Week 2 Term 1 - Totara House - A Year in Review + Goals for 2024 (February 5 - February 9)

Totara House juniors after winning 'Whanau House 2023' in Dec 2023

2023 was an awesome, challenging and rewarding year for Totara House. Our Totara House saw many come and go, but we remained steadfast in our mission to journey well together. Our 2023 Totara House family consisted our amazing mentorship team - Ms Francis Kolo and Mrs Alka Rani (9TKl), Mrs Mariana Ahokovi (10TAo), Mr Fiu Niko (10TNi), Ms Kalesha Paketama (11TPt), Mr Johan Koch (12TKh), Ms Seini Tuitupou (12TTt) and Ms Karen Ferguson (13TFn). Our Totara House Student Leadership team - who led our House for 2023 were Kosini Mapapalangi (House Captain), Danny Sefilino (House Captain), Anika Crichton Ward (House Prefect), Alo-Ki Hingano (House Prefect), Christian Kava (Head Boy 2023), Saimone Misinale (House Prefect) and Mario Vakauta (House Prefect).

2 Timothy 4:7 says “I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance and I have kept the faith.” 2023 was a big year for everyone in our House, both in and outside of school. We all had to overcome our own hurdles and challenges. We all had to step up and face the challenges and persevere through it. We all had to help each other when others were struggling. From the mentorship team to the student leadership team, 2023 was a year where we had to go the full distance and while it was bumpy and there were a few twists and turns, we went the full distance together. Doing our best in the race can be draining when you just want to give up but I am so proud of everyone for pulling through especially when we had to as a House. I am incredibly grateful to the mentorship team for their love, care, support and commitment to their students and for stepping in when I was unable to. I am proud of the leadership team and how they lead the house together with pride and grace. I am humbled and extremely proud of all of the young people in Totara House for trusting my leadership, for always saying ‘yes’ when I called on them. I acknowledge all of our young people who contribute to the life of our house through the different house events. Your hearty Totara pride added so much life and value to our whanau, thank you! 

Totara House 2023

I acknowledge all of our Totara House family members who have moved on - from our Year 13 students (13TFn) to some of our mentorship team who have finished at Tamaki College (Mr Gutry and Ms Paketama). Thank you for your hearts of service and commitment to Totara. I am stoked that we won ‘Whanau House 2023’ as it is a reflection of the commitment and love that we have for our House. As the Whanau Dean, I am incredibly grateful, humbled and proud of the team that I get to work alongside. From the mentors to the student leaders, I am very thankful to work alongside a team who are committed to ensuring that whatever Totara House did was a success.

TOTARA HOUSE: House Values Review 2023: 

In my role as a House Dean, I understand that the spirit and overall dynamic of the house is a reflection on how I lead it. I have taken the same approach from how I lead Totara House in 2021 in that the main driver for the House is our values, things that are important to us and this is the sole focus. This year the House Leaders and I spoke to all of the students during the mentoring sessions (Monday morning) and visited other students during class time, to gauge with them and see what they wanted Totara House to represent. The leaders led the discussion and shared what they wanted the House to represent and the students (for the most part) were interested and engaged because they could relate more to the House Leaders. The focus question this year was the same question that we posed to the students in 2021, which was 'What do you want Totara House to represent?' 

Once the feedback was completed, the leaders and I reviewed the student voice. We looked for common values across each class and then found some common themes that the students shared in the discussion. It did not take long for us to identify the values that the students wanted their House to represent. It was clear throughout the feedback that the common values that were echoed from Year 9 to Year 13 were Integrity, Leadership and Gratitude. So in honoring what was shared from our students, we revealed our 2023 Totara House Values to the students at an assembly in Term 1.

Totara House Y9s and Y12s at STARS Camp 2023

Integrity is defined as "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles." Honesty and integrity are interconnected, so with this we used our House assemblies as an opportunity to talk and discuss what the value means. Our House leaders used Term 2 to talk about their journey at school and to be honest about the challenges that they have faced and what they have learnt from it. This was a powerful way for the student leaders to minister to their house - student to student - so that they can relate and to learn from their peers. I also used the whanau assembly time to address my concerns and to have some frank and honest conversations with the students about some of the issues that we faced as a house. Integrity is something that we journey through, it is something that we learn and grow from. I am really pleased at how we grew through this value as a house.  

Totara House @ Samoan Language Week 2023

Leadership is defined as “Leaders enable the individuals on their team to reach their highest potentials. By being a true leader, you show others that you can inspire and motivate your team for the good of the organization.” The student leadership really wanted to build the leadership within the house. There were a few moments this year where we had students within the house lead in our whanau assemblies to the house events. Our Year 12 students helped to teach the Athletics Day chant, to our senior Year 12 students leading Samoan Language Week to our Year 10 students leading the inter house Basketball competition. Growing the leadership within the house has always been a big focus for Totara House and I am so pleased that we were able to do that in 2023.  

Totara House @ Athletics Day 2023

Gratitude is defined as “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” Being grateful and carrying a posture of gratitude is something that is needed and important. Gratitude can help shift your lens and perspective, in a way where you are not dwelling on what is not working but grateful for what is. The leadership team shared their journey with the students throughout the year and shared what they are grateful for. It was humbling to hear from the young people what they are thankful for. I am grateful for the successes that we have experienced together as House from winning the House Chant for Athletics Day 2023, winning the Samoan Language Week House Dance competition to winning the overall Whanau House for 2023. We celebrate and we are grateful for our successes that we have been blessed with.

TOTARA HOUSE: Goals for 2024

We were unable to explore our goals for 2024 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 2024, 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.

Totara House @ Inter House Soccer Competition 2023

• New House Values 2024 - I hope to work with our new leadership for 2024 and to see what they think our House Values should be. It would be a good idea to also collaborate with our student body to get their input as it is something that we have done over the last two years. 

• Participation - Continue to encourage our students to participate in the House events and activities. There is something special when we come together and I would like to continue this with our students

• Monitor student achievement/progress - I would like to see our mentorship team and academic mentor work together to track and support our students (across year 9 to year 13) with their learning and achievement. That is our core job and I would like to see our students feel confident in where they are and where they want to go academically. 

• Student Leadership - The mentorship team discussed how we can utilize our student leadership more effectively and efficiently in our house, we have an idea on what we want to do and I hope that we can help drive this with our leadership team.

I am looking forward to working the new student leadership team for 2024, our mentorship team and the students of Totara House 2024! 

Week 1 Term 1 - English Department - English Department Review 2023 + Goals for 2024 (January 29 - February 2)

English Department 2023

2023 was an emotional, full on, challenging and rewarding year for our English Department. Our goal for 2023 was to deliver a learning program and experience that would be meaningful for our akonga. We wanted to continue to support and nurture our student’s literacy journey particularly in Year 9 and Year 10 English. We wanted to make sure that our NCEA students were able to get the credits that they needed. There were many interruptions that we faced that created barriers in the teaching and learning - specifically the PPTA Teacher Strikes which had an impact on our NCEA students' learning and credit achievement. We spent most of Term 3 and 4 trying to close the gap with their learning, which proved to be both challenging but also rewarding as the students were keen to get through the credits for NCEA English. A review of how each semester went was shared through the annual Term starter pack. Our story of 2023 is captured in more detail in our term reviews.

I want to acknowledge, thank and celebrate the English Department - Mrs Pravina Harde, Mrs Christine Williams, Mr Faiyaz Hoosein, Mr Jeremy Spruyt, Ms Anahina Latu, Ms Francis Kolo, Ms Vivienne Jensen-Jones and Mr Marc Milford. Thank you for your friendship, support, service and love that you have gifted and shown to our department and to our akonga. It is a privilege to do this work with you all and I look forward to what we are going to achieve together this year. We will now take a look at our self-review of our School Goals, Junior and Senior English program for 2023.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT REVIEW 2023: JUNIOR ENGLISH

Year 10 Literacy Pilot Group 2023

Our Junior English Program is one that is continuing to evolve especially with the new curriculum refresh. We have a clear plan for our Year 9 and Year 10 English program, a program where we cover the same text type and common assessment task. Our Junior English teachers have the freedom to choose the text type and assessment criteria for the CAT so that it aligns with their theme. Our program for our Junior English program for 2023 was:

Term 1: Extended Text Study + Formal Writing (CAT)

Term 2: Short Text Study + Creative Writing (CAT) + Mid Year Examination

Term 3: Visual Text Study + Close Viewing (CAT)

Term 4: Speech (CAT) + Final Year Examination

With the new Literacy Co-Requisite assessment (Reading - 5 Credits + Writing - 5 Credits), we decided to trial the new co-requisite assessment with a select group of students. The students who were chosen for the trial were sitting at curriculum level 4 to level 5 for PAT Reading. The trial assessment went well and our students felt really good about it.

We also offered NCEA Level 1 credits to our Year 10 cohort, in our attempt to get them to achieve their Literacy credits in Year 10. This proved to be a success with many of our students gaining NCEA Level 1 English credits across the 6 Year 10 English classes.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT REVIEW 2023: SENIOR ENGLISH

Our internal assessment results across our NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English classes for 2023 were positive. Majority of the students in our NCEA Level 1 cohort achieved credits in English (with the majority gaining literacy through English). We had 10 students who remained on 0 credits in English, so to have the majority achieve credits in what is a very assessment driven and tight program, we are pleased and happy. Our NCEA Level 2 and Level 3 English students did well in 2023 with their internal assessments. Like 2022 and 2021, many of our senior students are juggling work and extracurricular activities and trying to balance school. We are pleased that many of our students in our Level 2 and 3 English classes were able to achieve some if not all of the credits offered in our Senior English program. We also offered literacy credits to our Year 10 cohort, to try and get them their literacy credits before the new curriculum refresh. The English department was very committed in ensuring that their Year 10 students achieved their Literacy credits by the end of 2023. It was definitely a big push but it was worth it as 80% of our Year 10 cohort achieved their Literacy credits. 

We also offered the new literacy co-requisite assessment to a select group of students (ranging from high Level 4 to Level 5 PAT Reading scores). 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. We are really happy with the response from our Year 10 students with the NCEA Level 1 English credits we offered. They were really keen to try and get their literacy credits in Year 10 so that they could bank their 2024 credits and credit it towards their NCEA Level 1 credit protocol.

Our external assessment results highlight a range of concerns. Many of our students achieve NCEA through internal assessments and the priority around external assessments has wavered. When you partner this with ongoing absences, it is inevitable that the external results will hinder. Although the results for our external assessments were not the best in 2023, we are hopeful to create an opportunity for our students to feel confident and comfortable to do the external assessments, to see the importance in doing external assessments and prioritizing them as they are an integral part of one’s learning journey in secondary school. We will delve into the results below for Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 English.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT REVIEW 2023: DEPARTMENT GOALS

English Department 2023

It is important for any team and organization to review where they are at and where they want to go. I hope to use the school goals for 2024 as a focus point for our department going into the new year. I know that from here, our own department goals will spill out from here. Two goals that we did set on achieving in 2023 was developing a new curriculum for our NCEA Level 1 English program (to align with Te Mataiaho: The New Curriculum Refresh) which we have done and also developing our English Department publication of student work ‘Our Voices’ which we were also able to tick off. We hope to continue to work through these two new initiatives and give it the space, support and time it needs to flourish and grow.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT 2024: JUNIOR AND SENIOR ENGLISH PROGRAM

We are excited to work through our new Junior and NCEA Level 1 English program. Our NCEA Level 1 English program is the course that has changed the most to align with the new curriculum refresh. We are looking forward to seeing this come to fruition and to see what is working and what we need to improve on. Please find the new program here: 

Tamaki College English Department: Year 9 and Year 10 Course Outline

Tamaki College English Department: NCEA Level 1 English Course Outline

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT GOALS 2024

Our goals for 2024 are: 

1) Junior English - Start our new Junior English program that aligns with the new curriculum. 

2) NCEA Level 1 English - We look forward to starting our new NCEA Level 1 English program (Our Voices and Our Stories). We will be starting the term with our Visual Text study (The Dark Horse) and then launching into the new assessment - 1.2. I look forward to documenting this. 

3) Literacy Co-Requisite - While literacy is an area that is across all subject areas, we are looking forward to working through this and preparing our students for the new standard. 

4) Our Voice Vol.2 - We look forward to working with our young people in getting them to craft pieces for our Department publication - Our Voices (Vol.2). 

I know that as the year progresses, our goals will shift and change but I am excited to work alongside my team in making sure that these goals are met as best as we can. I am looking forward to this year and I am excited about the work that the team and I are going to do together for our department and our akonga. 

Week 9 Term 4 - English Department - English Department Publication: Our Voices (December 4 - December 8)

In 2022, the English Department discussed ways we could promote our subject area and celebrate the learning from the subject area. One way that we thought we could promote and celebrate our subject area was through creating a collection of student work, publishing the student and sharing it to their teachers, peers and the wider cluster. I reflected on this in a blog post that I shared earlier this year: 

Alby's Blog Entry Post - 26/01/23

This was an idea that we spoke about throughout 2022 and now in Term 4 of 2023, our first publication - 'Our Voices' - is completed. 

Some of our Year 9 + Year 10 writers for 'Our Voices'

We are incredibly proud of the work that all of our students have done this year. Across Year 9 to Year 13, our students have crafted and created texts (written, visual and oral) that we believe need to be celebrated and honored. As a department, we spend 70% of our time crafting and creating texts with our students, some of these texts are direct responses to a text that we have studied in class. This is a common occurrence in our Senior NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English classes. In our Junior Year 9 and Year 10 English classes, the texts that our student's create vary and there is a real push for our Junior students to craft and create texts based on their own personal history, story and experiences. 

'Our Voices' is not just a publication but it is a movement towards how we want to shape and refine our curriculum for English here at Tamaki College. We want our students to understand their voice in a way that helps to challenge, inspire and open their lens to themselves, their community and the world that they live in. 

Click on the image to view 'Our Voices'

Our young people, our ākonga, our tamariki: they are gifted, creative and amazing. Our Voices is a collection and celebration of their work. The writers in this book are students across our Year 9 to Year 13 English classes. The English Department has worked with these students in the crafting of their texts. It has been our privilege to work alongside our young people. 

I would like to thank all of the young people who have contributed to this collection. I would like to thank the entire English Department team: to Ms. Anahina Latu, Mrs. Pravina Harde, Mrs. Christine Williams, Mr. Faiyaz Hoosein, Mr. Jeremy Spruyt, Ms. Francis Kolo, Mr. Marc Milford and Mrs. Viviene Jenson-Jones - thank you for your time, your hearts, and your commitment and service to both the English Department and our akonga.

The heart and vision of this book come from the voices of our young people. Their stories, their opinions, their critical thinking, their creativity and their voices are important, are needed, and matter.

Week 8 Term 4 - Teacher Practice: Inquiry 2023: Final Project - Yearbook (November 27 - December 1)

Teacher Inquiry 2023: Improving reading and writing engagement with my Year 9 students through creating mixed ability groups within my Year 9 class.

9TKl working on their final project

I have enjoyed the journey with my teacher inquiry for 2023. Initially I started out with wanting to engage students with reading and writing through grouping them in tailored learning groups. This went into full effect in Term 2 and Term 3. This term I have given the students the space to group themselves and as I expected, they are working in their friend groups. I have found that the initial plan to group them into their learning level groups was a good foundation for them to venture out and work in their own groups and with their friends. They have accumulated a good set of skills and work ethic that is strong enough for them to go out and work independently. I have really enjoyed documenting my inquiry and what I have been able to cover in my inquiry journey this year. 

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 02/04/23

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 06/05/23

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 21/05/23

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 12/06/23

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 26/06/23

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 24/07/23

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 07/08/23

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 14/08/23

Alby’s Blog Entry Post - 18/09/23

YEARBOOK

This term we are in the process of working (independently) on their final project - Yearbook. The students have completed all of their Common Assessment Tasks, reading/writing tests and exams. I wanted to end the year with a project where they can Reflect, Review, Evaluate and Celebrate their learning journey in English. Creating a yearbook - I believe - is an opportunity for the students to really look back and reflect and appreciate their work and the learning that they have experienced in English. There are different components in the Yearbook that I know would appeal to the students from writing to crafting a visual text - I know that this is the best way to close our learning for the year. 

For this project I wanted the students to work in two phases. Phase 1 - the creation process where they work through 7 tasks. Each task will enable the students to build and create the content for their Yearbook. Phase 2 is the final part of the creation process where the students take each phase and place into their final design of their yearbook. In this phase they will create their final design of their yearbook onto Google Slides or Book Creator (both apps which we have used throughout our inquiry). 

PHASE 1: 7 TASKS

Click on the link to access the Yearbook Project

Pepeha - Pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Māori. It tells people who you are by sharing your connections with the people and places that are important to you. The student will create a pepeha as the opening for their Yearbook. There is a cool app that we used for Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori Language Week (Term 3) here - Create Pepeha

Reflection Essay - In this task the students are asked to write an essay (250 - 350 words) where they reflect on the year 2023. They are given some prompts to help guide the written reflection.

 
Learning Journey - For this task the students reflect on their learning journey, documenting their results and writing and evaluation on their progress and what they thought they did well.

 
Showcasing your work - Here for this part of the yearbook the students will showcase your best work from English this year. They will choose ONE piece that they did well and explain what it is and why they enjoyed it.

 
Photo Collage - For this task the students will create a photo collage to include in their Yearbook.

Favorite Text - The students will choose ONE text that they enjoyed from our literature study this year and write a review on it.

 
Create a cover - For this final task, the students will create a cover for their yearbook.

PHASE 2: CREATING + DESIGNING THE YEARBOOK

For Phase 2, the students had the option of designing and crafting their text on Google Slides or Book Creator. All of them chose to design their Yearbook on Google Slide as it was easier for them to navigate. They had free range on what the design could look like. 

The students really enjoyed this project. This project was an opportunity for them to collate their best work, reflect on what they have done, and think about what they can improve on. Ultimately this project was an opportunity for them to create and produce a text that celebrates their work, their voice and enhances their mana. Here are some awesome examples of the Yearbook Project from my inquiry focus group - 9TKl. 

Cover

Pepeha

Reflection

Reflection 

Learning Journey

Showcasing my work

Photo Collage 

Week 7 Term 4 - English Department - TOD: Planning for 2024 (November 20 - November 24)

English Department @ TOD 17/11/23

At our most recent Teacher Only Day (Friday November 17 - Week 6 Term 4) we prepared and planned our Senior NCEA Level 1 English course, our literacy strategy for 2024 and we started to review and refine our Junior English program. I have really enjoyed documenting and reflecting on our journey in preparing for our new NCEA Level 1 English course (see my reflections below)

Alby's Blog Entry Post - 16/05/22

Alby's Blog Entry Post - 24/08/22

Alby's Blog Entry Post - 13/11/22

Alby's Blog Entry Post - 30/04/23

Alby's Blog Entry Post - 27/08/23

Alby's Blog Entry Post - 15/10/23

Alby's Blog Entry Post - 29/10/23

Since we have covered so much since May 2022, TOD was an opportunity for us to look and review where we are at and refine our next steps so that we are as ready as we can be for 2024. Our main focus for the TOD was to look at: 

1. Literacy Strategies 2024
2. Term 1 2024: Our Stories + Our Histories through poetry + AS 1.1: 91924
3. Term 2 2024: Their Stories + Their Histories through film + AS 1.2: 91925
4. Term 3 2024: Our Voices + AS 1.3: 91926
5. Junior English Program 2024

In this post I will reflect on how our department planning went, the highlights and the learnings. 

LITERACY STRATEGIES 2024

The Literacy Specifics for 2024 is going to be a huge focus for not just our department but across all learning areas. The idea is that we choose 2-3 Literacy Specific Skills to focus on (across the school) in our Year 9 and Year 10 programs and use effective literacy strategies to help support them. This is to help prepare our students for the Literacy Co-Requisite assessment that will be offered to all of our Year 10 students. I have written a reflection on this and what we were able to do with the teachers in getting them to think about the new co-requisites for both literacy and numeracy. 

Alby's Entry Blog Post - 05/11/23

I have reflected on the trial group who sat the co-requisite and the work that we put in place to help prepare them. 

Alby's Entry Blog Post - 30/07/23

I reintroduced the Literacy Specifics to the team and asked them to reflect on the following questions. The idea behind this was to see what they want to prioritize with the Literacy Specifics and then incorporate this into our planning for our Junior English Program. I asked them to think about the following questions in groups and then provide feedback. 

Which literacy skills should we focus on in

Term 1:

Term 2:

Term 3:

Term 4:

Literacy Co-Requisite Test to take place:

May (Term 2)

September (Term 3)

What can we do to teach these literacy skills?

Here is the feedback from the team. 

What literacy skills should we focus on?

Term 1 -

• Identify main idea
• Distinguish relevant information from irrelevant information

Term 2 -

• Locate facts or information
• Organize information

Term 3 -

• Recognize features of language and structures
• Select appropriate vocabular

Term 4 -

• Summarize information
• Compare and contrast texts

What can we do to teach these literacy skills?

• Focus on reading text together or in groups
• Different types of texts and different types of reading
• End of the week: get them to summarize what they’ve read for the week
• Make a generalize comment about the topic
• How can we making reading fun? Provide shorter texts
• Pose questions: Why do you think the author does this? What do you think the author’s attitude is?
• Effective Literacy Practice
• Effective Literacy Strategies

TERM 1 2024: OUR STORIES + OUR HISTORY THROUGH POETRY + AS 1.1: 91924

The focus for Term 1 is 'Our Stories and Our Histories: Window' looking into the stories and experiences of people in our country. The primary text for Term 1 is Tusiata Avia's poetry collection 'The Savage Colonizer Book'. The learning intention is to understand how the context and language from the text interact and connect. The assessment that we are going to bring in to support the learning is 1.1. We have spent time going through this assessment and in our session from TOD, we looked specifically at ONE text from 'The Savage Colonizer Book' and what we can do with our students with the text. We also looked at the assessment 1.1 (a basic structure) and what the opportunities are with this assessment.

Our plan for Term 1 is to: 

1. Teach the context around each text that we are going to cover (x3 poems from 'The Savage Colonizer Book')
2. Teach the poem and look at the language that has been shaped within the context
3. Complete a language study for each text
4. Craft a research text (written or oral presentation) on ONE chosen text from the 3 texts that we studied in class that links to 1.1. 

 

TERM 2 2024: THEIR STORIES + THEIR HISTORIES THROUGH FILM + AS 1.2: 91925

The focus for Term 2 is 'Their Stories and Their Histories: Window' looking into the stories and experiences of people in our country. The primary text for Term 2 is the New Zealand film 'The Dark Horse'. The learning intention is understanding certain aspects of texts and why it is used to create meaning. The assessment that we are going to bring in to support the learning is 1.2. We also looked at the assessment 1.2 (a basic structure). 

Our plan for Term 2 is to: 

1. Focus on our primary text - The Dark Horse
2. Complete a film study looking at specific aspects of the text (film techniques) specifically techniques like characterization, symbolism, motif, dialogue and costume
3. Complete a Close Viewing assessment for the film which links to 1.2. 

TERM 3 2024: OUR VOICES + AS 1.3: 91926

We spent some time going through the Term 3 program - 'Our Voices' - the main focus for this is the external which will take place at the end of Term 3. Our English NIF (NCEA Implementation Facilitator - Alex Moffat -Wood) joined us and went through the assessment with us. The students will write one piece of writing (either fiction or nonfiction) they also have to write a statement of intent, brainstorm to be included. 

We will get the writing prompts at the beginning of Term 3 and the students will work on the assessment half way through the term. It is important to note that throughout the year, we will provide opportunities for the students to write (for enjoyment and to prepare for 1.3) so that they can decide on a style of writing that they want to focus on for the external. The prompts come with a visual and a list of options that the students can write from. 

Our plan for Term 3 is to: 

1. Provide opportunities for the students to write in different text types throughout the year (non fiction, fiction, argumentative, blog writing etc)
2. Go through the prompts with the students and give them an opportunity to plan for each prompt. 
3. Block out a part of the term so that the students can focus on crafting their text (maybe from Week 5 onwards). 

JUNIOR ENGLISH PROGRAM 2024

We will be redesigning our Junior English program to align with our new NCEA Level 1 English program. The program will feature an intensive approach to our new literacy specifics and we will also mirror the same type of assessments that we offer in Level 1 English for our Year 9 and Year 10 English students. 

I really enjoyed our time together. It is always good to come together and get on the same page. Especially at a time where there is a lot of change, it is imperative that we understand what the goal is and how we are going to get there. I understand that it is important to have room to learn and grow (and fail). I am looking forward to putting all of our preparation and planning into action next year. 

Week 6 Term 4 - Totara House - Thanksgiving (November 13 - November 17)

Totara House Thanksgiving Assembly 2023 (Term 4)

Term 4 is the final term of the year. This term both teachers and students are trying to finish their learning programs, get through the last lot of credits and prepare for the end of year exams. It is a crazy and challenging time for everyone. It is time where we are all trying to close the loop and make sure that our loose ends with our work are all completed before the school holidays. It is important that in the craziness and chaos, that we find the time to stop and reflect. 

In this reflection, I am going to share how I spent the last full house assembly with Totara House for 2023. In our last assembly (held in Week 5) we reflected on 2023. We acknowledged those who have contributed, served and led our house through the year. We celebrated what we have done together as a House and we honored our students who have come to the end of their College journey. We acknowledged those who are going to carry us into 2024. Today is all about THANKSGIVING. A traditional holiday celebration in the United States of America where they celebrate the harvest and the blessings of the past year. 

Totara House Leaders @ Thanksgiving Assembly

Our annual 'Thanksgiving' assembly is held in November every year. It is a time for us to celebrate the year that was, reflect on what we have learnt and remember those who have gone. I wrote a reflection on the Totara House thanksgiving assembly that was held in 2022. Please see: 

Alby's Blog Post Entry - 20/11/22

‘Integrity’, ‘Leadership’ and ‘Gratitude’ are the Totara House values for 2023. As a whanau, Totara House has used the House Assemblies and events to unpack and explore our House values. It has been a learning journey for the House leaders, to step outside of their comfort zone and connect with the young people. They have done an exceptional job and I am very proud of them. 

Some of the Totara House Mentorship Team 2023

I am honored to work alongside the Totara House Mentorship team (Ms Kolo, Mrs Rani, Mr Niko, Mrs Ahokovi, Ms Paketama, Mr Koch, Ms Tuitupou, Ms Ferguson and Mr Singh). I thank you all for your commitment to the house, their mentor classes and our values. I am forever grateful to work alongside a great team of mentor teachers.

Totara House Leadership Team 2023

I am grateful to have worked and journeyed with the Totara House Student Leadership team for 2023. Kosini Mapapalangi, Danny Sefilino, Anika Crichton Ward, Alo Ki Hingano, Christian Kava, Saimone Misinale and Mario Vakauta - thank you for your love, commitment and service. You have all done an incredible job in leading our house. You have all worked together to make sure that our students feel safe, that they feel a sense of belonging and that they matter. You have been called to serve outside of your comfort zone. I am so proud and grateful for your leadership and service to Totara House. I am going to miss you all. 

Totara Leadership team '23 @ Y13 Graduation

13TFn @ Year 13 Graduation Term 4 2023 with their mentor Ms Ferguson

As 2023 comes to a close, I want to wish all of the Year 13 students in 13TFn in Totara House the very best for the next step in your journey. Thank you for your contribution, your heart and your commitment to our school over the last 5 years. 1 Corinthians 16:14 says “Let everything you do be done in love ” and I encourage you to do exactly that. Whatever you choose to do after school - whether you are working, supporting your family, travel or study - do it with love.

Week 5 Term 4 - Staff PLD - Literacy Slam Session (November 6 - November 10)

As we prepare for the new NCEA Level 1 curriculum refresh we are also making sure that we understand the new literacy and numeracy co-requisites. I wrote a reflection on this in Term 3 and the journey that we have taken in trialing the new literacy standard with a select group of Year 10 students. Please see the entry below.  

 Alby's Entry Blog Post - 30/07/23

Since this post, the select group of students have met every Monday focusing on the literacy skill set (which I will go through in the post) and we have also had a go at the literacy assessment from the September 2022 and June 2023 pilot. It has been a good time to go through the assessment with the students and to get familiar with the skill set that is needed in order to get through the assessment. 

At our most recent PLD session, the HOLA of Mathematics and myself (HOLA English) introduced the new Numeracy and Literacy standards to our colleagues. The purpose of our presentation was to bring all the learning areas together and to show them what they can do in their learning area to support the new numeracy and literacy requirements. Traditionally, numeracy and literacy has fallen into the Mathematics and English spaces. The new curriculum refresh encourages all learning areas that they have a meaningful role to play in the numeracy and literacy teaching and learning for all students. In this reflection I will outline how the PLD session went and what we covered. 

WHAKATAUKI

Literacy and Numeracy whakatauki

We opened with the whakatauki for both literacy (English) and numeracy (Mathematics). The whakatauki is important as it gives the heart, the essence and the vision behind the kaupapa. The whakatauki for both literacy and numeracy encourages both teachers and students to embrace 'language' in all of its beauty and form and to also focus on key learning and concepts. 

KEY SKILLS IN NUMERACY AND LITERACY

Effective practices to support literacy in numeracy

Literacy skill breakdown

Focusing on the key numeracy and literacy skills helped to highlight what the key learning is for our students. The numeracy co-requisite assessment is heavily assessed through literacy (the readings and questions) have a strong literacy component. The literacy co-requisite of course has a very strong literacy element to it. It is clear from both assessments that the students need to have a strong skill set in order to achieve both assessments. We went through the skill set for both numeracy and literacy and we made it clear that the skillset highlighted from the pilot are skill sets that we are already doing in our learning area. Our job is to make sure that we are doing it well in their respective learning area so that it supports the literacy and numeracy intensives that are covered in Mathematics and English. 

GIVING THE ASSESSMENT A GO!

Tamaki College staff giving the numeracy + literacy assessment a go

Once we went through the skill breakdown, we gave everyone an opportunity to give the assessment (for both numeracy and literacy) a go. In their respective learning areas, we spent 30 minutes working on ONE question from the numeracy and literacy assessment. They really enjoyed this part of the presentation and it was a good experience for us as teachers to see what our students will be assessed on regarding literacy and numeracy in the new curriculum refresh. It was evident from the feedback that the staff knew that the both assessments are literacy heavy. 

REFLECTION

Staff feedback/reflection

We closed the session with some reflection questions for each learning area to reflect on. We asked the learning areas the following questions. 

1. Which of the skills are you currently using in your learning area that support your akonga with their numeracy and literacy?
2. What can you do to support your current numeracy and literacy practice in your learning area?
3. What are some other skills that you can integrate into your learning area?

We wanted the learning areas to feel empowered about what they are doing already when it comes to effective literacy practice. We know that there is effective literacy practice going, it is just a matter of honing in on it and doing it well. We also wanted our colleagues to look at the literacy skills needed for both numeracy and literacy and prioritize them in their planning for 2024 (specifically for their Year 9 and Year 10 English programs). We are excited to continue working with our colleagues next year and for them to share their effective literacy practice.