Whakawhānaungatanga

Pōwhiri/mihi whakatau or other formal welcome to the school 

This may look different at each school, but should not be the sole responsibility of the SCT. This should create bonds between all individuals, as a symbolic way to welcome someone to their new context.  

This could be impacted by things like the size of the school, character of the school, resource availability and so on. This could be a welcome to the whole school or, in large schools, to a section of the school.  

Individual meetings: use questioning to get to know each other, find out about what the stressors are in their life, and what support they may need. 

Group meetings: this links people into wider groups within their school, to help build wider support structures. An example of this could be a PCT meeting where part of the focus is sharing information about themselves or their experiences.  

Create and ‘Induction Slideshow’ to share with new staff. It is such an information overload on ‘day1’, having something to refer back to with key ideas and links can be really useful. Also, very handy for staff that start during the year as well.  

Shared kai: food links people in a number of ways. Individuals are able to share lots about themselves through the sharing of kai. You could do this in a number of ways, for example: 

Regular shared kai at meetings, provided by the SCT 

Regular shared kai at meetings, provided by a PCT (rotating), or PCTs in general 

Fun activities like a ‘competition’ where your PCT group brings their favourite snack and you rank them together, as a starter to a meeting. 

‘Ice-breaker’ activities for meetings:  

Toilet paper icebreaker: Hand around a roll of toilet paper. Tell everyone ‘take as much as you think you need’, and give no further information. Some people will take a lot, some very little. Nobody is allowed to take no paper. Make sure you take some as well! Start everyone off by sharing one fact about yourself for every square of toilet paper you pulled off the roll, and then go around the room with everyone doing the same.  

Card matching: Take two packs of playing cards, and select a number of cards (approximately half the number of your group). Make sure you have the same cards from both packs, so there are pairs. Shuffle the cards and hand them out. Everyone needs to find the person with their matching card and ask them a question. You can then get them to combine their cards in interesting ways - find a pair from the same suit, or find a pair whose card value will add to yours to make a certain number.  

Fruit Burst activity: Hand around a packet of Fruit Bursts (or similar lolly with multiple flavours in the bag). You could also use counters or slips of paper with a number or symbol on them. Once everyone has selected one, put up a slide which informs everyone what their symbol/colour/flavour means they will share with the group. Some examples: 

Red: something you did in the holidays 

Purple: the last book you read 

Green: your favourite flavour of ice-cream