Mentoring learners to enable them to be critical, creative, connected and caring individuals, that are able to build and better their community, is at the core of Puna Wānanga and students have the chance to really hone in on developing these skills further in Semester 2.
This is the first time we have semesterised our Wednesday programme, allowing students a chance to discover, interpret, ideate, experiment in new areas of choice OR continue to build on current ideas, re-engaging with all areas of the design thinking process to really make a difference.
NEW ‘how might we’ statements on offer for selection are focussed around the following areas, all linked to wicked / UN sustainable problems:
supporting resourcing for families in need
creating an outdoor hub for the Rototuna community
creating initiatives around Whare Tapa Wha and Fonofale models in order to support the MANA, health and wellbeing of all
creating opportunities for people to recognise the importance of having a connection with their cultural identity in order to foster a sense of belonging and pride
embracing a culture of repairing and reusing in order to promote responsible consumption
developing accessible avenues for community members experiencing loneliness to seek companionship and support, fostering meaningful connections
creating a sense of wonder and exploration into unknown areas in order to spark curiosity, passion and understanding in new areas of study
giving back to those who build and better community in order to show appreciation for what they do
helping communities to recover in order to cultivate a resilient volunteering culture
Project Spotlight: POWER PLATE
Puna Wānanga Area: Haakari with Yvonne (and Semester 1 with Margaret Medland + support)
What Our Project Is About: We will be providing a different RHS sports team a meal once a month, who has either represented our school well in the community, or has shown commitment and enthusiasm towards their sport. This meal will serve as a positive incentive for our sports teams, that will push them to showcase the sporting talent and competitive culture of our school. The purpose of this is to build healthy habits, encourage performance in sport, and create a sense of community throughout our kura. We believe that boosting sport participation has widespread benefits on the students themselves, which is the key reason we have chosen to execute this project.
Future Plans: We would love to create a social media page that allows us to communicate with the students and create school wide camaraderie. Us as a group want to have that connection with our school and contribute to the success of RHS sport.
What Has Been The Highlight Of Learning In Your Project So Far? Our highlight has definitely been experimenting with different recipes and further improving our cooking skills. We have currently been making meals to donate to charities, which has expanded our knowledge in the kitchen and helped people in our community.
THREE Essential Skills We Have Developed Through Our Project:
Whakaaro Taarati (Critical Thinking): As a group whilst formulating our plan, we have had to conduct a lot of critical thinking. This included getting perspectives from the likes of Andrew, Chris, Matt, Jason, Zoee and Vicki. By asking in depth-questions and gathering perspectives, it allowed us to go away and confidently create an output that had been contributed to by many people.
Auahatangata (Creativity): Throughout the design thinking process, our group has had to get particularly creative to ensure that we have hit the brief. From researching ingredients, different recipes and allergen friendly options, to developing logos, brainstorming and ideating in a group setting. All of these components have helped us to further develop our idea - What are the relevant food groups for an athlete? What type of meals would work for a large group of people? How will we cater for allergy needs etc?
Mahi Ngaatahi (Collaboration): We have collaborated with our school sports coordinators Jason Pope and Matt Jones throughout our planning stage. We will continue to collaborate with them whilst choosing the deserved winners of our meals, and recognising sports teams that are doing particularly well. This means we are constantly staying in the loop and working in a collaborative team environment to achieve our goal.
How YOU can help/support us: The best way that you can help support us is by allowing your student to get involved in sport and represent our school well in the community. We want a positive image of our school to be shown, as we have so many talented athletes at RHS!
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