What constitutes a leader?

• People who have made a positive difference, not just reached high positions within organisations.
• Come from all walks of life and have achieved success – by their own standards and those of the community they serve.

Add your comments suggesting what makes a leader in the contect of the Aranui Leadership Project. It’s not about money and elitism – it’s about celebration, cultural diversity, beating the odds, never giving up, innovation….

A new era for Aranui High School

Aranui High School is entering a new era. Many of its building are to be demolished and a smaller, modern school will be developed. This coincides with a new NZ Curriculum that is more future oriented. There is huge potential, using web 2.0 tools to help, for ex-pupils to help.

This is not a ex-pupils association website, nor a jubilee committee blog. This is something new and untried. It seeks to use the talents and stories of ex-pupils who have become leaders in their chosen fields or communities. It is a chance to make stories of Aranui’s successes available to current students, for links and connections to be made and for current pupils to develop leadership skills through their connections with us. Or at least that is what it could become. It’s up to us all to decide what we can collectively do to develop the leaders of tomorrow. It could be exciting…so spread the word and come up with your ideas…

Once Upon a School

One of the catalysts for starting this blog was a TED Talk project called “Once Upon a School“.  David Eggers talked about how he had started out to help his local school. The video of his talk is well worth watching – his project was really different – and made a difference. David challenged others to make a difference to their local schools and share the journey with others. There are currently over 800 projects registered on his site!

Schools are changing places and more than ever before, the boundaries between school, home and the community are blurred. Schools face extreme change in order to stay relevant for the future. This means building on the best of the past, abandoning the practices that no longer meet student needs and finding new ways to prepare students for their futures. It’s not just the school’s job – we can play a role in helping. Yes each and every one of us…