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Pareawa Banks Avenue - Nurturing the seed of collaboration

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Leaders looking at Vision for Collaboration Document

Tamariki and kaiako in a classroom.

This quote sat in principal Toni Burnside’s office at the original earthquake-damaged site of Banks Avenue School. She embraces this when leading collaborative teaching and learning at the new Pareawa Banks Avenue School (formerly Banks Avenue School) a year 1-6 school in Richmond, Ōtautahi.

Planning for collaboration and shared vision

In July 2022 the new school opened, rebuilt on the old Shirley Boys’ High School - Ngā Tama o Ōruapaeroa site. Open spaces for collaborative learning in the new school sparked a change in teaching and learning.

“My belief was that for everyone to have a shared vision of collaborative teaching and learning, it was important to first get the team dreaming of what the best looks like and then begin to build the dream.”

Toni Burnside, principal

Preparation for this change started back in 2016 when Burnside took her team to Melbourne to research best practices in modern learning environments.

“We have approached our journey with a solid foundation of knowledge and an open mindset. We have used the experience of others and shared in their knowledge - this has been invaluable.”

Jan Thompson, deputy principal

The team engaged in other professional development opportunities to help support, guide, and excite the learning community including the Grow Waitaha Sustainable Collaboration Community of Practice (COP) facilitated by Kerry Hall, Ngaire Shepherd-Wills, and Angela Vermeulen.

After participating in the Sustainable Collaboration COP webinars, the team produced their Vision for Collaboration. This accessible, live, go-to document guides the team on how teaching and learning might work in their kura.

Potential content for a vision document

One piece of advice Burnside gives to leaders embarking on change is that it is essential to bring people with you and layer that change in.

She shares an outline of potential content for a vision document that can be created as a team:

vision for collaboration
definition of collaboration
key indicators that we have been successful
why collaborate
how will we collaborate
what will we do to help collaboration
guidelines and shared understandings.

This accessible, live, go-to document guides them on how teaching and learning might work in their kura. When they add to their kete of knowledge and gain feedback from their learning community, the team adapts and amends their Vision for Collaboration.

Top tips - leaders’ perspectives

Get outside support. Utilise the knowledge and experience of others - expert PD providers and facilitators, and Grow Waitaha webinars. Visit other schools. There is so much knowledge to gain from others, so why not use it?
As a leader, don’t try to do it all yourself. Distribute leadership and get other leaders in your school to contribute to the vision.
Don’t rush it - good things take time. Choose a few things to start with and work on, and do them well before moving on to the next thing.
Trust your own voice. Come up with an authentic journey for your people and your place. Make it feel real.

“Look at the things that are happening - are the things that you want happening, happening? Are they still relevant? We are always evaluating and open to learning because we understand we have a unique opportunity.”

Jan Thompson, deputy principal

Top tips - the perspective of kaiako

Always be open to learning. Appreciate and take on board your team's different skills, perspectives, and knowledge.
Go slow and allow time for all to come on board. Plan and work for easy pockets of collaboration to occur in teaching and learning programmes first. Don’t be hard on yourself or others if the process and implementation aren’t going fast.
Acknowledge that for some, teaching collaboratively will require a mindset change. That is ok. Allow time and celebrate successes.
Utilise teaching and learning to foster agency in your ākonga. This is a prime opportunity to encourage ākonga to take ownership of their learning as they work in a collaborative space.
It’s ok to make mistakes!

“There is that real opportunity for tuakana-teina relationships in a collaborative space, more brainstorming, opportunities for friendship, ako, multi-ability approaches, and inquiry. Students are just exposed to more”.

Jen Bourne, year 4-6 kaiako

Additional resources

Check out more Grow Waitaha resources on sustainable collaboration:

Leading sustainable change - Wisdom from textbooks and trenches in post-quake Canterbury

The innovative learning model - Sharing key messages

Check out more school stories on sustainable collaboration:

Grow Waitaha - Collaborative teaching and learning

Kaiapoi High School - An organic approach to collaborative learning

Paparoa Street School - An innovative approach to reimagining teaching and learning

Rangiora High School - Authentic and collaborative learning