The Planning process.

To understand the whole planning processes, we go right back to last year when we sat down and started thinking about what we wanted to achieve in 2009. It is important to make sure that we have a clear direction and that learning is valued, purposeful and is a journey of both discovery and achievement, whereby each term adds value and feeds onto the next.
This year we have an umbrella statement ‘ Making a difference’ all units of work fit under this learning umbrella. We also have a range of other opportunities which fit under this umbrella included Enviroschool and the leadership programme.

In Term One, in the Senior School, we started learning about rights and responsibility, tolerance, understanding and friendship, we included a focus on the Treaty of Waitangi. As well as setting classroom treaties and establishing rules and expectations we also set up a platform for the year’s leaning pathway.
Term Two we looked at ‘Making a difference’ from an environmental prospective taking Term Ones learning and focusing on being ‘Kaitiaki’ (Guardians) for the environment.
Within these units we were also looking at developing a huge range of skills and attitudes, approaches to learning, goal setting, styles and approaches to thinking, skills for working with others, time management, inquiry development and preparation for high school as well as creating a leadership model and sense of pride in ones self.

Now lets look at unit development.

Next term is our term for focusing on health / personal identity Mana Tangata

In order to make every activity purposeful and meaningful we create a big idea. This also helps our planning by keeping all activities focussed and always relevant.

Big Idea: Who am I and what do I want to be seen as?
Mana Tangata, The power of the person.

We then started to discuss what we want to achieve. We also used a mind map, creating questions and discussion points in relationship to our current group of students. We identified a range of emotional, physical, intellectual needs with in the group. We also discussed trends and patterns of behaviour of the group and a range of relevant incidents.

We then created some key Concepts
• Making a difference by being ourselves (positive influence) and letting others be themselves.
• Making sure people view us in a positive light.
• Mana Tangata – Is the power acquired by an individual according to his or her ability and effort to develop skills and to gain knowledge in particular areas (Self Pride)

We than started to create some focuses questions, which direct inquiry and provide exploration, thought and meaning to students.

Some questions:
How do other influence who we are?
How do we influence others?
How are we perceived?
Do we make a conscious choice about who we are?
Is image who we are?
Can we really be ourselves? Be the best we can be?
How do we have different roles?
Are we true to ourselves (integrity)
How do we stay true to ourselves in different situations?
How does puberty affect our choices and who we are?

From here we seek advice, guidance and training. For this we got in a facilitator from Family Planning. She was fantastic. We got to discuss approaches, ask questions, look at research and gain a wealth of knowledge.

We than sat down with all our resources, kits, ideas, brainstorms, concepts and started to create a unit of work which fits into the Muritai Inquiry model We constructed a timeframe and an approach. We also looked at how we tie in ICT, speeches (which will be integrated as this team inquiry), literacy, key competencies and wearable arts.

We will also discuss and brainstorm needs with students next week and send a notice home consulting parents, before finalising the unit.

After creation of the unit we self assess and revise using an inquiry rubric looking at:
Authenticity
Academic Rigor
Assessment
Scope beyond the School
Uses of Technology
Active Exploration
Expertise
Communication.

It should be a great unit.

Portfolios going out

Portfolios go out next week. The portfolio is an important tool for sharing and promoting quality work, providing an incentive to take up opportunities we provide and to foster self-motivation in taking up challenges that arise in preparation for high school and future career pathways.

They are set up to celebrate success and encourage quality work. The students are asked to put a lot of effort into the creation and presentation of their portfolio

It is important to note that Portfolios are still a small selection of the enormous amount of work done at school. We must not forget to acknowledge and recognise the huge amount of unwritten work, the discussions, debates, questions, exploration, higher order thinking and day to day interaction with in the classroom.

Often we celebrate ‘student work’ not ‘student voice’ and it is student voice that is so important with in a classroom and in a child’s development. Classrooms are an exciting place where talk and discussion about learning is essential.

Guy Claxton has written ,'The classroom should be a place where talk about the process of learning, the nature of oneself as a learner, and ones improvement and intentions for oneself as a learner, is continual and natural, Claxton sees the NZ Curriculum's key competencies as providing 'learning power'.

Parents, when receiving portfolios please take in to account that it is just a snap shot. LISTEN to your child talk about their learning, the process and successes and celebrate the whole learning experience. Look at the evaluations and self assessment. Be proud of your child!

Leadership in the Senior School.

Leadership plays a huge part in the Senior School Programme. Year 8 students take on a range of opportunities around the school. The students become role models for other senior school students as well as the rest of the school. The leadership programme develops confidences, provides opportunities for extension, gives students mana and respect with in the school, provides support for teachers and the leaders provide guidance for other students. They are also involved in school wide decision making, empowering students to be the best they can be.

Some of the exciting leadership opportunities.

• I have been meeting weekly with the class and school ambassadors, discussing student welfare, positive role modelling, conflict resolution and a range of topics
• The Envio-leaders have been evaluating the school environmental commitment. As well as organising and running existing programmes.The house captains did an exceptional job at the School Cross-Country.
• The house points collectors have been busy collecting house points and keeping track of each house’s progress.
• The Kapa Haka leaders have stepped up and are leading by example. They will have another opportunity to shine next week, when teachers, principals and parents visit Muritai for an Enviroschools cluster meeting, which will start with a Powhiri preformed by students.
• The charity organisers have been involved in a whole range of events, including Forty hour famine and Mayhem Day. They are working on VSA friendship bracelets at the moment.
• The Assembly organisers have been doing a great job running school assemblies.

And the list goes on…

Accuracy for Writing Programme

The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education 08)
Stipulates that at Level 4 Students should:
• Demonstrate a good understanding of spelling patterns in written English, with few intrusive errors; (Function)
• Use a wide range of strategies to self-monitor correct spelling; (Process)
• Use a range of text conventions, including grammatical conventions, appropriately, effectively and with increased accuracy. (Function)

Literacy Learning Progressions (Ministry of Education 08)
By the end of year 8 Students will:
• Have a knowledge of common spelling patterns and morphemes; (Function)
• Review text to identify and address any problems, proofreading consistently and independently to correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation, using appropriate print or computer-based tools. (Process)

• Accurately use complex punctuation, such as semicolons, colons, and parentheses (Function)

• Use increasingly complex sentences (eg sentences with dependent clauses) that are grammatically correct. (Function)

The challenge that we have been faced with is the debate around accuracy verses content, specifically vocabulary and language resources which are encouraged in writing but the use may affect accuracy. Also whether assessment used should include the editing process.
To cater for this we have separated the process and the function (result) and when teaching we will be focusing on either the process or the end product.

Also we will define the purpose of the writing and the need to be accurate for the propose of the writing. Clearly defined criteria and learning intentions used.

Inquiry Evaluations.

Today we are started evaluating our inquiries.
This is a very important part of the inquiry process. By reflecting on what we have learnt, the skills we used and assessing what we have created, we can start looking at what our next learning steps are for future inquiries.

We started by discussing in groups the various stages of this inquiry, answering some discussion prompts. Then we evaluated our inquiry progress. Inquiry are due on Thursday so there is still time to make final changes and adaption.

We also learnt how to bind our work and conclude our inquiries.

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Thanks Bruce

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