Professional Capital

I have just started reading a book titled "Professional Capital" by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan. I'm only up to page 10 but I had to stop and quote this paragraph because it seems to me that it strikes at the heart of the biggest challenge we face in NZ education today.

Achievement matters and so does evidence, but the relentlessly serious pursuit of increases in the basic comprehension skills that can be demonstrated on standardised tests should never overshadow what gives teaching it's mystery and majesty - what brings children joyfully into classrooms, what introduces them to interests that will absorb them for the rest of their lives, and what lifts them back up when their lives have taken a tumble.

As I was reading this I couldn't help thinking about how proud I am to be part of Freeville School. I think we get this balance pretty right. Not always right of course, but we do strive to get it right. We care about achievement and we spend time as teachers, learning teams, leadership team and as a whole staff discussing where our children are at and what we can do to help their learning progress. But even more importantly we spend time planning exciting programmes, finding interesting activities, thinking of challenging questions and seeking ways to motivate and engage children in learning. 

I know how committed our staff are to their own professional improvement and to seeing progress for all our learners. This week I want to dedicate this blog post to the teachers and support staff at Freeville who really do care. Thank you.