The table below shows how tremendously well we have done with NCEA. The first column shows our % achievement of NCEA at each level, the second column shows what the national average % was and then the next three columns show the national averages for low, mid and high decile schools. Opotiki College is a decile 1 school but, as you can see, our figures put us in either the mid or, in many cases, high decile groupings. The achievement of Maori students in particular is well above the national levels.
The table didn't copy too well, but you shoukd be able to make sense of it.
ALL STUDENTS
Opotiki College National Deciles 1-3 Deciles 4-7 Deciles 8-10
Level 1 68 71 55 69 80
Level 2 81 75 60 73 83
Level 3 71 68 52 66 76
MAORI STUDENTS
Opotiki College National Deciles 1-3 Deciles 4-7 Deciles 8-10
Level 1 62 55 52 53 66
Level 2 83 62 59 61 72
Level 3 68 52 52 50 60
NON MAORI STUDENTS
Opotiki College National Deciles 1-3 Deciles 4-7 Deciles 8-10
Level 1 83 79 68 75 84
Level 2 75 81 69 78 86
Level 3 77 74 60 71 78
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
2009 NCEA Results
Once again we have punched well above our weight for a decile 1 school. With 66% of our Year 11s gaining NCEA Level 1, 81% of our Year 12s gaining Level 2 (with all but 4 of the rest gaining Level 1) and 64% of our Year 13s(!) gaining Level 3 (with all of the rest gaining Level 2) we have done wonderfully well.
The keys, I am certain, are strong leadership across the whole school, an emphasis on strong and positive relationships with our students, and a 'dog-with-a-bone' belief that everyone of our students can succeed.
When you consider that 60-67% of our students arrive at the start of Year 9 in the bottom quartile of nationally-normed literacy and numeracy tests I don't believe there would be many, if any, schools in New Zealand which 'add value' as much as we do.
Let's see what ERO's view is when they arrive in Term II!
The keys, I am certain, are strong leadership across the whole school, an emphasis on strong and positive relationships with our students, and a 'dog-with-a-bone' belief that everyone of our students can succeed.
When you consider that 60-67% of our students arrive at the start of Year 9 in the bottom quartile of nationally-normed literacy and numeracy tests I don't believe there would be many, if any, schools in New Zealand which 'add value' as much as we do.
Let's see what ERO's view is when they arrive in Term II!
Mentor Training
I have just spent 2 days in Auckland being part of First Time Principal Mentoring training. Once again I was a bit peeved at having to use the time, but once again I found it hugely useful.
The stuff really gets to the core of school leadership with a big focus on strategic thinking, open-to-learning conversations (which I find fascinating and valuable) and with face to face access with world-leading thinkers such as Viviane Robinson and video access to Graeme Aitken and John Hattie.
I certainly have a lot of resources and ideas to use with my FTP Principals, but, just as importantly, I can use them for the development of our Senior Leadership Team and staff in general.
The big problem I have is that these resources and ideas need aa lot of thinking through and developing for our context and once school gets underway, which is from now on, I have little time for this type of reflection.
I have tried to schedule a half day each Thursday to go off site and get things done, but these tasks are generally administrative such as newsletter, BOT report, Charter, milestone reports etc. I can't afford any more time off site but I have to find a way of making time at school. If I could spend most of my time on teacher observation and feedback and the strategic stuff described above I am sure I would be a better principal.
Perhaps I could schedule a 90 minute slot once per week with no phone or walk-in interruptions (other than outright emergencies) where I could focus on mentoring and strategic reflection. I'm tempted to try and see how it works in reality.
I'm currently planning my two hour session for our start of year Teacher Only Day on Friday. This has largely moved from an administrative time to a focus on the year's curriculum and pedagogy direction.
Our focus this year is to develop Opotiki College as a Thinking and Asking Place. We want inquiry to be the focus of our work and we want to promote higher levels of thinking for teachers and students.
Amongst this we want the staff to concentrate on three key words: Collaboration, Consistency and High Expectations.
And of course, ERO arrives at the start of Term II.
The stuff really gets to the core of school leadership with a big focus on strategic thinking, open-to-learning conversations (which I find fascinating and valuable) and with face to face access with world-leading thinkers such as Viviane Robinson and video access to Graeme Aitken and John Hattie.
I certainly have a lot of resources and ideas to use with my FTP Principals, but, just as importantly, I can use them for the development of our Senior Leadership Team and staff in general.
The big problem I have is that these resources and ideas need aa lot of thinking through and developing for our context and once school gets underway, which is from now on, I have little time for this type of reflection.
I have tried to schedule a half day each Thursday to go off site and get things done, but these tasks are generally administrative such as newsletter, BOT report, Charter, milestone reports etc. I can't afford any more time off site but I have to find a way of making time at school. If I could spend most of my time on teacher observation and feedback and the strategic stuff described above I am sure I would be a better principal.
Perhaps I could schedule a 90 minute slot once per week with no phone or walk-in interruptions (other than outright emergencies) where I could focus on mentoring and strategic reflection. I'm tempted to try and see how it works in reality.
I'm currently planning my two hour session for our start of year Teacher Only Day on Friday. This has largely moved from an administrative time to a focus on the year's curriculum and pedagogy direction.
Our focus this year is to develop Opotiki College as a Thinking and Asking Place. We want inquiry to be the focus of our work and we want to promote higher levels of thinking for teachers and students.
Amongst this we want the staff to concentrate on three key words: Collaboration, Consistency and High Expectations.
And of course, ERO arrives at the start of Term II.
Monday, January 18, 2010
2010 Plans - Themes and Data Driven Targets
Introduce Thematic Approach at Year 9
• 4 Learning Teams (3 mainstream and 1 Bilingual class) made up of their core teachers and relevant option teachers.
• Aim to set it up so that very few staff teach more than 1 Year 9 class.
• Learning Teams meet once per fortnight.
• Teachers plan programmes around the theme, discuss teaching and learning strategies, ensure coverage of key competencies, share and track student progress supported by achievement data, discuss relationship issues and share learning targets and progress towards them as driven by Part B of the plan.
• One of the meetings per term will serve as a Te Kotahitanga co-construction hui if the class is one of the target classes.
• Introduce across Years 9 and 10 in 2011.
Pre-testing, Setting Targets and Professional Development
• Pre-testing method agreed for each subject by end of 2009.
• Pre-test administered for all Year 9 and 10 classes by end of February.
• Learning Targets set for each class during March.
• TOD to be held in March
o Agenda for TOD will be determined by asking staff, “What questions do you have about evidence gathering and interpreting data?”
o Structure of TOD likely to be ½ day facilitated by an expert and ½ day working in Departments to apply the new learning.
• Departments work collaboratively to support each junior class teacher to devise strategies to move towards the targets and to apply assessment tools.
• Once per term Departments are to discuss the progress of each class towards the targets.
• An end-of-year report for each class compiled and forwarded to Principal which includes the original data on levels, a description of strategies used, and progress and end-of-year data which supports an evaluation of target achievement.
Linking Between Part A and Part B
The collaborative planning around the common theme will be informed by clear learning targets and relevant assessment data for each class.
• 4 Learning Teams (3 mainstream and 1 Bilingual class) made up of their core teachers and relevant option teachers.
• Aim to set it up so that very few staff teach more than 1 Year 9 class.
• Learning Teams meet once per fortnight.
• Teachers plan programmes around the theme, discuss teaching and learning strategies, ensure coverage of key competencies, share and track student progress supported by achievement data, discuss relationship issues and share learning targets and progress towards them as driven by Part B of the plan.
• One of the meetings per term will serve as a Te Kotahitanga co-construction hui if the class is one of the target classes.
• Introduce across Years 9 and 10 in 2011.
Pre-testing, Setting Targets and Professional Development
• Pre-testing method agreed for each subject by end of 2009.
• Pre-test administered for all Year 9 and 10 classes by end of February.
• Learning Targets set for each class during March.
• TOD to be held in March
o Agenda for TOD will be determined by asking staff, “What questions do you have about evidence gathering and interpreting data?”
o Structure of TOD likely to be ½ day facilitated by an expert and ½ day working in Departments to apply the new learning.
• Departments work collaboratively to support each junior class teacher to devise strategies to move towards the targets and to apply assessment tools.
• Once per term Departments are to discuss the progress of each class towards the targets.
• An end-of-year report for each class compiled and forwarded to Principal which includes the original data on levels, a description of strategies used, and progress and end-of-year data which supports an evaluation of target achievement.
Linking Between Part A and Part B
The collaborative planning around the common theme will be informed by clear learning targets and relevant assessment data for each class.
Theme Based Curriculum
The following have been agreed as the themes around which to base our junior teaching programmes:
Junior Themes 2010
1. Me and My Community (Ko au me toku iwi, whanui, Ko wai au)
2. Ideas That Have Changed or Will Change The World
3. Overcoming Challenge (Caring for Others, Personal Challenge, Doing My/Our Best, Heroes)
4. Enterprise
Junior Themes 2011
1. Being a Kiwi (Identity, What Does It Mean to Be a NZer, Kiwiana)
2. A Sustainable World (Sustaining our world – a global problem, a local solution)
3. Global Citizenship (Globalization, Kiwis Worldwide, Global Communities)
4. Coping With Diversity (How Can We Manage Difference)
Junior Themes 2010
1. Me and My Community (Ko au me toku iwi, whanui, Ko wai au)
2. Ideas That Have Changed or Will Change The World
3. Overcoming Challenge (Caring for Others, Personal Challenge, Doing My/Our Best, Heroes)
4. Enterprise
Junior Themes 2011
1. Being a Kiwi (Identity, What Does It Mean to Be a NZer, Kiwiana)
2. A Sustainable World (Sustaining our world – a global problem, a local solution)
3. Global Citizenship (Globalization, Kiwis Worldwide, Global Communities)
4. Coping With Diversity (How Can We Manage Difference)
OPOTIKI COLLEGE 2010 GOALS
The following goals stem from our Strategic Goals and aredesigned to help us move towards Opotiki College as a Thinking and Asking Place.
GOAL 1
To develop collaborative learning teams for each Year 9 core class which will meet fortnightly to discuss learning programmes and progress.
Actions
• Establish teams and meeting cycle (December 2009).
• Agree on meeting protocols and agenda items (Term I 2010).
• Determine any reporting/accountability requirements (Term I 2010).
• Evaluate effectiveness of model (November 2010)
GOAL 2
To move towards a thematic junior curriculum to promote connections between subject disciplines.
Actions
• Agree on themes for junior school and their timing (October 2009).
• Teachers incorporate the relevant theme, as much as is practicable, into programmes (From Term I 2010).
• Contribute towards learning team discussion of themes (Ongoing).
• Evaluate each theme at end of each term (Termly).
• Evaluate thematic approach (November 2010).
GOAL 3
To develop clear learning targets for each junior class using appropriate assessment tools and to track progress towards the achievement of the learning target.
Actions
• Each Department to decide on the assessment tool to be used to determine curriculum levels for classes (December 2009).
• Assessment data analysed and learning target set for each class in collaboration with Department (February 2010).
• Professional Development provided on assessment data analysis (March 2010).
• Progress towards target discussed each term in Departments (Termly).
• Sharing of targets and discussion of progress in Learning Teams (Ongoing).
• Completion of report on the target, strategies used and outcomes achieved (December 2009).
GOAL 4
To align curriculum planning documentation, including Scheme and Unit Outlines, to the intent of the New Zealand Curriculum.
Actions
• Develop a scheme outline that aligns to the NZC (November 2009).
• Reformat Schemes to fit the outline (end of Term I 2010).
• Develop and agree on a Unit Planning outline that aligns with the NZC (February 2010).
• Learning programmes reformatted to outline (ongoing by end of 2011).
GOAL 1
To develop collaborative learning teams for each Year 9 core class which will meet fortnightly to discuss learning programmes and progress.
Actions
• Establish teams and meeting cycle (December 2009).
• Agree on meeting protocols and agenda items (Term I 2010).
• Determine any reporting/accountability requirements (Term I 2010).
• Evaluate effectiveness of model (November 2010)
GOAL 2
To move towards a thematic junior curriculum to promote connections between subject disciplines.
Actions
• Agree on themes for junior school and their timing (October 2009).
• Teachers incorporate the relevant theme, as much as is practicable, into programmes (From Term I 2010).
• Contribute towards learning team discussion of themes (Ongoing).
• Evaluate each theme at end of each term (Termly).
• Evaluate thematic approach (November 2010).
GOAL 3
To develop clear learning targets for each junior class using appropriate assessment tools and to track progress towards the achievement of the learning target.
Actions
• Each Department to decide on the assessment tool to be used to determine curriculum levels for classes (December 2009).
• Assessment data analysed and learning target set for each class in collaboration with Department (February 2010).
• Professional Development provided on assessment data analysis (March 2010).
• Progress towards target discussed each term in Departments (Termly).
• Sharing of targets and discussion of progress in Learning Teams (Ongoing).
• Completion of report on the target, strategies used and outcomes achieved (December 2009).
GOAL 4
To align curriculum planning documentation, including Scheme and Unit Outlines, to the intent of the New Zealand Curriculum.
Actions
• Develop a scheme outline that aligns to the NZC (November 2009).
• Reformat Schemes to fit the outline (end of Term I 2010).
• Develop and agree on a Unit Planning outline that aligns with the NZC (February 2010).
• Learning programmes reformatted to outline (ongoing by end of 2011).
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