Community Engagement

We had a wonderful meeting on Saturday 7 April with our Filipino community. Brent, our board chair welcomed everyone followed by introductions.

The purpose of the meeting was to

• connect school and families
• connect families with families
• get an indication of what families wanted for their children, what they valued and what determined success for their children
• answer questions or queries

Parent feedback

• want children to have a good attitude towards learning (lifelong learner)
• develop the skills and attitudes to enable children to learn what they want (view themselves as learners)

A big thank you to Barb (AP) and Kate (DP) who gave up their Saturday morning to attend and provide much appreciated support. The parents were very positive about the meeting and would like to meet once a term.

A morning of learning, creating new knowledge and the opportunity for lots of sharing!

Education Programme Leader Feedback

This morning Kelsey (Education Programme Leader - EPL) and I met up to reflect on Term 1 and her role as EPL. Kelsey is employed by the Uru Mānuka Education Trust to support our digital 1:1 teachers and teachers new to Learn Create Share.
We discussed the following

• Learn Create Share - how to implement in the classroom
• digital immersion - device use/purpose
• whānau/community engagement
• blogging/Google+ (staff & students)
• our pupils are "doing an awesome job of sharing" their learning through blogs

Kelsey is booked in for a slot at our next board meeting where she can connect and share her role with our trustees.

Kelsey is doing a great job supporting teaching and learning, not only at Hornby Primary, but across the Uru Mānuka Cluster. Thank you Kelsey!!

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!

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.

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!

WFRC Manaiakalani Outreach Wānanga Presentation

All eight Uru Mānuka Outreach Cluster Principals attended the Manaiakalani Outreach Convenors meeting at Pt England School on Thursday 26 October - a great effort! To have all our principals there on the day was fantastic and demonstrates everyone's commitment to Learn Create Share and the affordances of digital technology-  a very proud Convenor indeed!

Rebecca, Aaron, Selena and Cynthia from Woolf Fisher Research Centre (WFRC) presented our cluster data which included; classroom observation data, and teacher, student and parent questionnaire data. We had the opportunity as a cluster to investigate the data and identify patterns and trends that could inform our strategic planning for 2018. The information provided was invaluable as it enables us to link evidence to teacher practice.

Two possible cluster focus areas for 2018 identified:

1. Teaching foci - increase the amount of time spent on teaching strategy and critical thinking.

2. Feedback type - more descriptive and generative.

These foci may provide the basis for our cluster Teaching as Inquiry (TAIs) investigations in 2018. Cluster TAIs and the sharing of outcomes will develop greater consistency and coherence in our teaching practice and hopefully continue to accelerate student achievement across Uru Mānuka.

Another wonderful day with like-minded colleagues dedicated to making a difference to our learners lives. A special thank you to Russell and his team for hosting us, the WFRC team for their indepth analyses, Dorothy for her presentation, the Manaiakalani CoL presentations, and lastly but not least, Pat Snedden (MET Chair) for his ongoing support that makes all of this possible!

The Team

Labour Education Spokesperson Visit

Today Chris Hipkins (Labour Education spokesperson and Megan Woods (local Labour electorate MP) visited Hornby Primary to get a first-hand understanding and experience of Learn Create Share and the affordances of digital technology. Acting Principal Simon Scott, both of our Educational Leaders Mark and Kelsey, and myself shared our Manaiakalani Outreach journey.

Chris and Megan were very interested in our teaching and learning approach and asked some very insightful questions. It was a good opportunity for us to reflect on our challenges and progress we have experienced over the past two and a half years.

Chris was interested in our NZCER Me & My School survey results - I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that his mother is Rose Hipkins who was involved in developing the key competencies in The New Zealand Curriculum.

Thank you to Mark, Kelsey and Simon for your valued input today. The 3 of you have been instrumental in transforming teaching and learning practice and accelerating student achievement in the Uru Mānuka Cluster!