Child: Sameena Date: 23rd August 2013 Written by: Teacher Natasha Kia ora/As-salam alaykum Sameena and

whnau, Wow Sameena, I have been observing you become more trusting and playful at An-Nur ever since last month when you had a confidence boost. Remember the connections you made between home, school and the wider community through practicing and exploring your faith? Ever since then I have noticed you are more willing to be involved in new activities where you may face uncertainty. This morning you surprised me by choosing to be involved in an art session, all by yourself without being asked! This was great to see as I know you can be hesitant to try new things, especially if you may get dirty. As you sat at the table with your friends, you attentively listened

to Teacher Bushra who introduced the chalk scrapping to create images from flakes. Your friend Zahra was demonstrating the technique. You quickly picked a pink piece of chalk and gave it a go! At first you looked around, checking if your friends were also using the chalk in the same way. As soon as the chalk started flaking on your page your face lit up and the concentration on your face faded in to a big smile of achievement! This led to further experimentation, in which you layered blue on top, before deciding yellow looked nicer on top of the pink dust. \ Recognizing the learning It is great to see you taking an interest and choosing to be involved within our daily curriculum. This tells me you are developing the important learning dispositions of courage, curiosity, trust and playfulness as your sense of mana whenua or belonging is strengthened and you can trust your teachers to care for your mana atua or well being. You faced uncertainty you had never used the chalk this way, the specks could make your hands or even clothes dirty, but you had courage and persevered through your doubts to enjoy a new experience. You also demonstrated the ability to actively explore, imagine and be creative when you tried different colours and layering. Throughout this experience you responded with wonderment and awe, enjoying what you could create.

Where to next? Sameena I want to focus on strengthening your mana whenua or sense of belonging at An-Nur and continue to demonstrate your mana atua or well-being will always be met. So far your photo is on the wall with all our classmates, a picture of your family is on the whnau wall, your Mum now drops and picks you up daily along with your friends Amal and Najma. The next step is to ask you about your interests, what you what to do and plan some learning experiences around this. As you choose to be involved in more additional activities your confidence in yourself will continue to flourish.