CENTRAL TARANAKI KAHUI AKO

May

Hi Team

It is my intention to send out a Central Taranaki Kahui Ako Panui each month. This will update everyone in our Kahui Ako about what has been occuring and what is planned. It will be sent as a PDF and with a web link for ease of access. Please share this with your staff, Board of Trustees and community where appropriate. I will be asking our Across School Teachers and or Principals to contribute to the content of this. Any feedback gratefully received.

WHAT WILL OUR WITHIN SCHOOL TEACHERS BE DOING?

KEY TASKS

The Within School Teacher will offer a guide for teachers as they develop their own capabilities by making explicit approaches to teaching as inquiry. They will demonstrate and discuss how to draw on a range of professional resources and incorporate innovative strategies in response to ākonga/student needs and strengths. They will work directly with other teachers including those who come from other schools in Central Taranaki Kahui Ako to help identify and respond to challenges and to support the objectives of Central Taranaki Kahui Ako. Where applicable, this will be done through:

Promoting best teaching practice within a school. Identify expertise which needs to be developed or linked across Central Taranaki Kahui Ako.
Co-ordinate implementation of the shared achievement challenges plan across Central Taranaki Kahui Ako with ASTs and KLT.
Strengthening the use of effective inquiry approaches to teaching and learning across schools to achieve the shared objectives of Central Taranaki Kahui Ako.
Provide and lead structured opportunities which support and assist the ongoing development of effective approaches to ‘teaching as inquiry.”
Bicultural knowledge and practice.
Planning for success.
Demonstrating effective teaching and learning in own practice.
Co-ordinating professional learning.
Promoting the values, culture, knowledge and expertise of others, showing a willingness to learn.
Demonstrating openness to learning and constructive problem-solving to build and maintain relationships of challenge, trust and respect within their school and iwi communities and across Central Taranaki Kahui Ako.
Activating and developing educationally powerful connections towards shared goals within the school and across Central Taranaki Kahui Ako.

We are at the very beginning stages of working with and growing our Within School Teachers. In Term 3 we will be bringing our Within School Teachers together to begin our journey of working together and further clarifying our combined understanding of the role of the Within School Teachers within and across our schools.

WITHIN SCHOOL TEACHER ADVERTISEMENT

We are on the lookout for one final WST. The ideal person would have strengths in or a willingness to learn about/inquire into one or more of the following:

Cultural understandings and partnerships.

Restorative Practices

SENCO/Learning Support

Enquiries and an application pack can be made to the Lead Principal, Kim Waite. Contact details are at the bottom of this panui.

Applications close on the 17th June.

ACROSS SCHOOL TEACHER (AST) UPDATE

Over the last two weeks we have allocated our AST's an area to inquire into that links to our Achievement Challenge:

Tracy - Enhancing Learner Agency Through a localised curriculum

Angela - Raising achievement through enhanced transitions - Year 7 and beyond.

Penny - Raising achievement through enhanced transitions. - ECE to Primary

Our AST's have been allocated schools:

Tracy - Stratford Primary, St Josephs, Toko, Avon, Huiakama, Marco, Makahu

Angela - Stratford High School, Taranaki Dio

Penny - Ngaere, Eltham, Rawhitiroa, Midhirst, Pembroke

On the 11th June Kim, Penny, Angela and Tracy will be working with Mary Anne Mills (our expert partner) to unpack the role of the AST and what this will look like when working in our Kahui Ako Schools.

ACHIEVEMENT CHALLENGE REVIEW

We had a really productive meeting on TUESDAY 21ST MAY. Mary Anne Mills - Core Education facilitated this piece of work. We begun by focusing on:

What has worked well?

What have been the highlights?

What has been challenging?

We then Reviewed 2018/2019

What have we focused on?

What artefacts have we collected/collated?

What we have learned about:

Our systems
Teachers/Principals
Students

As a collective group we agreed that the following achievement challenges were still relevant:

Raising achievement through enhanced transitions.

Strengthening cultural understanding and partnerships with parents and community.

Enhancing learner agency through a localised curriculum.

Enhancing learning by strengthening networks that constantly foster the development of student well-being.

ACTIONS AS A RESULT:

Lead Principal to bring together the thinking and ideas and update our Achievement Challenge Plan. Once completed this draft document will be shared with our Kahui Ako community for feedback.

TE AHU O TE REO - MINISTRY PLD

He kākano ahau i ruia mai i Rangiātea
Ahakoa iti taku iti
Ka tūria e ahau ngā iwi o te ao

I am a seed, sown in Rangiātea
Although I am small

I will lead my people to the heights of greatness

Te Ahu o te Reo Maori is a government initiative led by the Ministry of Education that aims to grow and strengthen an education workforce that can integrate te reo Maori into the learning of all akonga and students in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Te Ahu o te Reo Māori represents the governments commitment to helping our education workforce to use te reo Māori correctly every day.

Te Ahu o te Reo Māori acknowledges that every staff member of an early childhood centre, Te Kohanga Reo, school and kura has an opportunity to use te Reo Māori every day.

This year, Te Ahu o te Reo Māori will be delivered during terms 2 and 3, and led by local te Reo Māori and mātauranga Māori experts in 4 priority regions.

Te Ahu o te Reo Māori contributes to the governments strategic goals and outcomes described in Ka Hikitia, Tau Mai Te Reo, and Mōu Te Reo.

It also supports the Maihi Karauna which outlines what the Government will do to support a strong, healthy, thriving Māori language in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Government’s vision is that by 2025 te Reo Māori will be a part of all ākonga and students’ education.

Within our Kahui Ako we are really pleased to report that we have many staff from across our Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary schools participating in this new initiative. if you want to know more about this please ask your Principal who is participating from your kura.

EARLY CHILDHOOD & JUNIOR TEACHER PLD

Purpose: To provide support to Central Taranaki Kāhui Ako around transition pathways to school and kura, in particular understanding the connections between Te Whāriki and New Zealand Curriculum.

Our Early Childhood and New Entrant kaiako participated in their first two days of our Kahui Ako professional development providing support with transition pathways to school and kura. In particular understanding the connections between Te Whāriki and New Zealand Curriculum. All participants were buzzing as they developed and consolidated common understandings, explored resources and activities (observations, visits, discussions) linked to the areas identified as being key to successful transitions. Looking at ...

Strong Leadership
Collaborative Relationships
Curriculum Responsive to Transition
Responsive Practice

It is not too late to join the group our next session coming up on the 5th of June. We want everyone’s voice! All welcome! Follow our work here! Register your interest to penny@ngaere.school.nz

Dates for Term 3 are …

1st August session 9.00 - 3.00 pm Relationships and Responsive Transitions/ Weaving the Curriculums
1st August session 3.30 - 5.00 pm Junior Transition Meeting: Overview of our work so far. Great opportunity for those who have not been so far.
19th September session 9.00 - 3.00 pm Relationships and Responsive Transitions/ Weaving the Curriculums

ARTS & TECHNOLOGY MEETING

A small group of year 7 - 10 teachers who are involved in the arts and technology in their schools gathered after school at Stratford High School on May 15. We wanted to look at the opportunities that may come from collaborating. We started by sharing the experiences that our students have in the arts and technology from Years 7 - 10. It became very clear that our students get to access a huge range of rich arts and technology experiences across our kahui ako.

This diversity is a result of the particular resources, spaces, and teacher expertise and passions in each of our schools. We felt reassured that this diversity is to be valued and that it is the underlying arts and technological curriculum concepts that are important. We have a chance to share how we currently teach these concepts and work towards developing a more consistent approach between our schools to help our students to connect with these curriculum learning pathways in a more coherent way.

We also affirmed our understanding of the value placed on mastering motor skills (whatever the practical context) and the experience of finishing a practical project .

Finally, we started to talk about how we can share the huge range of skills that we have amongst our teachers, including seeing more of each others’ teaching spaces and programmes - obviously an ongoing conversation. If anyone is curious about who amongst us may have particular expertise in anything arts or technology, please get in touch with Angela Roberts ra@stratfordhigh.school.nz and she will try and connect you up.

The conversation got off to a great start and the invitation remains open for more Year 7- 8 arts and/or technology teachers to join us at our next hui. We hope to start to look at the language and concepts that we use with our students so that we can start to build a coherent pathway of learning for them. Keep an eye out for dates and venues!

TRANSITION MEETING

Our recent Teacher only Day well and truly told us that transitions particularly from primary to secondary was a place that we would like to do some work around. One of our new Achievement Challenges will be raising achievement through enhanced transitions. We invite all teachers, team leaders, deputy principals, deans, Year 9 form teachers to come along for this first brain dump about what transitions might look like in the future. It is all up for grabs: not just the transition of curriculum and pastoral data but also a strengthening of relationships with learners and their caregivers as they move between our ECEs and schools. Week 7, Wednesday 12 June 3.30 - 4.30 pm, Taranaki Diocesan staffroom

NETWORK FOR EDUCATION & WHANAU SERVICES

I attended this meeting this term. It was a great opportunity to introduce our Kahui Ako and the collaborative work that is occuring. All Principals, Leaders invited to attend.

Great news for those of you who like to know which services are available in the Stratford and surrounding areas. Services do come and go and often faces change so the Stratford Community House has organised a termly opportunity to meet.

Where: Stratford Primary School staffroom

When: 3.30-5pm, 3rd Thursday of each term - 14th Feb, 16th May, 8th August, 31 Oct.

Who: A local representative from all local education providers from ECE to Secondary, and services for children and their Whanau.

An informal opportunity for 1-2 min to introduce yourself and your work place. Share your brochure/cards and connect with anyone more in depth afterwards.

Please rsvp for afternoon tea purposes, kindly supplied and hosted by Te Puna Trust.

Sally Dodunski: schadmin@stratfordcommunityhouse.org.nz

KAHUI AKO CALENDAR

All activities relating to the Kahui Ako will be logged on the calendar including venues.

What the calendar entries mean:

AST Meetings - Across School Teachers

WST Meetings - Within School Teachers (we dont have any planned at this stage.

KLT Meetings - Key Leadership Team Meetings

If you receive a calendar invite for a Kahui Ako meeting please do not reply to the e.mail just click: YES / NO / MAYBE regarding your intention to be at the meeting or not. It is very time consuming chasing up people who do not respond to calendar invites :)

CALENDAR EVENTS OF INTEREST

Central Taranaki Kahui Ako Board of Trustees Training - Governance Essentials - 23rd July

Please promote and encourage new and existing BOT members to attend this meeting.

This will take place at Stratford High School from 7.00 - 10.00 pm.

Kahui Ako Boards of Trustees - Wine & Cheese - 20th August

We are encouraging Board of Trustees to attend this 1 hour meeting so we can update them collectively on our work to date and moving forward.

This will take place at St Josephs Parish Hall from 7.00 - 8.00pm

Year 8 & 9 Transition Conversation - Wednesday 12th June 3.30 - 4.30