GDP, Grit, Resilience the missing factor

At Huntley we use the term
“Show some GDP! (Guts, Determination and Pride)
Whilst not politically correct it does strike a cord with our pupils.
The term has an impact because the narrative of persistence and striving that it represents is understood by teachers, students and parents. It is like the term Angela Duckworth uses "Grit." Grit, Duckworth explains, is perseverance for long term goals over a long period. It requires perseverance and unwavering strides towards the goal over time. Check out www.ted.com and do a search on Duckworth to see her talk.




Huntley is all about developing this perseverance and inner resilience in its pupils over their time at Huntley and on into the future. We have developed our own words and phrases to help students get through the inevitable tough times that they experience.
At Huntley we are working towards developing a character continuum that students can reflect back on. It relates to our 8 key Huntley Values and gives students a mark out of five for their values. The students rate themselves first and then reflect with their teacher on their marks and the teachers subsequent marks. They then choose three key areas to improve on from their character assessment. These goals are taken up and then reflected back to the student when they go about their day to day learning. The idea is for this area to develop over time. Students see that like intelligence, character skills can be taught to help them develop the GDP or grit to succeed long after their education at Huntley school has past.
There are seven key areas to creating resiliency within children. Michael Gross outlines them below:
1. Coping
Resilient students use a variety of simple coping strategies such as humour, relaxation, normalisation and acceptance when they experience social or personal hardships.
Language of coping: “You’ve got to laugh!” “You will get through this!” “Some things you just can’t change!” “Everyone feels that way sometimes.”




2. Courage
Resilient children and young people take learning and social risks, and know that things won’t always go their way. Rejection and failure aren’t taken personally.
Language of courage: “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” “Take a smart risk.” “You've got to develop the courage to be imperfect.”
3. Persistence
The ability to keep persevering in the face of difficulty is a characteristic of resilience that leads to success in the classroom, on the sports field or other fields of endeavour, in the schoolyard and beyond.
Language of persistence: “Have another go.” “Hang tough!” “Push through the hard stuff to get the rewards.”
4. Relationships
Resilient kids are able develop and maintain strong relationships with a number of peers over time. They are supportive of others ; they can handle common conflict situations and don’t take rejection personally.
Language of relationships: “Is that how a good friend acts?” “Who have you spoken to about this?” “It’s not all about you!”
5. Thinking
Children may not be able to control a situation, but they can control how they look at, and think about an event. Resilient kids look for the positive side in negative situations, and see negative events as temporary. Reframing, remaining flexible and using realistic language are common resilience traits.
Language of resilient thinking: “Look on the bright side.” “Let’s look at this another way?” “It’s not a disaster. It’s just unpleasant!” “Where does this fit on the disaster scale?”
6. Problem-solving
Resilient children and young people have feelings of personal competence that come from resolving their problems and challenges. This develops the expectation that they can overcome fresh challenges, just as they have in the past.
Language of problem-solving: “How can you work this out?” “What’s the first step?” “Let’s set some goals together.”
7. Learning
Resilient children and young people learn from negative situations, and importantly develop greater awareness of their own strengths. Self-knowledge is perhaps the best knowledge of all that we can impart to children.
Language or learning: “What have you learned for next time?” “”You’ve learned a lot about yourself.” “You’re more capable than you think.”
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2nd ANNUAL HUNTLEY CLAY SHOOT

WHEN: Sunday 25^th August. 9.30am till 4.30pm

 

WHERE: Gordon McPhee’s, State Highway One, RATA. Approx 10 mins north of Marton, (Opposite Jim Bull’s Old Potato Factory.)

 

WHAT: We are going to shoot a round of 60 Targets on Gordon’s 5 Standard Sporting Clays Course. If time allows, we may have some Flurries

 

SAFETY: Shooters and spectators must have the following.

-          Enclosed footware

-          Ear Protection

-          Either Shooting/Safety or Sunglasses.

This will be a one shot day. I.E, you can only have one shell in your Firearm at any time.

 

COST: $30.00 per shooter. This will be charged to your incidentals account.  This does not include ammo. Gordon will have both 12 and 20 gauge ammo available for sale. This is his own low recoil ammo, at a cost of $12 per box. You will need 3 – 4 boxes for the day. If you bring your own ammo, please bring low recoil Trap Ammo, not left over Duck ammo.

 

WHO CAN GO?: This is open to everyone. Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers…. Even the Teachers. However, you need to have shot clays at least once on a previous occasion as this shoot will not be suitable for complete beginners.

 

WHAT TO BRING: Camp chairs to sit on, and parents will need to provide lunch for their families.

 

Please feel free to contact me, Giles Stanford at:

                                                TAIHAPE SPORTS

                                                Tel: 06 388 1762

                                                Email: taihapesports@xtra.co.nz

                                                           

Book Week photos

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bloke's Night will go on!

I refer to the following article where a dads night was stopped because a single mum was incensed she was not allowed to attend.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/8746739/Solo-mum-blocks-male-bonding-session
This to me seems incredibly sad as we have always allowed boys from single parents to invite a significant male in their life. This is often a grandfather, uncle or friend. These people are equally important in boys lives.
Someone asked whether we would stop having "Blokes Night" when we have girls next year? My answer is of course not! Surely girls should have significant male role models in their lives as well? One of the benefits of Huntley is the fact that we have a large number of male role models and this is something that will continue well into the future. Girls and boys will benefit from our largely male staff next year.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Working Bee Photo's

The Workers!

 

THE REWARD!!

 

 

 

 

Rugby Academy kicks off

The Huntley Rugby Academy has had a wonderful trip to the Massey University Rugby Academy last week. The boys were timed and tested in a number of key areas and emerged from the day with a list of key skills to work on. Each player also has a positional individualised programme sheet to help them perfect their positional play. These were kindly introduced to the boys by the Manawatu Turbos conditioning coach.

This week we have had Sarah Harris who is the High Performance Director at Equestrian Sport New Zealand talk to the boys about goal setting. One of the key facets of Sarah’s talk was the importance of setting short and long term goals and having a plan to achieve them. One fact she shared with the boys was that the average Super Fifteen player has a rugby life span around 3 years and this is why it is important to plan for a life after sport.

Coaches Sam Edwards and Mark McAlley have been very impressed with the boys’ enthusiasm for the academy. “We realise that the boys must enjoy this. It has to remain fun for them, after all they are 11-12 year olds and they have a lot of rugby in front of them.” said Mr Edwards. Having outside people come in and share their experience has been invaluable in ensuring the success of the programme. We have attracted a number of boys to the school because Huntley has an enviable reputation in educating these boys and also offers high quality coaching rarely see at this age level.

The rest of the term has the boys heading off on their northern tour to play Southwell School in Hamilton, a visit from a nutritionalist, a coaching session with PNBHS and Feilding High School.

The importance of boarding

Boarding at Huntley provides students with a family-friendly home in an educational environment.

The introduction of girls in 2014 will see the existing camaraderie, lifelong friendships and solid social skill set developed as a result of their boarding days continue to a new level. Boarding will remain the "heart of what makes Huntley special." This is testament to the community spirit that thrives on at Huntley, the addition of girls boarding will enhance this family like atmosphere.We provide individualised care, personal guidance and character development experiences so that each student has the opportunity to flourish with positive self-esteem, independence and compassion. Huntley values help to develop the "Huntley Student" they are respect, responsibility, G.D.P., tolerance, enthusiasm, kindness,  honesty and service, tied in with a thirst for the adventure for life and a sense of humour. We also work on the seven habits of highly effective kids that compliment our values and give students the necessary skills to progress and thrive into their secondary schools and beyond.

Dorms will continue to be carefully organised to create a harmonious balance. All dormitories will get the same benefits the girls get and will be refurbished to provide modern, spacious, lodging options.

 

More than 8 adults, many of whom are teachers with young families, live on the site, giving our school the feeling of a small family community. Our teaching and boarding staff assist our boarders with their homework. They are not outside people  “filling in” with little boarding experience, but qualified teachers who can give expert and real world advice.