Liz speaking to students about the new water initiative

Liz McNaughton a RTLB  fromTe Paeroa Cluster spoke with our students on Friday morning about the new Kathleen Liberty water initiative being introduced in our school. She began by asking students if they thought the changes we have made so far have helped our learning. About 8 student raised their hands stating that they agreed it had. This makes me think that students reflect on these changes at a surface level, even though we have prompted them to record personal written reflections. Therefore we may need to delve deeper in order to get clarity on how the changes have effected them.

As Liz spoke with the students they were able to discuss signs of being dehydrated: dry lips, being tired and irritable... She discussed the importance of why we need to drink more water in order to better focus on our work. The realisation for students that drinking the suggested amounts of water might assist, seemed to create a happy buzz, as did getting the new drink bottles.

Liz explained that students of Year 5 and 6 will drink a whole bottle before lunch and another one before they go home.The students were excited to hear that the teachers would also be a part of this initiative and they were keen to be involved with the competitive aspect. I am aware that I too need to drink more water.

The day moved forward in an interesting way: there seemed to be excessive drinking of water from some, who took drinking more too far! There were also more than usual toilet stops and some who even had sore tummies from drinking more than required. Next week we will remind the students of balance when it comes to drinking more water.


Interestingly Liz also discussed the importance of drinking water at home. She recommended that at Age 9-12 children drink the recommended amounts during school as well as:
             1 glass when they wake up
             1 glass at breakfast
             1 glass after school
             1 glass at dinner

I look forward to getting to the stage where this drinking water initiave is a normal part of the day and we get to reek the benefits of students drinking more.