Kāhui Ako ki Orewa

12th April 2019

Rāmere, te 12 o Paenga-whāwhā, 2019

As term one draws to an end we can reflect on how much each of our schools have achieved individually, and collectively over this busy first term. Starting the year with our combined teacher only day was a very positive way for all of our kaiako to collaborate, make connections, and build teacher capability across our community. Across school leaders have visited all of our kura and dates have been set for term two meetings. We also held a combined board meeting to discuss plans and progress. We are well on the way in moving from co-operation to collaboration and building on our collective impact to deliver our vision and achievement challenges across the Kāhui Ako.

Having a successful school year and a thriving teaching community begins with you. The most important element for successful teaching is taking care of yourself, making sure your professional and personal needs are met. Excellence isn’t achieved by somehow extracting more than teachers can give, it’s delivered by teachers who are rested, enthusiastic, and who feel that they’re part of an organisation that sees employee wellbeing as vital to their students’ success. Have a safe and well earned break.

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Rōpū Tuhituhi / Writing Group

Our term 2 moderation meeting is set for week 8, Thursday 20th June. This will be a narrative piece of writing. Please use the following procedures to gather your samples:

• Task descriptor – ‘Every picture tells a story. Use your imagination to narrate (tell) a story about the photo.
• Photos can be selected by teachers
• Time can be given to discuss the prompt, class brainstorm etc
• Word banks, brainstorms can be used, but noted in task descriptor.

Samples submitted for moderation by Monday 10th June

• No names or year levels
• Task descriptor at top with photo included
• Samples can be hand written and scanned or written digitally
• Writing can be edited for spelling – (encoding will not be assessed)

LPF aspects to be marked against:

• Creating text for literary purposes
• Vocabulary knowledge
• Text structure

While the LPF is not designed to be used assessing only one piece of writing evidence, but rather collecting evidence from a variety of samples across the curriculum, our moderation meetings is a good check-in to see if we have consistency.

Clarification has been sought re- placement of students against the LPF.

‘When assessing students work against the LPF, students should be placed in the set showing best fit, where a student is working most of the time, independently.’ When using wording such as ‘achieved’ the LPF can become a checklist for achievement, rather than developmental learning steps as it was intended.

Rōpū Pāngarau/ Maths Group

The maths group ended the term with a discussion about the maths LPFs. Most schools seem to be focusing on writing first, followed by maths. So next term we should see an escalation in discussions around the maths framework. We also discussed the pathways inherent in the 2020 Digital Curriculum. Linda shared some resources with the group. These resources, and more, will be made available to the whole community as we shift our focus from the LPFs to the digital curriculum.

Rōpū Taunaki Ako/ Learning Support Group

On Rāhina the Learner Support team had their second hui. The focus was on the New Learner Support Model including legal documents for permission, the referral form and the overall support process. We further compiled our list of agencies and service providers, both nationally and locally. We examined our own strengths and passions, discovering that we have a wide range of knowledge and experience which will benefit our Kahui Ako.

Next Term Leanne will be using the numerical register of needs to make connections with the Ministry of Education, Waitemata DHB, Oranga Tamariki and local providers. Each school will circulate the permission letter regarding the Learner Support Register. Although there is someway yet to go in the building process, we are much closer to being able to use a names based register and consequently begin our tracking and referral processes within the New Learner Support Model. We will also be able to begin professional development in some of our top needs areas.

Last Pairaire, Bev and Leanne attended a course at the Kohia Centre for autism in the secondary school setting. Next term we will be able to share some really useful information, tips and a fantastic process to help both teachers and students.

Tips:

Rōpū Te Reo Me Tikanga Māori

Top tip for normalising te reo Māori!: Set up your computer/rorohiko keyboard for macrons

Some of you may already be onto this but you can change your keyboard settings to te reo Māori so that you can easily add macrons at the hit of a button. It can save so much time. More information here.

Marae Hui for tumuaki/principals and leaders of te reo Māori

Last Rāpare, many of our tumuaki/nprincipals and leaders of Māori met at Te Herenga Waka o Orewa Marae for a hui. The afternoon started with a pōwhiri to welcome waewae tapu/those whose visiting the marae for the first time. The attendance all of our kura showed our collective commitment towards achieving improved outcomes for our tamariki.

Under the direction of kaumatua Kereama Nathan, we began the development of a strategic plan for the success of students in te reo Māori across the Orewa Kāhui Ako. With so many great leaders under the roof, we quickly developed practical ideas under four key titles; Acquisition, Domains, Normalisation and Sustainability of Language.

Moving on from here, we will compile an official strategic plan that all kura in our area are committed to implement. The goal being to improve the consistency, frequency, quality and outcomes of te reo Māori in our kura as our tamariki move from ECE through to college.

Ngaio pukapuka kōrero/ Professional Development

Guiding principles for learning in the twenty-first century

Follow the link here to the International Academy of Education that outlines a holistic approach for learning in the twenty-first century. The guide provides a useful big picture way to think about how you are designing learning in your school. The authors outline 10 key areas for learning that combine knowledge, competences, values and attitudes. The 10 areas are:

• Academic honesty
• Information literacy
• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• STEM learning
• Concept-focused learning
• Health and mindfulness
• Service learning
• Learning support
• Assessment

The guide summarises the research in each of these areas and draws out the implications for educators.

Feeding the imagination: tapping into inherent creativity

Peter and Ellen Jarratt began their arts education project with the simple mission of ‘inspiring creative thinkers with the confidence to change their world.’ From their base in Gisborne they offer a range of arts education resources to unleash student creativity all over New Zealand. Follow the link to the article here.

Resources

Follow the link to here to download Kia Kaha te Reo Taiao posters and booklet. These posters and booklet include te reo Māori and English words and phrases about the environment: Te Ao o Tangaroa – Marine, Wai Māori – Fresh Water, Te Wao Nui a Tāne – flora, Te Tini a Tāne – fauna

To keep up to date, follow us on our Kāhui Ako website: https://orewakahuiako.com/

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