End of Year Review 2023

Introduction


On Thursday 23 November 2023, all the Across School Leaders shared with the ACCoS principals their year's review. This year the ASLs contributed to shared slides and ensured that the year's work fitted to one slide. Hyperlinks  were added to the slide that can be accessed for more information. This end of year review to principals in the ACCoS Kāhui Ako is intended to provide an overview of the progress made by our schools collaborating on a variety of initiatives.

As a group the criteria for the review was set by the coordinating ASL. Alix Osbaldiston who agreed to undertake this task to ensure that all information was completed and in a timely way ready for the principals to access well before the final meeting.

Our Across School Role enables us to work alongside In School Leaders within our 12 schools and Early Childhood Centres. Our work continues to connect us across schools, to learn with and from each other and to share what we do.

The In School Leaders work within their schools and help drive professional learning. Ultimately our ACCoS work impacts the learning within our schools.

The review covered the following areas:

  • Our Purpose:
    • What was at the heart of this work
  • What’s been happening:
    • Original plans, how we started, action plans, where we ended up, our successes.
  • Leadership:
    •  What did we learn about ourselves as leaders of learning within this initiative?
  • Data and Change:
    • How has this initiative impacted our pedagogy and learners?
    • What data do we have?
  • The Way Forward / Looking Ahead:
    • What are the next possible steps?

The purpose of the initiatives were to:

  • Improve student achievement
  • Share resources and expertise
  • Develop a stronger sense of community with ISLs working together
  • Create a more positive and productive learning environment

What has been Happening

This years across school’s collaboration was implemented through a variety of initiatives, including:

     New Zealand Curriculum Writing

     Te Ao Māori Initiative

     What does success look like?

     Mahi Tahi me Te Akonga

     Early Childhood Education

Leadership:

Effective leadership in education requires recognizing the unique voices and perspectives of all stakeholders, fostering collaboration, and delivering clear and concise communication. Leaders must also acknowledge the challenges of implementing educational change and employ strategies such as building a strong case for change, involving stakeholders, and providing ongoing professional development. Varying meeting locations and dedicating time for small group discussions can enhance learning and understanding.

Data & change in pedagogy

Some initiatives collecting and analysing student data and voice  to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.

This data was shared across schools to gain a wider perspective on student perceptions and to identify best practices. This data could be used  to inform collaborative inquiry cycles, to inform decision-making at all levels of the system, from classroom practice to curriculum development to school leadership and using data to set goals, track progress, and evaluate interventions.

Outcomes

     The outcomes can be seen by clicking the link to each initiative.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

One of the challenges faced by the collaboration was the need to overcome the barriers of distance and time. The schools are located in different parts of central Auckland and have different schedules, which made it challenging to coordinate meetings and activities. However, the ACCoS Kāhui Ako was able to overcome these challenges by having a set day each week known as the ACCoS day and encouraged all schools to meet after school on this day. We also used technology to connect with each other both synchronously and asynchronously. Another challenge was the need to build trust and rapport between the schools. All schools had different cultures and ways of doing things, which could lead to some friction. However, the collaboration was able to overcome these challenges by establishing clear communication channels led by our champion principals and by focusing on the common goals of the collaboration. 

The Way Forward / Looking Ahead:

The following recommendations are made for the future of the collaboration:

  • Continue to focus on the common goals of the ACCoS Kāhui Ako.
  •  Continue to use technology to connect with each other and ensure that all work is transparent across the Kāhui Ako
  • Share resources and expertise more effectively
  • Continue to gather data and narratives to compare the effectiveness of the initiatives and changes in pedagogy
  • Continue to develop a stronger sense of community through across school events. 

Conclusion

The collaboration has continued to be a success and has resulted in a number of positive outcomes. The schools have learned a lot from each other and have developed a stronger sense of community. The recommendations for the future will help the collaboration to continue to be successful.

Thank you

From the ASLs, thanks go firstly to the champions who stepped forward to lead initiatives for this year; thank you for your listening ears and your wise counsel. To the principals, thank you for allowing and encouraging your teachers to be part of this community. To the students in absentia, thank you for allowing your teachers to learn alongside you. To Alison, thank you for continuing to coach the ASLs; this has been highly valuable professional development which can be used with the ISLs.  To Steve and Janine, thank you for supporting the ASLs as they grow into their roles and for navigating this challenging year.

Farewells

We farewell Sonya Van Schaijik who has been an Across school Leader for the last 7 years. She has been involved in the Writing initiative, the Pāngarau/Mathematics Initiative, the Flexible Grouping initiative,  the Local Curriculum Initiative and the Te Ao Māori Initiative.

We farewell Alice Meurice who was with us for one year and was involved in the What does Success look like Initiative.

Brewerton, C., Brooke, V., Liu. M., Meurice, A.,  Murphy ‎, L., Osbaldiston, A., Van Nes, S., Van Schaijik, S., Wait, M.,   (2023, November 23)


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