Lockdown Reflection
Waiho i te toipoto,
kaua i te toiroa
Let us keep close together,
not wide apart
kaua i te toiroa
Let us keep close together,
not wide apart
2020
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ContentsLead Principal: Introduction
Sector: Primary Schools
Sector: Intermediate Schools
Sector: Secondary Schools/Mahi Tahi me te Ākonga
Initiative: Flexible Grouping
Initiative: Well Being
Initiative: Multilingual Language Learners
Initiative: Learning Progression Framework
Initiative: Visible Learning
Events: Unconference
Events: ECE
Events: Provisionally Certified Teachers
Where to next: National Priorities and 2021
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Cavanagh, A., Farquharson, J., Goh, A., Lawrence, A., Murphy , L., Nicholls, A., Osbaldiston, A., Parkinson, S., Spencer, S., Tomich, F. (2020, December 1).
Auckland Central Community of Schools Lockdown Reflection
(S. Van Schaijik, Ed.).
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Message from our Lead PrincipalLoading...
BackgroundAuckland Central Community of Schools or ACCoS as we are known, was one of the early adopters of a 2014 government initiative called Investing in Educational Success. The purpose of this initiative was to lift student achievement by providing a seamless tradition for all ako, improving teacher practice and offering career opportunities for teachers.
I have been lead principal for five years and in this role provide additional and complementary support to twelve high performing schools all who have exceptionally competent and passionate principals. A steering group made up of two ACCoS principals supports the leadership work and helps facilitate collaborative learning across our Kāhui Ako .
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Jill FarquharsonLoading...
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I am proud of our achievements during what has been a very unsettled year. My thanks to our school leaders who came together and shared resources, outcomes and ways of coping during COVID 19- I want to acknowledge your work. . Together as school leaders we sifted the volume of information that came into our schools in order to provide a strong health and wellbeing focus for our teachers and learners. Together we made use of each other's strengths and shared our skills and resources as we prepared for a new way of working and learning. We also utilised new ways of communicating and continued to meet virtually during lockdown.2020 has highlighted several accomplishments for our Kahui Ako. They are the result of work from our Across School Leaders, In School Leaders, Principals, colleagues and teachers at the chalkface. In our Kāhui Ako there is a culture of transparency in everything we do. This year our annual report focuses on our learning during the recent global pandemic when schools in Auckland shut down for approximately nine school weeks and we shifted learning to a blended model utilising online systems.
Our In School and Across School Leaders have driven the work of ACCoS through leading initiatives in their schools and contributing to across schools collaboration. These leaders have been pivotal to the success of our Kāhui Ako during an unprecedented year and the majority of our across schools meetings happened digitally via video conferencing.
Professional Learning
This year our professional learning celebrates new ways of collaborating. Our inquiries have continued and we all agreed to embrace Health and Wellbeing and place it at the heart of our community.
Summary
This annual report identities learning across sectors and initiatives that we will use to strengthen our work in 2021.
We will include the Ministry of Education National Priorities.
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Page 3Photo of our principals & Champions
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The ACCoS Steering Group
The Auckland Central Community of Schools has a steering committee consisting of Jill Farquarson,
Richard George and Janine Irvine.
Richard George and Janine Irvine.
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Sector: Primary Schools
What did we do?
Responsive to demands- increased support for families, students and teachers.
Ensured families had access to both paper and digital resources.
Regular communication with children and families.
Daily/weekly feedback on student learning - routines maintained as possible.
Some schools utilised video conferencing tools to communicate in real time along with a range of online tools: Google Slides, Google Classroom, Hapara, One Note Teams, Email, Seesaw, Zoom and Screencastify.
Staff made contact to provide additional support for students not engaging.
Instructions for schedules, login details and videos created to support access for specialist programmes and diverse learning needs.
Responsive to demands- increased support for families, students and teachers.
Ensured families had access to both paper and digital resources.
Regular communication with children and families.
Daily/weekly feedback on student learning - routines maintained as possible.
Some schools utilised video conferencing tools to communicate in real time along with a range of online tools: Google Slides, Google Classroom, Hapara, One Note Teams, Email, Seesaw, Zoom and Screencastify.
Staff made contact to provide additional support for students not engaging.
Instructions for schedules, login details and videos created to support access for specialist programmes and diverse learning needs.
What worked and what did we learn?
Planning time: Teachers collaboratively planned to share the workload and created shared resources.
Communication, structure and routine are important: schools to be mindful of families sharing devices and that the scheduling of learning needed to be flexible.
New families need additional support to ensure access to all digital systems and learning areas.
English Language Learners require additional support for Hauora.
Ongoing learning for teachers to use digital tools and manage school devices remotely.
Children tested the systems so be prepared for the unexpected.
Constant feedback, maintaining relationships were important so students knew that teachers were engaged and helping them learn.
Creating video instructions were more beneficial than written text.
Planning time: Teachers collaboratively planned to share the workload and created shared resources.
Communication, structure and routine are important: schools to be mindful of families sharing devices and that the scheduling of learning needed to be flexible.
New families need additional support to ensure access to all digital systems and learning areas.
English Language Learners require additional support for Hauora.
Ongoing learning for teachers to use digital tools and manage school devices remotely.
Children tested the systems so be prepared for the unexpected.
Constant feedback, maintaining relationships were important so students knew that teachers were engaged and helping them learn.
Creating video instructions were more beneficial than written text.
Reflection: Learning for next time
Focus on strategy/learning intentions and targeted teaching (small groups).
Utilise online programmes like Flipgrid and Book Creator for variety and creativity and high ceiling learning.
Provide opportunities where students could talk with their friends which is essential for Health and Wellbeing.
Ensure access to multiple ways of learning systems to meet needs.
Have consistency of programme delivery so that families with students in different year levels have a similar platform and timely schedules.
Use instructional videos/resources from the last lockdown. Share across ACCoS
Lockdown learning is a shared responsibility with parents; offer support for families that are less comfortable in the teaching/learning role.
Support staff with upskilling in digital professional learning.
Students thrived with having opportunities to revisit learning during lockdown- how can this pedagogy be transferred into regular classroom practice?
How can we develop across schools collaborative learning for our students online?
Focus on strategy/learning intentions and targeted teaching (small groups).
Utilise online programmes like Flipgrid and Book Creator for variety and creativity and high ceiling learning.
Provide opportunities where students could talk with their friends which is essential for Health and Wellbeing.
Ensure access to multiple ways of learning systems to meet needs.
Have consistency of programme delivery so that families with students in different year levels have a similar platform and timely schedules.
Use instructional videos/resources from the last lockdown. Share across ACCoS
Lockdown learning is a shared responsibility with parents; offer support for families that are less comfortable in the teaching/learning role.
Support staff with upskilling in digital professional learning.
Students thrived with having opportunities to revisit learning during lockdown- how can this pedagogy be transferred into regular classroom practice?
How can we develop across schools collaborative learning for our students online?
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Sector: Primary Schools
Children enjoyed learning new skills at home
Some children created videos of their experience using Flipgrid and won an Outlook for Someday Film Award.
Some students reflected on life in lockdown
Teachers provided a variety of high ceiling activities with opportunities for peer feedback
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Sector: Intermediate Schools
What did we do?
Learning in lock-down for the intermediate sector was a combination of the old and the new. In some schools the standard timetable of learning including specialist classes continued as normal. In others this was not the case. Learning comprised of a mix of some structured lessons, and lots of independent learning tasks that made use of existing platforms such as Education Perfect, Google Classroom, Seesaw, and the Google Education Suite. Those students who were already used to working in a BOYD manner had an advantage when it came to transitioning to distance learning.
Although small group sessions with particular focus students still occurred, there was less “grouping” than usual across the schools in this sector. On the whole, students were offered more choice of learning activities than their regular school programs. This often took the form of a "must do, may do" list of tasks, with the range of activities being broader in type and curriculum area focus than what students were used to in their regular classroom programs. Lock-down therefore saw an increase in art, design, and music learning tasks.
Teacher conference time with students had the potential to either maintain important relationships and class connections, or to overload teachers depending on the expectations of the school. In whole-class or small group sessions it enabled students to see, hear, and interact with each other and their teachers in a positive manner. Those intermediates who mandated 1:1 teacher-student contact on a regular basis found this caused significant pressure on staff.
Learning in lock-down for the intermediate sector was a combination of the old and the new. In some schools the standard timetable of learning including specialist classes continued as normal. In others this was not the case. Learning comprised of a mix of some structured lessons, and lots of independent learning tasks that made use of existing platforms such as Education Perfect, Google Classroom, Seesaw, and the Google Education Suite. Those students who were already used to working in a BOYD manner had an advantage when it came to transitioning to distance learning.
Although small group sessions with particular focus students still occurred, there was less “grouping” than usual across the schools in this sector. On the whole, students were offered more choice of learning activities than their regular school programs. This often took the form of a "must do, may do" list of tasks, with the range of activities being broader in type and curriculum area focus than what students were used to in their regular classroom programs. Lock-down therefore saw an increase in art, design, and music learning tasks.
Teacher conference time with students had the potential to either maintain important relationships and class connections, or to overload teachers depending on the expectations of the school. In whole-class or small group sessions it enabled students to see, hear, and interact with each other and their teachers in a positive manner. Those intermediates who mandated 1:1 teacher-student contact on a regular basis found this caused significant pressure on staff.
What worked and what did we learn?
The strengths of team planning came to the fore: collaboration created shared resource banks.
The pedagogical and leaning structures that were already in place provided security for students, many transferring flexibly to on line learning.
Students respond well to choice. The Must Do/ Can Do programmes demonstrating agentic learning practices and the opportunities for students to demonstrate learning strengths and passions. Some students who may usually slip below the radar in the class, excelled in online learning: some through their artistic talents, writing etc. others in the quality of learning demonstrated. Collaboration on line between students improved over lockdown and increased engagement and motivation.
Coordinated and planned times for live interaction allowed for structure for families learning times. Scheduling teacher availability time for students, supported teachers to ensure work- life balance.
The support from IT companies by making everything free was the best gift.
The strengths of team planning came to the fore: collaboration created shared resource banks.
The pedagogical and leaning structures that were already in place provided security for students, many transferring flexibly to on line learning.
Students respond well to choice. The Must Do/ Can Do programmes demonstrating agentic learning practices and the opportunities for students to demonstrate learning strengths and passions. Some students who may usually slip below the radar in the class, excelled in online learning: some through their artistic talents, writing etc. others in the quality of learning demonstrated. Collaboration on line between students improved over lockdown and increased engagement and motivation.
Coordinated and planned times for live interaction allowed for structure for families learning times. Scheduling teacher availability time for students, supported teachers to ensure work- life balance.
The support from IT companies by making everything free was the best gift.
Reflection: Learning for next time
Specific take-outs have been identified by teachers and school leaders after reflecting on the time spent during lockdown. Sharing resources within and across schools would be beneficial to avoid doubling up and reinventing the wheel. Having strong guidelines around working hours and the specific time that teachers are available for their students. At the end of the lockdown, when students return to school, using certain strategies for re-establishing class and social norms is crucial and highlighted the importance of relationships.
Specific take-outs have been identified by teachers and school leaders after reflecting on the time spent during lockdown. Sharing resources within and across schools would be beneficial to avoid doubling up and reinventing the wheel. Having strong guidelines around working hours and the specific time that teachers are available for their students. At the end of the lockdown, when students return to school, using certain strategies for re-establishing class and social norms is crucial and highlighted the importance of relationships.
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