Pungarehu website: www.pungarehu.school.nz

We believe the key to a quality school is the alignment and continual self-reference behind an agreed set of learning and teaching beliefs that can be articulated by all teaching staff. These beliefs should underpin all our teaching and learning practices.

These beliefs form the link between classroom practice and our school Vision and Strategy Plan. They are included in our School Performance Management System and the Professional Standards.

(If we were to include a simple continuum below each point teachers could evaluate how well their current teaching is aligned and where there are gaps school or individual professional development can be arranged.)

We believe by limiting them to five key beliefs ('beams of light') they are easier to remember and articulate. As such they are integral to our school culture - they are 'What really counts around here'.

They are in effect along with our School Values our Curriculum and Teaching Delivery plan. The words highlighted have other school documents to extend and clarify them.

• Possible strategy is to create a School Best Practices Book using the five headings.
• Graphics idea: develop a lighthouse with five beams - one beam for each belief.
• Use lighthouse with one beam for each point expanded below.

1. Foundation Learning in place

   We believe that unless the foundations of learning are firmly established students will be unable to take full advantage of their future learning opportunities. We see the foundation skills very much as a means to an end to enable our students to develop into life long learners (Our Vision Toro Atu - to continually reach out for knowledge)

   Therefore we will:

   Define benchmarks in literacy numeracy and information technology for the three levels of the school. These will be seen as 'floor expectations'- their will be no 'ceilings' These expectations will be defined in our School's Literacy Numeracy, ICT Visions and physical education Identify students 'at risk' and target for focussed monitoring and teaching. These students will have specific learning goal negotiated and if necessary Individual Learning Plans established involving their parents support. Use focussed teaching, using 'scaffolding' techniques, to provide assistance within students reach ('toro atu') and encourage students to see that that with the assistance of explicit strategies and their own effort (achieving small goals) they can achieve. Learning tasks must be seen as 'do-able' and meaningful.
   
   

   How well are you achieving the above? (repeat for all points)
   
   0 <----------------- 5 -----------------> 10
   Areas of strength                      Areas to improve
   
   
2. Students (and Teachers) as Strategic Learners

   Successful learner(and teachers) are able to select from a range of strategies to achieve tasks they undertake. To be able to do this they need to be explicitly aware of the range of strategies available in any task. When internalised they will become automatic. Such strategies are most important when students are faced with a task they are uncertain about. Most real life learning situations are 'ill defined' and 'knowing what to do when you don't know what to do' will be an important future skill. We will establish a book of School Best Practices to clarify agreed strategies.

   There for we will:
   
   

   • Make use of 'focussed teaching'. This means, as teachers, being clear about what we want to achieve in any learning situation, limiting our help to specific goals (preferably negotiated with the students) and making our intention clear to the students.
   • Assist students set achievable learning goals to focus their learning and our teaching. These will be personalised to cater for individual student needs. Where appropriate they will be written out ( in exercise books)for students.
   • Teach explicit generic problem solving strategies ( to be used in range of Learning Areas) and specific strategies for particular tasks. Where possible we will encourage students to see transfer/similarity of these strategies in different contexts. The school to consider introducing the Intelligent Behaviours of Art Costa as a common language of thinking. Also the ideas of Edward de Bono and Action Learning process of Gwen Gawith.
   • A basic strategy in all teaching/learning will be the: 'plan -do-reflect/record and what next cycle'. All students will be encouraged to use this process.
   • Make use of active listening and Socratic dialogue (listening and challenging)
   • Teach design, layout formats and presentation skills for chart and bookwork whether computer assisted or by hand. The School could develop agreed standards ( or 'visual scaffolds') to introduce across the school to develop both quality and consistency.
   • Make use of a teaching strategy called 'scaffolding'. This is seen as providing temporary help (through modelling, demonstrating, thinking aloud, weaning and fading) that is withdrawn as soon as student has internalised the assistance
   
   
3. Powerful Learning Experiences

   To motivate students we need to plan range of powerful learning experiences that are 'rich' enough to relate to a range of Learning Areas and provide an opportunity for students to work in depth. We need to ensure students become aware of connections between Learning Areas. It is important that students see these experiences as relevant, meaningful and authentic with the potential to inspire learning. All learning experiences need to be seen as meaningful including skill development

   Therefore we will:
   
   

   • Plan fewer studies in depth. The revised NAGs give us the opportunity to focus on 'success' as against coverage.
   • Plan a collection of resources/ideas based around powerful themes, including commercial packages but also investigate the immediate environment as a resource to develop a sense of identify with local history/culture and natural history.
   • Ensure our programmes reflect Maori culture, values. and perspectives so as to value our dual cultural heritage.
   • Plan themes/units/topics collaboratively to share each other expertise to develop as many integrated connections as possible for teachers to select from. We will use a agreed planning format(s) to simplify planning.
   • We will plan our 'intentions' at the beginning of the year and record actual studies and connection with other learning areas and strands at the end of the year. We will develop a simple planning grid to ensure records are kept to avoid unnecessary repetition.
   • Use an Interactive/constructivist approach in all our teaching. This approach emphasises students as their own 'meaning makers, values their prior experiences and questions and negotiates learning tasks with students. In reality it is a co- constructivist approach as teacher and learners learn together to solve problems.
   • Introduce to students the concept of Multiple Intelligences and to recognise and celebrate a range of students talents and gifts. The school could build up a register of talents of students, staff and community members.
   • Provide success for all students in a range of creative and sporting activities.
   • Integrate information technology into all learning as appropriate
   • Teach co-operative learning skills, appreciate individual learning styles and make use of reciprocal teaching.
   
   
4. Quality learning - only student's personal best will do

   Along with studying topics in depth we believe it is important that students are helped to strive to achieve the best work they can do so as to gain a sense of pride through their success and also in the process to learn the value of personal effort. We see this as the 'art' of teaching. The teacher's role is seen as one of a 'coach' 'scaffolding' any help as necessary ( providing immediate feedback) to ensure growing independence and ownership by the students.

   Therefore we will:
   
   

   • Do our best to 'slow down the pace' of student's work so that they are able to appreciate the craft element in their work, develop into reflective learners, and learn to understand the strategies involved in any task. This will allow teachers to assist by scaffolding help. We will use the 'plan - do - reflect/record and what next' cycle.
   • Hold students to high expectations - teachers will need to become aware of what students are capable of. The use of quality exemplars will help in this respect.
   • Ensure students are aware of expectations and understand and own the goals set for them. Students will be helped to negotiate assessment criteria for any task.
   • Ensure that criteria for assessment are clear to students and then to assist them to take responsibility for their own self assessment and further improvement through goal setting.
   • Understand the vital role of the teacher to diagnose student difficulties and to provide opportunities for self-correction. School to develop a focussed assessment 'policy' emphasising the importance of immediate feedback to students and keeping recorded information only as necessary for improving learning (Basic benchmarks improvement data will be undertaken school wide) All planned learning tasks are to be seen as diagnostic assessment tasks.
   
   
5. Room environments that are celebratory and informative

   If assisting students achieve their 'personal best' is seen as the 'art' of teaching then classroom management is the 'craft 'of teaching! All the points above are all 'folded' into each other but unless classroom are well managed and organised, and students able to work independently, teachers will not be able to assist individual students in need

   Therefore we will:
   
   

   • Develop clear classroom expectations with the students to develop a sense of ownership of their own classroom and behaviour. To do this the classroom must allow students to develop a sense of belonging, fun, identity, ownership and personal power through taking a responsibility for their own growth.
   • Ensure the school vision and values are an explicit feature of all rooms.
   • Plan all learning tasks with students to ensure ownership and feelings of control
   • Use the blackboards/whiteboards as a shared planning devise outlining the programme for the day, and the particular group tasks in the language, maths and content study blocks. Teachers are only able to undertake focussed teaching if students can work independently. Students are only able to be creative if they know what is expected of them. Students need safe environments to take necessary learning risks.
   • Begin each day's programme discussing day's tasks with students and more importantly end the day with a reflective period to ensure students are aware of the important things they have learnt to share with their patents. Consider using reflective learning journals.
   • Be aware of the importance of lesson design. Plan for an introduction to outline tasks and expectations, move into focussed group tasks and conclude with a drawing together of ideas being explored.
   • Balance class, group and individual teaching - all have their part to play.
   • The room environment should reflect the important messages that the school has agreed to; quality work, future skills, doing ones best, etc.
   • Ensure room display reflects the range of Learning Areas.
   • Make use of agreed classroom display approaches e.g. each display with a provocative heading, student's study questions and prior ideas, self assessment criteria, examples of quality students research, art work, processes and learning goals made explicit.