HPSS - Week 1

This week, relationships and building a firm foundation has been key. Time has been given to meeting our students, to sitting with each other and planning, to sitting in communities and discussing preparations for camp next week. The foundations and structures of HPSS have been clearly taught through a range of media. All through, I get the feeling of authenticity as the presenters model good teaching and learning practise.

As I was noting down all my events in my planner book, I again noticed how much time was given building firm foundations. Foundations in relationships, and foundations in HPSS culture.

 

Building strong, professional relationships is an intrinsic part of working in a school where there are cross-curricular courses being taught. I remember someone once saying that collaboration isn't about two people adding two separate parts to one document. It's two people working together as a unit to co-create the document, and for that to happen there has to be a high level of trust, confidence, relationship, and respect. As I've worked on our Level 1 English and PE plan, my co-teacher has been fantastic at reeling me back in and showing me what she had in mind as she developed this course with my predecessor.

And reminding me that we have two terms to get a specific outcome for both English and PE.

😊

My challenge of the week has been timetabling. As I've watched timetablers over the years, my brain has often exploded. I know that with further practise I'll become more adept at it, however, Sudoku is not a skill that has ever come naturally to me. So when two students came to school without having looked at their timetable choices beforehand, I had to try and figure out what I was looking at. Inevitably, I asked them to go home, look at the course selection guide, and email me with their choices.

Thank goodness. Because it then gave me the chance to get help from one of our timetablers as to what I was looking at. Turns out that just pressing ctrl+f to find the courses in the course book and then writing them down wasn't a good way to work through the courses! It didn't take into consideration the intricacies of the job.

Overall, a pretty cool week. There are people with similar shoe fetishes, people who keep telling me to eat, and I've met a bunch more of my neighbours as they are also my colleagues.

Next week - kids arrive and camp starts, as we continue build relationships and make our way into the academic year.