Alwyn Poole
Alwyn Poole founded and was the head of Mt Hobson Middle School in Auckland for 18 years. MH Academy is now an in person private school for Year 11-13. There is now a nationwide online provision called Mt Hobson Academy Connected for Years 1-13.
In May of last year I had a piece published on parents being aspirational for their children.
The first three years are crucial to the brain development of a child. They must feel safe and nurtured. They must be stimulated thought massive amounts of words and conversations. Good music, books being read out loud, trips to the park and the beach, interactions with other children.
I hear too many parents say that they cannot wait for their child to start school, so they can learn to read. That is their job and then the school can build on it. From as soon as they can sit up and look in the right direction read to your child. Don’t worry about ‘phonetics’ of ‘whole language’; just read and slowly encourage them to do the same. Have paper, pens and crayons all over the place.
It is well known that New Zealand has a genuine education crises through all measures. Young people being genuinely literate is a massive part of the solution. Our young people – and adults – should be able to read and to continuously read. You cannot be a good mathematician or scientist without being a good reader.
Some of the people I believe that I know best I have never met – Francis Schaeffer, George MacDonald, C S Lewis, Frederick Buechner, Isabelle Allende, Milan Kundera. Incredible creatives who have poured their hearts into their works.
Successful reading pretty much never happens without the home. Teachers should be [the expert] – but the greatest part of that expertise is working with great passion to see books in the home and the whole family reading every evening.