ICT @ Saint Paul's- a reflection about the way forward

Scenario: The school developed a digital environment in Year’s 7 and 8 as a response to student losses to Intermediates in Year 6. We initially had 1 pod of 16 computer in use across the school. Funding was initially agreed to by the Friends of Saint Paul’s but the $11,000 commitment each year was too much for them to carry. The community were then asked to fund the pod and the cost was divided up amongst all families on a pay-for-use basis. Year 7/8 children has access during all their ‘academic’ time, so pay $150 a year. There has been an excellent response to date with up to 90% of parents paying this as part of their parent contribution. With additional support from the Parish we had two pods for three years. When the Parish funding stopped we moved to lease ipads for two years so that we could continue with the same number of machines at the same expense for the community. We are involved in a Ministry-funded contract over three years to develop home-school partnerships. Data projectors were purchased for most rooms with support from the Canterbury Community Trust. Students and teachers have come to rely on computers in a myriad of ways for teaching and learning. Anecdotally and in surveys we are seeing student engagement, particularly at a the Year 7/8 age where engagement rates usually fall away. 

The Issue

There is no doubt that there is change taking place on a huge scale because of the new technologies. A collapse of the manufacturing sector closely followed by retailing sector and with it loss of opportunities for employment. As a result the increasing requirement is for students with collaborative, creative, innovative and entrepreneurial skills to build a new economy.

The desire to develop these skills are expressed clearly in our strategic plan. 

We expect our students to be active, creative, engaged and inquiring learners

( Strategic Plan 2009)

There are two important parts to their development. The first and most important is a new way of teaching. The Ministry have funded a three year professional development project in the region. This has teachers currently creating class blogs to showcase the students learning to their communities and the world.

The school’s responsibility is to provide the best infrastructure we can for teachers to get on with connecting their students with a quickly changing world. 

Conclusion 

If our vision is to provide the best in the way of infrastructure I believe we have to make our goal 1 student to 1 device.  However there are conditions that are part of our Catholic Character: 

• The opportunities offered to some students must be offered to all ( including Year groups)
• We make provision for those who can’t pay

This is an ambitious goal that may take some time to achieve. If we agree that we want to give our children the best chance in an increasingly technological world we must aim high. A decile 1 school with a poor transient Polynesian population in Auckland is close to achieving this goal.  

There are many difficult issues to be resolved.  If we know where we are going our path will be easier to follow. 

Ideas for Implementation 

1. This document to be canvassed among teachers, board and if we agree on a clear vision, the community.
2. A public meeting to present our vision and what it might look like and get their feedback 
3. Start planning for new pedagogy. 

Comments and Ideas from the Management Team

1. We agree in principle.
2. We agree that the vision should dictate our decision making.
3. Professional Development around pedagogy is key to the process.  
4. What does it mean for the nature of schooling at Saint Paul’s?  ( Is it the end of the pencil and books? There will still be a need for the physical act of writing) 
5. It is happening. Could it be an optional item on the stationery list in 2012 ?
6. The staff need to discuss and develop their pedagogy in more depth, perhaps with the support of someone like e-time. 
7. Our community would need to be presented with a clear idea and vision of how it might look for their children. 
8. Year 5/6 need 5 computers available all the time in class now. 
9. There was a doubt expressed about the ability for a digital environment to retain Year 6 into Year 7. ( there is already talk of movement to other schools in the current Year 6) 
10. The need for access is greater from the senior end tailing off down into junior school. (Should this be the case?)

ICT Parent Response from 75 families:

We have just under 50% support for increased payment and the  purchasing option.  

Saint Paul's a Rubbish Free School?

It has been evident to me that packaging has been increasing on foodstuffs during the past two decades. This has increased the amount of litter around school grounds and the associated removal. This term we have been looking hard as a school community at our responsibility to be 'stewards' of our environment. The question inevitably arises 'What can we do?' One thing we have asked the children to do is work toward a 'rubbish free' lunch to try and cut down on the amount of non-biodegradeable waste coming into the school.

Everyone agrees that packaging is an escalating problem but individually we add to the problem; particularly in the use of glad wrap for biscuits and even fruit!

I believe that the change to halt or slow the growth mountain of rubbish ( One rugby field 30 stories high every month) will only come from the grass roots. Pushing from below will take time but is effective.
The school's problem is being moved into the home as families empty foodstuffs like packet chippies into reusable containers. This will cause some hassles at home but will hopefully steer people toward better options. Some people have started using paper as wrap. This is fantastic as we can it can be composted. Some families have started making their own muesli bars which is even more user friendly and also a healthy option! Buying in bulk could become an option when using the reusable container option.

If we all do what we can despite the inconveniences we will make a difference; just as the boy who donated his loaves and fishes made the impossible happen.

To illustrate the rubbish problem the school cleaned up the edge of Waimea Estuary. It was amazing how much litter is surrounding our water ways. I was impressed with the children's enthusiasm and commitment. There is hope for a better world

National Standards @ Saint Paul's

There have been two things that have shaped my thinking around National Standards over the past few months. The first was the New Zealand Principal's Conference just before the break.

They had  a number of international speakers from different countries with their views on educational trends and how this relates to student achievement. National standards has been a significant issue across the world with a lot of countries discarding them as detrimental to fruitful outcomes for children and the nation. Without too much in-depth explanation I have summarized the important points that I gleaned from these speakers:

1. Finland has the best achievement results and this is due to their drive to lower accountability and increased responsibility for teachers. They pay enough to attract the best candidates from their Universities to go teaching. 
2. Equal societies do better. The tail in New Zealand is almost exclusively made up of Maori and Polynesian students.
3. A mindful approach to technology is a feature of successful education systems. 
4. Diagnosis and Design are the keys to successful school improvement.
5. Other factors that drive school improvement are: encouragement of deep learning, reducing gaps within schools, providing high support alongside high expectations, providing enrichment for all students and early intervention with minimal labeling.
6. If you put global competitiveness up against literacy and numeracy results you will find that countries like the US, who are bottom of the academic results table are top of the GDP per capita table. A prosperous future will depend on citizens who can invent a job rather than get one. Creative and Entrepreneurial skills provide three million new jobs each year while existing enterprises are losing 1 million. China is working to develop these skills by a range of efforts including the banning of national testing!

 The other event that has made an impact is the recent Education Review Office visit to Saint Paul's. It was interesting to engage in debate about the use of National Standards and their use at the school. We had gone through the time consuming task of unpacking the standards, making Overall Teacher Judgements of our children's grades and moderating the results. Unfortunately we had learnt too late  grading at 40, 80 and 180 weeks at school in the first three years as these anniversaries had passed for a number of our children. Inthe New Entrant class the teacher had indicated that the students were below standard because they had yet to reach the standard. They had yet to reach their anniversary so this data was inaccurate.
The solution for us was to go back to the standardised tests. We analysed this data to set measurable goals for ourselves. The ERO team initially indicated that this was going to be a non-compliance as there were no 'grey' areas. Much like the standards themselves we were to be judged 'below' despite our efforts to make the changes required and falling short at the finish line.( because of the sped of implementation)
After discussion back at the office they decided that to downgrade this in the final report. As part of the my follow up to the visit  I have put a report together around National Standards that interestingly is at odds with what tests such as  asTTLe are saying about our student achievement. Remember that our results were marked downwards.
This raises questions for us about the relationship between our good norm-referenced test results and the national standards results. It also asks questions about the practicality of using the 'big picture' standards. In our school they are not lining up against norm-referenced testing.
It will  be rare for children to make the kind of significant change that would lift their result. Progress that is smaller and incremental will not be recognized. Reports and analysis will not be productive.
There are practical and philosophic questions about the standards that need to be worked through before we commit to more valuable teacher time and energy.

The value of student blogs

There has been an extensive English research study done around writing achievement and the benefits of blogs. We have known for a long time that writing for a 'real' audience is a powerful motivator for children to write. And edit their writing. So, not surprisingly the study found huge improvement in students achievement, particularly boys.

An important element in keeping the obvious enthusiasm our students have for this practical use of the internet will be parents committing to posting comments regularly. Adults lives are very busy and this is yet another chore.

Part of the requirements around National standards reporting has been the desire of parents to help their children succeed at school. Schools have been asked to give parents advice on what they can do to be partners in the learning process. I encourage them to make a time each week and post a positive comment on the class blog. Your child not only benefits but also knows that you are interested in their learning.

Student Achievement Results

2010 Achievement Report to Parents

In our annual planning over the past few years we have an ongoing target to improve students literacy achievement across the school. In 2010 it was decided that vocabulary would be the aspect of reading and writing we would concentrate on. This was identified as one of the gaps in literacy learning for our students. The following statistics show the shift made in vocabulary achievement from March to November 2010 in a reading test. 

Month	Below Expectation	At Expectation	Above Expectation
March 2010	20%	39%	41%
November 2010	4%	39%	57%

It is especially heartening that students achieving below the expectation were reduced by 16% and that student achieving above the expectation increased by 16% 

In the same test the results showed 94% of our Year 1 to 3’s and 83% of our Year 4 to 8 students are now reading at or above the expectation so we have good overall reading results at Saint Paul’s at the end of 2010.  

All the significant groups such as Maori, Boys and Girls are showing results consistent with the group. 

Swimming Sports

The organizations that promote swimming in New Zealand have been increasingly concerned about the standard of swimming among our children. Primary School pools were hand built by their communities in the 1960's. These have come to end of their shelf life and new regulations and expenses have meant that more and more schools are without adequate facilities to teach swimming.
We are fortunate that we have the Aquatic Centre within walking distance that is supported financially by our parent community through the parent contribution. The Pool works hard to keep the prices significantly lower than is available to the general public partly through application for government funding.
The professional tuition that Saint Paul's students get from trained instructors in the water for 10 sessions each year will give a basic skill level over the 5 years they are swimming. But most will  need more to realize the goal of getting all 12 year olds being able to swim 200 metres.
It certainly appears from the recent Saint Paul's swimming sports that there are a number who get to the point where they are swimming strongly and confidently over  50 metre length.  I suspect that these children have had additional lessons. There are still, however, a number of our older students choosing to swim the width. My advice is that parents supplement the basic tuition at school with further lessons. Our death toll from drowning has been on the increase. It is vital we reverse this trend and equip our children with the skills to survive.

The Beginning

Our school is developing blogs to share school stuff with you the wider community. This is my humble effort. An issue that arises around school use of the internet, particularly blogs, is the problem of using photos and names where they can be accessed by the wider world. If there is a reason why this might be a problem for you please let us know!