Makauri School Graduation

Makauri School was the scene of another exciting graduation ceremony where 13 participants completed their training programme and received certificates.

Makauri completed their training in extra quick time as they all elected to do two training sessions per week. Well done Makauri for your commitment and enthusiasm. A special thanks to Caroline Butland who was able to commit to all of the sessions as trainer.








Project Chairman - David Langford and Makauri Principal - Judy Nicholl thank participants and discuss the huge benefits for the school and families as they forge stronger learning links between the school and home.

Check the Podcasts below from Makauri School Graduation!

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Central School Graduation Photos

Photos from last terms graduation ceremony. Deputy Mayor Margaret Thorpe congratulating Computers in Homes participants.

Makaraka Participants in Training

A recent visit to Makaraka Schools saw many of their participating families hard at work improving ICT skills and enjoying a relaxed learning environment.

Thanks to Rose Finucane and Roz Kelly for giving up some time to talk to me on the below podcasts.

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Mayor Meng Foon Speaks at Te Wharau Graduation

View this short video of Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon addressing families during their graduation ceremony at Te Wharau School.

Te Wharau Graduation

What an awesome graduation ceremony at Te Wharau School last week.

Family and friends gathered to celebrate Te Whara whanau collecting their computers and strengthening the learning ties that have been created with their fellow school families.

Mayor Meng Foon was at hand to present participants with their graduation certificates and spoke about the fantastic opportunity Computers in Homes for Gisborne households.

Comments that some participants made to me were:
"This has been so good for me and has opened up lots of opportunities"
"I can't wait to get my computer as I have learnt so much"
"I have a far better idea of what the computer and especially the internet can do for me"

The last photo shows one of our older participants, Whare Toko, recieving his certificate from Mayor Meng Foon. Whare commented that it has been a great learning experience for him and how awesome it is sharing the computer with his mokopuna.

Comic Life

Here is a cool little software programme to download to your Computers in Homes machines.

Go to the "Comic Life" website and download the software. Download to a folder in your hard drive then open it to install

It is a fantastic bit of software to help the kids with story writing. Very easy to use and they will pick it up in no time.

Parent Introduction Meetings + GOOD NEWS

The next cluster of schools have started planning for their individual projects.

St Mary's - Elgin - Makaraka - Sonrise Christian have all had their parent project introduction evenings.
Numbers who have joined the project during this cluster roll out look to be high and it's great to see all who will be learning through their school.

Wainui Beach and Makauri will be having their parent evenings this week.

GOOD NEWS
the article below is from a recent news brief from Microsoft.

"$3 software suite aims to bridge digital divide
Microsoft will sell its new Student Innovation Suite for $3 to governments that subsidize student computers "
From eSchool News staff and wire service reports

To qualify, governments must supply computers meant for students' personal use, regardless of their manufacturer. The computers need not be new, Microsoft said, as long as they can run Windows XP. That means countries such as New Zealand, whose ambitious and ground-breaking Computers in Homes project aims to supply all New Zealand families who are socially and economically disadvantaged with a refurbished computer, an internet connection, relevant training, and technical support, also could be eligible.

This means that our Computer in Homes projects are being noticed Internationally and we will be able to enjoy Microsoft's software for awhile.

See http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7069
for full article.

STARFALL.COM

Here is a great site to help your younger children with literacy.

The books and games offer beginning readers the opportunity to explore and interact with words and the sounds that make up those words. With a focus on simple, fun inter activities and the sounding out of almost every word. All your child has to do is click on the screen, watch and listen!

We know that children learn to read at different developmental stages, but encouragement and support of your child's interest in reading is very important. These stories and games are meant to foster your child's exploration and curiosity with the written word. Let your child play and have fun learning! Then, ask them to read to you, listen carefully, and be patient.

Podcasts from Gisborne Central School

Kia ora koutou

I was lucky enough to catch a few parents at Central School at the beginning of one of their training sessions.
The photo shows them hard at work.
By all accounts Central parents have created an awesome learning environment. Ka pai koutou!

Please click on the Podcast links below to hear what John (Central Trainer) and April (Parent) have to say about the project.

Podcast from John (CIH Trainer)

Podcast from April (CIH Parent)

Graduation at Central School is set down for next Wednesday4th April at 5.30pm - All Welcome.

Atomic Learning

Atomic Learning is in full swing with all of our Computers in Homes schools.

Please take this opportunity to use the Atomic Learning tutorials any way that you see fit.

Your school will be able to provide you with a User Name and password.

If you want to create music using Audacity software click here "Audacity" and download the software to "My Documents" folder, or a folder of your choice, then go through the steps on the screen to instal it on your computer.

Next go to the above Atomic Learning site and try out the "Audacity" tutorials to get you started. It's a cool bit of softeware for composing and manipulating music files.

I hope your on line learning is progrssing well.

I would love to hear from some of you on how the project is going so far.

Whanau at Te Wharau and Mangapapa Start Training

This week has seen the start of training for more than 40 whanau as they begin their digital learning experience. Ka pai whanau!

Both Mangapapa and Te Wharau schools have embraced the project and we all look forward to the graduation day. Thanks to Ian Hunter at Mangapapa and Roger Quinn at Te Wharau who are leading their schools projects.

Check out the Atomic Learning site for video tutorials on all sorts of software. Your schools and trainers will have the usernames and passwords for you to access this site. It will be a big help for some self paced learning.

I hope to visit you all during your training sessions and capture some pictures and comments for this Blog.

Gisborne Central School Sign Up

A fantastic first up hui with interested families was held at Gisborne Central School on Monday night.

There was a big turnout and the response was very positive. Whanau will kick off their training modules next week.

Ka pai koutou.

Central - Mangapapa - TeWharau

It's All On!!

Three new schools start this term and it's another great opportunity for whanau of these schools to participate in the CIH project.

Gisborne Central School kicks of with a whanau hui tonight (12th Feb) at 5.30pm. Their training is due to start either this week or the following week.

Mangapapa has their initial whanau hui at 6.00pm on Thursday 15th February with training commencing the following week.

Te Wharau will have their whanau hui on Monday 19th February with training kicking off the following week.

Welcome to all whanau who will be participating during this roll out cluster and I look forward to helping you and your family move into the digital world.

Ivan Lomax
Project Manager

Next Clusters About To Roll

The new school year is just around the corner and our next cluster roll out is through Te Wharau, Mangapapa and Central schools.

These schools were busy identifying families at the end of last year and will complete training and graduation at the end of term one or the begining of term 2. (Term 1 is a short school term this year).

Our graduation whanau will be getting bigger as the year goes on and any ideas on developing a more collaborative learning environment will be greatly accepted.

Need some help?

Hi, hope everyone has had a great holiday break and looking forward to the New Year.

There is extra training at hand with plenty of tutorials on these sites:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Computers_for_Beginners

http://members.aol.com/shobansen3/

Also Computers in Homes - Gisborne has signed up with Atomic Learning and you will have access to many short video tutorials in Fenruary.

Will let you knpw as soon as possible as Atomic Learning will assist you with your e-Learning .

First Graduations - Waikirikiri & Riverdale

Our first whanau have graduated with flying colours.

I wish you all the best and I'm sure you will find your new on-line environment stimulating and helpful. You have all completed your training modules with success and now you can explore e-Learning more in your own time. Tino pai rawa atu koutou!

(Above) Waikirikiri School whanau during graduation ceremony.

(Right) Riverdale whanau who graduated recently.

Podcast 1 - Yolanda (Waikirikiri Principal)

Podcast 2 - Yolanda

Project Launch - News Clippings

These clippings are from the Gisborne Herald on Tuesday 28th November.
One of the clippings is from a sister Computer in Homes programme that was run at Te Karaka school.
If you can't read the clippings right click on the picture and go Save Picture As, and save in My Pictures. You can then increase the magnification of the picture when you open it in a picture viewer software programme like Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

"Move it" - for computer crazy kids!

Here is a small news item on a new video called "Move it" a computer program that teaches kids better habits in the hope that it will decrease their chances of getting work related injuries later in life.The program is called "Move It" and it emphasises the importance of changing position regularly and getting the right support.

Check it out at http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/909259

Launch Comments

I have had lots of positive comments from our launch day and also thanks to those who have left a comment on the last blog posting. I appreciate the feedback.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Margaret Thorpe and Nona Gaskin, elected members of the Gisborne District Council, who also attended and have been supporting this project.

PROJECT LAUNCH DAY

What a great project launch we had at Riverdale school on Friday.

The morning went something like this:

- Waiting to be called on during the powhiri gave everyone time to chat about the project and meet and greet.

- Riverdale School welcomes guest with an awesome powhiri with one of their tamariki offering a wero to Mayor Meng Foon. Nice to be greeted by kaumatua Libby Kerr and we were all impressed by the schools waiata.

- The launch ceremony started with David Langford explaining the history and benefits of the project.

- Guests then viewed a video about past Computers in Homes projects and how they have had a positive impact on whanau and schools.

- Karen Sadlier and her two daughters (past participant from Awapuni School) spoke about the positive impact the project had on her family, culminating with her starting teacher training. Karen's korero was a definate highligh of the launch.

- Heather Mahy and Jill Smith introduced a PowerPoint showcasing the efforts of some of the Riverdale whanau's learning using PowerPoint. Well done people, you have all learnt so much in such a short period of time.

- Kaumatua Richard Rangihuna then blessed the project with a karakia after highlighting the awesome wairua that Riverdale and guests have for the project and their tamariki and whanau. Kia ora Matua.

- The project was officailly declared open by Mayor Meng Foon and Minister of Parliament Anne Tolley. (above) Thank you both very much for your input into the day as well as ongoing support of the project. Thanks also should go to MP Moana Mackey who has supported us since the beginning but was unable to attend.

Most of all thanks to the whanau who are, and will be participating in the project. Well done for making the committment to further learning.

We will all look forward to the project outcomes over the next two years.

Riverdale Whanau in Training

Hi


It has been an exciting week for the "Computers in Homes - Gisborne" project.


First up was a quick trip to Riverdale school last week to catch a few parents in training. Thanks for allowing me to gate crash your session. It was awesome seeing you all into it. This photo I took has Jill Smith, Mauhana Karaka and Samantha Hema hard out at their e-Learning mahi. It was great to see you all hitting the keyboards.


Heather Mahy who has been running the training modules is doing a fantastic job - tumeke Heather!


Also working hard for Riverdale is Principal Yvonne Williams. Thanks to Yvonne and Heather for allowing me to Podcast some of their thoughts on this blog.

Yvonne - Podcast

Heather - Podcast

Project Launch

It's official!

The launch of our project is on Friday 24th November, 9.30am at Riverdale School.

You are all invited to the mornings activities. Bring the whanau and support the project launch for all Gisborne schools.

The launch ceremony will last about 90 minutes followed by light refreshments.

Come and support your project.

MOVE IT!

Move It is an interactive site for children (adults can play to), that helps them learn about correct posture and the importance of changing position regularly while working on the computer.
Check it out at http://www.moveit.org.nz/

Community Partnerships Committee

The Computers in Homes - Gisborne "Community Partnerships Committee" has been working hard behind the scenes to get this project up and running.

The committee consists of representatives from the Gisborne District Council, Eastland Community Trust and local educationalists. The committee meets regularly to coordinate project implementation.

The committee members are: Back row - Deputy Mayor Margaret Thorpe, Cheryl Torrie, Catherine Birt, David Langford, David Smart. Front Row - Ivan Lomax, Mayor Meng Foon, Douglas Birt.

Waikirikiri Whanau in Action!

Ka pai te whanau o Waikirikiri!!

Pictured are the second group of trainees who started their 8 week training sessions under the watchful eye of trainer Marcus Lloyd.

Way to go koutou.

Training at Riverdale begins

Whanau are due to start their training this week with the first session on Wednesday night from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.
The other two groups will put off their start until next week due to Labour Weekend. They will train on Saturday's 8.30am - 10.30am with the final group running from 10.30am - 12.30pm.
Way to go guys. I'm sure you are all going to have lots of fun.
Ivan

Waikirikiri School Begins

What an awesome whanau night at Waikirikiri.
The Computers in Homes parents met to go over the project, see what it's all about, and organise their training sessions.
Thanks to Yolanda, Kim and Raniera for helping with the evening.
Di Das from the National Computers in Homes, and David Langford from Awapuni school also spoke about the benefits of the project.
Waikirikiri School is in for an exciting time as whanau work towards graduating before Christmas.
Tino pai koutou.

Riverdale Parents Meet

Wednesday night saw a group of enthusiastic Computers in Homes parents meet for the first time to hear about their own project.
A brief presentation about the project was followed by discussion time where queries were raised and dealt with.
An excellent start to what will be an exciting time for Riverdale school whanau.
Training begins next week and we look forward to getting whanau feedback as the project progresses.
Ka mau te wehi koutou!

Important Dates for Waikirikiri and Riverdale

Contract has been signed by Gisborne District Council and the project is all on schedule.
We are having an introduction meeting with whanau, friends and collegues to inform of the project details on:

• Riverdale 5.30pm Wednesday 11th October
• Waikirikiri 5.30pm Thursday 12th October

Training for both schools is due to kick off the following week.

Way to go Waikirikiri and Riverdale.

Ivan

Waikirikiri and Riverdale Schools kick off project

Both Waikirkiri Bilingual School and Riverdale School will kick off our project with the first cluster of 50 whanau.

Whanau are currently being selected to begin their training workshops early next term with a graduation date of mid December.
It will be an exciting time as parents start their journey down the information highway with their digital kids helping lead the way.

Kia kaha kotou!

Please return to this site for up to date information on the project and don't be shy to leave a comment or two.

Kia ora
Ivan Lomax
Project Manager

Initial Hui

Thanks to all the Principals who attended our hui last Thursday about kicking off the Computers in Homes-Gisborne project.
The contract with Internal Affairs has not been signed as yet. Should not be far away.