Some teachers might view remaining primarily in the classroom over the course of an entire career as something akin to a life-sentence. Maybe I’m an outlier, but I relish the prospect and see it as a privilege. My name is Dave Smale, and I’m an English teacher at Westlake Boys’ High School. I’m 46 years … Continue reading Reflections of an Across School Leader
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Inside the Career: Episode Ten – Communications (Katie Hunter)
“Just get stuck in, do anything and everything that you have time for, and do it with a smile.” Katie Hunter worked as the Communications Manager at Westlake Boys’ High School for 18 months before recently moving on to a new role with the New Zealand Automobile Association in August this year. Katie emigrated from … Continue reading Inside the Career: Episode Ten – Communications (Katie Hunter)
Inside the Teacher’s Classroom – Episode 11
“The people who teach you the most are the children.” Heather Greenhill has enjoyed an incredible career in education spanning five decades and crossing three sectors: early learning, primary and secondary. Our conversation was recorded just a few days prior to her retirement at the end of 2020. Heather’s parents emigrated from England in … Continue reading Inside the Teacher’s Classroom – Episode 11
Inside the Career – Episode Nine: Environmental Science and Water Quality Management (Jess Brooks)
“I feel like I make a positive difference. You know there might be a water quality issue there and myself and my team work to resolve that issue; so, we actually do impact everyone who uses the beach." Jess Brooks is a Healthy Water Specialist in the Storm Water Department at Auckland Council, working to … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode Nine: Environmental Science and Water Quality Management (Jess Brooks)
Inside the Career – Episode Eight: Banking (Laura Davie)
I absolutely love the variety, that I can have random things thrown at me [on] any given day and I [can] change the course of what I’m doing depending on the priority. And I love being able to problem solve with other people. So, here’s an idea and [then] going to talk to different … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode Eight: Banking (Laura Davie)
Inside the Career – Episode Seven: Acting (Max Crean)
“I love being able to see words written on a piece of paper and being able to be like, cool, we need to make this alive, we need to bring flavour to this, we need to add action to it. And just the process of that, seconds before they are going to start filming it, … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode Seven: Acting (Max Crean)
Inside the Career – Episode Six – Radio Broadcasting (Jayden King)
“It’s a good platform to talk about things like mental health and bullying and Te Reo Māori, which are things that I’m a strong advocate for. So, I’m glad that I’ve now got that platform where I can say bullying sucks, stop it, mental health is important, its real, don’t be afraid to talk about … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode Six – Radio Broadcasting (Jayden King)
Inside the Career – Episode Five: Engineering – student perspective (Kyle Shears and Andrew Wickens)
“With mechanical engineering, everything is very practical. A lot of what you learn can be very easily applied. Often lecturers will come up with a somewhat abstract theoretical idea and then they will bring in [an example of] where you may use that in the real world, whether that’s airplane wings or how internal combustion … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode Five: Engineering – student perspective (Kyle Shears and Andrew Wickens)
Inside the Teacher’s Classroom – episode 10
“Even though we think that people understand when we are talking to them and that they are on the same page as we are, that is not necessarily so, and sometimes the stress of the situation can cause them to do all sorts of strange things, so perhaps we should make much more allowance, especially … Continue reading Inside the Teacher’s Classroom – episode 10
Inside the Career – Episode Four: Fiction Writing and Teaching (Jess Copping)
“My absolute favourite thing in the world was, and still is, reading - and I love to write and that was always the one career that appealed to me; to be a writer.” Jess Copping is an acclaimed young adult fiction writer who, under her maiden name J L Pawley, has written more than ten … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode Four: Fiction Writing and Teaching (Jess Copping)
Inside the Career – Episode Three: Medical Technology (William Lin)
“Invest in yourself and understand who you are as a person, and spend time and investigate what the different career pathways might hold for you in the future…don’t be locked into any one pathway…essentially, just believe in yourself and go for it.” This sage, encouraging advice is given by William Lin towards the end of … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode Three: Medical Technology (William Lin)
Inside the Career – Episode Two: Law (Bhavin Parshottam)
“My interest in law formed really during high school because my favourite subjects were English, History and Economics - and the basis of those subjects is a lot of writing and a lot of reasoning…but in terms of the job itself, it’s great to be in a position where you can really make a … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode Two: Law (Bhavin Parshottam)
Inside the Career – Episode One: Medicine (Andrew Han and Josh Chang)
“From my point of view, it’s a great mix between science, or academic based thinking, and at the same time having that human interaction; and actually the people you work with, they make your day!” (Josh Chang) Andrew Han and Josh Chang join me in our first episode of Inside the Career, a new Pupuke … Continue reading Inside the Career – Episode One: Medicine (Andrew Han and Josh Chang)
Inside the Teacher’s Classroom – episode 9
“I’ve always maintained that I wanted to teach them to be the artist or to be the designer, as opposed to teaching them about art or about design. And, there’s a trade-off there, in that it’s more challenging, but for those that understand it then that spark has been ignited and there’s no stopping them … Continue reading Inside the Teacher’s Classroom – episode 9
Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 8
“Who are the people that help you learn? What are the tools that help you learn? What are the places that help you learn? What are the interactions that help you learn?" Dr Brian Annan is the Director of Infinity Learn Limited, an innovative and ground-breaking education consultancy company which specialises in the design … Continue reading Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 8
Pupuke Kāhui Ako Alumni Afternoon Tea
On Thursday 22 August, in the WBHS Staffroom, the inaugural Pupuke Alumni Afternoon Tea was held, attracting around 100 senior students from WBHS and WGHS. The event was an opportunity for these students to hear from a wide range of past and recent WBHS and WGHS graduates who, since leaving school, have gone on to … Continue reading Pupuke Kāhui Ako Alumni Afternoon Tea
Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 7
“One of the things that interested me about Ida, that I will always remember, is that she talked to us about the benefits of reading…and she said, you can read while you are ironing…and that stuck in my mind that you could have a family and a career, which for her was a very successful … Continue reading Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 7
Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 6
https://soundcloud.com/dsm-384272586/dr-scott-ross One of the things we’ve learned, is that if we want to help a school have a safer and more respectful climate, we need to get the students into the leadership roles, really driving the work, because this will have a huge impact on the other kids, but frankly, on the behaviour of … Continue reading Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 6
Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 5
“These ideas go back to Socrates and Confucius, it’s just that they simply have not been adopted at scale, particularly, in recent times when we have derated the goals of an education to what can be easily measured. And, what can be easily measured can be easily automated. And, now in a world of … Continue reading Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 5
Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 4
“It’s great to be able to chat with my mates in the literature department on one side of the dinner table, and on the other side hang out with my chemistry dudes…it’s just a great way to live your life.” When George Han makes this comment part way through our interview, he underlines his perception … Continue reading Inside the Teacher’s Classroom, episode 4
Pupuke Kāhui Ako 