Professional Community

STAKEHOLDERS

Our School community

Our school is a large urban Auckland primary school (New Entrants to Year 6) with a culturally diverse mix of students. It consists of 750+ students and more than 65 staff members. It has 2 campuses, Junior and Senior. The sites are separated by a native gully, stream and amphitheatre which are utilised in Science and Environmental Studies.

The school’s mission statement is “to think, to learn, to achieve and to consider others” and has a strong emphasis on academic achievement and preparing students for the future. The school is committed to empowering teachers to deliver a stimulating, inspiring and well-rounded education that encompasses all areas of the New Zealand curriculum as well as establishing strong partnerships with parents.

This year a major school focus has been to develop Whanaungatanga, building relationships with whanau and family to support student learning. The staff of the school have been undergoing a school development inquiry to establish positive relationships with the children and their whanau. The desired outcome is for teachers to know their students on a more personal level, to understand what engages them as a learner and how to support their learning style best. By nurturing the interests and strengths of the learner it is hoped the National Standards achievement rate for boys in literacy will be lifted.

Teachers: The junior campus (Year 0-2) consists of 15 teachers who have different skill levels in ICT. Classroom sizes range from 20 - 24 students per teacher. Each year level has the support of a teacher aide for approximately 30 minutes per day. An extremely experienced teacher runs extra support classes three mornings a week (booster groups) for Year 2 children currently not meeting or not tracking to meet National Standards in Reading and Maths and will soon begin classes for those at risk of not meeting the Writing National Standard. Specialist teachers are also available for Mandarin, Music, Reading Recovery with support in Sports.

Students: There are approximately 280 students in year 0-2. The school consists of a mixed ethnicity with a majority of students being New Zealand European. Other current ethnicities are Pasifika, Māori, Chinese, Indian, and other European. All classes are of mixed ability and teachers try to differentiate based on levels. Based on the current ERO report, students feel a great sense of ownership and belonging towards the school.

Parents: The school is a Decile 10 school on the outer edge of Remuera. The majority of parents are from a higher socio economic background and many work full time. Parents are supportive and there is regular communication between teachers and parents, including face to face contact and emails. Community feedback from parents and caregivers indicates that they encourage the integration of devices to support learning but are opposed to a 1-1 BYOD programme. A number of parents have expressed their concerns about learning and technology, highlighting the need for further community engagement on how technology in schools is used.

BOT: The Board of Trustees consists of 6 parents, the principal and a staff representative. The BOT govern the school, making all curriculum, expenditure and strategic planning decisions on behalf of the parent and staff community.

CURRENT ISSUES IN OUR COMMUNITY

The current issues facing the major stakeholders at school revolve around the increase in technology available. This has an impact on teachers, students and the parent community.

Since the beginning of Term 2 the number of devices available to students within all classes has increased, with a minimum of 1 device per 3 children. This has both positive and negative impacts.
Students now have greater access to a range of technology and are provided with greater choice in how they access and present information. The children have embraced the new devices available to them and show greater engagement in all curriculum areas. Senior students who are working on Chrome Books show greater levels of collaboration. "I prefer to work with others online as we can create things faster and what we present looks like it is better quality than if I had done it with pencil and paper" (Ruby, Year 4).
Teacher response to the increase in technology has been mixed. Some have embraced the new devices, whilst others would prefer not to have any technology in their class. Those who have integrated the various devices into their programmes have commented on how quickly the children have picked up new skills and that the devices provide greater choice for the children's learning. They have also noticed an increase in engagement and focus when the children are working independently. For those teachers at the other end of the spectrum, the roll out of new technology has led to a feeling of increased pressure. These teachers require further training and up-skilling into how they can effectively plan for and integrate the technology into their programmes to ensure the tasks the children are working on are meaningful, purposeful and are cognitively engaging, as the school has an expectation that children will not only use technology to consume data but to create. The ICT lead teachers have been working alongside these teachers during class times to support the development of their programmes and have been running before school and after school workshops.
Parents have expressed concerns about the increase in technology in classrooms.They are very anti any BYOD scheme and do not want to see the school introduce a 1-1 scheme. Parents are concerned about the amount of screen time the children are exposed to and worry that the children's communication skills and ability to relate to others will decrease if they are continually in front of a screen. They are also worried about a potential increase in cyber bullying. These concerns highlight the need for parent workshops and information evenings.

SPECIALIST AREA
I am the ICT lead teacher for the Junior School. Whilst I have never considered myself to be an expert in the area of ICT, I am someone who is willing to try new things and experiment with new technologies. As a result, I am someone others feel they can approach as I am seen as someone who is learning alongside them.

Within this role I try to lead by example. I plan for and implement a blended learning environment and aspire to create tasks that are cognitively engaging and encompass the various levels of the SAMR model. I share these initiatives through team meetings, my class blog and display different ideas on an ICT wall that I established in the Junior School staffroom.

CHALLENGES
The present challenges I face in my role as an ICT lead teacher are:
- Engaging reluctant adopters to use the devices that are available to their students.
- Going beyond the Substitution and Augmentation levels of the SAMR model.
- Providing an engaging platform for children to share their learning.
- Creating connections and relationships with other schools locally, nationally and internationally.
- Educating the schools parent community.

CHANGES TO PROFESSION
The schools ICT strategic plan states that Modern Learning Environments will be trialled in the junior school in 2016. As a school that presently operates only single cell classrooms, this presents a challenge for teachers, student and the parent community. It requires a shift in pedagogy and learning style and is dependent on teachers being able to work in a collaborative environment. For this change to be effective the school will need to invest in professional development around the research behind the shift in teaching and learning style, educates teachers on agile teaching and learning practices and highlights the collaborative nature of MLE's. The year levels and teachers chosen for this trail will need careful consideration. The teachers will need to feel equally valued and be open to adopting and reflecting on new pedagogical approaches.