Planning for Learning

Methods:

Timetabling

Core subjects; Reading, Writing & Maths will be taught for hour blocks each day. We are committed to ensuring that the components of the subjects have time allocated to them, are planned for and taught and that the outcomes can be viewed by Senior Staff.

This is not to remove the ability for teachers to integrate skills and processes, but to ensure that important components are not getting forgotten or left out.

The Hour Block should include:

Maths

Basic Facts/Tables

Maintenance of concepts

Group Instruction/Problem Solving - DMIC

Group Work/Practice/Production

Reflection

Reading

Reading To (may occur at other times throughout the day)

Micro- Group Instruction

Group Work/Practice/Create/Share

Independent Reading

Reflection

English - Oral and Writing

Oral language

Gifting vocab/sharing

Instruction - Deliberate Acts of Teaching / Co-construction / Re-construction / De-construction

Group Work/Practice/Create

Reflection/Sharing

Planning & Support

Toni and Kent are the Learning Co-ordinators for Pt England School. They will oversee Team and class programmes and liaise with facilitators. They will maintain an overview of how learning is delivered. The Learning Pt. Committee is made up of Russell, Garth, Toni, Kent and Team Leaders, along with Dorothy. Russell, Toni and Kent will also be responsible for in-class support and monitoring of the Pt England Planning and Learning Models and for the overall planning of staff mtgs, scheduled professional development and feed back to teachers.

We will continue to plan collaboratively for Learning and continue a schoolwide focus for Inquiry each term.

We will follow a cycle of planning and mentoring with opportunities for regular feedback and feedforward.

General

We still want teachers to exercise their judgement about the curriculum as they plan in team and collaborative spaces and teach. Planning is individualised and in accordance with the needs of learners. The Learning Principles are a guide to underpin our programmes and a way of shifting the focus in our planning and teaching.

Implementation

Teachers will:

• use google sites to store planning

• store student data in google docs, google sites

• set achievement objectives that can be transferred to parent reports

• adapt the use of learning tools to suit the level of groups and individuals

• move students on a continuum from more teacher directed learning to more learner directed learning

• develop rubrics for assessment that are understood by the learner and are clearly enunciated before work begins

• provide meaningful feedback and feedforward for student's work, using a variety of methods, to ensure all work is valued and leads to improvement

• record assessment on rubrics in such a way that it can be stored in student portfolios and provide meaningful feedback to parents

• as far as possible display timetables, rosters, learning intentions and plans for learning on classroom walls or on their class site as an aid to learning

• display strategies for thinking, problem solving and examples of learning processes on classroom walls/sites

• plan rich tasks that promote higher order/critical thinking and learning

• plan and teach with ESOL approaches and agreed Literacy/Numeracy/Foundations approaches in mind.

• provide daily opportunities for reflection and student voice

• Embed Learn Create Share in the programme

Practices & Approaches

Teachers will select approaches that:

• actively involve students in the planning, organisation and evaluation of their learning

• assist students to progressively take responsibility for their own learning

• build upon previous learning and develop new learning

• cater for the diversity of students' learning styles

• encourage student autonomy, initiative and risk taking

• use raw data and primary sources along with manipulative, interactive and physical materials

• offer students opportunities for success and support their self esteem and confidence

• use enquiry processes, experimentation and constructivist activities to develop and challenge learning

• encourage student inquiry by asking open ended questions and seeking elaboration of student initial responses

• enhance cooperation, support and collaboration between students and between students, teachers and parents

• value all curriculum areas and integrate where appropriate

• encourage children to develop thinking skills as one of their strategies to improve learning

• use Integrated Inquiry and e-learning as a major means of developing thinking skills

• use classroom environment and display as a major means of consolidating the learning model throughout the school

Evaluation and Reflection

Evaluation and Reflection are essential aspects of the Pt. England Way and are powerful strategies to enhance teaching and learning. The co-constructivist and metacognitive approach used at this school rely upon the ability of the staff and the children to think their way through teaching and learning in both Foundations and Thematic work. Many opportunities arise or are planned into the classroom activities that enable the teachers and the children to evaluate themselves against a learning intention, rubric criteria or general expectation. This process not only involves critical thinking for academic work but also sports, health, behaviour, standards and values. Reflection leads to goal setting and improvement in skills, strategies, processes and attitudes.

The notes from school wide reflection and evaluation sessions are kept on google sites.

Formal Evaluation sessions carried out by staff:

• Unit Plans

• Teaching sessions

• Special programmes

• Professional Development

• Events - cultural and sporting

• School - wide initiatives

These sessions take place in the appropriate setting:

• Team meetings

• Staff meetings,

• Special meetings,

• Discussion groups,

• Management meetings

• B.O.T.

• Curriculum groups

• Online docs and sites

Children and Staff follow a similar method when Evaluating and Reflecting:

Usually the focus is ...

What were we trying to achieve?

Did we achieve it?

What worked well?

What didn't work well?

How do we know?

What are we going to do about it?

Helpful tools often used at this school are: P.M.I. Plus, Minus and Interesting - The Thinking Hats

These tools are simple and graphic and keep the process focused on the main idea.

Self Evaluation and reflective practice is an integral part of all planning for learning and teaching, and in the more formal Coaching and Appraisal process.

Children are introduced to self evaluation and reflection about their own learning and behaviour and that of their peers, from the age of 5. The process continues throughout their 8 years at this school and is imbedded into all leaning. The skills will transfer to their life outside the school and enable them to make appropriate decisions about their own lives.

When students share their work on their blogs they have the opportunity to reflect and evaluate their own and others' work. Teachers, Whanau, peers and the wider community also contribute to the reflection and evaluation process.

Parents are invited to reflect and evaluate aspects of the school programmes, events, focus points, achievement levels and general issues when they attend our Families@PES Meetings twice per term. Issues are raised and discussed in small groups whereby parents freely talk about their feelings, ideas about the school and their hopes for the future. The direction the school has moved in has been fully discussed and reflected upon by the whanau and community members who attend the meetings.

Evaluation and reflection are an integral aspect of all teaching and learning and empower staff and children to participate in an ever increasing level of achievement at Pt. England School by inquiring into their practice.