Week 1 Term 1 - English Department: 2022 Review + Goals for 2023 (January 24)

English Department 2022

2022 was a great year for the English Department. We went into 2022 wanting to meet our department goals for each term. We went into 2022 open and eager to learn more about tangata whenua. We went into 2022 wanting to learn and understand how we can support our student’s literacy. We went into 2022 wanting to do our best for our akonga, as a team. We spent a lot of time together during 2022 and I believe that this had a positive impact on how we worked as a team. I am grateful and humbled by every member of the English Department and the heart, service and commitment that they invested into the department throughout 2022. I look forward to doing this all over again with you in 2023. A review of how each semester went was shared through the annual Term starter pack. Our story of 2022 is captured in more detail in our term review.

English Department Starter Pack 2022 Term 1

English Department Starter Pack Term 2

English Department Starter Pack Term 3

English Department Starter Pack Term 4

We will now take a look at our self-review of our School Goals, Junior and Senior English program for 2022.

SCHOOL GOAL Review:

School Goals are something for teachers to aspire to. We looked at the 4 goals for this year and spoke about what we did and how it went. Here are some excerpts from our discussions.

SCHOOL GOAL 1: To raise Maori student achievement and cultural visibility. That 85% of Maori students will achieve NCEA Level 2

English Department summary of Goal 1: There is a deliberate attempt in making sure that Maori culture and visibility is in our teaching and classes. Attempts to find relevant Maori texts is an on-going mission, including Maori texts is something that we enjoy doing in our programs. Tracking Maori students' progress and integrating Maori inspired motifs in our curriculum (for example: Units on Korowai + Whakatauki for our Year 9 students). We are open to work with our Te Reo Maori Language Department and experts to help us understand our local stories and how we can use it in a meaningful way in our English curriculum.

SCHOOL GOAL 2: To understand and demonstrate the cultural competencies of Tapasa. 85% of Pasifika students will achieve NCEA Level 2.

English Department summary of Goal 2: We have had the privilege of having our in-house Tapasa leaders share and talk about the cultural competencies of the Tapasa document in our staff PLD. We used this goal as a marker for our professional growth cycle and it was a discussion point for each department member when we had our individual professional growth cycle meetings.

SCHOOL GOAL 3: By the end of Year 10, 80% of students will be reading at or above the expected level. By the end of Year 10, 70% of students are writing at or above the expected Curriculum Level. That 90% of Year 11 students will achieve NCEA Literacy.

English Department summary of Goal 3: We prioritized focusing on literacy with our Year 9 and Year 10 students. We spent time reviewing our current literacy practice and then focused on our next steps. One of the steps that we decided to take was to work with our literacy experts - Dr Jannie and Mr Marc Milford. We wanted to work with them to help us deliver literacy strategies to our Year 9 and Year 10 students. We dedicated a block of time (2 - 3 weeks) during the term working with Dr Jannie (Crafted Writing Program) and Mr Marc Milford (Reading Skills Program). We saw that this had a positive impact on the students and our Year 10 students - they were comfortable and confident with where they were at with their literacy. We hope to continue this journey with our Year 9 and Year 10 students this year.

SCHOOL GOAL 4: Increasing Student, Family and Community Engagement with Schools Student Support Network.

English Department summary of Goal 4: Student well-being has and always will be an integral part of our department’s pastoral care. As leaders in our subject areas we understand the pressure and the time restraints that with our subject program. We understand that the part of student well being is making sure that we provide positive and sound feedback, we wanted to make sure that we offered this to our students.

SCHOOL GOAL 5: Staff at Tamaki College will be well supported so that their practice meets the needs of our students.

English Department summary of Goal 5: Collegiality within the department is a priority for us. Attempts to build positive relationships and partnerships within the department are regularly discussed with plans for department dinners. The staff enjoy the one-on-one meetings where they can check in and talk about how things are going for them. They have requested for this to continue to happen in 2023.

English Department: Junior School English Program Review 2022

Reviewing our Junior English Program and where we want to take it next year was the next step. After spending time looking at the big picture (Schools Goals + Department Goals) it was time to bring back to the core, the heart of the matter, our students and their learning. Our Junior English program 2022 saw the inclusion of literacy strategies, exploration of different visual, written and oral texts and opportunities for students to explore their own voice through writing and visual media. Students across our Junior school cohort, spent time going through the Crafted Writing + Reading Program with Dr Jannie Van Hees and Mr Milford. Our Year 9 and Year 10 students worked on extended, short and visual text studies. In particular, our Year 10 students have been working hard on their first lot of NCEA Level 1 Assessments that we offer in Year 10 - Personal Responses and the Connections Essay.

The students have responded well to this and they are very keen and eager to bank some credits this year. We want to continue our partnership with Dr Jannie Van Hees and Mr Milford as we see this as a meaningful and powerful resource for our akonga. We are also looking at introducing the English NPG (Numeracy Pedagogy Guidelines) to our Year 9 and Year 10 classes. Mrs Williams is our Department Representative for the Numeracy project and she has started to unpack what effective numeracy practice can look like in an English classroom. We are looking forward to exploring this with our junior students this year.

We are grateful for the work that Mr Milford and Dr Jannie did with our Year 9 and Year 10 students. Not only did our students take away a lot from these sessions but we also feel like we were upskilled and learnt so much from our colleagues. We look forward to extending this partnership in 2023.

Junior English Program 2022

English Department: Senior School English Review 2022:

Our internal assessment results across NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English for 2022 is positive. The teachers in the English Department invested so much time, preparation, support and patience during class and outside of class hours. Our students were given opportunities to complete the assessments even if they passed the deadline dates (even during Term 4). As a result, I am pleased to see how our students were able to grasp this opportunity and complete their English internal assessments. Even moreso, I am grateful for the commitment that the teachers gave to their students in making sure that their students had every opportunity to pass their internal assessments. I was very strategic in making sure that we all worked on the same assessments at the same time with an overall due date across each year level. I did not want the teachers to burn out and lose track of the program because they were waiting for students to complete assessments. Whilst we were able to stick to our program, I am also aware and grateful that the teachers made time (during their non contact periods, after school etc) to help their students cross the line with their internal assessments.

Our external assessment results are disappointing across NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English 2022. Leading up to the Term 4 examinations, we held year level assemblies to go through the exams and what the students need to focus on in class for study purposes. In preparation for the externals, we spent 3 weeks preparing our students for the exams. This was in conjunction with the preparation that we went through at the end of Term 3 for the Derived grade exams. There was an extensive amount of work and preparation put into supporting our students for the external assessments. Throughout this period, student attendance to school and motivation around exams was low and it was a challenge for us to get our students to school and engaged in the classroom. This challenge is one that we have been working with throughout 2022, one that has tested us as teachers. We are aware that for many senior students, the novelty around examinations is redundant after going through most of their NCEA through a pandemic. I am hopeful that we can revisit this as a department and see what we can do better as teachers for our students.

English Department Goals for 2023: 

English Department @ Hikoi 2022

It is important for any team and organization to review where they are at and where they want to go. We were unable to explore our goals for 2023 at the end of last year, but I am looking forward to spending the first few weeks of Term 1 going through this with the team. It is important for us to discuss our goals and what our ‘finish line’ is for 2023, so that we can understand and know what we are working towards. I have outlined some goals below - things that we can focus on and work on throughout the year. This will be discussed with the team as we get into Term 1.

• Literacy Strategies - We spent a significant amount of time throughout 2022 working on delivering effective literacy strategies to our Year 9 and Year 10 students. We hope to continue this partnership with Dr Jannie and Mr Milford, hopefully venture out on our own and share what we have learned to our junior students.
• Unpacking new Literacy Standards/NCEA changes - We have started to unpack the new NCEA Level 1 internal assessments. We hope to continue looking at the new literacy standards and hopefully do a trial run with our Year 10 students this year.
• Improve our online platform - We have an online platform that needs to resonate with our akonga and their whanau. Reviewing and revamping our online platform to make sure that it is up to date, has the relevant information for our akonga, accessible for our akonga and something that our whanau can tap into and access is something that I want the team to prioritize this year. We all have our own sites and this goal is about taking what we have and making sure that it is the best that it can be. Working with Matt Goodwin is an option that will be reinforced to the department.
• Our Voices (student work) - Last year we spoke about how we can use student voices in a way that will showcase their work in a positive and meaningful way. Mr Spruyt has started to collate this work and has created a site to showcase student work. I hope that we can continue to work on this as a team and share it to the whole school.
• Local Curriculum - We learnt so much for our hikoi last year. For many in the department, this was a highlight of 2022. We would like to use the stories of our local iwi, Ngati Paoa, in a meaningful way that connects to our English curriculum. We have started to talk about this and I look forward to exploring this opportunity with the team.

I look forward to working with the team and to see what is in store for us this year. How we communicate and work as a team, will have an impact on our learners. I understand how important communication and a healthy and positive work environment is for the department. I hope that I can continue to lead the department well, with love and support the staff the best way that I can.