"A good start makes the rest easier, it lays a foundation to build upon." (CIC)
When I reflect on 2021, I feel this huge sense of relief in the fact that I was able to get through it. When I reflect on 2021, I feel an overflow of gratitude, thankful for all the challenges, lessons and blessings that I experienced. Personally 2021 taught me that when your plans do not happen, it is not necessarily a bad thing. There is a lesson and a silver lining in what we perceive as a 'failure' but that ultimately is up to us to see the blessing in the lesson or loss. Professionally 2021 taught me to trust my leadership, to enjoy and value the process in leadership and that collaboration can be a meaningful and powerful experience if you are open to it. Going in 2022 I feel grateful and grounded. Grateful for the experiences of 2021 but also grounded in that they act as a great foundation or springboard for what is in store this year.
We started the year off with a whole PLD presented by CORE Education focusing on 'Learners as Designers' - looking at project based learning and what that could look like at our school. This was a great PLD session and below are some images from the day. One of the memorable takeaways from the PLD was the paper cup sculpture challenge - where we had to collaborate and design and produce a free standing paper cup sculpture that represented our school values (R.I.S.E - Respect, Innovation, Success + Excellence). I have also linked our team's presentation which documented the journey.
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| Click on the image to see our design process presentation |
We then completed our first week with a Department reflection and planning day. This was an opportunity for the team to reconnect and to build off where we left from our Department review week at the end of Term 4 last year. We spent time during our planning day reviewing 2021:
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| Excerpts from our department reflection session. |
- School goals
- Junior English Program
- Senior NCEA English program
- NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English External Assessment Results
We did not want to spend this session scrutinizing what did not work, but instead look at the growth we experienced and what we can do better in 2022. We were pleasantly surprised with our External Assessment Results considering that we lost so much time in Term 3 and 4 due to the lockdown. We could see that our students responded well to our intense approach to Derived Grade Assessments (offered in Term 4) and this was reflected in the results (in particular with our Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Response to Visual Text external assessment). We were also pleased with our Level 1 and Level 2 students who gave the Unfamiliar Text external assessment a go and passed. This particular assessment has been (historically) something that our students do not engage with but over the course of 3 years, we have seen an increase of students attempt and pass this external assessment. We are proud of our students and the work that they put into their external assessments. We are grateful for our Department members and the commitment that they have shown to our students and subject area, especially during multiple lockdowns which disrupted the learning overall.
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| A snapshot of some of NCEA Level 1 and Level 2 English External Results 2021 |
Our Department goals for 2022 is characterized into four areas.
- Department Wide - Collegiality, Collaboration + Cohesiveness
- Junior School - Literacy focus (literacy project 2022)
- Senior English - Cohesive approach to NCEA program
- Individual - Professional development to support appraisal goals and inquiry focus
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| English Department 2022 - lunchtime at our planning day |
Having this time as a department is important. Everything starts at the top and for us, we know that our student's success is reliant on how we operate and function as a TEAM. I am looking forward to 2022 and to see the department grow as a team together. "A good start makes the rest easier, it lays a foundation to build upon." I believe that starting together, understanding our goal and vision - creates a positive and solid foundation to build on.
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