Ways parents can help...

Miss Matich came across these posters on twitter - some very helpful hints for parents to think about how you can help with Reading, Spelling and Maths at home…

Ipads and Boys Reading

I found this article in this morning's Dom Post.  Those of you who are parents of boys may have seen this first hand.  It is certainly something we have noticed in classrooms both in Reading and Writing… there is something about technology that encourages boys to engage in literacy activities in different ways!  While it is certainly not our intention to have learners sitting in front of screens all day, this is just one of the many reasons we are looking to increase the accessibility of devices that Maungaraki learners can use as part of their day to day learning.

Would you like to Contribute to our Cluster Professional Learning?

Maungaraki School is part of a cluster of full primary schools in our area who are working together in a "Learning and Change Network."  Leaders from within this network are currently putting together a plan to support each other in our professional learning.  Throughout this year, Janet Evans has been consulting with a group of students, teachers and parents to identify priority areas for our future development as a school and as a cluster.

The context that we are currently working in relates to creating "Innovative Learning Environments."  In a few weeks, a group of school leaders from the wider Wellington area will be getting together to discuss their learning and change initiatives.  As part of this, a blog has been created to gather views on what our students, parents, educators and wider community members think an Innovative Learning Environment might look like in New Zealand schools.  We would love to include the views of the Maungaraki community in this blog, if you would like to contribute you will find the link here:

Central South Learning and Change Network ILE

If you would like to research some of the international thinking about innovative Learning Environments you might want to visit these sites:

http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/innovativelearningenvironments.htm

http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html http://www.ted.com/talks/adora_svitak.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/The%20ILE%20project.pdf http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Technologies/Learning-spaces http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/Schools/PropertyToolBox/StateSchools/Design/ModernLearningEnvironment.aspx http://www.core-ed.org/thought-leadership/white-papers/modern-learning-environments

ICT & Digital Citizenship Evening

At the end of Term 3 we held an ICT & Digital Citizenship evening to share the results of our community consultation and to discuss our future use of technology.  Here is the slide show we used for the evening:

…  and the link to the video clip shred at the beginning of the evening:

The reality for all schools is that our world has fundamentally changed.  The things that we adults think of as 'new technology' is simply part of day-to-day life for young learners.  The increase in connectedness of our world means that the collective wisdom of the human race is with us everywhere we go.  There is no longer a question of  'if' we become a digital learning environment, but how can we gear ourselves so that our learners are not at a disadvantage.

At the end of the evening we discussed the crossroads we currently find ourselves at, as we plan for how we can provide greater access to the tools necessary for effective learning in a modern world.   One of the questions we were asked by the parents was "How can we help?"  - there are several ways you can help us:

• Take an interest in the technology your child is currently using at school - add relevant school blogs to your reading lists, check out updates on this blog, talk to your child and their teacher about the things they are currently doing in technology.
• Pay your school donation - we currently only receive about 60% of school donations from parents.  While we are a public school, the reality is that Ministry funding only covers the bare basics needed to run the school infrastructure.  
• Support our Home and School committee - the Home and School committee has funded a significant number of the mobile devices (laptops and iPads) that we currently have in the school, and is currently allocating funds from current fundraisers to technology based projects... support these fundraising initiatives and you will be supporting our vision for innovative learning contexts!
• Join our "Innovative Learning Committee" - this is a group of like minded parents working alongside the Board of Trustees and teachers to exploring the options available to us to achieve 1-1 devices in the Year 5 - 8 area of our school, and as we work to increase accessibility of mobile devices for those in the junior area of the school.  Our first meeting is on Thursday 31st October at 6:00pm in the staffroom.  Contact me at school if you are interested in being part of this group.
• Learn about concepts of "Digital Citizenship" - talk with your children about what it means to be a responsible digital citizen.  Discuss their responsible use agreement with them when they come home at the beginning of next year.  Reinforce these messages at home.

Some resource links that you may find helpful:

Digital Citizenship in New Zealand Schools

Netsafe
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The Manaiakalani Trust
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Common Sense Media
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—www.digitalcitizenship.net

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to my blog!  Thanks for joining me.

It's been a while since I posted on the blog, but we have some exciting times ahead, and I'm hoping that this will be an easy way to share our journey with friends and family.  Over the past few months we have been conducting a fairly extensive review of our use of Information and Communication Technologies within the school.  This review has included consultation with learners, parents and teachers, lots of research, discussion with other schools and professional learning for staff.  In the months ahead I hope to share with you the findings of our community consultation and share information about modern learning environments that will form part of our journey as we prepare our learners for their futures in a world where our relationship with knowledge has been turned on it's head by technology...

I welcome and look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Reporting of National Standards Data

Over recent weeks the use of National Standards data in league tables has taken a considerable amount of media time.  The Ministry of Education have always stated that they will not create league tables from National Standards data.  Today's announcement by the Minister of Education that National Standards data will be published from September on the Education Counts website, was accompanied by the recommendation that parents use this site to assist them in choosing schools.

I, along with many of my colleagues in the teaching profession, have many concerns about National Standards data being used to compare schools.  Some of the reasons for this include:

Complexity

We are not comparing simple data here such as sports results or sales figures.  This is complex data impacted by many things:

• Home environment;
• Learning needs; 
• Resources available;
• Quality of teaching etc.

      Even grouping the data under decile headings is not an accurate comparison of ‘like with like.’  We know that all Decile 10 schools are not created equal!

Flawed Data

We know that while the data created by National Standards is useful within our own school, this data is neither National, nor Standard.  The standards are ambiguous and open to interpretation by each school.  As yet, there is no system in place for moderating between schools to ensure consistency of these interpretations, meaning any comparison of schools will be flawed. 

Focus on Final Outputs rather than Progress

There is no ‘Standard’ for 5 year olds entering school, therefore no means to measure the progress of students as they move through the school.  This could unfairly misrepresent a school making significant progress, as underperforming, and a school making minimal progress, as high performing.

International Research

Both PISA and OECD reports show that countries that have introduced League Tables (or used data for high stakes purposes such as comparing schools) as part of nationwide education policy, have gone backwards in performance.  New Zealand educators are concerned that current policies continue to follow and imitate the policies of those countries who are performing below us in international comparisons, rather than looking forward to the few countries that are ahead of us.

Potential to Narrow the Curriculum

There is growing concern that should National Standards gain importance and credibility as a means for measuring school success, the pressure to improve standings in the tables will result in ‘teaching to the test’ and areas of the curriculum other than Literacy and Mathematics will become marginalized.

Potential to reduce opportunities for More Able Students

There is growing concern that should National Standards gain importance and credibility as a means for measuring school success, the pressure to improve standings in the tables will result in more teacher time and resources being focused on target students, resulting in a lack of opportunities for those students who need and deserve enrichment and challenge.

Information related to the Minister's announcement today can be found at:

www.minedu.govt.nz/ReportingNationalStandards 

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

Nau Mai, Haere mai, ki te wiki o te Reo Māori!

This week is Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) and children right across the school have an extra focus on ‘things Māori’ as they go about their daily work.  This is a wonderful opportunity to consolidate the Te Reo learning we have already done in classes and to raise the profile of Māori language around the school.  I thought I would take the opportunity to share with you why we we teach Te Reo in our classes:

• There is no other country in the whole world where you can learn to speak this beautiful language!
• What makes us unique and special as kiwis is our unique and indigenous culture.  Regardless of our own heritage, we can all connect with our ‘Kiwiness’ through Te Reo me ōna Tikanga Māori.
• Te Reo Maori is an endangered language - in order for it to thrive, we must all breathe life into it by speaking what we can, when we can.
• In many other developed countries, children can speak 2-3 languages; speaking our indigenous language helps our Tamariki to be leaders and stand confidently on the world stage.
• The Treaty of Waitangi, our founding document, states that all Māori have the right to speak and learn their own language.   The National Education Guidelines ensure that schools meet their obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi.
• Last but not least, IT’S COOL TO KŌRERO!