderful results.  As one of the small group of School’s to begin the trial 5 years ago Stanley Avenue School has noticed the positive effects of regular physical activity and healthy nutritional choices for many years.  Three years ago our whole school community agreed by adding hauora as one of our Stanley Avenue Learner Dimensions. 
Our feeling is that it is when a child has a sound base of physical and emotional well-being they are in a far better position to have fun and learn at School.  A big congratulations to the project energise team and a special thanks to Janine Gilmore who was our School’s facilitator throughout this time. 
 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

M Learning Conference

 Today I was privileged to be invited to attend a 'Mobiles in Schools' conference held at the Vodafone headquarters at the Viaduct Basin.  This conference, led by an independent facilitator had a wide range of experts speaking including representatives from Netsafe, the Human Rights Foundation, Vodafone, Two Degrees and some amazing educators. 

It was exciting to have such in depth conversations about the future of M Learning in education focussing on potential benefits and risks to manage.  I hope I have the opportunity to continue learning from this group that we can translate to Stanley Avenue School's vision.  Some of the wonderful speakers that contributed to the day included:

Kursten Shalfoon, Vodafone GM Consumer Marketing, to discuss the future of mobiles
Martin Cocker, Executive Director of NetSafe, cybersafety responses across NZ schools
 Toni Twiss to give overview of her mLearning research and experiences
 Mark Osborne, Deputy Principal, Albany Senior High School, school-wide eLearning approach
Stuart Armistead, Stanley Avenue School, mLearning at Stanley Ave School







Sunday, July 10, 2011

Construction begins!

Stanley Avenue School is entering a very exciting phase.  After the neogiations, planning and fundraising two major constructions now have the green light.

The MPR is now being completely refurbished to allow it to be used for a wide range of purposes.  The access road is now been put in to ensure large machinery is going to be able to gain access to the back field to construct the gymnasium. 

Monday, June 27, 2011

Search Results | School Is Cool

Search Results | School Is Cool

Follow the link above to check out some of the creative ideas that Stanley Ave Students have sent in as part of the School is Cool competition!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Mish Mash visit Stanley Avenue!

Earlier this month we were fortunate to be visiting by the wonderful Mish Mash crew. It was awesome to see the confidence developing in our performing groups and our junior boys and girls so eager to share their learning!

Stanley Ave Te Aroha from MishMashTV on Vimeo.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Stanley Avenue School Curriculum Story

Last term I spoke at Learning @ School with a group of students. Our presentation looked at the shared vision of the Stanley Avenue Learner and the use of emerging technologies to enhance learning.

After the talk we were fortunate to be interviewed by Core Education for the curriculum stories web-site. The interview is embedded below.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

What are you doing in the holidays? Your children?

A blog comment by David Warlick interested me today.  With the holidays upon us I thought it was an excellent time to reflect on how our children use their time during the holidays.  How would you respond to these questions?
Remember when childhood happened almost exclusively outside?



Remember when a child’s most important resource was a saw, hammer, and bag straightened nails?


Remember when we daydreamed about building a raft, putting a propeller & wings on our bicycle, or exploring a wilderness with a musket and bowie knife?


Remember when there was more you could do with a pair of skates than just strap them on your feet and skate?


Remember when we use to pretend — out loud?


Remember when every tree was scrutinized for its treehouse suitability?


Remember when playing house was done with chairs and blankets (not with simulation software)?