Testing What Might Be Possible: Setting For the Tarawera Ultra Marathon 100 Miler

Back on 17 April 2023 I signed up for the Tarawera 100 miler and downloaded a training plan from the online coaching platform that had got me through two 102k trail races and a sub 4 hour marathon at the age of 63 At that time it just seemed like the next thing to step up to. I studied the downloaded plan and made amendments to fit around my life (remaining a school principal until July then moving into self-employment) and to include the Taupo 70k Trail Race in October as part of my build up.

I contacted Eugene Bingham, whom I knew as a parent of a kid at our school (the kid ended up being one of my head students!) and as a member of the running community, especially through his and Matt's Dirt Church Radio podcasts. Eugene also happened to be the 4 hour pacer at the Rotorua Marathon where, with his encouragement and goading, I crept under the 4 hour barrier. 

I texted him to say I was entering the Miler and asked what he thought (Eugene has run at least one Miler himself). His reply stopped me in my tracks: "But the question is .... do you want to? It's a race where you really need to have your why nailed down and be totally on board." This made me think.

I've raced more than 30 marathons, several multisport races, a dozen 24 hour Adventure Races and a few 50k, 70k, 100k trail races. They were all bloody hard! Why did I want to push this out to 100m miles (162k)?

I want to see what I'm truly capable of, to test myself with a venture that has a high probability of not being possible for me to achieve. I knew that many set out to complete such an event but fall along the wayside as they succumb to injuries, illness and the demands of making our way through our our lives. I also knew that many made it to the start line and got the dreaded DNF (Did Not Finish). This was either as a result of injury on the day, running out of physical energy, running out of mental energy or simply being too slow to make the 36 hour cut off.

I've spent my working life challenging myself to see what is truly possible in the schooling space and also challenging others to lift their belief in what is possible. I want to really test myself.

I'm writing this with 2 and 3/4 days to go before the Saturday 4am start so I'm fairly confident I'm going to make the start line. It's been huge getting to this point - sticking to the training plan, overcoming injuries, experimenting with nutrition, hydration and gear plans, acclimatising for the heat, and dealing with the demons in my head.

Highlights on the way have included my son pacing me through the last 20k of the Taupo 70k race, most probably getting me there 30 minutes faster than if by myself. My daughter immediately accepted the challenge of pacing me in this Saturday's event for the last 50k. The hours with her in the Riverhead Forest (both day and night) have been special times. I'm already feeling emotional about her joining me after 110k at Okataina.

End of Taupo 70k with Thomas

Lucy and I in Riverhead Forest Training for the Miler

I have a simple plan for the race:

• Stage one: from the start walk every uphill and jog every downhill and flat
• Stage two: walk every uphill and most flat bits and jog downhill
• Stage three: walk up, down and flat
• Stage four: whatever it takes

I've watched a few video clips about those who've attempted this type of race. While all were successful in some ways not all completed the event. These videos have filled me with both confidence and dread. I worry that I haven't done enough training, enough stretching, enough strength work, but on the Wednesday of race week it is what it is.

When the new course was announced a few weeks ago (because of lake levels and slips) I joined in with others fretting about the "To Hell and Back" section over the Western Okataina because it is the steepest, is largely single track, is the longest between Aid Stations and, for back-of-the-packers like me it'll be dark (I'll be addressing this bit from about 10pm until 6am the following morning).

I've decided to now look forward to this section, to acknowledge it as a challenge when I get there, to be present in every step through it, to thank Riverhead Forest for being brutal enough to have prepared me for it, to greet and wish well all other runners I meet (it's out and back), to congratulate myself as I eat the elephant one bite at a time and to be re-energised when my daughter joins me halfway through at the turnaround point. I'm going to look forward to it!

Those who know me know the inspiration my Dad has been for me. He infected me with the love of running, competing and socialising through sport. He's run many marathons and is a member of the Rotorua Marathon Survivors Club (15 Rotorua Marathons). A highlight was running the Auckland Marathon with him (the first over the bridge) when he was in his early 60s in 3hour 47!

He passed away in November 2019 but continues to be my inspiration and he'll be with me every step of the way.

The Year @HPSS Starts With Focus on Manaakitanga and Whanaungatanga

We all know that effective teaching and learning (ako) is a relationship thing. In my last post I highlighted Russell Bishop's work in Teaching to the North East which steps you through the research that the only effective teaching is a combination of high teaching skills AND high relationships. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for those seeking a framework for a relationship-based pedagogy.

It is through our focus at HPSS on the concepts of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, especially in those very important days at the start of the year, that we bring these concepts to life. While any of the one events I outline below would occur in most schools I'm proud of the complete, cohesive approach we follow.

It begins in August of the previous year when we hold individual 30 minute enrolment interviews with the whole family. I attempt to run the vast majority of these but my SLT support (especially over the first 3 days). The hui is centred entirely on getting to know each other and is guided by the following questions:

• What is the student looking forward to about coming to our school?
• What is the student most anxious about coming to our school?
• What are the parents most looking forward to about their child coming to our school?
• What are the parents most anxious about their child coming to our school?
• What does the child enjoy learning the most? What do they least enjoy/find the most challenging?
• What are the child's aspirations through  and beyond school?
• What are the parents' expectations of us as a school.

All of the answers are shared with the student's Learning Coach so that the Coach has some key information about the student and their family before they even meet.

It continues in November when we bring Year 8 students into our school for half a day to participate in our Big Project Exhibition where  they interact with our students and their projects to whet their own appetite for such learning.

Then in late November we have an Orientation Day for all of our students who have chosen to enrol with us for the following year. This day is entirely focused on manaakitanga and begins with a mihi whakatau (my highlight is cooking the barbecue and serving the Year 8 students for lunch - though my PA is moving in on my place behind the BBQ so feeling a bit threatened!), and on whanaungatanga. Unlike in other schools there is absolutely no testing. Students are allocated to their Learning Communities and participate in a range of interactive and physical activities that get them to know each other, get to know their teachers and to be introduced into our design thinking approach to learning.

In the week before school starts we hold a full day of induction with our new staff. Once again the focus is on manaakitanga and whanaungatanga rather than overloading with information. We cover the key foundation frameworks in our school covered in a previous post and captured in the following visual.

They then complete a group exploration of our neighbourhood capturing photographic evidence of the Hobsonville Habits in action and then join us for lunch at a local cafe.

New staff induction

The following day we have a full Staff Only Day which begins with a powhiri for our new staff. We then gather and cycle through the pre-prepared slide capturing each staff member's (including all ancillary and support staff) pepeha, including visuals of importance to them. With more and more staff (about 70 now) this takes a bit of time, but it is vital if we are serious about whanaungatanga.

In the following Week 1 of school students and families attend an Individual Education Meeting (IEM) to connect with the Learning Coach before classes get under way. As well, during that week we hold an International Student Induction Day (supported by senior and ex students), Peer Mediation training day, and a day for seniors who wish to participate in leadership roles (totally self-selected). On that day they devote time to the planning for the Friday when Year 9s attend their first day. That day begins with a mihi whakatau then the senior students take over for the day supporting the Year 9 students through more in-depth workshops on how learning and relating operate in our school. No testing though!

Senior students supporting International Student Induction

Week 2 and still no timetabled classes yet. All students are together on the Monday for the first time and they spend all day in their Learning Hub and Learning Communities creating connections between each other. On the Tuesday students participate for the full day, in their Learning Communities, on a range of  challenges, both physical and academic, to build on the connections formed the previous day and to develop the spirit of collaboration (one of our school Values) while experiencing the full set of Hobsonville Habits.

It's not until we reach Wednesday of Week 2 that students begin timetabled classes. It's a special feature of our school that we dedicate the time, resource and kaha to the concentration on manaakitanga and whanaungatanga. Still no testing!

Then we cap it off on the Wednesday evening with a Waitangi Whanau Picnic in conjunction with HP Primary School as we extend our focus on Manaakitanga and Whanaungatanga to our parent community across both schools. The combination of food trucks, student music performances and whānau gathering on picnic blankets is a great way to cap off this very important focus.

It's Saturday at the end of Week 2 and because of this great work on this most important stuff led by our outstanding staff I'm really looking forward to Monday and the first full week of timetabled classes. I think we're now ready.

How Might We Align NCEA With Our Vision

This question has not necessarily vexed us for a couple of years during our establishment phase and during out initial implementation phases but it has certainly been lying in wait for us. We've often been told that what you are doing with curriculum and pedagogy at your school is well and good for 'juniors' but wait until the restrictions and demands of NCEA start impacting on you.

To tell the truth, I haven't been too worried and I've made no secret of my simple strategy/solution which was to not offer NCEA Level 1 at all and just move into L2 in Year 12. I know announcing this position caused some disquiet amongst my colleagues but I think this made me more determined to keep announcing it to stretch what the possibilities might be. NCEA is an awesome qualification with huge flexibility and potential. I believe it is ripe for an innovative approach.

A few planets began to line up that helped to solidify my own thinking. The first was the release of the ERO National Report on Student Well-Being in Secondary Schools. See my post on its damning findings. This report solidified my own resolve to not lead a school that contributed to this situation. I then moved on to finding the courage to stick with this moral purpose. Of course, as a leader you need to take people with you and the courage to pursue a moral purpose is of no use if this doesn't happen.

Around about the same time while in deep, vigorous discussion within our SLT forum as were were debating what NCEA position we would be finalising and presenting to our staff, students and parents I felt my resolve strengthening and proclaimed that I didn't want to lead a school which rolled out NCEA like every other school was doing simply because not all of our staff would agree with anything other than that and that it would be a hard sell to our parents. We'd signed up for the hard and challenging work to bring life to our vision (I told myself).

Then I had to prepare a spotlight address at the National Aspiring Principal Programme on Leading for the future with a moral purpose (see previous post). The preparation for and delivery of this address not only focused myself on the responsibility I had to be courageous but it also influenced other key people who are necessary for us to be successful.
In introducing the topic to staff I reminded them that we were on a journey to redesign the secondary school experience in NZ. I reminded them that we had dismantled the NZC to discover its essence and then created our own curriculum and pedagogical models to realise its full potential. This is still on-going work. But I reminded them that our work was not done and that the qualification process was our next target.

As usual we started with what we wanted to end up with.

I then outlined to staff what the'principles' were that had been behind us coming to our position.

Staff were then shown a learning years framework which I had shared last year which showed how NCEA and our view on it could easily align with it.

And as we are finding ourselves doing more recently I presented an Elevator Statement that summarises our position.

 So how are we going to incorporate NCEA in a way that that aligned with the above principles and matched our learning years framework?

Let me show you a whiteboard I prepared earlier (and which featured prominently at our parents meeting)!

The intention of this masterpiece was to clarify the mix of numbers that can confuse: Year Levels, Curriculum Levels and NCEA Levels. I pointed out there was a strong link between the curriculum levels and NCEA levels but just a loose link with Year Levels.

I then explained why NCEA Level 1 was a qualification of little value; it leads to no employment or further training. Despite this all schools expose their 14 and 15 year olds to a full year of six subjects offering anywhere between 18 and 24 credits (both internal and external) meaning to get the 80 required (for a meaningless qualification) students were being exposed to 120-140 credits. It's like being hit by a tidal wave! All of a sudden their focus moves away from the joy of discovery and learning to credit chasing and teachers take their eye off the NZC and 'teach to the tests' - all for a qualification that has little value! Stress levels rise for everyone - students, teachers and parents.

Our plan is that our Year 11 students will achieve around 20 quality Level 1 or 2 credits that emerge from their co-constructed learning programmes. Most of these will be from their areas of interest and passion though if we identify that a learner will struggle to receive literacy and numeracy credits at Level 6 or 7 then we will direct them to the literacy and numeracy Unit Standards.

Our learners will take their 20 quality credits with them to Year 12. Their focus in Year 12 will be on 60 quality Level 2 or higher credits. When these are matched with the 20 they have brought with them they are awarded NCEA L1 and 2. They will have done this after having attempted around 100 credits over their 2 years rather than the 220-280 they may have had to attempt elsewhere.

Of course, it was important to explain to parents that while the learners weren't being exposed to a huge number of NCEA assessments they were still covering all of the Achievement Objectives from the NZC (in relevant Learning Areas) and would be assessed by the school and reported on them.

Claire then took over and described how we were meeting the needs of the small group of Year 11 students we had this year. In Week 1 of this year, after hearing student voice, teachers prepared module programmes for our learners with Learning Objectives from NZC.  few weekslater Claire asked teachers to investigate whether if they had any students achieving at CL6 could they see any internally assessed NCEA L1 Achievement Standards they could offer. This resulted in a long menu from all modules of possible Achievement Standards. Our Year 11 students were invited to negotiate with their teachers which ones they could attempt in their journey of collecting 20 credits.

This process is so powerful at many levels. Firstly, the NCEA Achievement Standards fell out of the programmes RATHER THAN BEING THE PRIME DRIVERS OF THE PROGRAMMES! Secondly, the students were empowered to lead the process and to negotiate their individual pathway. Thirdly, our staff can feel proud about walking the talk of personalising learning and assessment.

Our night was a huge success. We got a great endorsement from the NZQA representative present who championed our emphasis on quality rather than quantity and congratulated our moves to reduce assessment anxiety and reject the assessment driven curriculum. Throughout the evening our parents asked challenging questions in their attempt to understand. I congratulated them for helping create a school where they felt really comfortable challenging the Principal and SLT.

It was agreat way to start the final week of Term 1. And what a great way to end........

International Onesie Day!

Mad Hatters Tea Party!

See you next term at our weird and wonderful school!

Xmas Day

The fun syarted on Xmas Eve when Lucy and I conducted a great secret manouver to liberate a Xmas Tree to our lounge. A couple of bevvies for Dutch Courage and the complete action took less than a minute from stopping the car, leaping out, cutting the manacles and liberating it to the back of the car before speeding off with high fives!

You can see it in the photo with an awesome santa at the top.

The actual day was spent with Leigh, Lucy and Thomas, MumnDad, Janine and Emma and Adrian S who joined the Abraham Whanau. Pete and Lea and Maia dropped in for a drink and we all drank fine champers. gewurts, temparillo and cabernet sauvignon, threw the frisbee and had mussels off the BBQ and ham and chicken and spuds and Xmas pud. We had a great, relaxing stress free day and I was asleep by 7.30pm!

Lucy got me the Chris Knox tribute, Stroke, which I really wanted and Leigh bought me a trilogy of some dead guy's only novels which are hugely thick and will take months to read. I think she wanted them for herself.

Maraehako Holiday

Maurie in holiday mode.
Originally uploaded by mlabraham@xtra.co.nz

Last week we spent Wednesday to Saturday camping at Maraehako, a wonderful piece of paradise we try to get to every year. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and after setting up camp and cooking dinner we sat around the fire with the Shove's, Pease's and Destry and Nicky.

The next morning, after a run, I decided to explore likely fishing spots in the kayak after listening carefully to the fireside talk. I planned to not be a whimp and paddle out in open sea. The sea was perfect so I spent 90 minutes paddling up to a k off shore, heading east for 3 ks and then back west and around Whanarua Bay where I was attacked by a jet fighter-pilot-like seagull about 8-10 times. I had to beat it off with my paddle.

That afternoon we went fishing around the rocks. We saw some good-sized fish, but only managed to pull in a very small snapper which was sent back to grow. That night we tried surf-casting but just got dealt to by small fish.

I was up and gone by 7am the next morning and was concerned to see there was quite a swell running so my plans to head out to open sea were shelved and I decided to drift along fishing close to the far eastern point of the bay.

I immediately caught a small trevally which I cut up for bait and then promptly landed 3 nice tarakihi, losing at least 2 other good fighters. That was enough so after hooking another trev for tomorrow's bait I headed in after having hunted and provided.

After fishing we wandered up to the Macadamia Cafe at Whanarua for lunch. We then had another afternoon enjoying the process but not the product of fishing. After a great feed of fish that night we joined with the firesiders and had a few beers watching an impromptu fireworks shows ans spotting sputniks.

The next morning was even rougher so I went to the same place. It was quite uncomfortable with a swell and strong wind. I lost my first tarakihi over the side as I was transferring it from net to sack but caught another and a good sized trev which we brought home and had for tea.

We had a great time away and got back in time to go to Barry's 40th, hence the hangover today.

Check out the photos from Maraehako.

Girls' Soccer Tournament

Above are some photos from the Girls' Soccer Tournament in Taupo. The girls are getting on real well and have had 2 losses, one draw and a win.

It was great to catch up with Lucy after 9 weeks away. She will be home on Friday.