Matariki 2017 Epsom Girls Grammar

Students, whanau and teachers gathered outside the Raye Freedman Arts Centre at 5.30am for karakia to celebrate te ao marama and remember our ancestors. Together we walked up Maungawhau to glimpse the glinting Matariki constellation. The in-zone students sang a beautiful waiata to mark the event before the mist and patupaiarehe rolled in. At dawn we returned for delicious kai, fried bread prepared by the Food Technology team, cereal from Sanitarium and lots of good coffee. The walk is part of a PLG with a focus on bicultural classrooms in 2017.

Cross-sector forum

My first cross-sector forum and the Hon Hekia Parata, Minister of Education’s last, was stimulating and inspiring. The theme of the forum was transformation via personalised pathways for kids through quality teaching in Communities of Learning (CoLs). Embedding Communities of Learning/Kahui Ako to ensure better outcomes for learners in Aotearoa is transforming the way both schools and the Ministry of Education operates. Anthony Mackay, deputy chair of the New Zealand Education Council drew the international stage to our attention, saying that global eyes are on the Community of Learning/Kahui Ako model.

Sitting in pre-arranged nation-wide groupings each table consisted of an employee of the Ministry of Education, an Expert Partner, school principals, an across-school teachers and a representative from the public sector such as the Tertiary Education Commission. Expert Partners are a group of academics and practitioners who are available (without extra cost) as required by a community. Examples of Expert Partners are published academics such as Michael Absolum, Cathy Wylie, Mere Berryman, Alex Hotere-Barnes, and Earl Irving (ex-Starpath). The Ministry has made Expert Partners available to act as critical friends assisting communities in various ways such as problem definition or writing professional learning development plans to ensure CoLs can successfully meet their achievement challenges. A simulation exercise where we brokered resources across an imaginary CoL highlighted the idea that resources can be collectively used across the community to meet achievement challenges. 

Opportunities to network, while gathering knowledge occurred in expo neighbourhoods which focused on five domains: teaching collaboratively; leading for progress; using evidence; educational journey pathways; and partnering with the wider community, for example through local iwi. The proffered lens with which to view the neighbourhoods was through the experience of everyday learners. This focus on learners demonstrates the commitment to ensure our decisions and actions are student-centered.

The expo highlighted various Ministry developed tools that are available to assist the success of the CoLs. A stand on TLIF, the Teacher-led Innovation Fund, highlighted that funds are available for collaborative groups to attain achievement challenges. I downloaded The Learning Progressions app, which has student exemplars in Reading, Writing and Mathematics. I look forward to using the Local Curriculum Smart Tool to learn more about the local environment, economy, history and people of our community.

Hekia Parata’s oratory modeled dynamic bilingualism and her inspirational challenge that we become bilingual resonated. I enjoyed her autobiographical story, one of ten children, who did not lack wealth, despite growing up without a car or their own home in Ruatoria, because whanau and teachers supported educational pathways. She spoke of the new dawn; just as Ruatoria literally sees the first light, communities of learning are the new light in education.

ACCoS Cafe

Inspired by Educafe style interactive discussions, last Wednesday afternoon the across school teachers hosted an ACCoS Cafe for the in school teachers in our Auckland Central Community of Schools. The session had two purposes, firstly to build our community connections and secondly to discuss learner agency, a common thread within our various inquiries. Our community is large so it felt important to provide the in school teachers with an opportunity to meet each other face-to-face and share their findings so far. Our question for the afternoon was, "How does my inquiry within the ACCoS connect to learner agency?" Groups discussed what learner agency looks like in our setting. After a couple of rounds of sharing we explored the question, "How do we build agency across our community?" Alongside the cafe discussion groups, community members were encouraged to share their thinking beyond these questions by providing comments, constructive feedback and posing further questions. It was a positive afternoon and worth repeating with a different focus in the future.

Google afternoon

Under the patient guidance of Sonya Van Schaijik the Across School teachers gathered to learn about google plus, google circles, our google site, calendar, blog and shared folders on google drive.