Sense Making and Professional Learning Groups

Our first Woolf Fisher sense making session  of the year at Hornby Primary last week. A great turnout of principals and leaders of learning analysing student achievement data and problem solving. A big thank you to Selena and Naomi for their wonderful facilitation!

This year our Uru Mānuka Cluster will have a relentless focus on reading ... teaching and learning practice that accelerates student progress and achievement.

High leverage practices (HLPs), as identified by by Woolf Fisher, provide the foci for our Teaching as Inquiries (TAIs) this year.

Teachers from our 7 schools have opted into one of 4 Professional Learning Groups (PLGs) based on the foci below. We have aligned our foci with Woolf Fisher classroom observations to provide us with an insight into our teaching practice.

This week we had our first cluster PLG with groups splitting off into their particular areas of interest. There was robust discussion and valuable connections established across the cluster. I am confident our relentless focus on reading will result in improved student outcomes and a better understanding of the high leverage practices that enable this to happen.

Accessing Digital Devices for Families & Whānau

A great day for the Uru Mānuka Cluster and Education Trust today! We received our first shipment of 90 chromebooks from the Noel Leeming Group (NLG). Parents ordered the Acer C732 chromebook through the Uru Mānuka Education Trust, thanks to the Manaiakalani Education Trust (MET) who have a business deal with NLG.

A big thank you to:
Mark Maddren (Te Ara Tūhura Eduction Programme Leader)
Kelsey Morgan (Uru Mānuka Education Programme Leader)
Fraser Allen (Fusion Networks)
John Becker (Hornby caretaker)

These people worked through the day enrolling each device into various schools' domains ready for learning next week.

To get to this stage involved lots of people collaborating and cooperating,  phones calls, emails and txt messages. This was a wonderful example of people and organisations coming together to overcome the digital divide in our communities. Therefore, we must acknowledge the following also;

• Uru Mānuka Trust and dedicated trustees
• Dave Winter - Manaiakalani Operations Manager
• Jenny Oxley - Manaiakalani General Manager
• Pat Snedden - Manaiakalani Chair
• Fusion Networks
• Noel Leeming Group

Today's experience has provided valuable learnings for us as we develop and refine our procedures and systems around device procurement.

Partnership

This is going to be short and sweet, but I have to share! Hornby High School (HHS) brought their Yr7-10s over to our gym for a performance by the 'Iamunbreakable' Hip Hop group. HHS are currently going through a complete rebuild and are short of space.
The group is promoting positive mental health and left the children with a box of tissues each and a website they can engage with if they need support Whoami

I thought this was a wonderful example of true partnership and collaboration between the 2 schools working in the best interests of our students. I also believe this is one of the reasons our students transition so smoothly into Year 7 each year. Tūmeke!

Manaiakalani Convenors Meeting

Hornby Primary had the pleasure of hosting our third Convenors meeting of the year on Thursday. Tier 2 Outreach started this year with 5 new clusters. One of the many enjoyable aspects of the gathering is the meal on the Wednesday evening before the meeting. This is a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, or on this occasion, meet new members of Outreach. We chatted over lovely food and beverages at the Old Government Building in the Square. These opportunities should not be undervalued, they form the foundation for positive lasting relationships.

As usual we covered a number of topics. I will touch on four
1. Assessment data. In order to link evidence to practice, we require valid, reliable, longitudinal data so we can identify the practices that are accelerating progress and achievement. At this point, we believe JAM is the most reliable Junior tool.
2. Student and whānau voice. Student voice is crucial, what is working for students and what can we do better? The same applies for whānau and families.
3. Digital Fluency Initiative (DFI) which runs each Friday for 9 weeks each term. The course has a transformational vision based on Learn Create Share and is for teachers. Teacher feedback has been extremely positive.
4. Preparing for 2019 - PR and communication is crucial.
- how many devices will we need for new 1:1 digital classes?
- when do we let whānau know?

Be prepared for the following questions/concerns from parents
- games
- screen time
- handwriting
- wifi/brainwaves

One useful strategy is to get children to present their learning to whānau. From our experience, our children are our greatest advocates in terms of promoting Learn Create Share and the affordances of digital technology.

By 3pm on the day, we had covered a lot of ground with possibly more questions than answers, but very certain in the direction we are heading ... linking evidence to practice and accelerating progress and achievement for all our learners. I'm not getting off this bus!

Student Data Feedback

Uru Mānuka Cluster Student Achievement Feedback

On Wednesday 28 February Woolf Fisher Research Centre (WFRC) presented our student data from Term 1 2016 to Term 4 2017. All 7 Manaiakalani Outreach schools were represented; principals and leaders of learning.

SEA & Observational Survey 2017

• both boys and girls were below the national norm score in all 4 aspects at school entry.
• the raw scores for boys were lower than the raw scores for girls in all aspects at school entry.
• by six years both boys and girls were very close to the national norm score in Letter ID, Concepts about print and Word Reading.

Our 5 year olds are arriving at school with very low literacy levels, however, after 12 months our children are making accelerated gains and are very close to national norms. Our junior teachers deserve a 'pat on the back' for this progress!

e-asTTle Writing - Term 1, 2017 to Term 4, 2017

• all year groups made accelerated progress.

e-asTTle Writing - Term 1, 2017 to Term 4, 2017, 2017 by Gender

• both boys and girls made accelerated progress.
• however, by the end of 2017, the raw scores for boys were still more than a year below the national norm.

e-asTTle Writing - Term 1, 2017 to Term 4, 2017 by Ethnicity

• all ethnicities made accelerated progress.
• however, by the end of 2017, the raw scores for Māori, Pakeha and Pasifika students were still approx 1/2 a year or more below the national norm.

e-asTTle Writing - Term 1, 2016 to Term 4, 2017

• all year groups made accelerated progress.
• both boys and girls made accelerated progress.
• all ethnicities made accelerated progress.

PAT Reading

• overall, students are making less than the expected progress.
• the exception being Year 5 students who made progress approx 1 term more than the national norm and Year 6 students who made norm progress from Term 1, 2016 to Term 4, 2017.

Overall, the cluster is accelerating achievement in writing. What are the teaching actions and student activities that are enabling acceleration in writing that we can implement into our reading instruction? These are conversations and inquiries we will be having tthroughout the year.

A big thank you once again to our wonderful WFRC colleagues; Aaron, Cynthia and Selena!

Learning Community

Yesterday we hosted the Uru Mānuka Outreach e-asTTle writing moderation. All seven schools sent representatives - 16 in total, a great turnout! In total, 117 scripts were moderated with less variation in marking than the previous year - this is progress! As a cluster we are developing a more consistent understanding of the curriculum levels and the asTTle writing rubic. This gives us greater certainty around our marking and overall judgements regarding student achievement.

The day also provided a wonderful opportunity for networking and getting to know our fellow cluster colleagues - and a chance to have a nice morning tea!

A couple of areas for future focus were identified during the day
1. punctuation
2. structure and language
These two areas were more challenging when it came to seeking agreement on a score. However, this can be turned into a positive as this will provide us with direction for 2018 in terms of professional learning support.

A big thanks to Kate Mclachlan for organising the day and a wonderful example of a learning community working together to improve teaching and learning practices for our learners in Uru Mānuka!

Woolf Fisher Feedback - Uru Mānuka Cluster Data

Today Aaron and Cynthia (Woolf Fisher Research Centre - WFRC) shared our 2016 and Term 1 2017 (3 time-point analysis) data with Uru Mānuka Principals in the morning then teachers after school.

We had 25 teachers from five of our cluster schools attend the 3.30pm session. We also had Dave Winter the Manaiakalani Outreach Delivery Manager join us throughout the day. A great session linking data to practice and engaging in rigorous discussion around accelerating student achievement - thank you Aaron and Cynthia!

e-asTTle Writing

3 time-point analysis T1 & T4 2016, and T1 2017

• all year levels, ethnicities and both genders made more than norm gains
• this is very positive - Learn Create Share and the affordances of digital technology is having a positive impact on student achievement

2 time-point analysis T4 2016 to T1 2017
Summer Learning Effect (SLE) 

• significant SLE at every level except transition to Yr 10 - dropoff in achievement levels over summer holidays

Writing Overall

• writing is a significant achievement issue
• boys made more progress over one full year than girls but achieved lower mean scores and suffered a larger SLE
• Maori students achieving well compared to NZE students and suffered less from a SLE in writing
• decile difference in achievement levels and in gains

Implications

• SLE is significant - what can we do to get parents on-board?
• what does Term 4 reporting look like? Might this explain some of the SLE?
• are there any handy hints/strategies that could be added to our end of year reporting?
• testing protocols - are we preparing students for testing, do we explain the importance of the testing?

Manaiakalani Outreach Convenors/Trust Chairs Meeting

We held our first meeting of the year in the Winterless North at Ohaeawai School on Thursday. We arrived to a wonderful powhiri held in the school hall. The singing and haka were inspiring! Lee and her team were fantastic hosts and the morning tea and lunch were yummy!

For the first time, we had the Trust Chairs attending. This was a wonderful opportunity for principals and chairs to meet and get an understanding of each others' roles. Dorothy Burt the Outreach Education Programme Leader was also in attendance and was able to provide valuable background information also.

Principals discussed

• data and research - what would  we like Woolf Fisher reports to look like moving forward?
• sustainability
• Outreach 2018 possibilities
• CoLs and Teaching as Inquiry
• sharing practcie and connecting across clusters

Another great day discussing teaching and learning practice focused on linking evidence to practice in order to accelerate learning outcomes for our children! A day full of Learn Create Share, including a wonderful fundraising idea Mandy shared with us involving a horse or cow! True innovation!

Uru Mānuka Manaiakalani Outreach WFRC Feedback

Today Outreach Principals and leaders hosted our Woolf Fisher Research Centre (WFRC) colleagues Aaron and Selena, and Dorothy from Manaiakalani Education Trust (MET).

Aaron and Selena presented our Uru Mānuka 2016 Student Achievement data and its implications for next steps.

The day provided a wonderful forum to focus on student data and the implications for teaching and learning practice that will accelerate student achievement. The data provided clear evidence that we are accelerating student achievement in writing in Years 4, 5, 6 and 7. Our next steps are to identify the teaching and learning practices that are making these significant shifts so all learners across Uru Mānuka can benefit.

Our next meeting will clarify our achievement challenge and how and what we will do to achieve this goal. We have a wealth of data and emerging findings to focus on.

Leaders LEARNING
Leaders CREATING
Leaders SHARING

A big thank you once again to the Hornby Working Men's Club for hosting us and supplying us with yummy food!

Professional Learning Groups (PLGs)

Six of the Uru Mānuka Manaiakalani Outreach Schools met this week at the Hornby Working Men's Club after school. Using the 2016 emerging findings from Woolf Fisher Research Centre, teachers chose an area of focus for their Teaching as Inquiry; eg. multi modal, feedback, rewindable learning, visible teaching, ... These are the teacher practices identified by WFRC as having a positive impact on student achievement.

There is good practice happening in all of our schools - Learn Create Share. Our cluster goals are to grow the capacity of all teachers and their understanding of Learn Create Share, provide opportunities to connect and share, strengthen Teaching as Inquiry so that it makes a difference for teachers professional practice and development, and also improve learning outcomes for all of our learners in Uru Mānuka.

Teachers in each group created a shared folder to keep resources in. Over time this will provide a valuable resource for all teachers within the cluster. Groups will meet each term in Week 9. No other meetings have been scheduled for these weeks in order to manage workloads.

We received great feedback about the session and teachers valued the opportunity to connect with others and discuss and share what is happening at various schools. Some have already organised visits to other schools before the next meeting. The afternoon was topped-off with tea/coffee, sandwiches and muffins!

Teachers LEARNING
Teachers CREATING
Teachers SHARING

"Excellent professional development initiative and what better way to enhance collaboration across Uru Manuka!!" (Kris, Acting Principal, Sockburn Primary)