U123 Cluster

1. U123 Cluster

2. LEADERSHIP • To lead and facilitate the U123 Cluster by using distributive leadership principles to share responsibility and make use of strengths within the group • Bill has taken on a shared leadership for the cluster and attended the NLC Hui. • Principals have attended meetings through the year. It was great to get Hamish, Principal of Foxton Beach School on board as a new member of the Cluster (we held a meeting at Hamish’s school so he couldn’t escape!!). • Specific tasks have been asked of people at meetings (e.g. to add samples of students’ written language to the VoiceThread). • Support from Heather as the NLC Facilitator has been superb (e.g. revision of the Cluster Wiki, using VoiceThread, helping with moderation, etc)  THANK YOU HEATHER • Joint decisions made about focus for PLD – planning, sharing, next steps, etc carried out at meetings and via email communication. • Sharing of learning happening between schools. • “Oh, so you’re the Cluster mother!!” This is an area I need to work on next year to encourage other members of the U123 Cluster to take on responsibilities! • There is a need to focus more on the actual learning goals – we have done this … but need to be more strongly focussed on the next steps and the evidence of student progress and achievement.

3. I have enjoyed meeting the other Principals who are in the U123 cluster and it has been good to discuss current issues within schools. Since starting at Foxton Beach School full time near the end of Term 1 the staff and I have worked purely on Numeracy and Literacy practices within the school. We have gone right back to our curriculum statements for these areas to see if current practice reflects what is happening within the classrooms. We have worked on these statements so they are a lot clearer and new staff will be able to hit the ground running once some induction has happened. A lot of time has gone into observations of classroom practice and feedback has been given to staff.

4. MAORI ACHIEVING SUCCESS AS MĀORI • To have challenging learning conversations around creating welcoming and inclusive learning cultures and systems that support Māori Learners achieving education success as Māori • (Measurable Gains Framework 3.2) • MGF was discussed at a Cluster meeting on 3 March and Principals indicated where they thought their school sat. • Cluster meeting on 11 August was focussed on unpacking the meaning of the term “Māori achieving educational success as Māori.” During this meeting we had conversation around how schools are monitoring Māori student achievement and how we are analysing school data in this area. • Cluster members have been referred to the new MoE and NZTC resource Tataiako, Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners. An upcoming Cluster meeting will look at this new resource.

5. Foxton Beach School: We continue to closely monitor the achievement of all our Māori students. Some of our Māori students are in the target groups that each teacher has for Reading and Numeracy and we meet to report on the progress of these target groups. We pay particular attention to the progress of the Māori students in these target groups. We have our school Kapa Haka group re-established – the children are really taking pride in their culture and it has been a good way to get families involved with the school again. • Tiritea School: MGF 3.2 – Developing Effectiveness – Consolidating Effectiveness • “The board and staff support Māori students’ learning well. Māori student achievement is the same as, and in some instances higher than, those of other student groups. Te Reo Māori is visible and audible in classrooms. Parent / school partnerships are strong.” ERO May 2011 • Involved in Te Reo Māori Cluster (Massey CED) – Principal and Lead Teacher • 2010 – developed Māori Implementation Plan for Tiritea School. Values from this included in Charter. • Genuine commitment to education success for all Māori learners • Māori learners, parents, whanau feel welcomed and included at school • BOT is still to formally discuss Ka Hikitia • Kapa Haka Group starting on 29 September

6. NZC • To use on-line resources and face-to-face meetings to moderate students’ work, especially in Written Language • Heather, Bill and Glenys met on May 19 for “tuition” Face-to-face meeting at Tokomaru School on 29 March with all staff from Tokomaru, Linton Country and Tiritea Schools. Schools brought along samples of Written Language – in year level groups to moderate. The intention was to build up an exemplar folder for schools to use as a resource – this is yet to be completed with more levels added. • Samples of Written Language from each school currently on VoiceThread, waiting for school staff to comment. Tiritea School has had one staff meeting (7 September) and pairs of teachers made OTJs on the one sample of writing (3 completed in all so far). Heather led this staff meeting. • Foxton Beach School: As a staff we have carried out moderation of writing at particular times each term. We have also carried out moderation of OTJs across the school before our midyear reports went home. This has led to a lot of professional discussions about how we will be moving children forward.