PARENT INVOLVEMENT 

As a school, we see an immense amount of value involving parents in the learning process. Not only do we make positive connections with whanau but we also notice that when mum and dad are involved and interested, it helps develop attitudes in our young people that lead to successful learning. Being involved increases students’ motivation to learn, their self-esteem, their interest in learning and their academic skills. 

How do we involve parents? We do this in a number of ways.

• We will inform parents about classroom activities, goals, plans and curriculum, and practices through the Friday Flyer, newsletters and parent information evenings 
• We will communicate regularly with parents about children’s progress, successes, achievement and efforts at school both formally and informally
• We will encourage parents to help their young person to learn at home by providing them with appropriate resources and build knowledge of next steps
• We will assist parents by teaching them how to help their young person navigate safety through these pre-adolescent years  

Parent-Teacher Contact

• The upcoming student led conferences today and tomorrow are a great opportunity to capture a valuable 15 minutes with your young person and their teacher to join in celebrating their achievements. Please focus on the positive and the way forward. See you there! 

ASSESSMENT 

As we are at the mid-way point of the year, in today’s newsletter we will share some whole school assessment data as listed below, in addition to information on assessment data points that will be coming up this term. Thanks parents for your support of the recent end-of-term exams and for helping your young person prepare and study. This home/school connect helps our going people develop positive attitudes to formal assessment not to mention improvement in results.   

See below for:

• Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT). Whole school results in reading writing and maths
• Progress Achievement Tests (PAT’s). Whole school results in Mathematics, Reading Comprehension and Punctuation/Grammar
• Auckland Grammar School results. A summary statement of 2022 placements for our boys

STUDENT ABSENCE

At the start of the year, most schools reported a positive attendance rate (around 90% or more). However as term two progressed and the impact of COVID traffic light settings and Omicron took hold, regular attendance dropped significantly across the country. To achieve and be successful it’s important you actually turn up and attend school!

At ANI we are lucky as we’ve had a pretty positive rate of attendance over the past few months. However, now is not the time to be complacent and we need to maintain regular attendance in addition to making sure our students arrive at school on time. Your support with morning routines and being organised so your young person can leave the house, ready to participate in a full day of learning is greatly appreciated. 

Over terms one and two our average weekly attendance rate was as follows:

EDUCATION REVIEW OFFICE (ERO) REVIEW 2022

This year we have a scheduled ERO visit. We are delighted to introduce Zoe Lindsay who will be our review officer. Zoe has a breadth of experience in the education sector as a teacher before she became a reviewer. We have had two meetings with Zoe already and look forward to her continued involvement and support of our school. 

Over the past two years, the Education Review Office (ERO) has shifted to a more developmental approach to evaluation visits that supports each school’s improvement over time. This is quite a different format to previous reviews and we are all looking forward to watching the process unfold. Colleagues who have already taken part in this new format have all spoken very positively about how schools interact with the process and learn from it rather than having a review “done” to you at your school. Positive stuff! 

The key features of the new approach, Te Ara Huarau, are that ERO will:

→ work with all schools in an ongoing way rather than as a one-off event

→ connect with each school’s strategic planning and reporting cycle as part of their improvement journey

→ work in partnership with schools, collaborating in support of equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners

As a result, each school will:

→ have a dedicated ERO Evaluation Partner who works alongside the school

→ have a different experience depending on needs, strengths, and their school’s specific evaluation focus

→ be on a three-year evaluation cycle

What will public reporting on ERO’s website look like?

As schools transition into the approach, ERO will work with schools to publish a one-off Profile Report. This will focus on the strategic goals schools have in place to improve learner outcomes and what the school is seeking to achieve through the evaluation.

Within a three-year cycle, all schools will then have a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report. This report includes information about the school’s improvement journey, what the school has achieved for learners and their future priorities.

All schools will receive a Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report about their board’s attestation to meeting those requirements. Provision for International Students and Hostel Reports will be published where applicable.

Other reporting

Progress Reports – These reports are not published on ERO’s website.

Progress reports will provide specific information for specific audiences such as your board, the community or the Ministry of Education.

More information is available on ERO’s website:

ERO.govt.nz/how-ero-reviews/Te-Ara-Huarau

Enjoy the month of August and many activities ahead.

Ngā mihi nui

Jill Farquharson (Principal|Tumuaki), Shane Devery (Deputy Principal), Bryce Mills (Deputy Principal)