GETTING STARTED AT TAPU SCHOOL Developing the culture is the key.

By way of an introduction…. There has been a lot of interest in how we got underway when our husband and wife team started at Tapu almost two years ago. At the time the roll had dropped to 13 and the school was in serious danger of closing. After six meetings with the parents and Board before our actual arrival we had a good idea of what we needed to do - DEVELOP A CULTURE FOR LEARNING. The attached series of slides are a frame work used to answer the questions about how we got started.

Eight point plan to get started Our plan for the first six months of our time at Tapu was to focus on eight main things Developing the culture of the school Establishing a Marine Academy Establishing a pre school Making use of our 125 year old building as an Information Centre Improving the image of the school Increasing the achievement levels of the children. To make learning fun for the children To improve the children’s use of ICT

Growing the Culture Articulated from day one A weekly event Highly visible in school and classrooms Walking the talk

Emotional Intelligence Caring for others Caring for the environment Caring for ourselves Thinking about consequences for your actions Make cool choices

Expectations Make sure you understand what it is that you have to do Always do your best Take time to get your work right the first time rather than having to do it again

Engagement Focusing on your own work Doing your best Get involved in what you are doing Thinking about what you are doing

Enthusiasm A smile is a wonderful thing See the glass as half full Be positive Always have a go and do your best

Excellence Continuous improvement Always do your best work using your previous best as your bench mark Better and better every day in everyway