From the Newsletter - #02

What a fabulous start to 2010 we have had! The classes have quickly settled down to positive and effective learning and the teachers and students are reporting that they are enjoying being back at school. Our new students have been welcomed to the school and seem very happy. Don’t forget to contact your child's teacher as soon as possible if you have any questions or concerns at all.

It feels as if Wendy (Room 4 and DP) and Brent (Room 1 and team leader) have been here for a lot longer than a couple of weeks! The attendance of all of the teachers at an ‘Inspired Impact’ conference for two days before school started has helped us all get to know each other and really did inspire us to provide a challenging and exciting learning environment of your children. Chanda Pinsent has started teaching here three days a week. Chanda is our ‘co-teacher of numeracy’ and she will be working with all of the classes to support our implementation of the numeracy project. We have already moved a long way, with teachers putting time and energy into planning, thinking and a range of meetings. It is an exciting initiative for Carterton School to employ a ‘co-teacher’ and we look forward to evaluating the project carefully later in the year.

National Standards.

While National Standards have been featuring in the media recently we are not panicking about their introduction here at Carterton School. As I wrote in the newsletter of 8 December 2009:

‘While I strongly agree that all schools must continuously focus on improving student achievement, and should set high targets, I do worry that the standards as currently published will not achieve the intended goal of improving achievement for our New Zealand students most at risk.’

From 2010 teachers will be asked to make a judgment, using all of their knowledge/evidence of a child’s learning, to decide if s/he is achieving well above, at, below or well below the expected level for their age in writing, reading and maths. This will then be reported to the Ministry of Education from 2011. We can do that, but there are three main concerns I have:

a) If we had a ‘level playing field’ where all children start school with the same set of skills and abilities at the age of 5 it may be reasonable to expect all children will reach the proposed targets each year. Our 5 years olds come to school with vastly different skills, abilities and knowledge of school.

b) We all learn at different rates. For example, some children find writing a huge challenge and may make great progress, but never reach the standard for their year group – their reports will constantly tell them and their parents that they are ‘failing’. We need to acknowledge and celebrate progress and continued learning.

c) While the Minster has assured schools that there will not be ‘league tables’ to show which schools have the most children achieving the targets – there will be a reporting process which could allow comparison between schools. Can you guess which schools would appear at the ‘top’ as all or most of their children meet the national standards? Which schools would be at the ‘bottom’? Is that a fair reflection of the quality of teaching?

We have a fantastic New Zealand Curriculum which focuses on the whole child and preparing them to take their place in the world as they grow. I worry that schools could narrow their focus to only meet the targets set in the National Standards. I would like to see a trial of a suitable number of schools across New Zealand to see if National Standards do in fact improve achievement. If yes – then let’s go ahead.

Alison

Posted by Administrator (admin) on Feb 21 2010

Last changed: Feb 22 2010 at 7:14 AM