Each year at Newmarket school we usually begin the year with teacher only days. I have been at a school that had them at the end of the year and both times have positives and challenges. This time I was ready for some learning because I have been really busy with family and my garden during the summer holidays. Usually I read heaps in the holidays but this vacation I have not done as much. Below is a summary of what I learnt

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Emergency procedures

As a school Wade Harrison from RED Consultancy,  helped us revisit our ‘Emergency procedures’. We began the new year with several new members and so it was timely to go over Planning and preparing for emergencies and traumatic incidents.

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PaCT Tool

Three years ago together with several members of staff, I attended my first training with PaCT at the Ministry of Education Symposium held at Ellerslie. Last year our ISL created a Hapara space on our Staff Workspace to guide teachers in using PaCT with mathematics. You can check that link here. The PaCT section is green.

This week we had Nadine Sorresen from evaluation associates run a days professional learning with us using PaCT.

The session with Nadine was just in time learning for me. She took us through the power of PaCT and reminded us about its interrelationship with the Learning Progression Framework.

To explain it simply PaCT is the engine that unlocks algorhythms when we make Overall Teacher Judgements using the Learning Progression Framework.

The Learning Progression Framework Illustrates the Curriculum visually.

Three key words from PaCT to know are

• Aspects

• • • Aspect are the big ideas within each curriculum areas.
    • Some aspects have smaller sets and this indicates smaller increments.
    • The aspects cover learning from Year 1-year 10.
    • They do NOT Correspond with curriculum levels and do NOT increase year by year.

• Sets

• • • Sets are within the aspects and break down those big ideas into smaller increments of learning.
    • Help with decision making as illustration examples are wide and varied.

• Illustrations

• • Are visual examples of learning at each level so that as teachers we can track and confirm our judgement before using the PaCT tool to give a clearer picture.

Below are the Aspects we make Overall Teacher Judgement on

Writing across the curriculum

• encoding
• text features
• vocabulary knowledge
• think and organise for learning
• communicate knowledge and understanding
• literary purposes
• influence others

Reading across the curriculum

• processing system
• text structure
• vocabulary knowledge
• reading critically
• organise ideas and information for learning
• using information and ideas in informational texts

My Takeaways

• All of the Illustrations within a Set weights the Aspect.
• PaCT does not happen at one sitting but as evidence is gathered over 1-2 terms across the curriculum. Nadine spoke about Naturally Harvesting.
• Several week before confirming the final indicator within a PaCT a teacher can see where gaps still need to be gathered from.
• PaCT works well when completed twice a year and is ongoing annually
• PaCT can be anniversary collated for our year 1-3 reporting cycle.
• Teachers can track progress of
  • Individual students
  • Class
  • or other groups

Overall PaCT supports teachers to understand how students develop their expertise in learning. Currently PaCT is set up for Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

As we naturally harvest learning we look across curriculum for evidence to help us make our overall teacher judgement.

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Belonging

Last year I worked with a group of students to look at planning for 2019.

Together the children came up with the overall theme of Belonging.

We used SOLO Hexagons to clarify thinking around what we believed to be important ideas for learning. The children wanted to know more about our local history and wanted to know stories about our school and area.

As a school we were fortunate to make connections with Pāora Puru from the Ministry of Education who was then invited to share his historic knowledge about our Maunga, Maungawhau.

As a staff we were going to have the session on the mountain itself however the weather had other plans. So Pāora came to school. Pāora helped define what is unique and distinctive about Auckland.  We garnered information not just about our local area but the whole of Tāmaki Makaurau. He shared rich historic heritage. This heritage reinforces our sense of belonging, our identity as Aucklanders and a sense of pride in our beautiful city.

As a green gold endorsed school this learning enriches our knowledge and pride about our environment.

During his session we had two visiting teachers from Parnell School who are working alongside us as a Green Gold Endorsed school. In addition we had Nicky Elmore our liaison from the Auckland Regional Council.

I cannot wait to share some of the stories I learnt with our children. Every two years we visit our local marae of Orakei and this year is our year so again there will be more to learn and to share.

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Teacher only days are usually days of professional learning. At Newmarket School I always enjoy them because of opportunities that are created to make connections with each other. Our Senior Leadership team always ensure that we are well fed and watered both physically and mentally. There are always next steps through Goal Setting and that will come soon. These days give us the chance to reflect on what is coming and to set in motion ideas and opportunities for learning.

This year I am in class with a beginning teacher, I have our support staff programme to oversee and coordinate, I will continue to look at the trends in our ethnic and learning data, I have my across schools role for ACCoS, and I will continue to support the staff wherever I am needed.

I have had a good break and feel refreshed and excited for the new year.