NEWS from the PRINCIPAL and DPs
Kia ora e te whānau
Welcome to term two and what an exciting term ahead ! With the CPF red restrictions now behind us we are ready to face the new term refreshed and ready for action.
Before we begin the term and move forward it is also important to look back on where we have been and ask our young people some questions.
“We do not learn from experience- we learn from reflecting on the experience “ John Dewey
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONING
This quote has deep meaning for us as a school as we commence the term under a new CPF setting and post the Omicron peak. We want to take the term one experiences, review the progress we have made and recalibrate learning programmes so that effective pedagogy by the teacher supported by high-quality assessment. This continues to be a strong focus in all classrooms and we have provided additional details below on how we will be assessing our young people this term to keep them focussed, engaged and interested in monitoring their progress.
Questions we will be asking:
Start of the day reflection questions:
o Do you remember the routine?
o Are you working with the right people?
o Have you closed off the outside world to give your best focus to the task?
During the lesson reflection questions:
o What are you still thinking about?
o What did you bring to the lesson?
o How much effort are you putting in?
End of the day reflection:
o How well did you understand what you learnt today?
o What do you wish you had asked?”
And throughout the day we will always be focusing on the right behaviours:
o Are you sitting next to the people you work best with?
o What troubles did you cause for others?
o When were you selfless?
STAFFING TERM 2
New staff joining the ANI whanau are;
- Yasuko Okamura – Yasuko joins us as the new teacher in Room 26.
- Kristie Barber – Kristie joins us as our new lab technician in Makerspace Hub #1
Staff changes within ANI are;
- Colin Dale – Colin transitions from doing release for teachers to being the interim teacher in Room 15 until their new teacher arrives from the UK in July 2022.
- Alice O’Sullivan – Alice is the new Team Leader for the Year 8 Rimu Team.
- Carlos Kucera – Carlos is the new Year 8 Dean and SENCO.
ORANGE SETTING AND WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS TERM
You’ll be aware that Minister of Education Chris Hipkins announced the move to Orange at 11:59pm on 13 April 2022.
The decision to move to Orange has been made on public health advice and reflects that we are past the peak of cases and our health system is able to cope. We are seeing that cases are declining due to high levels of vaccination and natural immunity after infection.
Face masks at Orange traffic light setting?
At Orange, face masks are no longer required at school. However public health advice is that masks continue to be strongly encouraged when indoors. Wearing a mask is a key health measure that slows the spread of COVID-19 in indoor settings. For that reason, we ask that visitors to the school, including parents and whānau, wear a mask whenever they are indoors on school grounds.
Does my child still bring a mask to school?
Yes, we do ask that your child continues to bring a mask to school every day. There may be times that we’ll ask them to wear a mask, too – for example, when we are having an assembly in the barn. If there are a high number of cases at school or in the community, we may ask that masks be worn in classrooms for a time.
Do they need to still wear a mask on transport to and from school?
At Orange, students aged 12 and above are still required to wear a face mask at school or on public transport.
Will health measures still be in place at school?
We will continue to keep all the other health measures in place at school that we know slow the spread of COVID-19. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette, appropriate physical distancing whenever we can and, most importantly, staying home if we are sick.
Which events/activities can now go ahead in term 2 given the settings change to orange?
- School assemblies (Mondays)
- Team time assemblies (Kauri, Totara, Rimu and Matai)
- End of term awards assembly (End of term 2)
- Parent meetings on-site (for various reasons)
- University visiting lecturers for student-teacher observations
- Meetings with educational experts (RTLB) who work with various staff and students
- Meetings between teachers and parents on-site when required
- The ANI timetable reverts back to normal as below:
SCHOOL HOURS
Starts: 8:45am (9am on Mondays)
Interval: 10:30 – 10:50am
Lunch: 12:30 – 1:25pm
Ends: 3:00pm
EXAMS REVIEW: TERM 1
The exams undertaken in the last two weeks of term 1 included Mathematics and Literacy (Reading and Writing). The exams were developed taking into account where our students should be achieving (at level 4) and included some level 3 (primary school) and level 5 (high school) questions.
The term 1 exam results can be found by logging onto your child’s ‘Education Perfect’ digital platform account (you may have to ask them to log in for you). This will provide you with information on the questions they got correct and also those questions that need to be worked on in order to improve their learning, knowledge and skills.
Mathematics Results
Overall the whole school achieved an average score of 81%. Some of the trends or areas of development from the data indicated the students need to focus on improving decimal place values and adding/subtracting fractions with different denominators. The two areas highlighted (decimals and fractions) are what ANI would expect a year 8 student to know before they go onto high school. So we still have some time up our sleeve to improve learning in these areas.
Literacy Results
Overall the whole school achieved an average score of 83%, with 38% achieving in the 90 -100 percentile. These results are very encouraging, however, the trends emerging from the data indicate some work needs to be done when creating a story using a prompt or sentence starter, focusing on accurate spelling and developing a deeper understanding of language features.
ASSESSMENT IN TERM 2
What tests do we use?
During term 2, teachers will create their own tests using a variety of resources such as Education Perfect and administer a test before they start a new unit of work (pre-test) and then again after they have completed a unit of work (post-test). This will allow teachers to see how much progress a student has made in their class, over the duration of the new learning taking place. We will also be completing formal exams in Mathematics and Literacy at the end of the term.
How do teachers use the data?
The information from the term 1 exams is discussed in teams and used to develop workshops in the classroom for students who need specific targeted learning support in curriculum areas such as mathematics, reading and writing.
The teachers also share the test results with each student so they are aware of their own strengths and gaps in their learning. This ensures students can set a goal in a specific area of need and monitor their own progress to achieve their goals.
When will exams take place?
We will continue to sit exams in the last two weeks of each term. Areas we will target are mathematics and literacy, using the Education Perfect digital platform. Exam results will be shared with parents and students once they have been completed. The exams will get harder each term as the students will need to meet new expectations throughout the year, due to becoming older and natural maturation.
Schedule of exams?
As discussed, the exams will occur in the last two weeks of each term unless there is another important event that clashes with the exam schedule. Either way, there will be information going out on our School App and our Website to inform parents of when they can expect students to sit exams.
ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS IN LITERACY AT ANI
Following recent media coverage about literacy levels in NZ we want to share with you key factors that make up our schools’ literacy programme and share results of student achievement and our projections for this year’s testing.
One of the tests we use to measure student progress in reading is a Progress and Achievement test, called a PAT. This test assesses how well your young person understands the text they are reading and is organised around several extended pieces of writing which include stories, poems, reports and explanations.
Below you will find the end of year 2020 and 2021 whole school data in PAT Reading Comprehension, in addition to the National Reference Group expectations (a sample group of thousands of students tested nationally). We have also added a projection for 2022 based on what our historic data has been showing us. The projection for 2022 is, what we call in education, a stretch target.
Reading Comprehension data and projections
Note: This data includes the whole school cohort of students who sat the exam and no exclusions were considered such as ESOL learners or students with learning needs.
The next PAT Reading Comprehension test will be administered in term 3 and we will share our results at that time. We project our students will continue to achieve better than the National Reference Group’s expectations and better than our 2021 results, by the end of this year.
Our literacy programmes (reading and writing) are planned so students learn the basics well and build on their skills and knowledge in a variety of different contexts/themes. The classroom teachers deliver deliberate acts of teaching, to meet individual learning steps/needs and identify students who are currently working below average, analyse their specific needs and put interventions into place to help accelerate learning to ensure progress is made. Teachers strive to challenge and support students so they can all make improvements and develop the necessary skills to make progress.
Key Components to our literacy programmes include:
- Specific and targeted interventions for bridging gaps in a student’s learning.
- Strong professional development programmes with a high level of opportunities for teachers to engage with other professionals to develop and share resources.
- Well designed learning programmes that offer the students choice.
- Literacy programmes that are relevant, engaging, purposeful and make learning enjoyable.
TEAM NEWSLETTERS
These will be available on Monday 2 May at 9am. You can locate them on our website in addition to the “newsletter” button on SchoolApp. Team newsletters are a quick reference point for parents and students to help you plan ahead. They include learning topics, programmes, trips and events. For further details, you can also contact the class teacher and or Team leader. For all enquiries, the best person to contact in the first instance is the classroom teacher.
STEAM PROGRAMME
We are very excited this term as we introduce our new STEAM programme to the students at ANI.
What is STEAM?
STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking.
STEAM-based programmes take an integrated approach to learning and teaching, which requires an intentional connection between curriculum learning objectives, standards, assessments, and lesson design/implementation.
“STEAM is more than just the traditional science technology engineering arts and maths subjects on their own they’re opportunities where subjects combine to form interesting new subjects such as bioengineering and biotechnology,” explains John Durant, MIT Adjunct professor.
Click here to find out more about a STEAM programme of learning – https://youtu.be/f4TE4e9LkpM
How will it work at ANI?
At ANI, our students will have a dedicated STEAM session every fortnight for 1.5 hours. This will give them time to explore the various components of a STEAM programme as well as creating tangible outcomes which reinforce the learning taking place!
We are very excited to see what our young people create and innovate!
SPECIALIST TIMETABLE and PROGRAMME
In term 2 you will see the specialist programme operating as it did in term one in the following areas: Music, Dance and Drama, Visual Art, Food Technology, Materials Technology, Hard Technology, Science, Digital Technology and new this term we have added STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics). Specialist teachers will teach the learning programme in these subjects. Students will attend classes in the three areas as indicated below while PE and languages ( French – Year 7 and Spanish Year 8) will be taught as part of the normal class timetable on a day the class is not at specialisation.
The specialist programme happens on the following days each week:
Tuesday: Year 7 – Kauri Team
Wednesday: Year 7 – Totara Team
Thursday: Year 8 – Rimu Team
Friday: Year 8 – Matai Team
SPORTS THIS TERM
We have our new ANI Sports Webpage online.
On this website, you can find information about all sports happening at ANI, for example, Central Zone Competitions and AIMS. Please click HERE.
What’s happening in Term 2?
- AIMS – Tauranga
Trials and selection process for individual and collective sports has commenced with more information being sent home at the beginning of Term 2.
- Zones competitions
CZ Futsal – Boys – 10th May – CANCELLED
CZ Futsal – Girls – 12th May – CANCELLED
CZ Waterpolo – Girls and Boys – 16th May – CANCELLED
CZ Football – Year 7 Girls – 25th May – Wednesday
CZ Football – Year 8 Girls – 26th May – Thursday
CZ Football – Year 7 Boys – 31st May – Tuesday
CZ Football – Year 8 Boys – 2nd June – Thursday
CZ Rugby – U45, U55, Open – Girls and Boys – 8th June – Wednesday
CZ Hockey – Boys – 20th June – Monday
CZ Hockey – Girls – 21st June – Tuesday
CZ Table tennis- Girls and Boys – 30th June – Thursday
- After school sports competitions
Starting during Term 2, our students will represent ANI in:
Waterpolo
Basketball
Netball
- Signups and trials
A reminder for students that they are responsible for watching daily notices and signing up for trials themselves. All information about this is shared through “Students Daily Notices” and our Sports Google Classroom.
If you have any questions or need further support, send an email to Mr Carlos (Carlos Kucera) our Sports Coordinator. Email: ckucera@ani.school.nz
PROPERTY UPDATE
The ANI property projects are really starting to take shape with the roof now on both buildings and work being prepared to install glazing in the 10 teaching spaces. We have only experienced very minor delays due to COVID (supply shortages) which means we will have two fantastic buildings in just a matter of months – how exciting!
The next element in the build process will be to include opportunities for our students to learn how to manage the ‘smart’ features of the new building which ensure they are environmentally friendly. This component begins now in term two.
Once completed, we will have an official opening of both buildings and will invite whanau and our community to celebrate with us! Stay tuned for more information about this event.
TEACHER ONLY DAYS
The teacher’s collective agreement allowed 8 Teacher Only days to be held between 1/07/2019 and 30/06/2022. These days are to provide teachers and principals additional time to:
Deepen their knowledge and practice around the local curriculum (within the context of the removal of national standards)
Strengthen their understanding of the use of assessment tools for learning and teaching
Respond to the recommendations of the education work programme in the Curriculum, Progress and Achievement (CPA) Report
Familiarise themselves with curriculum work changes that will become available over the term of the collective agreements.
Due to COVID restrictions, we have only used four of these days. The remaining four will be held as follows:
20 May 2022 – This day is set aside for our staff to meet and moderate various pieces of work to ensure that the teacher judgements given to students are consistent and accurate. In addition, staff will also use this time to assess final pieces of work before they write reports.
23 May 2022 – This day is set aside for our staff to write reports. They will gather their soft and hard copies of assessment information which will help them write their reports.
3 June 2022 – Collaborative teacher only day between our 12 COL schools. We are fortunate enough to join our community of learning in unpacking the new NZ Histories curriculum. We have a guest speaker who will facilitate this day and our staff are looking forward to learning more about this newly released curriculum.
27 June 2022 – This day is set aside as a well-being day for our staff. We have a guest speaker booked who will come and talk on the topic of “How to work in a post COVID world”. Our staff will then have time in teams to discuss the content and how they might implement it.
ANI SKI TEAM TRIALS 2022
Be on the lookout for some detailed information regarding the upcoming North Island Ski Championship this term. If your child is keen to be involved in making the ANI Ski teams they can put their name forward to trial for the school training team. Trials will be taking place on Monday 4 July and if successful your child will be asked to be part of a school team to attend the North Island Primary School (NIPS) competition beginning on Monday 13 September.
This is a perfect opportunity for those students who already know how to ski but want to add an element of racing to their skill set. We will require 2 parents per team of 5, a manager and a marshall, (2 teams in total), at the week-long NIPS competition, so fingers crossed if your child makes the ANI teams.
Keep an eye out for the notices so students who are interested can receive a letter from Mr Devery, on Thursday 5 May.
UPCOMING EVENTS FOR TERM 2, 2022
Event | Date |
Central Zone Futsal – Boys | Tuesday 10th May – CANCELLED |
Central Zone Futsal – Girls | Thursday 12th May – CANCELLED |
Totara Weta Trip | Thursday 12th May |
School Photos | Friday 13th May |
Kauri Sky City Trip | Friday 13th May |
Central Zone Waterpolo – Girls and Boys | Monday 16th May – CANCELLED |
BOT Meeting | Wednesday 18th May |
NZEI Teacher Only Day | Friday 20th May – SCHOOL CLOSED |
NZEI Teacher Only Day | Monday 23rd May – SCHOOL CLOSED |
Central Zone Football – Y7 Girls | Wednesday 25th May |
Central Zone Football – Y8 Girls | Thursday 26th May |
Y8 HPV Immunisation #1 | Thursday 26th May |
PTA Meeting | Monday 30th May |
Central Zone Football – Y7 Boys | Tuesday 31st May |