Authenticity

Authentic: the adjective authentic describes something that is real or genuine and not counterfeit ... something reliable, based on fact, and believable.

Whaea Heather teaches a Year 4-6 bilingual class (Level 2). Each year we have an Anzac Service at the Hornby War Memorial on the school grounds. Last year's service below.
                                                                   

Under lockdown this year, such a service was impossible ... but check out the video link below to see what this year's service looked like ... it was authentic!
Here is a short movie of our google hangout.

I found this learning creation inspiring! Why ... it included all the underlying principles of Learn Create Share, where the learning was
- authentic (culturally responsive practice)
- visible
- connected
- ubiquitous
- empowered

Our pupils were still able to Learn, Create and Share in lockdown without physically being at school. Arabella posted about her great grandfather who was a member of the 28th Maori Battalion and Mikaylah posted about her koro who served in WW11.

Side note: this learning experience was enriched by supporting roles from
- Matua Hector; reading the Ode in te reo Māori
- Arabella's mum sharing about great grandfather
- Whaea Christine our wonderful Resource Teacher of Māori (RTM)
This strengthened the authentic learning context further.

This was possible due to the affordances of the technology and Google Meet/Hangout. This is just another example of the learnings that are arising during Distance Learning. The challenge for us is to ensure we incorporate these learnings into our teaching and learning practices so that we engage and motivate all of our learners when we return to school and face-to-face.

Term 1 Happenings

This is a brief summary of our teaching and learning journey this term. 

Manaiakalani Outreach Convenors' Meetings
February 28th Outreach Convenors met at the beautiful Paihia School for the day. We were joined by

Damian Edwards: Associate Deputy Secretary, Education Systems Policy

Rose Carpenter: Change and Implementation, Early Learning and Student Achievement

The Manaiakalani Clusters have a history of the convenors meeting together in each-other’s places.

This is something we’ve found extremely valuable as it enabled us to:

• Support one another
• Connect with Public Good Partners & Trusts
• Jointly problem solve
• Share the wins and the losses
• Enjoy one another’s company and have fun learning
• It’s also helping us greatly to be an effective “network of networks”

I acknowledge Russell Burt for the Manaiakalani history above.

As usual, the day was stimulating and informative, we shared our wins and losses, and left feeling positive about our next steps and knowing that we had someone to call on for support! Pat Snedden provided his usual rousing speech which was inspirational as usual!

Professional Learning Groups (PLGs)
We held our first cluster meeting at Wigram School. All 7 schools attended and teachers choose one of the 4 emerging findings from Woolf Fisher research that has a positive impact on student learning outcomes and were grouped accordingly.
1. Activating prior knowledge
2. Extended conversations
3. Critical literacy/thinking
4. Feedback

It was wonderful to observe the deep discussions around teaching and learning practice and the connections being developed across schools and primary/secondary. A big thank you to our Education Programme Leader (EPL) Kelsey for organising the groups, resources and structures for the meeting.

Media Team Day
Thursday 4 April we hosted Media Day at Hornby. All 7 cluster schools were represented and the focus was on videoing and commenting.
After morning tea we were joined by Kerry Du Pont from Whitebait Media who shared his digital and production experiences. It was a great day of connecting and collaborating.

Student Toolkits
Friday 5 April South Hornby hosted the Uru Mānuka Tookits. Our senior children presented workshops on particular Google apps, for example, coding and videoing. All 7 schools participated and it was great to see the collaboration and sharing of ideas.

A pleasing aspect was the confidence our children displayed and the growing agency/empowerment they are developing. Agency refers to the power to act and taking responsibility for one's learning and and therefore viewing yourself as a learner. Having agency is crucial if our children are going to be successful learners and lead successful lives after schooling.

Feedback from the day from Michaela and Draved

• I enjoyed meeting different people
• I enjoyed presenting Toolkits and seeing othr people learning from us
• I enjoyed learning from the Toolkits and how people did it step by step to make it easier
• I felt nervous to begin with but it got easier and I became more confident

And lastly but not least, a big thank you to Kelsey our Education Programme Leader. On top of supporting our digital teachers, Kelsey organised and facilitated the Media and Summit Days, along with her mother Sue who provided valuable support. Thank you Kelsey for providing valuable learning experiences for our students.

A great start to the year and a wonderful foundation to build on for the next 3 terms!

Visible Teaching and Learning

Sky is in Year 3 and started at Hornby Primary at the beginning of the term. Sky is in a digital 1:1 (chromebook) Yr3-4class. For most children, this is the first time they have used a chromebook.

Yesterday she shared her Google slide Mini Country Study on the Phillipines with me. I left a comment and she replied soon after. My initial reaction was - how cool is this! Not so much the wonderful presentation she had done, but that she had responded to a comment on her work.

These are the things that were going around in my head at the time

• Learn Create Share, not only for Sky but myself. I learned what the Filipino name for pork was and how to say 'thank you'
• Sky was sharing her knowledge with an authentic audience
• Sky has created something no one else has ever done
• Empowerment for the learner
• Strengthened our relationship - she had a big smile on her face when I went to her room this morning
• This type of interaction would not have happened in an analogue classroom

This is fantastic - Learn Create Share and the affordances of digital technology is the best thing since sliced bread!! What a great way to end the week and head into the weekend!

Learn Create Share Reflections

We are half way through the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme. So where are we at, and is this making a difference? Here are my thoughts and reflections, in no particular order.

But first, our context:
School roll: 230
60% Maori, Pasifika or Other
Contributing
Decile: 3
2 bilingual classes (Level 2)
3 x 1:1 digital teaching spaces; Yr3-4, 45 children and 2 teachers, Yr4-6 bilingual, 20 children and 1 teacher and Yr5-6, 57 children and 2 teachers.

1. Increased learner motivation and engagement in all teaching spaces. One teacher has commented recently that when they first arrived at HPS, he spent most of his time managing behaviour. Now, he spends all of his time focused on teaching and learning. I can vouch for this. Whenever I am in this space, there is generally 100% student engagement, and I mean learning engagement.

2. This increase in motivation and engagement is a direct result of Learn Create Share (LCS) and the affordances of digital technology. Learning is relevant and authentic because learners are connected to the outside world and their learning has a purpose.
Learners have a 'voice' and peers/teachers/family and whanau can comment on children's work. I have seen first-hand the power of blogging and feedback, and the big smiles on children's faces when they read the comments on their blogs. Our learners have agency, they have become empowered and they are becoming to view themselves as successful learners. This is a paradigm shift. Carol Dweck talks about open and fixed mindsets. Our learners are developing open mindsets, this was certainly not the case two years ago. Children are now able to articulate their learning goals and next steps, and celebrate moving up a numeracy stage or reading level. Senior children are successfully leading Learning Conferences with parents and whanau.

3. Changing teacher practice. If we keep doing the same stuff, we will keep getting the same results. We are really lucky to be working with the Woolf Fisher Research Centre (WFRC) from Auckland University. This involves gathering student data and teacher observations to evaluate whether the programme is successful in improving student outcomes in numeracy and literacy.
These are some of the affordances WFRC have identified;

• Engagement; more time on task, more purposeful, more student voice, ...
• Powerful teaching conversations; teachers with more time for interactions that move thinking forward
• Complex tasks;
  Learn: reading and writing from multiple sources
  Create: multi modal opportunities for re-presentation
  Share: learners as experts over new knowledge
• In-site and on-site support; teaching sites offering scaffolds, collaboration as support for learning, ...
• Connections and visibility; communicating with a real audience and purpose in mind, to inform others about my learning, visible teaching and learning, ...

This is a really exciting place for us! Connecting research, student data and teacher practice - these teacher practices appear to result in positive learning outcomes for students. So our next step is to spread these practices across our school and the cluster. As Dr Rebecca Jesson says, "We want to spread the ripple of effective teacher practice across the entire pond."

4. Education Review Office (ERO) endorsement. Before our visit in Week 6 this term, I was very clear about the direction we were heading in, I did not really need ERO to confirm my thinking. However, it is always reassuring when someone from outside of your organisation reaffirms your thinking and teaching practice. Here are some comments from our August review:
"... authentic, meaningful contexts..."
"They are able to create their own ways of sharing their learning."
" ... children have access to the use of technology. This has resulted in children being motivated, highly engaged and able to work independently or in groups."
"Ongoing feedback and feedforward from teachers and peers through the class blogs have enhanced Māori children's focus on and enjoyment of learning."
"Children have many opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other. The use of technology supports student engagement and deeper involvement in their own learning and progress."

I started off asking if this is making a difference? You don't have to be a rocket scientist to join the dots on this one! Manaiakalani Outreach Programme and LCS is transforming our teaching and learning practice at Hornby Primary which is impacting positively on student engagement and motivation. I am optimistic that our Term 4 student data gathering will demonstrate positive shifts in achievement.
 I must acknowledge and thank our teachers who have grasped this opportunity with both hands and are really 'flying' with Outreach.

Lastly, a very special thank you to the following who have made this possible:
Manaiakalani Education Trust (MET) and Pat Snedden (Chair)
Jenny Oxley (Outreach Programme Manager)
Dorothy Burt (Education Programme Leader)
Russell Burt (Convenor Support)
Dave Winter (Outreach Delivery Manager)
Mark Maddren (Outreach Facilitator)
Woolf Fisher Research Centre
Spark Foundation
Next Foundation