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!

Uru Mānuka Mini Conference Day

Wow ... what an awesome day!! Six of our seven Outreach schools were present today with approximately 115 teachers plus Uru Mānuka Trustees and Manaiakalani Education Trust (MET) Chair Pat Snedden.

The purpose of today's conference was continue to develop a shared understanding of Learn Create Share, introduce our Trustees, share examples of good practice, provide networking opportunities and listen to Pat Snedden as he spelt-out MET's vision and goals.

A big thank you to Garry Moore, Jason Marsden, Rose Crossland and Jane Ross for your attendance and contribution (Uru Mānuka Trustees). Thank yous also to Simon Moriarty for the valuable Learn Create Share workshop and the teachers including Kelsey Morgan (Education Programme Leader) who shared examples of good practice.

And lastly, but not least, Pat Snedden. Pat travelled down to Christchurch this morning, forgoing Auckland Anniversary Day. Pat's presentation was inspirational (as usual!) and it was invaluable for Uru Mānuka teachers to hear the important messages firsthand, especially the money raised by MET and our responsibility to share our practice and findings with others.

One of Pat's sayings has left a lasting impression on me, "We aren't interested in making people happier in their misery ..." Pat is saying we can do better, we must set our expectations higher, we want our pupils/students to be succeeding and leading positive meaningful lives. In other words, what we are doing is about liberation.

We finished the day with a cameo appearance from Daisy Lavea-Timo. Daisy is very interested in Manaiakalani and was invited along by Garry Moore. Daisy is a 'smash poet' and performed an item at the end of the day to a rousing applause. We hope to be seeing a lot more of Daisy!

A fantastic day focused on teaching and learning practice that accelerates student achievement - thank you everyone for your participation and contributions!

"What a fantastic, energised mini conference! The room was really buzzing!"
Jane Ross, Uru Mānuka Trust.