A brief description of the socio-economic status of my community.
A school’s culture is shaped by its history, context and the people in it.(Stoll, 1998)
My school is in a rural community predominately dairying. Our school was founded in 1867 and we have celebrated our 150th this year. This bought our whole community together past, present and the future generations. A number of our students are descendants of the first pupils at the school.
Most of our 143 students live on dairy farms with parents working within the industry either as share-milkers, managers or workers doing milking and general farm duties. A number of these are migrant workers, with a majority coming from the Philippines.
Our school ten years ago used to only have approximately 5% Maori the remainder being European. We now have 10% Maori, 20% Filipino, 5% other nationalities and the remainder European.
Papakaio - Place of the Ngaio Tree
Our school ten years ago used to only have approximately 5% Maori the remainder being European. We now have 10% Maori, 20% Filipino, 5% other nationalities and the remainder European.
The last ERO report (2014) stated that we have a caring and respectful culture. New students are well supported and welcomed. This is still true today as we have more Filipino students joining our school with a number having English as their second language.
School environment
At this time of the year we are always mindful of the stress our parents are under as it is calving time and a number of parents are working from dawn to dusk and beyond. This is the time of the year that families are often stretched to the limit. As teachers we take this into account in our classrooms and the playground ensuring that school is always a safe, caring and happy environment for our students.
Our school encourages parents to be actively involved in our school community. In our classes you will find parents helping in all areas on a daily basis. They come in to listen to reading, work with maths groups, bake, garden, and do art activities. At the end of each term we celebrate children's learning with an open day. Children are able to show their parents what they have been doing and then look around the other classes to see what has been happening in them. This happens just after morning tea and then we have lunch with our families often with a BBQ. One of our highlights was the Filipino community making and sharing lunch with our whole community. We have worked hard to have a school with an inviting climate and culture where everyone is valued and appreciated - staff, parents, children and the wider community.
Way forward
Looking at our school using Stoll's five scenarios, we are a well established school, with strong community ties, but we are always growing, moving forward ensuring our new families feel welcomed, an ever evolving and changing environment. This is more so now that we are a multicultural school and we are therefore consulting with our 'new' community around our vision to encompass all our values and ideas. With the help of our strong leadership team we as teachers are embracing this change and learning with our students.
References
ERO report
http://www.ero.govt.nz/review-reports/papakaio-school-08-08-2014/
Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture
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