So Long, So Far, So What?

 

So Long 2020

2020 was a pretty horrible year for most of us around the world, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing boarder closures, lockdowns, social distancing and isolation at all levels of society. For many this brought about financial insecurity, anxiety for ourselves and for loved ones, and uncertainty about the future.  

So at the beginning of 2021 many people around the globe bid a not-so-fond farewell to 2020 as we collectively wondered what the New Year might have in store for us. After such an unprecedented year last year it is easy (and understandable) to have a pessimistic view of the coming year. At the end of the first quarter of 2021 what is our outlook?

So Far in 2021

At the end of April we have already passed the milestone of a third of the calendar year and we are about to enter the second term of the 2021 school year. So what has happened so far this year?

Globally: At a global level in the early months of 2021 we have had the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines which signals a real turning point in the management of the pandemic, despite the worrying statistics from some countries (another reminder of the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots). With a new president making his mark on political and environmental issues, the US has re-discovered the truth of Climate Change, and there are good reasons to feel cautiously optomistic about the future of the planet.

Nationally: In Aotearoa New Zealand we have recently celebrated the opening of the no-quarantine travel bubble with Australia - timed perfectly so we can embrace our trans-Tasman neighbours in more than a virtual way this ANZAC Day. However we are experiencing an increasingly worrying housing crisis, with demand for housing outstripping supply and causing increases in house prices which make home-ownership unaffordable for many. So while we are making steps towards a return to some form of "normal" there are indications that our new "normal" is very far from the old.

Locally: At Hornby High School we welcomed the commencement of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako (healthy school lunches) programme at our kura midway through term 2 in 2021. This programme ensures that each student has a free healthy lunch each day, and it goes a long way to remove the food insecurity in lower socio-economic communities such as ours.

At the end of Term 1 2021 we are now well into the second year of the redevelopment of our local curriculum with the introduction of:

• Wānanga classes for Years 7-9 (introduced in 2020) and Years 10-12 (introduced in 2021)
• Hurumanu (cross-curricular) classes for Year 7/8 (2020) and Year 9 (2021)
• Student Voice: subject choice ("Options") for Year 9 students and above (introduced in 2020)
• Vertical pastoral systems (introduced in 2021) based on the Kāhui structure of our new school.

Additionally our roll is experiencing a significant growth in 2021 - the largest single growth since 2014, when the school first accepted enrolments from Year 7 and Year 8 students. The increase in student numbers is largely in Year 9 and to a lesser degree in Year 7, and while there is much debate about the reason for this increase (the impact of enforcement of our "new" zone, our community seeing the benefits of enrolling their tamariki here, or something else), the fact remains that this increase has put significant pressure on our teaching resources and pastoral systems.

So What?

So what does all this mean? What can we learn from any of this? What do we still need to do?

It would be easy to look at all of this as unrelated events that simply define where we are now.

However standing still during such vastly changing times would be the same as going backwards, and that is simply unacceptable.

I choose instead to look at where we have been, to identify the challenges we still face and to embrace the opportunities before us. I choose to ask not "So What?" but "So What Now?"

Here is my simple 5-point plan of things we need to do at Hornby High School in 2021 and beyond:

1. 
   Learn from 2020: There is a famous quote that goes something like "Those who cannot learn from our history are doomed to repeat it". In my blog post of 3 December I noted the need to more fully embrace the Manaiakalani concept of "Ubiquitous". My teaching/their learning should be able to happen anywhere/any-when, regardless of the circumstances globally, nationally or locally.
2. "Stay on the bus": We have a plan at Hornby, and we know where we're going - there are clear signposts marked "Wānanga", "Hurumanu", "Kāhui" and "Student Choice". Stay on the bus until we reach our destination - sometimes the bus will stop, but that is just to let more of us on. It will be hard at times, but as Winston Chruchill once said "If you're going through hell, keep going". Sometimes the bus may need to take a detour to take a better/safer route, but the destination will remain the same.
3. Welcome those new to our school: On reflection, a large number of student behaviour problems are occurring with the new students at Hornby - in particular our new Year 9 students. These are generally the students who have spent the last two years at an intermediate school and are new to what has become known as the "Hornby Way". We need a better induction process for these new students, to help them feel part of our whanau rather than feeling like unwelcome visitors. These students need to have their say as this is their school as much as it is the Year 13 student who has been here since Year 7. Continuing with the "bus" analogy - sometimes we should be quicker to give up our seat on the bus for someone who has just got on, especially if we've been riding the bus for some time and they have had a long journey to the bus stop.
4. 
   Be Kind to Others: Our pastoral system is designed to help those who need it. Sometimes this involves helping students to become "learning ready" by ensuring they have what they need (e.g. "time out" to de-escalate their behaviour, access to a chromebook, or a healthy meal). At other times it means helping them to make good choices about their learning (e.g. selecting subject "options", or prioritising study workloads). Sometimes it involves simply being there for them - often when no-one else is. Jacinda Ardern taught us all a very simple but vitally important lesson throughout 2020: Be Kind.
5. Be Kind to Ourselves: Someone recently asked me how my year had gone so far, and because I was in the midst of a very busy period where I didn't really have time to order or filter my thoughts I said what a day was like in the life of a busy Dean in a low decile school. I talked about how every non-contact period I was dealing with student behaviour issues, that I was up late at night dealing with a growing pile of emails - all urgent in the eyes of the sender, and that I was spending a large part of my weekend planning my teaching for the coming week. My inquirer then said "That sounds tough - what are you doing to look after yourself?" At that moment I was floored - that simple act of genuine concern struck me as a kindness that was so unexpected I was lost for a response, and actually became quite emotional. In hindsight I am doing a lot to look after myself - I have my music (I play the guitar and the ukulele), I have my art (I am an Oamaru stone sculptor) and I have my family (a very understanding wife who is also a teacher, two kids and four beautiful grandchildren). We've all heard the message about the oxygen mask on a plane (make sure yours is in place before you help others with theirs), but too often we forget the truth hidden in the cliche.

Conclusion:

In Term 1 I taught a Hurumanu module called "Our Heroes". One of the tasks I set my Year 7/8 class was to define the term "Hero". After much discussion and rigorous debate the simple definition we came up with was:

"Heroes are people who do the right thing because it's the right thing to do"

 Let's all strive to be heroes in 2021.