Week 3 Term 2 - Totara House - Foundation: Our House Values 2024 (May 13 - May 17)

Totara House Athletics Day 2024

With Term 1 finished, the beginning of Term 2 has presented an opportunity to reflect and start fresh. For Totara House Term 1 was a time for us to come together and get the ball rolling (with Athletics Day), we also spent Term 1 getting to know each other and understand what we want Totara House values to represent. With all that has been said and done in Term 1, I have used the first House assembly to talk about 'Foundation' and the importance of having a strong grounding. This message is one that I have used throughout the last four years and I am excited to share what I covered at our most recent House assembly for Totara House. 

FOUNDATION: The basis or groundwork of anything

Understanding, building and taking care of your foundation at school is important. Understanding, acknowledging and respecting what makes your foundation is important. For the students in my Whanau group, I want to encourage them to think about what their foundation is because the truth is that we all come into school with things that keep us centered and that keep us grounded.

Totara House Athletics Day 2024

Understanding what they are, acknowledging them and taking care of them will help to strengthen your foundation. GWS Masonry Services talk about the importance of strong foundations for home and that "Its primary purpose is to hold your house up. Without it, your house would quickly sink into the ground unevenly, resulting in cracks and damage to your home. A properly built foundation will keep the home even and supported, even during a flood or earthquake." 

FOUNDATION: What does this look like for Totara House?

9TRn going the House Values with the leadership team

Understanding the importance of having a strong foundation is one thing. Visualizing it and seeing what it looks like for your own journey is another thing. In this part of the presentation, I spoke to the House about what this will look for our Whanau group. I have listed the key elements that I believe will make your foundation strong. These elements are: 

Knowing your 'WHY'
Understanding your learning journey
Resilience
Communication Skills
Time management
Gratitude

For Term 2, especially now that we are the beginning of the journey, 'knowing your WHY' is important. This term we will focus on 'knowing your WHY' and how this is an integral part of building a strong foundation. Knowing your WHY is all about asking yourself what do you love doing? What are your strengths? Who inspires you and why? Asking this questions should help my students understand what their WHY is. Knowing your WHY is essential as it fuels your motivation, sharpens your focus and it is uniquely YOURS. 

FOUNDATION: Totara House Values 2024

In Term 1, the House Leaders started working with all of the students across the house to see what they wanted Totara House to represent. I documented this in my previous post (see Alby's Blog Post Entry - 10/03/24) Throughout Term 1 the leaders visited each class to get their feedback on what they wanted Totara House to represent. Near the end of the term they collated the feedback from all of the students and shortlisted the top values that were shared across all 8 classes in Totara House. It was here that the leaders decided which House values spoke to them as a leadership team and they chose the top three values from here. 

Totara House class feedback for House Values

The Totara House Values for 2024 are: 

Discipline
Commitment
Passion

This the foundation for our House and we will use these values when we are working together for the house events that we have coming up, when we meet for house assembly and in the more intimate situations when the leaders are working in their circle and with their peers one on one. 

Totara House Leaders going through the House Values with our whanau group in Term 2

A value centric approach is one that I have taken going into Term 2. This is an approach that I usually integrate into the Totara House program every year as I believe it gives us a sense of identity and something that is uniquely ours. Building a strong foundation on knowing why and knowing what our values are, I am hoping will be the right launching pad for Totara House 2024. I look forward to documenting our journey with our new values this year!