Kaikorai Valley College puts positivity into practice

There’s a refreshing air of positivity at Dunedin’s Kaikorai Valley College (KVC). It hits you as soon as you spot the gratitude board behind the reception desk, filled with sticky notes written by students ranging from, “I'm grateful for having food,” to “I'm grateful for the office ladies not being mad at me for being late.”

These sticky notes of appreciation is part of the school’s recent ‘gratitude week’ – their latest initiative to keep positivity at the forefront of its culture.

Having long been a proponent of the Ministry of Education’s Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) programme, the school has been looking at ways to refresh its approach and make better use of pastoral data to target areas of greatest need.

It helps that the person leading the charge on the school’s efforts around PB4L, assistant principal Damian Burden, is a man who can’t seem to not smile.

An anonymous sticky note penned by a fellow staff member and left on his desk during gratitude week, tells you all you need to know about his rightness for the role: “Damian, your energy and kindness is second to none. Your ability to make everyone around you feel better about themselves is a quality that cannot be matched.”

The gratitude wall behind reception is a highlight of the school's 'gratitude week'.

A champion of cheer

Damian is not new to championing positive school culture. Previous examples of his commitment to student wellbeing include an award for going above and beyond that he received in OfficeMax’s national A Day Made Better campaign in 2014. Or the Otago Daily Times photo of him during Bullying-Free New Zealand Week in 2019, sporting perky-pink dyed hair.

The ‘gratitude week’ idea stemmed from an activity Damian had promoted in his own Year 7 homeroom class.

“At the end of each year, I’d get the kids to put their name on a little ticket and pass it around so that everyone could write something on it they appreciated about that student.

“It made me think about how we could do that on a schoolwide level to lift wellbeing and spirits and be grateful for all the things we have.”

Damian kicked things off at assembly by sharing a reflection from his own life. He told students how gutted he’d been to not be reappointed as coach of the NZ Touch Blacks team, and how a positive mindset helped him navigate that. This set the tone for the ensuing tide of school optimism.

“The kids wrote gratitude notes to each other in whānau class. Over the week, well over 1,000 notes were written – and we're a school of approximately 450. Then there was the gratitude wall in the office – that really took off and it was a very humbling exercise reading the kids’ messages.”

On the final day of term, some of the Year 13 students ran a free barbeque to further cement the week's vibe. Messages of appreciation (to everyone from the principal to the caretaker) were deemed legal tender for a sizzled sausage.

Damian was careful to not place any onerous burden on the teaching staff.

“There are lots of changes happening in education, so I didn't want to add anything extra to their list. But the staff were awesome and we saw a real shift in mood.”

The Kaikorai Valley College leadership team: Deputy principal Janette Potter, assistant principal Stewart Tagg, assistant principal Damian Burden, and principal Jatin Bali.

Positive reinforcement

After 15 years dividing focus between his homeroom class and his assistant principal role, Damian has relinquished the former to focus on the latter. This has given him more time to focus on keeping school spirits nicely buoyed. Along with his PB4L team, he’ll continue to lean into the KVC pastoral data to figure out where to put their next positive step.

“We’ve done a bit of restorative practice training in the last five years and looked at how we can embed those practices. Every school has rules, but we focus more on expectations – on the positive rather than the negative.”

This approach was used to great effect midway through term 1 when concerns emerged about uniform standards.

“We stationed our pastoral team at the school entrances and, rather than hammering the kids that were scruffy or late, we gave lollipops out for prompt attendance and tidy uniform. The kids were stoked. It was awesome.”

Damian has also started opening the gym three times a week during his lunch hour to encourage students to get active. The privilege is all his, he says.

“It means I get to work with kids from Years 7–13, and the gratitude thing has spread there too. When they leave, they thank me every time.”

A sense of pride

Damian’s connection to Kaikorai Valley College runs deep, having attended the school as a student from 1994–1998. He returned to the fold four years later as a trained teacher and has been there ever since.

“It’s a place that really helped me become who I am, and I’m passionate about the kids.”

Asked if he’s just hardwired for positivity, Damian says, “I think so.”

“When I had my homeroom class, I worked really hard to create a place where every kid would feel welcome and happy to take risks, happy to try stuff, happy to express themselves and have a go.

“The value of creating a positive culture is that it allows everyone to perform their best. It’s what I’m most proud of as a teacher.”