My name is Janine and I am a Primary School teacher at Awapuni School in Gisborne. I have been teaching for 8 years and have taught predominantly years 4, 5 & 6. In 2019 I gained a Post Graduate diploma in Special Education with a focus on Autism. Due to an increasing number of tamariki with specific learning needs on the rise and felt I needed to upskill to provide a richer inclusive program. The skills I have learned are beneficial for all tamariki and the slight changes I have made to personalise learning has seen enable all students to shine.

Our school has been part of the Manaiakalani whānau for 4 years and from this experience I have gained my Google certification in Level 1 through the Digital Fluency Intensive, upskilled in my digital practice with the support of Manaiakalani facilitation in the classroom and this year was selected to part of the Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher programme.

Our team is in its second year of collaborative practice. We are a hub of 87 year 5 & 6 students with 3 teachers in a digital 1;1 setting. Our journey has been a positive one with my colleagues and I working hard to implement strong systems to support our curriculum program. (Even with the disruption of COVID, which taught us to level up our digital platform to support our tamariki with online learning) With my 'Inclusive' hat on, I was aware that research has not always been favourable with collaborative practice supporting our vulnerable students. This got me wondering why? I did a lot of research into collaborative practice and talked with experienced teachers in both settings and found conflicting pro's and con's. In some cases it seemed to be a mindset you are either are a fan or not. My experience so far has been one of overwhelming positivity, I have seen the most anxious student move across three spaces, working with different teachers flourish. I have witnessed an ASD student cope with a changing program (even with the best systems in place it can still be unpredictable) participate and even become very vocal in Kapa Haka and not have meltdowns at school or at home. I credit our success so far to the hard work, knowledge and support our SENCO shares with us and our team's hard work, the strong systems implemented and communications around our day to support learner needs.

My MIT Inquiry saw me zoom in and focused on instructions. How do we know in this setting that all the students understand what is expected of them as they navigate their way through our learning day. How do we track and assess instructions and what data indicates to us that these changes in instruction are supporting student success? To read about my inquiry journey head on over to my professional blog. :)

My goal with the creation of this Curation Google site is to have a range on information in one location to support educators to learn more about special education and inclusive practice. It can be very overwhelming when learning about special education especially if you have not taught students with specific learning needs. There are lots of fantastic SENCO's & learning support coordinators out there and we all know they are rushed off their feet. For me personally I am so grateful for our SENCO, she has been a shining beacon of knowledge that only comes from years and experience of being in that role. When I started my journey into a Postgraduate of Special Education focusing on Autism I was mind blown and the information I did not know or had not been taught during my teaching training. It really is a specialist area, yet we as the classroom teachers are often not experienced for the many needs placed in front of us. To personalise learning to cater for a wide range of learning needs requires a wealth of knowledge that many of us don't have in our early years of education. We develop new skills over time and quite often from our own learning or researching we do, to ensure we provide the best learning opportunities for our tamariki. My hope is that this Google site helps and encourages others share their knowledge so we can build a rich resource for all to share.

Thank you for following my journey and I look forward to working with you as we build a rich resource for all.

Nga mihi

Janine