Takeaways From Russell Street School

As I clicked through the various links and blogs on the Russell Street School site, the impression that grew ever stronger was how student-centered this school is. The kids are the highlight of almost everything I looked at. Their words, images, dances, and achievements are noticed and celebrated publicly. Teachers are woven throughout the site, with their support evident everywhere I looked. Technology is immersive, and it is obvious that it is second nature, rather than an afterthought.

Every class has a blog, and each blog has several tabs, making it very easy to find information. Most have an information tab for parents to quickly see what is happening in the classroom and any upcoming events or activities. The Superheroes Notices page contains lots of great information, including evidence of a theme for each term, which they are calling an inquiry. The focus is health if anyone is interested. Whole school collaboration is mentioned, and it is obvious that there will be some project based learning happening within this theme. There is a second theme that falls under Te Reo Māori, which, if I am using my knowledge of language correctly, probably translates to “I Am Māori”, but when put into Google Translate, translates to simply “Language”. This terms language theme is about family, furthering the already strong commitment to keeping families actively engaged in their children’s learning. I love seeing the pictures of the students, students posting, teachers posting and many asking for parents to participate in the blogs by responding to anything that catches the eye. Looking through this site is making me rethink my stance on creating a classroom blog. I am still not sure what this would look like without breaking confidentiality, but it is now definitely something I am considering.