We have a great positive behaviour programme at our school which involves students getting vouchers for positive behaviour and work habits. When the children get 20 vouchers we have a Pizza Party, 40 equals a Pool Party, 60 means off to the movies etc... Today I got to take a group of great kids and a couple of supportive Mums to the AC Baths for the Pool Party. What a great day! The children were awesome - polite, sensible, enthusiastic and playful. I was very proud of them and we had some lovely comments from the AC Baths staff about our students.

   It is so important to balance consequences and positive reinforcement    when encouraging positive behaviour in children.

Great show today at Whakamaru School. The Edgewater College Band, from Auckland, presented a wonderful musical show to our students this morning. What a talented group of young people and dedicated staff members who directed the choirs and  bands. They had our students enthralled and engaged for nearly an hour. It was wonderful to hear the children talking about the show for the rest of the day.
No matter how important it is to have literacy and numeracy curriculum covered every day, it also hits home to me about the importance of introducing our students to, and the  teaching  of the Arts curriculum. With the crowded curriculum we need to be 'creative' and integrate these areas into the Inquiry/Topic sessions in our week.

 “I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.”

― Plato

A really interesting read "Learning Links:Strategic teaching for the learner-centered classroom" by Murdoch and Wilson (2004). Lent to me by one of my staff. I read it at the FTP conference and then have gone over the first couple of chapters again today. Fits nicely with the key teachings of the Incredible Years Course I facilitated for teachers when I was an RTLB, also to the Inquiry Cycle of learning/Action Learning approach. My staff and I will be working through this book as part of our professional reading - looking at how it relates to classroom practice, pedagogy and school vision. I'm sure it will evoke some interesting discussion.