An open letter to a former student at Woodford House:
Dear Zoe
A big howdy from a REAL New Zealand town. As you turn off State Highway 1 onto State Highway 12 you'll see a sign for Maungaturoto and underneath it is the legend - A REAL NZ town. So it's official.
Mr Semmens for lemons sent me your winning entry in the wide reading standard and I enjoyed, as always, reading your thoughts. In this case - your thoughts about my earlier post on the concept of change.
Change is a BIG thing in my current school. Change is the new normal here.
Curious thing I've noticed when there is lots of constant change - some people love it and thrive off it (picture me with a cheery thumbs up), a few are resistant (paradoxically - the older, the more resistant, generally speaking), and many go with the flow (Mr Semmens is a great go with the flow exponent).
All this change has been great for me because it means we are all learning at the same time. A few times, I've assumed something has always been done that way but then people quickly set me straight, which is great!
Why? is a great question, Zoe. Why is it done that way? Why don't we...?
What if? is also an excellent question. What if we pulled down those walls? What if we changed the timetable structure?
Most change/decisions start off with a what if or a why.
I urge you to adopt these questions, Zoe. You will be leading change (rather than reacting to someone's imposed change) before you know it.
Anyway, loved your written response to my blog post. Say hi to all my friends at Woodford House and keep reading the blogs!
Love and peace - Purdzilla
Happy new year everybody!
In the Queen's 2016 Christmas message she focused on the idea of inspiration coming from ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
It's true. I certainly gain a lot of inspiration from people around me and it's a good time to look back on 2016 and thank some Joe and Jo Normals who have inspired me.
In my farewell speech to Woodford House I paid tribute to the girls because, everyday, I could easily find a large number of students who were pushing and stretching themselves in a variety of ways - in sport or the arts or the classroom or in leadership. They definitely inspired me on a daily basis.
Some of the teaching staff at Woodford inspired me considerably, to be better and to think about things on a deeper level. In particular, take a bow: Toni Dunstan; Jane Perry; Dionne Thomas; Amy Reid; Greg Semmens - all of whom made me want to push and stretch myself to new challenges.
It's a messy process this challenge business - two steps forward, one back sometimes, and I may have got a tad frustrated and even (shock horror) grumpy at times but it was always out of a sense of wanting more for the school, the English department, Wallingford, or, myself.
So, ma'am, may I add my ordinary voice to your regal one - a huge thanks to all these ordinary people doing extraordinary things to inspire me. Go you good things!
Love and peace for 2017 - Wozza
