Remuera Primary School - New Zealand Principal Magazine

Remuera Primary School (RPS) in Auckland nestles modularly into a park-like basin, just below the pavement level of Dromorne Road. The high decile school draws its population of 600 children mostly from the well-heeled Remuera neighbourhood. It has a long history dating back to its establishment in 1873. By 1906, with a roll of 439, the school was expanding, but its site on the slopes of Mt Hobson was not. An alternative location was found on Dromorne Road and a new school was built in 1909. Seventy years later the community had again outgrown the school and the main block had become unsafe. Gradual demolition and replacement saw a new-look school emerge in 1982 and a further two storied block in 1996. One feature of the old school’s long and esteemed history remains however. The school gates, which the children continue to walk through today, were preserved from the 1909 rebuild and proudly display the

I quickly learn that when a school experiences rapid change to its roll mix unexpected challenges surface. For instance there is immediate pressure on the ESOL programme and the national standards results take a dive because they cannot accommodate the sudden influx of students who can’t read and write in English. Some would describe this as just another flaw in the national standards system. RPS doesn’t waste time dwelling on such matters however. There are far too many good things to celebrate, like ‘Cultural Connectedness’. Cultural Connectedness is a regular school-wide event on the RPS calendar and is intended to provide children with the opportunity to engage first hand in another culture. That’s not difficult at RPS. There are many to choose from. The way the system works, the children all create their own ‘passport’ for ‘travel’. Each class is responsible for recreating a culture including

Working cooperatively and sharing ideas together.

The school gates make an impressive WW 1&2 war memorial.

names of every school pupil who went to world wars one and two. Names with a cross indicate that they died in the war. The gates create a moving memorial to the school’s military heroes. Once through the school door, the atrocities of war are put aside as German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Filipino, Chinese, Indian and Kiwi kids all muck in together, learning with and from each other. ‘It wasn’t always like this,’ says Associate Principal, Mark Hassall. ‘Twenty years ago our roll was mostly Pākehā children. Now we have fewer than 50 per cent Pākehā and 20 per cent Chinese which is the fastest growing group in the school.’ There have been rapid developments over the past five years, he says. ‘We now have a second ‘English for Students of Other Languages’ (ESOL) teacher and have just over 150 children in our English as second language learning programme.

the customs, language, costumes, song, dance, food, art and story-telling. They then showcase their culture to the ‘visitors’ who ‘fly in’ with their ‘passports’. Parents are also invited and on my way to ‘visit Thailand’, I meet quite a few. Some, like me, are also visiting Thailand whilst others are heading to nearby India and Vietnam. Room 28 is host to Thailand and we strike it lucky. The cooks are at work preparing spring rolls served with delicious fresh salad. There are gasps of appreciation, including from me. What is great about cultural connectedness is that it is not the Thai students who are making the spring rolls. It is the Kiwi kids who have learned the skills from their Thai classmates. That’s what ‘connectedness’ is all about. It’s learning cross-cultural skills and acquiring knowledge of different cultural practices and different

Learning together is fun and others help us reconsider our plans.

world views and embracing them. It’s also sharpening awareness makers. From Kiwi kid, Kyle Bourke and his shy young Thai of one’s own cultural practices and understandings because in accomplice, we learn that in Thai culture there is a story, told some other classroom Kiwi kids are introducing Chinese or through puppetry that is almost identical to our own ‘Cinderella’ Indonesian or Sri Lankan kids to the New Zealand way of life. folk tale. We are proudly shown the Puppet of the ‘King’ the With morning tea tucked safely away, it was time to examine character in the story who vows to marry the woman who fits the art work in this now crowded Thai space. The brightly the ‘gold’ shoe. painted tuktuk drew my attention first. It’s a fantastic way to both celebrate the The host children were explaining to a cultures of the children attending RPS and group of visitors how it works, where you provide rich learning for all the children. sit, whether it is safe and how fast it goes. Managed well, every child is advantaged Again it is not the Thai children answering by learning in a multi-cultural school the questions. What was astonishing was environment. the extent of knowledge the children were Whilst 150 children at RPS are learning demonstrating and suddenly you realise English as a second language, there are just how much deeper the learning is also English speaking children learning when your tutor has first-hand knowledge Mandarin. ‘Our intention is that we will and is the same age as you! expand the number of our Mandarin The ‘animals of Thailand’ section was classes so that eventually every class from next on the visiting list. An enormous year 3 to 6 will be learning Mandarin,’ horned-buffalo trotted freely across the said associate principal Mark Hassall. classroom’s back wall picking its way RPS has registered with the Ministry through the brightly painted paddy fields. of Education for support from Asian The buffalo scene had been created by Language Learning in Schools (ALLiS). two classmates, one Thai, the other Kiwi. ALLiS was initiated by the Ministry ‘to More animals were awaiting explanation support New Zealand’s growing trade at Poppy, Scarlett and Hannah’s table. and international relationships with The three were eager to answer visitors’ key Asian countries.’ Individual schools questions about elephants, lorises, zebras, can apply for $100,000 to support Asian snakes and water buffalo. language learning or a cluster of schools In Thai culture puppetry is a common way Amid these displays were the puppet can access a higher level of funding. of telling stories.

Poppy, Scarlett and Hannah await questions on exotic Thai animals.

Kiwi kids make Thai spring rolls for the visitors.

‘A cluster of eight local primary, intermediate and secondary schools in our area applied to ALLiS and we began our own Mandarin programme,’ said Mark. ‘Here at RPS we have a native Mandarin speaker taking our year three classes once a week and our intention is to include a higher year level each year,’ he said. So why Mandarin? ‘Because we have an expanding Chinese population in Auckland and it helps our children to form those all important cultural connections and develop mutual respect through understanding,’ says Mark. ALLiS is not the only assistance that schools can access for cultural language support. There is also the Confucius Institute which promotes Chinese culture and language, supports local Chinese language teaching in many countries and facilitates cultural exchanges. Because they provide funding and educational resources, the Confucius Institute has come under fire from those concerned that the Institute might present a selective or politicised view of China in order to influence other countries’ views of China. Others see China’s revival This Hong Kong poster of Confucian values as a good shouts its headlines to thing to combat the processes of attract the visitors. westernisation and help rebuild China’s moral and social standards. Students in some Chinese schools are now studying Confucian texts and learning ancient Confucian poetry. Whatever the view is on Confucius the Institute recently helped a delegation of New Zealand principals to travel to Shanghai and Beijing to be immersed in the cultures there and visit schools. RPS does not access support directly from the Confucius Institute, ‘but the Asia New Zealand Foundation is a growing force in New Zealand-Asia relations,’ says Mark. RPS also hosts students from other Asian destinations such as Bangkok. RPS principal, Stephen King, on a recent trip to Bangkok, arranged for students to travel to New Zealand to be billeted by families of RPS and Glen Eden Intermediate School. Last year seven year six students from RPS and two teachers travelled to Bangkok to experience first-hand the culture of the Thai capital city. This cultural exchange arrangement has been in place for the past four years. The school receives many requests from China to host students too. ‘They are keenly interested in

knowing more about New Zealand because they see it as a very attractive place to live and to learn English,’ says Mark. This is a snapshot of some of the cultural exchanges that RPS participates in to advantage their children. Amid all these multi-cultural relationships, RPS does not forget that beyond all of Asia, Europe, and indeed the Americas the most prominent relationship of all is the one with their own tangata whenua. ‘Our Board of Trustees is determined that our Māori children will succeed as Māori,’ says Mark. They embrace the Māori curriculum document Ka hikitia as a starting point. ‘We want to truly embrace Māori culture in our school,’ says Mark, ‘and not just in a token way.’ ‘We want Māori protocols and practices to be part of our day to day activities,’ he said, ‘and our immigrant populations embrace that,’ he said. Whilst much at RPS is about success and achievement, the leadership team is always looking for areas to improve. ‘One of those is our communications,’ says Mark. ‘There are language barriers for some families and we have to find solutions. Perhaps one of the best Some families have different known cultures at RPS. expectations of school and we have to better communicate what our aspirations and expectations are for our students,’ he said. There are many opportunities to engage with the RPS families and for families to network with each other including through a school trip or camp, a fundraising art auction, a family fun night, sporting, cultural, music, choral or ukulele festivals and beyond the school itself there are Auckland city events such as the Lantern Festival and the Asian Markets. ‘We are fortunate at RPS to have such a warm welcoming community and visitors frequently comment that our children are well behaved, confident young people,’ he said. ‘We are also privileged to be able to offer a rich curriculum and a high standard of education, and lucky to have such willing support from our parents to help us to keep our standards high.’ As a visitor to the school, I would hasten to agree that the children of RPS are a delight to meet, are engaging, interesting and eager to share what they know. Before making a return visit, however, I’d better brush up on the Mandarin.

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