Class Treaty and our Kotuku (white heron)

On our classroom wall is a Kotuku - this is the maori word for White Heron. The Kotuku is one of New Zealand's rarest birds and in maori mythology the White Heron is a symbol of prestige and uniqueness. The Kotuku represents ourselves in Room 9 - we are unique individuals with different learning strengths and styles who have teamed up as a learning community.  We can all be successful if we work hard and help each other along the way.

Our class Treaty is framed in black, with a finely woven silver background, a Kotuku (Heron) bone carving image and a putiputi flower. Room 9 chose the colours of earthy red and turquoise blue to match the coloured tiles on our class White Kotuku (Heron).

In our first session, as a class we explored the importance of team work and how we are part of a learning community.  We discussed how a team of paddlers are able to power their waka together over the finish line and be successful together - but only when each team member is paddling in unison with the others. In the same manner we need to work together as a team and do our part to create a learning environment where everyone can be successful.

In another session, we discussed how a class treaty could help us and what kind of shared expectations we could include in our treaty.  In small groups we came up with several ideas and shared them for consideration and explained why we thought each one was important.

For our final session we voted on the expectations we would like to include and tweaked the wording until we were satisfied.

Here is what we came up with together:

Tō tātou Tiriti

In Room 9 we agree to...

Strive to do our best and encourage others to do the same

Try new things and give everything  a go

Treat each other as we wish to be treated

Take responsibility for our actions

Show respect towards others, their property and the environment