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.