Innovative Teachers

I have the privilege of working in a community which encourages innovation amongst our teaching colleagues. Every year a fellowship opportunity is funded for Manaiakalani teachers to apply for. The Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers receive 12 days of paid leave throughout the year to focus on a teaching as inquiry project they have developed in their own classes.  They come together once a term for a professional learning group and to have their inquiries challenged by their peers.  The MIT teachers this year range from teaching 5 year olds to 18 year olds.

These teachers all follow the same "Learn Create Share" framework that our young learners use.  So you can follow their progress as they share publicly online.

I recommend checking out the 2013 cohort at this link.  They have shared their inquiries publicly and at the end of the year each made a very short video reflecting on the outcomes of their inquiries.

6 Years of Film Festivals

November 13th, six years down the track, our Manaiakalani Film Festival expanded to two theatres over the 12 hours. 3000 children visited during the day and our extravaganza at night was packed with parents and supporters.  It was fabulous to have a Manaiakalani alumni, Peni Peleti, as our MC in the evening.

This year Sommerville Special School and Stonefields School attended and showcased movies.

Be sure to visit our webpage and check out some of the movies from the schools.

Manaiakalani Film Festival 2013 from SchoolTV on Vimeo.
Thanks to Andrea Tele'a for this video

Google Video

In June this year we had the amazing experience of having a team from Google led by Robin Morgan come to Pt England School to make a video about our community of learners.

Today we heard the news that it was ready to air and we are so pleased to see our young people and their whanau being showcased on YouTube.

The professionalism of the team made this experience special for our community. We all learnt heaps from watching how Anna Brent, Jeremie Battaglia, Karen Mackenzie and Zara Balfour worked together to create the film. Even the weather in the gloomiest part of the year gave us a break for the filming outside.

Partnering with the Super City

It was a special day for Manaiakalani when the Mayor of Auckland City, Len Brown, signed a memorandum of understanding between the Manaiakalani Education Trust and the Super City of Auckland, NZ.
Thanks to Auckland City we are able to carry out our dream of providing free internet to our children in our homes and mount the access points on power poles in our streets.  We appreciate the way our mayor has cut through red tape and barriers to help the Tamaki Learning Network to become a reality.

According to Len Brown,
“I am excited by the opportunity for Auckland Council to pool resources and share information with the trust to support digital learning for children and young people.”.

Read more about this here

SchoolTV SchoolTV Part One, 28th June 2013 - Mayor Len Brown from SchoolTV on Vimeo.

The Mayor of Auckland City signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' between Auckland City and the Manaiakalani Education Trust. This movie shows you this hui which includes people of our community, our Kapahaka group and whanau.

A Nation Born of Sailors: Kia Kaha

We have spent the past weeks reflecting on the huge distance our Manaiakalani schools have come over the last 4 years, and the America's Cup racing this week has underlined it again.

Every class able to watch the racing, in real time, in high definition, with sound, on a big screen.  
And/Or, every kid, on their own device.  All cheering on Team New Zealand. All with access to information and data - at a mouse click.

This wonderful video, "Kia Kaha San Francisco", is presented as a gift from a Nation Born of Sailors to the Best Sailors in the World...

And to many a reminder of the origins of Manaiakalani.....