Relationships beyond the school gate

Building a community of experts

By Dagmar Dyck, was Deputy Principal and Inquiry Lead 

Pakirehua is about so much more than just what happens at school and we tap into the gifts and talents of our staff, whānau and the wider community to inspire and teach our learners.

In the early stages of planning an inquiry we scan and see where our experts in this area are.  We often communicate with whānau to invite them to share their skills and knowledge, and we lean on our networks and relationships outside of school to find the best people to work with.

Our “Step Up, Step Out. Why Dance?”   inquiry was a great example of this. Parents came in to share their enthusiasm and skills in different types of dance, teachers shared their knowledge and a Board of Trustees member brought her Kapa Haka group in to perform for the school.  We also worked closely with Sefa Enari, the director of Pacific Dance, to bring this inquiry to life. 

Sefa and his team were there to plan the term with us and to think about how we could best prepare our learners to create their own stories through dance.  At the ignite phase of inquiry they helped our students to be curious about dance, and to feel a connection to the dances we viewed. Later they came back and listened to what the students had learned, what their questions  were and worked alongside the teachers to support students to bring their stories to life through dance.  Importantly, Sefa and the team were there at our celebration day and were able to see the outcome of the learning journey they had inspired.

Similar partnerships have developed with the Auckland Museum, the National Library and the Auckland Art Gallery.  These relationships are valued and nurtured beyond a single inquiry.  At Sylvia Park School we say that you never leave the whānau and these partnerships reflect the value we place on authentic reciprocity- they are part of our whānau and we support them too when we can.

Teachers wear many hats, but we know our limits and there is nothing so powerful as learners seeing someone who is passionate about their area of expertise, showing them that they can grow up to be these people. Visibility matters. Experts like artist Alexis Neal and one of our caretakers, Bob Laing, have worked with our learners many times to create and install artworks around our school. Depending on the age of the students, they have shown them how to make something beautiful, make it strong and use the powertools to do it.

Inquiry is so much bigger than what happens at school and the inquiry process is a creative journey that can be applied in real life. By working with partners who are passionate and skilled, we build a unity and a shared understanding about learning and about the world.