Ngaa mihi nui i teenei te wiki tuatahi o te waahanga hoou.  Greetings to you all in the first week of the new term. I hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying the return to school routines after the holiday break. As we dive back into the year, I wanted to share some insights from a recent staff well-being workshop that took place during the holiday call-back days. Our staff worked with Rachel Matheson from Spark House, who specialises in workshops to support resilience, productivity and general wellbeing for people in their everyday spaces, and in particular, teachers. 

During this workshop, our staff had the opportunity to delve into personal well-being strategies aimed at navigating the various external and internal pressures that they may face in their everyday lives. We explored various elements including mindset, managing thoughts, overcoming negative biases, and silencing our internal critics. Rachel talked about when a ‘stress factor’ comes along, it’s our thoughts that can determine the impact that stressor has on us and our thoughts are something we do have control over. 

An interesting fact about thoughts,

• 40% of the things we worry about never happen
• 30% are in the past and can’t be changed or helped
• 12% involve the affairs of others that not our business
• 10% relate to sickness – real or imagined
• SO...only 8% of the things we worry about are likely to happen!

One particular concept we explored was "above the line" and "below the line" thinking. This model talks about the importance of maintaining a growth mindset and taking ownership of our actions. For adults and children alike, when stressors come along, our brains kick into a primal survival mechanism and a natural reaction can be ‘fight, flight or freeze’. Our minds are also more likely to default to having a ‘negative bias’ on a situation, known as a ‘below the line’ response. Teaching ourselves, and our children to give ourselves a minute to breathe and then choose how we will react, can help mitigate unconstructive behaviours. 

This video explains it well and is worth watching. Click the link to view...

Locating Yourself - A Key to Conscious Leadership

We talked about this model at assembly on Monday as it is a helpful tool to teach children that they have a choice when it comes to how they will respond. ‘Above the line’ responses are open to learning, are constructive and foster a growth mindset. We will continue to support children with their ‘taha hinengaro’, mental and emotional well-being, which includes healthy ways of thinking and responding.

In other news, I am excited to share that Ms Jenna Mateni (teacher in Roopuu Puaawai 7 and 8) will be welcoming a baby into the world in September. We are really pleased for Jenna and her partner and can’t wait to meet their little baby later in the year. Ms Mateni will be taking maternity leave halfway through Term 3 this year. Mrs Weinberg, who has been part of our Puketaha staff for 20 years and is currently working part-time, has kindly offered/ been persuaded to increase her hours in order to cover Ms Mateni until the end of the year. Mrs Weinberg is a fantastic teacher and is well known to the students. We are feeling positive that this will be a seamless transition for the students and we are both happy for Jenna and grateful for Mrs Weinberg stepping in. 

With another action-packed term ahead of us, such as Year 5-8 Productions, winter sports, Cross Country and well as Student-led Conferences and mid-year reporting, we look forward to working with you all and having a fantastic term of fun and learning. 

Ngaa mihi,

Nyree Olliver