Sunday 17 November 2013

The community of Kawakawa reaps the rewards once again :)

The Bay of Islands College (BOIC) is nestled on a ridge as you head east to Paihia - the gateway to the Bay of Islands.  BOIC  plays a really important role in the community, not only serving the educational needs of the tamariki, but acting as a community education hub.  It's a place where mums', dads' and caregivers can go to learn and up-skill, and hosting the Computers in Homes aptly proves this point.

On 12 November 2013, the College graduated another 21 families under the guidance of Head of IT, Briony Johnston.  Briony often goes that extra mile for her families.  One Mum couldn't make class on the given night, so Briony gave up a lunchtime each week to train her one-on-one.  As CiH coordinator,  I'm extremely lucky to have such an amazing CiH team in BOIC.

Thank you to everyone who plays a role in bringing our programme together, I know I've said it a lot, but I could not do it without you :)

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Thursday 14 November 2013

First timers - Whangaruru School - Graduate in style

On 7 November 2013, at the beautiful Whangaruru School on the east coast of Northland, 8 families graduated from the Computers in Homes programme.  I was fortunate enough to attend and watch the kids, parents, grandparents and teachers interact.  What a cool kura!  They may be a small school, but what they lack in size they certainly make up for in mana.

Thank you Kuini Pugh for your dedication to your school community.  Thank you for chasing me for communication, I'm sorry I wasn't always initially available.  You were gorgeous to deal with and I'm always so thankful to work with people like yourself.

The kids of Whangaruru School - you are awesome too!  You listened carefully when I was talking, you respected your elders when they received their certificates and your singing was out of this world.

Congratulations to everyone involved, it was my pleasure and indeed privilege to bring you the Computers in Homes programme.

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Wednesday 13 November 2013

Hora Hora School at it's finest once again!......

In early Term 3 2013, Assistant Principal Mr Richard Buckland, selflessly put up his hand again to tutor a room full of Hora Hora parents in how to use computers.  And he, once again, did a magnificent job!!

Every Tuesday night for 10 weeks he shared his knowledge of the internet, file management, word processing, spread sheeting and security and safety.   He didn't get flustered when 14 parents were asking lots of questions, he didn't make people feel silly when they weren't sure what to do and he didn't ever demand more from them than what they could each cope with.  An awesome tutor of parents and even greater teacher of children.

Thank you Richard, thank you Hora Hora School and thank you participating parents.  You've all been a pleasure to deal with.  Enjoy your new digital resource in your home.

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