WHAT'S
NEXT

February 2018

A very happy 2018 to you all!

Schools are back – and some students are starting the school year more academically match fit than others. More than 500 Manaiakalani children have been blogging through the summer holidays with a new NEXT education investment. The Summer Learning Journey has been developed by the Woolf Fisher Research Centre's Rachel Williams and Manaiakalani teachers to help counter the “summer slump”, a well known pattern of academic decline over the six week break.

In this newsletter we bring you details of that investment, and of another education initiative NEXT is proud to have recently supported - SPACE for you and your baby. SPACE is a wonderful programme supporting new parents and their babies - with a focus on early attachment and early language, two areas that we see as critical to setting babies up with a strong foundation for their education.

I also share with you insights from my recent visit to US philanthropic organisations – and introduce you to Play it Strange CEO Mike Chunn – a Friend of NEXT whose musical charity is also working towards making New Zealand a better place for us all.

Yours in education and the environment

Bill Kermode
CEO, NEXT Foundation

The Summer Learning Journey

Do you know about the “summer slump”? Where children’s academic grades can regress by more than 12 months over the summer holidays? NEXT is delighted to make a new investment in The Summer Learning Journey – in which Manaiakalani students are offered the chance to do some fun blogging over the summer holidays – and maintain their writing grades at the same time.

SPACE for you and your baby

As part of NEXT’s education focus on the first 1000 days of life, we have invested in a programme supporting families as they navigate the challenges of parenthood for the first time. SPACE for you and your baby was developed by a group of Wellington mothers who noticed a lack of support for new parents – and is now expanding through it’s integration with another strong family support network, Parenting Place.

The arteries and capillaries of Government - How do we get them working together?

Some insights from my recent trip to the US - I believe NEXT can help convert community action into new policy at Government level, and new policy into community action. Here’s how it might work.

Friend of NEXT - Play it Strange CEO Mike Chunn