The Treaty of Room 17

How the Treaty of Room 17 was written.

We started by sharing in small groups all the things that we didn't like about school. These turned out to be things like teasing, scabbing, pushing and others using our personal things without asking. It was a powerful experience to hear some of the students stories and it set the tone for the creation of our treaty. 

The purpose of our classroom treaty is to ensure that everyone feels safe, valued and is able to get on with learning in Room 17. 

The next thing we did was turn the negative experiences into positive guidelines which then formed our treaty. Here is it...

We, the below signed, agree to follow the rules of the treaty of Room 17.

1. We use No hands, No feet and No putdowns.
2. We share, but we ask first.
3. We speak and act with respect to protect each other's mana.

All of the students and Whaea Emma signed the Treaty of Room 17 in a short ceremony on Wednesday afternoon. We feel proud of our treaty and have it hung in a prominent place on our inquiry wall.