With the writer's permission, we're uploading this letter as some of you may also have similar questions.
Thank you for arranging the Literacy evening last night, Christina I enjoyed your presentation! I also picked up some helpful ideas for my child. After reflecting on the session I do have some further questions that I'm wondering if you could answer for me?
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response. Hi Parent, Thanks for your feedback - I'm pleased you found some ideas helpful! I've answered your questions below as best I can - feel free to follow up with me (or your child’s pod teacher) if what I've written doesn't make sense, or if you want information specific to your child’s situation. 1. Is there specific feedback given to children after they have completed their independent writing? Yes and no. It depends a lot on the child, on the day, and on the writing 'task' or 'topic'. For example - a child who is just beginning to write (a NE) would have a lot more support than a Year 2 who is writing independently. The feedback (for any child) may range from a verbal read through with a teacher and an oral comment, to a written comment from a teacher, to a comment about content, to a comment about surface features, or related to a WALT. Feedback might be a prompt to carry on writing, or a prompt to edit / check work etc. Some days there will be more feedback than others, some days there will be none - and there's no specific reason for this! 2. Are you currently running a sepcific phonics programme to all children? Yes. Different teachers will do this in different ways. In the HSS (Herring, Simons and Stuart) area of Kowhai, the children are ability grouped for phonics and receive specific phonics instruction using the Yolanda Soryl programme. In the other end of Kowhai, children receive phonics instruction based on the Gail Gillon phonological awareness programme and Yolanda Soryl (depending on the level of reading / writing). The difference arises from different teaching experiences (for teachers) and different professional development opportunities. Also, are there any specific follow up activities for the children to do that relate to their next steps? Yes - again, this depends on the level of reading / writing, and the focus of the session. Follow up activities might relate to a the book that's been read, or might involve writing a story in response to a book, or to a shared experience. (I personally think the follow up activities are actually no different to what I would have done in my single-cell or 'traditional' classroom). 3. What is the role of the 2 roving teachers while the other 4 teachers are in the breakout spaces? We've made some changes to our morning programme and the role of play in our programme. Currently we work in two groups of 3 - Thelma, Natalie and Louise (HSS) work at one end to plan and teach literacy in the first block of the day, and then maths in the second for the children in their pod groups. Nicole, Jo and I (ABS) do the same at the other end for the children in our pod groups. As we've had to compress the amount of time we have for literacy instruction, all three teachers teach literacy at the same time - two will work in the breakout spaces, and one in the larger classroom space. During literacy time (while not working with a teacher) the children will be working at various independent literacy activities - literacy games, reading opportunities, writing opportunities etc. A similar thing happens during maths time, and again there's a balance of large group, small group and independent work. Our play-based learning programme has been reduced to afternoons, and happens on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. On Monday and Thursday we do inquiry as a whole group (6 pods) and mix teachers to work with different pod groups. On Tuesday or Wednesday the children will visit the library. During the afternoon, all six teachers will work / play in the large space, and the children are free to move and choose from the whole space and from any activity. Teachers are also free to either set up an activity (indoors or out), or join the children in imaginative play, or observe and respond to the play that is happening.
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Both the Kowhai learning community and the Manuka learning community are using play-based learning this year. In the Manuka learning community, this means that Year 2 and Year 3 children are involved in play-based learning. The short answer to this question is that we don't anticipate there being any more or less of a gap between groups of learners than there has been at any other point in schooling. (As a side note, if we thought there was an issue here, we would be morally, ethically and professionally bound to eliminate any threat to learning). The long answer is below! We are fortunate in New Zealand that our curriculum is open, and that we do not have set criteria for what needs to be taught at each year level. This is one of the strengths of our curriculum, and something much admired internationally. In New Zealand teachers group children according to their relevant and assessed needs, not their year level. It's possible within any classroom (traditional, flexible, teacher-directed or play-based) to find older children who are working 'below' where we would expect them to be, and equally younger children working 'above' where we would expect them to be. In terms of level of expectation, our National Standards document where children should be working at different stages in schooling. You can read more about National Standards in the downloadable booklet below.
This question was asked anonymously at our Powerful Connections Meeting. We'd welcome some clarification about the question if you want to leave a comment or suggestion as to what you are thinking the answer could be.
Generally, we encourage parents to talk to their child's pod teacher (or any teacher in our community!) We believe strongly that education is a partnership, and we value the information we receive from parents as to how their child is progressing at home. There are lots of ways you can talk to us - pop in before or after school for a quick catch-up while you pick up or drop off your child; email us directly or as a group of teachers (our email address is at the bottom of our KIT notices); phone the office and leave a message for us to call you back; or make an appointment to come and see us if you want to discuss something more time-consuming or serious. Having said all of that, this question stipulates "without talking to the teacher", which makes things a bit more tricky. ;o) You could talk to your child about what they are learning; you could come and look through their books and discuss their learning with them; or you could read through our blog posts for the odd mention about what we are looking at in very general terms. Physically there are lots of quiet spaces in our learning community, and the children are able to use any of them. Our programme allows for individual children to decide where they want to spend their time, depending on how they are feeling, and without the added pressure of a teacher-directed timetable.
Break-out spaces (used for teaching) are available for use by children, and they might read quietly in a corner (or just sit!) while a group is being taken. We also have four wooden cubes for the children to use which are surprisingly quiet inside. There are also quiet spaces under the bench by the windows at the east end of our community (closest to the admin area). Due to the acoustic design of the space, there are quiet spaces all along the edges of our community (around the yellow beams). Children are also free to move outside, away from the busy-ness of the learning community. We have small deck chairs that we take outside with a box of books to allow for quietness, and children are encouraged to rest on the couch or cushions if they are feeling tired. It's coming! Mrs Sands leads our digital technologies (DT) team, so we know the kowhai community will be well provided for. ;o)
As you will understand, we've had other routines and systems to set up within our learning community, and haven't wanted to overload our learners or teachers with too much at once. Eventually we will have an iPad to learner ratio of approximately 1:5, as well as access to a shared iMac and netbook computers. These devices will be used to support learning across the curriculum, as well as provide opportunities for children to 'research' their own interests. We expect our iPads and our iMac to be available from next week, and our netbooks in another one or two weeks. The DT team originally planned for all devices to be available (at all levels of the school) from the end of Week 1, but we've encountered some unforeseen delays to this plan. These relate to networking, the new building, our internet monitoring, our iPad deployment software, our wireless network and some key equipment literally melting under the pressure! Be assured that we will be monitoring the use of the iPads and devices very carefully, and that children will not be left unattended (particularly if using the internet). We will also be using Seesaw, a portfolio tool that allows children (and teachers) to share learning with parents in real time, and for parents to provide feedback to their children throughout the day. You can read more about Seesaw here. Our expectation is that children will write four times a week - two of these times with a teacher, and two times independently (hopefully with some parent or teacher aide support, depending on availability). Writing with a teacher takes place in a small group setting (maximum of six children) in a break-out space. Independent writing takes place within the classroom (but with the same small group setting).
Having said all of this - it's important to realise that any programme and any systems within a classroom take time to establish at the beginning of the school year. For the first two weeks of this year we focused on establishing our daily and weekly timetable, our transitions between events and our independent routines. In week three we began our reading and maths programmes. Towards the end of week three we began our writing programme, and in week four we focused on establishing our writing programme in line with the expectations outlined above. While it sounds relatively simple and straightforward when written down, establishing strong behavioural and academic expectations for all children within a new physical setting and with new teachers and ways of working does take time. KIT notices are published weekly on a Friday. While we aim for this to be done during the school day, there are times when other responsibilities or school events prevent us from doing so. You should receive an email on a Friday with a link to the latest KIT notice. Please remember we are people too, and occasionally (very occasionally) we make mistakes. You might not get an email about a KIT notice on a Friday, but all KIT notices are displayed on this web page, under the 'K.I.T. (keeping in touch) notices' heading. You can check this page for the most recent KIT notice, or any previous KIT notices that you may have missed.
We do not email parents to say we have updated other pages on this blog, as previous groups of parents have found repeated emails over-whelming. Communication is one of those 'Goldilocks' things - it's either 'too much', or 'too little', and very rarely 'just right'. It's also a two-way process, so please feel free to communicate directly with your child's pod teacher, or leave us a question on a KIT notice if there's something you're not sure of! Honest answer: we're not sure! We'll be having a careful look through our resources over the next week to see if they've been misplaced, and will update this post once we've done that!
Our reflections at the time were that most questions asked were around the layout of the physical space, including questions about how would the children know which toilet to use, where would the children store their bags, how would we get their attention and how would we use the green wall. We feel most of these 'organisational' questions have been answered by being in the space, and letting our programme develop. If you have a question that hasn't been answered from that time, or a new question you've just thought of, please use the 'Leave us a question' form to let us know! "How do you ensure the 'middle of the roaders' aren't over looked when awarding bus tickets?"28/2/2017 For those of you unsure about what the 'bus tickets' are, they are our new school-wide positive behaviour reinforcement scheme. Children receive a bus ticket any time they are 'caught' displaying one of our school values (innovation, connection, empowerment, determination, respect, integrity, vitality, empathy or resilience).
A teacher will fill out the bus ticket, and your children will bring it home so it can be proudly displayed on your fridge, mantelpiece, trophy cabinet or facebook page. ;o) There are actually two sections to the bus tickets - the fancy part that your child brings home, and a second (less fancy) part with the same information on it. This part is sent to the school office, and the information on it is entered into eTAP (our student management system). All teachers are then able to see a spreadsheet in real time containing information about which children have received bus tickets, and what they were received for. Teachers can view this information for their own pod, the entire kowhai community, or the whole school. This information is reviewed at our weekly meetings on a Thursday to ensure that all children are being treated fairly, and have equal opportunity to receive a bus ticket. |
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