Term One Reflection.

Wow...twelve weeks done and dusted. It was a very interesting term! With my fellow associate principal moving into the acting principals position, I found things very different to previous years. I guess this term has been a lot about everyone finding their roles within the new Management set up of the school...and everyone has done this beautifully. Team leaders have been very efficient and effective in their roles, taking a lot of the administrative duties around assessment and minor behaviours off my hands. Syndicate meetings have been taken within the small teams, so messages have been getting through and followed up on more easily and effectively. I feel that with everyone taking ownership of their roles and being able to have to their say, there's a definite feeling of camaraderie amongst staff this year that is being enjoyed by all.
At the beginning of the year, we still had hiccups around the change overs of classes from MUSAC to easttle. These hiccups will hopefully be overcome next year now that we have switched management systems to Etap. Etap training will be underway next term and with teachers being trained in using the system and entering data...this will make syndicate wide and school wide data very simple to gather and collate. I think the change in systems is a great decision for the school.
We started the year with a powhiri to introduce 2 new beginning teachers onto our staff in the form of Justine and Petra...we ended the term with 1 extra BT in the form of Greg. Greg and Petra are our MDTA (Manaiakalani Digital Teachers Academy) Teachers. All 3 BTs made it to the end of term having completed an amazing array of work both inside and outside the classroom. They have slipped into the Tamaki way with aplomb...displaying great work ethic and passion for their jobs. Petra working with Aireen, Greg working Kyla and Justine working with Maryanne has proved a good fit of personalities and they each make fantastic teams.
While Justine isn't a part of the MDTA programme, she has taken elearning on board in record time with effective mentoring from Maryanne and a proactive mindset in getting her digital environment up and going. Interesting talking with each teacher and researchers and observers of the MDTA programme, that our teachers are leading the way in 'how to do it' in the classroom. That's not to say there hasn't been any bumps along the way for them, but what makes these teachers so accomplished is their ability to learn from faults, mistakes and what doesn't work and build on it together. I think personalities and communication is the key to these partnerships and is certainly something that needs to be considered very carefully in forming these teams in the future.
Our PLD programme has run effectively this term with Kate consulting on writing and Lucy on Maths. When Lucy carried out her modelling sessions across the school, it was a great idea to release team leaders to shadow her for the day and see how the teaching is practiced across all levels in the school. It was pity that Lucy was unable to make her second planned day of modelling...but this is being made up for in the holidays with a GLOSS day on the Monday of the second week. Having Kate attend syndicate data discussions meant that teachers were given PD around the use of easttle and the learning pathways. This was great for teachers to be able to marry up the school's writing rubric and the pathways. This will allow teachers to use this connection in class, making assessment more visible for the students. Aireen already carried out a very successful lesson unpacking this...may be an idea to have her run through this at a staff meeting!
School events have been many and varied. We thought we were going to have a quiet term, keeping things small and manageable...but we don't do things by halves at TPS. We introduced 'Performing Arts' this year in the senior school with Music (Caleb teaching drums, ukelele and xylophone - as well as band), Samaoan group, Tongan group, Ballroom dancing and a Tikanga Maori group. This ran every Thursday middle block for 1 1/2 hours. We then decided that we would show case the children's learning with a Performing Arts/Fiafia night. It was a hit! We raised $1400 for Y7&8 camp and the parents were blown away at the talent we produced. In addition to this we had a Pool Picnic day, school trips to North Head...associated to our ANZAC unit, a Y7&8 parent night, LCN visits, Softball field days (Y7 boys won the cluster champs and went on to the champ of champs in Albany), Y8 Tamaki College experience (a day at TamCol), more camp fundraising activities in the form of a Super Heroes fun day and a chop suey lunch, whanau conferences, student leaders selections and breakfasts...and much, much more.
On reflection, all of the events mentioned were extremely successful, but not without some hiccups or added stress. I think the biggest thing I've taken from this term is the importance of communication and not taking anything for granted. Teachers are busy people and unless specifically told expectations and jobs to do, things won't happen on their own. A very clear timeline of preparation must be formed well in advance to an event taking place that all staff are aware of. The timeline must be visited early to ensure people understand their roles and know dates times and expectations to get things done. After discussions with some teachers, a skeleton structure will be set up as a timeline for staff to use in preparation of an event.
I think the most difficult thing we've had to deal with this term is the increase in agency support required by some of the students at our school.  It saddens me to see students and families struggling as much as some of our families are.  CYFS, SWIS and Truancy have all been increasing their involvement in our community and the SMT has spent many, many hours working with these agencies and students in sorting through issues that have arisen, both inside and many cases outside of school.  But while all these things happen around us, the children's learning is and always will be at the forefront of everything we do, and seeing the learning and progress that is taking place keeps motivation and engagement high.
Bring on Term Two!

ANZAC Memorial Service

This term our Inquiry study has been centered on ANZAC and how wars of the past have changed the future.  Students carried out inquiries on everything from weapons to battlefields and the 'ethics' of war.  The literacy development happening within the school was very evident in the caliber of writing students were sharing on their blogs - from narrative to explanation to poetry.  For many of the students studying texts, war was a very distant thing, so reading true recounts and stories based on fact brought home the true devastation and misery that war brings. 
During our ANZAC service students sang the New Zealand and Australian national anthems.  A memorial was created where students had the opportunity to lay wreaths and poppies.  Mrs Kelly and I lay photos of our grandads who fought in the war.  Classes all had turns at sharing some of their learning which included songs they had written, poetry, war facts and inquiry findings. 
The service was very solemn and students were very respectful through out.
It was a wonderful occasion.

Browsing for Gems

I like to keep tabs on people within the Manaiakalani Cluster who share great resources and materials through their blogs and on google+. Today I checked out Karen Ferguson's post on google+ and was linked to her blog. Her blog is a professional reflections/journal similar to mine in that she puts her thoughts, findings and reflections all in one place. Today I found this fantastic gem we can use in our Design Technology class next term. It's focus is on design language and what students need to be able to use when discussing their design. Language acquisition is an area of focus for our students with many of them being ESOL and unaccustomed to the use of specific design language. This resource will be of great use next term, and we'll add our own slant to this, alligning it with specific language to our projects.
Check out her blog: Stuff and Nonsense

Thanks Karen!

Performing Arts Fiafia Night - Y7&8 Camp Fundraiser

On Thursday 10 April we held our first ever Fiafia night at TPS.  We were very lucky to be able to use the Summerville Special School hall, which proved to ample enough space to hold the crowd that came to support the senior students at our school.  The Night was HUGELY successful with $1400 raised to go towards camp this year. 

DATA DISCUSSIONS

This week we spent a day drilling into our data in our syndicates. Each teacher had an opportunity to review their data and identify a target group of students just below standard who would be their control group for this year. These students will be carefully monitored and their data scrutinized as their progress unfolds. The expectation is that these students achieve AT standard at the end of the year. Teachers also discussed how we can improve or enhance the learning of our students through cross grouping - identifying specific needs or abilities and grouped by them. A handful of students will be in classes other than their own for literacy and numeracy. Kate Birch spent an hour with each syndicate reviewing the easttle tool and the usefulness of the specific reports the tool can produce. The console report shows teachers where their classes stack up against the National norm. The most useful aspect of this tool is the indicators at the sides which show teachers which specific elements require further teaching or extension.