Special Groups

Special Programmes in 2019:

Reception Class

Reception Class Child Support Worker

Senior Reading Groups - 3 groups of Year 7 and 8's taken by Jenni Clarke

Child Support in the classroom

Reading Support Years 5/6 (Reported on separately)

Reading Support Years 7/8

Quick 60 - (Reported on separately)

STEPS Programme

Reading Eggs

Early Intervention Programme - for a small group of New Entrant children run by Doreen Fester

Agility with Sounds - Helen Squires

Reception Class

The introduction of a Reception class in 2017 has continued for our Newest Entrants to school. The idea was to have a very experienced teacher run this class with a huge emphasis on play and oral language and a great deal of emphasis on the Key Competencies and learning the rules and routines at school but still having many opportunities to be creative and play. Therefore the transition from Pre-School to School was a more gentle process for these children and while learning the Pt England Way they would have a settled and consistent start to school. Viola and Helen Squires are doing a great job and running a very effective Programme and have continued to Inquire into what works best for our tamariki at this critical phase.

2019 Year 7 & 8 Reading Groups (Mrs Clarke)

Eighteen students from years 7 & 8 who were reading at 9 years or below at the end of 2018, were placed into 3 groups according to reading age for half hour sessions on 3 or 4 days per week, from early in Term 1. Many of these students had been unable to graduate from Reading Support at the end of year 6, while the rest were new students to our school or ESOL students or had had reading ages of below 7 years as year 6 students and so had been unable to access Reading Support. Another student joined one of these groups during the year to bring the number up to 19 in this intervention.

The main focus for these groups was on decoding strategies as this seemed to be the area of weakness that was holding most of them back. There was a systematic approach taken with a ‘rule’ being introduced then reading and writing words and reading texts which gave them the opportunity to practise using the strategy.

Some points to note:

Some students were not confident with all the letter sounds

Many students relied on visual rather than auditory strategies

Students who came regularly and on time, made the most progress

Conversely, poor attenders made little or no progress

Behaviour challenges made 1 group almost unworkable most days (a student was removed from this group in term 3)

Reflection

A large part of this intervention involved encouraging and motivating the students to see themselves as capable of learning to read well, and what that could do for them. The students who asked questions and really engaged with the learning, made gains.

Only some of the funded ESOL students are included in the Quick 60 groups. Other interventions are used to support students such as senior literacy group, Reading Support, teacher aide in the classroom and the Manaiakalani Process - Learn Create Share and our Agility with Sound Programme. As and when appropriate new Learners of English are given, a buddy who speaks the same language. We have also continued to explore online programmes to enhance the classroom programme and to help expose these learners to Literacy in a structured and well scaffolded manner.

Most of them are NZ born students, a small number from migrant backgrounds and only a few are refugees. With a strong classroom learning environment and the extra group work most of the students show good gains in their English ability over the period of three years. The rate of progress varies greatly between students. In most cases the rate of progress depends entirely on the students natural ability to learn, and provided with the right learning environment they will succeed. A group of these students make quite slow progress and often with ESOL students it takes time to find out if they actually have specific learning difficulties as well as second language issues. Some of the refugee students have trauma in their backgrounds and this can affect their progress.

All students who qualify have been assessed twice during the year using English Language Learning Progressions (ELLP). The scores will be sent in to the Ministry at the end of February. All funded children are receiving support in some way. There are many interventions in place to satisfy the array of learning needs and many teachers include these students in their 'Inquiry'. These interventions are evaluated regularly so that the resource is being used appropriately for each child.

Teachers have continued to have Literacy PD delivered by Jannie van Hees and this has been on a Team by team needs basis.

In 2019 we had a small Senior Literacy group that were in the Agility with Sounds Groups. Children have been supported 1-1 and as part of small group Interventions throughout the year. This is an area that needs more attention in 2019. Ideally we need to have more support for these children and more regular checks on their progress. We are continuing to seek appropriate Intervention Programmes to help to close the gap.

A goal for 2020 is to better track the outcomes for these children on a more regular basis over and above the ELLP data.

Toni Nua