School News NZ - Term 2 - 2015 by Multimedia AU/NZ

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Cultural diversity at Auckland Girls’ Grammar School Global Citizenship Education for the 21st century Essential Reading for Principals • Department Heads • Property Managers • Professionals

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What's Inside This Issue | Contents

ISSN 1178-9964

sn inside | Term 2 - 2015

2 - 2015 Issue 29 | Term

ement Guide tial Manag The Essen

SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES $42 for 12 Months $72 for 24 Months Phone (03) 365 5575 subscriptions@schoolnews.co.nz www.schoolnews.co.nz ADVERTISING Pip Casey (03) 974 1037 p.casey@schoolnews.co.nz EDITORIAL Christine de Felice editorial@schoolnews.co.nz PRODUCTION Richard McGill r.mcgill@schoolnews.co.nz CONTRIBUTORS Alan Ovens, Brent Leslie, Christine de Felice, Darren Powell, David Roney, Elaine Shuck, Ian Vickers, Liz Thomson and Marceline Borren.

School News is distributed quarterly to all primary, intermediate and secondary schools nationwide and selected tertiary education providers by Multimedia Publishing, publishers of leading industry and consumer titles. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher or Multimedia Publishing Limited. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information in Schoolnews, however the information contained in Schoolnews is intended to act as a guide only. The publisher, authors and editors expressly disclaim all liability for the results of action taken or not taken on the basis of information contained herein. We recommend professional advice is sought before making important business decisions © 2015. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. School News is proudly published by:

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04 Ministry News 06 News In Brief 08 Special Report: A new way of teaching and learning

education 10 Principal Speaks: Global Citizenship Education for the 21st century 12 Learning Difficulties: ADHD – strategies in the classroom

profiles 13 Hobsonville Point Secondary School: New PPP school ‘transforming secondary education’

16 Breens Intermediate: New philosophies grounded in school’s core values

administration 19 School Management Systems: 19

Diverse choices offered in School Management Systems

Case Study – New SMS a good fit for Edgecumbe Primary

26 School Websites & Apps: Setting your sights on sites and apps

teaching resources 28 Book Reviews 30 Interactive Teaching: 30 34

Technology turns classrooms into interactive, creative environments Case Study – Touch panel seen as ‘absolute success’

36 Video Conferencing: How collaboration technology is driving a teaching transformation

38 Interactive Learning: Interactive site a new tool for science class

external learning 39 School Workshops: School workshops and objects created from a demolished house

40 MAGGI Kitchen Showdown: Young chefs offered chance to win cash for their school

41 Canteen Change-up: Competition to encourage healthier food choices 42 Up&Go Vending Partnership Programme: Pasifika student's journey to success

SCHOOLNEWS WELCOMES EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMAGES ON RELEVANT TOPICS FOR FEATURES, NEW PRODUCT PROFILES AND NEWS ITEMS. Please email to editorial@ schoolnews.co.nz. Images should be in high resolution (300dpi) JPEG or TIFF format. Editorial queries should be directed to the editorial department on (03) 365 5575.

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health & safety 44 Jump Rope: Skipping programme a fun way to stay healthy 44 Fundamental Movement Skills: Are Fundamental Movement Skills really fundamental?

46 NZ Blood Service: New Zealand Blood Service inspires visiting students 47 Teacher Wellbeing: An invitation to collaborate

property 49 Solar Energy Case Study: Clifton Terrace Model School 52 Outdoor Shelters: Modern canopies and shelters bring numerous advantages 54 Maintenance Programmes: Extend the paint life on your building

ersity Cultural divd Girls’ at AucklanSchool Grammar ip Education Global Citizensh ury for the 21st cent

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Cover Photo: Auckland Girls' Grammar School

The rate of change in educational technology is breathtaking, with new devices constantly being introduced to the sector. Issue 28 | Term 1 - 2015 In this issue, interactive teaching devices take a leading role as we find out how they are bringing engagement and creativity into the classroom. In our Special Report we learn about a new method of schooling developed by Israeli educator Yaakov Hecht, who was the leading speaker at the IDEC15 conference held in Nelson in April. We profile two contrasting schools – the long-established Breens Intermediate in Christchurch, where MLE is more about collaboration than furniture design, and Auckland’s Hobsonville Point Secondary School, the country’s first Public Private Partnership school where a new approach is being taken to teaching and learning. While they are both quite different in their methods, both these schools demonstrate their real commitment to educating our children to take their place in a constantly evolving 21stcentury world. Healthy children and healthy adults are fundamental to a well-functioning society. The New Zealand Heart Foundation is promoting its Jump Rope For Heart programme, which is celebrating its 30th birthday this year, and encouraging all schools to join in by taking part in ‘Skipping September’. On the subject of health, columnist Ian Vickers speaks bluntly about what he sees as the lack of attention being paid to teachers’ health and well-being, and what should be done about it. Plenty to think about…

Term 2 - 2015

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News | Ministry News

Former principal appointed to key role Highly regarded educationalist and experienced school leader Prue Kelly, the former principal of Wellington High School, has been appointed to a key role overseeing appointments for new teacher and principal positions in Communities of Schools.

Top scholars receive awards

Members of a judging panel will undertake visits to finalists during May-June, and the winners will be selected by this panel on June 13. The category winners and supreme award winner will be announced by the Prime Minister on June 17. The winners of the four categories will each receive a professional development opportunity.

Ms Kelly will chair the Investing in Educational Success New Appointments National Panel, Education Minister Hekia Parata says. “I’m delighted Prue Kelly will be giving us the benefit of her extensive experience, including many years as a principal. She has the practical wisdom that comes from an intimate understanding of how schools operate, and knows how we can get the very best out of teachers and students, Ms Parata says. “She and other panel members will support Communities of Schools as they select the best applicants for the new roles that are part of IES. ”This is another step forward for this $359 million initiative. Already more than 200 schools, with over 80,000 students, belong to Communities of Schools and they’re now in the process of drawing up their achievement challenges with their parent and whanau communities.” Ms Kelly has enormous breadth and depth of experience in education, including 17 years as principal at Wellington High. She received the Officer New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Education in 2014 and was Wellingtonian of the Year for Education in 2011. The other panel members are being appointed by a group including Ms Kelly, the Ministry of Education, the Education Review Office, the Post Primary Teachers Association, Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand, New Zealand School Trustees Association, Pasifika Principals’ Association and the NZ Area Schools Association. The new roles the panel will oversee appointments to are: • Across-community teacher roles, of which there will be an average of four to five teachers for each Community of Schools • The across community

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it through as finalists,” Ms Parata says.

Former Westlake Boys’ High School student Joshua Hansen has been awarded this year’s Prime Minister’s Award for Academic Excellence. The award was presented by Prime Minister John Key at the NZQA Top Scholar Award ceremony held at Parliament on May 6. “This award is presented annually to the New Zealand Scholarship student who showed the highest overall level of academic excellence,” Education Minister Hekia Parata says. “I’d like to congratulate Joshua on being recognised for his outstanding achievements with this award, which is the top academic accolade secondary students can aim for.” Joshua received seven New Zealand Scholarships, including

leadership role for each Community of Schools Principals recruited using the Principal Recruitment Allowance, which is for schools that face significant challenges and have difficulty recruiting.

Education Excellence Awards finalists Eleven entrants have been selected as finalists for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards. The entrants include schools, early childhood centres and a tertiary institution. They come from both major centres and provincial towns. “The awards, in just their second year, provide an opportunity to

five Outstanding Scholarships and a Top Subject award.

Government commits $373.9M for school infrastructure

“He also demonstrated himself to be an all-rounder with strong leadership qualities and represented his school on an official tour to Europe to commemorate World War One. “Joshua is an example of what can be achieved through hard work and a drive to succeed, and I wish him all the best for the future.”

This year’s Budget provides $373.9 million for school infrastructure, Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye say.

Joshua is currently studying towards a conjoint Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts in French and History at Victoria University of Wellington. Ms Parata also presented 10 Premier Awards at the ceremony and 35 Top Subject Scholar Awards were presented by NZQA board member Murray Strong.

“This spending is about securing and ensuring the safety of property and improving school infrastructure and services,” Ms Parata says.

publicly recognise, celebrate and share the highly effective education practice we have in New Zealand and further lift the status of the teaching profession,” Education Minister Hekia Parata says. Three of the finalists are finalists in two categories. They were chosen by a panel of experts from 82 entries. “The entries highlight the importance of engaging with students and the wider community, collaboration between teaching professionals and basing decisions on evidence. They also showcase innovative and effective teaching practice. “I want to acknowledge everyone who entered this year and congratulate those who have made

This includes $130.1 million operating funding over four years and the $243.8 million capital expenditure the Prime Minister announced in April for new schools, kura and classrooms.

“It is over and above the $1.14 billion of capital funding already committed to rebuilding and repairing schools in greater Christchurch and $450 million of existing capital funding to supporting the annual maintenance, development and modernisation of New Zealand’s 2100 state schools.” Of the $130.1 million operating, $4.9 million will be invested in 2015/16 to accelerate a national programme of earthquake resilience assessments of state school buildings. “The Government is committed to providing safe schools for children and teachers and we already spend $80 million a year assessing school property and strengthening buildings or addressing leaky buildings,” Ms Parata says. “Buildings at greatest risk have already been assessed, but it’s important to assess other buildings as quickly as we can so that earthquake strengthening can be prioritised in planned property work.”

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News | News In Brief

More schools supported for food literacy programme A national programme that is changing the way children approach and think about food has been able to add more schools thanks to a $28,500 grant from the Medibank Community Fund. The Garden to Table Trust’s programme sees children aged seven to 10 getting their hands dirty and learning how to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh,

seasonal food. The programme’s philosophy of sustainable practices, healthy eating, class participation and sharing and hands-on learning can be delivered in a way that matches schools’ resources and needs, connecting specialist garden and kitchen teachers as well as classroom teachers, families, volunteers and the community. Around 10 new schools have

Visions to become reality for five schools

One of the 2012 winning entries, from Tauriko School. The winners of Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s Wall Worthy competition have been named and are set to Paint New Zealand Beautiful. In its fifth year, the Wall Worthy competition celebrates communities, local legends and unheard stories in a way that will visually improve the environment. KNZB (Keep New Zealand Beautiful) asked schools to submit what makes their town or school unique and illustrate how they would tell their story through a painted mural. KNZB general manager Heather Saunderson says this nationwide initiative is a behavioural change campaign aimed at the elimination and prevention of graffiti vandalism from a community-based approach. “There tends to be a reduction in tagging when urban murals, reflective of the local community, are used to replace graffiti vandalised walls” Ms Saunderson says.

The winners are:  • Stanmore Bay Primary School - “The Sky’s the limit” • Raetihi School - “Nga Taonga O Raetihi/The talents and gifts of Raetihi” • Ohakune Primary School - “Here and Now” • Hoon Hay Primary “Earthquake Survival” • Renwick Kindergarten - “We are Renwick Kindergarten” Each winner will receive Resene paint vouchers, drop cloths, stickers and treats to get their mural started. On completion of the mural, they will also receive a Panasonic TV and a Digital Camera. The five schools have until the end of term three to complete their mural. KNZB said they were overwhelmed by the tremendous effort put in to the entries and that they would be sending each registrant a small gift. They hoped that local communities would support local schools that entered so that all the murals could go ahead.

joined the Garden to Table programme in recent months, including the first schools in Hawke’s Bay and Nelson, bringing the total number to 31. Garden to Table Trust executive officer Anne Barrowclough says the grant means the trust will have the resources to support the programme’s rapid growth. “Our job is to help schools to get the programme well bedded in during the first 18-month start-up period. The Medibank Community Fund grant has allowed us to get that resource in place earlier so these new schools can come on board.” She says Garden to Table schools commit to a dynamic and innovative model that sees weekly kitchen and garden classes, enabling skills-based learning that extends across the entire school curriculum. “Schools cross all decile levels and each has its own challenges and successes. But all are united in their passion to bring the benefits of food education to their students.”

Top school chefs to compete in Tahiti New Zealand's top two secondary school chefs will head to Tahiti later this year to showcase their culinary skills and flair. Following the regional competitions, which started in May, the winners of this year's annual National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge (NSSCC) being held on August 28 will compete in the International Secondary Schools Challenge (ISSCC) in Tahiti from October 4-10. During the ISSCC competition the team of two students will prepare, cook and display four servings of one main dish within one hour from start to finish. The dish can be modern, classical or original and all ingredients must come from the list provided by event organisers. While in Tahiti contestants will

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also immerse themselves in local cuisine and culture with a tour of the island visiting a local pineapple plantation and fruit juice factory, enjoy a picnic on Moorea Island, visit a local marae and dine at the famous waterfront Place Vaiete roulottes (foodtrucks) in Papeete. Now in its 11th year, ISSCC is organised by the Australian Chefs Federation (ACF) – Queensland chapter. “This competition has been running for more than 10 years and is designed to give students an insight into our industry, and encourage and train the chefs of tomorrow," ACF President Andrew McKenzie says. Teams from Tahiti, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Japan, Taiwan and Australia are already confirmed to compete, with Fiji, Vanuatu, Guam and the Cook Islands also invited. “It's fantastic that the NSSCC winning team gets to represent New Zealand at this worldclass event. The experience will set them up for great culinary careers and they will gain further knowledge about international cuisine, culture and meet likeminded students from across the Pacific region," Mr McKenzie says.

$3 million of generosity More than $3 million has now been donated to hundreds of charities and schools around New Zealand by Spark New Zealand employees through one of the country’s most successful and long-standing payroll giving programmes. The Spark Foundation’s payroll giving programme enables all permanent and fixed-term Spark employees the opportunity to donate to any New Zealand registered charity or state and state integrated school, directly from their pay. Each employee also receives dollar for dollar matching from the Spark Foundation on the first $1000 of charitable giving, and a separate $1000 matching cap for

News In Brief | News

Opening day at the Kura Kaupapa Maori in Opawa, Christchurch donations to schools, which is renewed annually. Since the programme’s initiation, more than 780 charities and schools have benefited from around 28,000 Spark employee donations, and matching donations from the Spark Foundation. General manager of the Spark Foundation Lynne Le Gros says this milestone is a reflection of the generosity of Spark’s people and she’s delighted that this programme is making such a positive difference in the community. Principal of Mana College in Porirua, Mike Webster, says his school received donations from a past student through the foundation’s payroll giving programme earlier this year, and the unexpected money was a huge bonus that will create real benefits for the children and the community. “The donations will be put towards the highest need,” Mr Webster says. "At this stage we're thinking it might be used to support children that need a bit of extra help by getting a teacher aide on board for a few extra weeks. “Or it may be used to help fund essential items, such as shoes

or jumpers in winter, for children whose family are struggling to afford these items." Payroll giving was introduced in New Zealand in 2010 and the Spark Foundation has been operating the programme since it began in July 2011. Payroll giving also offers employees an immediate tax deduction so for every $15 donation, only $10 is deducted from the person’s salary

Maori Medium – Immersion School reopens The South Island’s first Kura Kaupapa Maori (Maori Medium – Immersion School) Te Kura Whakapuumau I te Reo tuturu ki Waitaha (which translates as “The school within Canterbury giving permanence to Maori Language and customs”) reopened on Friday, May 15. Guests (manuhiri) were welcomed with celebratory rituals and oratory followed by a haakari (feast) and entertainment. It was the beginning of a new era for the Christchurch kura after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 resulted in physical and emotional damage to the kura/school, huge drops in rolls due to families fleeing from the

earthquakes, and loss of staff threatening closure. Fungal poisoning in some of the blocks of the kura was the catalyst to move to a temporary site, an abandoned school in Linwood. The kura was also faced with the untimely death of its interim principal “Whaea” Hoana Bosustow. In the ‘big picture’ overview, Kura Kaupapa such as ‘ Te Kura Whakapumau’ play a huge and vital part in New Zealand society in the re-vitalisation of Maori Language and Kaupapa Maori-Maori Protocols and Practices, Tihi Puanaki, a longtime advocate and activist for Maori Language, teacher and educationalist, says.

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“Language survival experts like Joshua Fischman, Jim Cummins and many others state that ‘for a language at risk to survive, at least 20 per cent of the children of that culture need to be speaking fluently in that language’,” Mrs Puanaka says. “The experts also say that there needs to be governmental and community-wide support as well as the commitment of the community to whom the language belongs. “Maori Language/Te Reo Maori is a Taonga (treasure), a taonga for all Maori, for all New Zealanders. Let it not suffer the fate of the moa and be lost forever.”

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Term 2 - 2015

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News | Special Report

A new way of teaching and learning for the children, we give them a lot of teachers, because in our classes everyone is a student and a teacher.

In April, over 400 participants from around the world attended the International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) in Nelson. Heading the international guest speaker list was Yaakov Hecht from Israel, who promotes the concept of ‘education cities’ or ‘learning social networks’. School News wanted to learn more about his ideas.

Q: With children and teachers being part of the Learning Social Network, how would the less confident and engaged children be encouraged to take part?

Q: Can you explain the concept of a ‘Learning Social Network’? A: To explain it simply we are talking about changing the paradigm. The old paradigm of learning, the teacher stands in front of the class of 20-30 students and teaches them changes to a new paradigm of a social learning networking that is a group of students whereby in this group every student is a teacher and every teacher is a student. Any student is also a teacher and any teacher is also a student. Q: How easy would it be for today’s teachers to take on this new education model? Can they draw on their existing skills and experience? A: We build a team-learning model – in this model we have two rules: a) Every student is a teacher – the teacher needs to find the strong area (his element) of every child. b) We build a common goal to the class that we build in every class a social learning feedback graph that shows to the children the result of the goal. Let’s take for example in every class we have five children who are very good at mathematics, another five children are very good at English and another five children are good in sports. If someone isn’t good at anything academic they can be very good at organising things, for example. Every child that is good at something becomes a young teacher in this subject. In this model, the class has six teachers – one adult and five children. If we take, for example, a class of mathematics in a traditional school – in a traditional class every child has a personal strength. In the team-learning model we

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Yaakov Hecht, front right, with some of the conference delegates. Q: The role of teachers/mentors is a key part of your concept. How can they help children, especially young children, identify their strengths and talents?

have a common strength, which is the average of all the personal strengths. So the class becomes like a sports team – that everyone has a different role and together with a common goal. What we see today we implement in a lot of traditional schools in Israel and it is working very well. The results are: Increased achievement: Last year the classes prepared themselves for the final exams and using this way of learning as a team, the achievement increased 19 per cent. The relationship: the social atmosphere the class becomes very close. Q: For future teacher trainees, would the whole teachertraining programme need to be radically different? A: Yes, that the main change to the knowledge exists in the world of the teachers is that we also create training in the model of team learning. We call it the art of collaboration. The basis of this teacher training is that every teacher is a trainer and also a student. That’s based on our knowledge that the best way of learning something is to teach it.

A: Finding your strengths and talents begins with a sporadic process by which you need to choose what you think you want to learn and how you want to learn it. Then you need to look at the results of your chosen subject – and think what you want to change so the results will be better. You do that with your mentor and in a stepby-step process you learn more about yourself and especially learn about your abilities and strengths to become a better learner. Q: Would the development of a unique education programme for each child require a lot of extra time on the part of teachers? A: I will answer this question with a story. In one of the cities in one of the elementary schools where we are working, which is in a poor neighbourhood, we understand that all the students become teachers. I go to the school to talk with the teachers – to find out how the process happens for all the students and all the teachers. Their answer is that when the students teach, they have free time. That’s like a magnet for them so they try to change the situation in the class because it gives them a lot of free time for the traditional class learning process. So, we are not only building a learning plan

A: The main issue is that every child is different, and this is the main job of the teacher, to find in any child one strong area and in this area they become the teacher of only one student. So step-bystep this builds his confidence and then when he begins to teach another child he builds that child’s confidence. Q: Did any of the ideas shared at IDEC2015 stand out for you, and if so what were they? A: A lot of things: 1. I came to see a process that is happening now all over the world that the democratic alternative education begins to be an integral part of the education in different countries like Puerto Rico, South Korea, Japan, Israel. That is something that is part of a huge movement whereby a lot of alternative ways connect to the mainstream. 2. The connection between the new workplaces like Inspiral and the similarity of what we are talking about in democratic education. 3. Schooling that is moving from a knowing organisation to a learning. It means the school becomes like an innovation laboratory. They are trying new ideas and share this knowledge with other schools. 4. I love New Zealand and the people of New Zealand. And especially the way the people that organise IDEC bring the roots of your culture and connect this culture to the IDEC ideas. Because I think to build something innovative you need to come from deep roots and IDEC brings the deep roots of New Zealand to everyone who participates, so thank you.

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Education | Principal Speaks

Global Citizenship Education for the 21st century

Liz Thomson Principal, Auckland Girls’ Grammar School

Cultural diversity at Auckland Girls' Grammar School Auckland Girls’ Grammar School was established in 1888 and was the first state secondary school for young women in Auckland. Throughout its history the school has encouraged the development of personal excellence in all students in academic, sporting, social and cultural activities. It is a leading inner-city girls’ school with a unique traditional heritage and an innovative and progressive curriculum. Our school is proudly multiethnic and culturally diverse with over 1350 girls who come from throughout the Auckland region. The Auckland Girls’ Grammar School community reflects and celebrates the face of Auckland today. The NZ Curriculum is seen as an aspirational document. Most secondary schools have focused

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to date on the delivery of the learning programmes through the traditional learning areas and there has been a real emphasis on the development of 21stcentury teaching and learning strategies to improve student achievement. This is an ongoing focus of the Government. Development of the key competencies has also been a focus. The front end of the NZ Curriculum document puts emphasis on the importance of values, attitudes and communication skills as a critical complement to cognitive knowledge and skills. Our vision statement is ‘Educated at Auckland Girls’ Equipped for the World’. Our school is a leader in Global Citizenship Education consistent with the school’s values, the aspirations of the NZ Curriculum and the UN Global Education First Initiative.

At Auckland Girls we are committed to providing opportunities for all our students to become effective global citizens. Equipped with the values of rights, respect and responsibility, our students gain knowledge and understanding of global concerns while developing critical thinking and co-operative skills to meet the challenges of our complex world. In order to facilitate the development of our Global Citizenship programme we appointed one of our Social Science teachers, Libby Giles, to the role of Global Citizenship Facilitator in 2012. I have collaborated with her on writing this section of the article. Global Citizenship is a schoolwide initiative that involves all students. The biggest challenge over the past four years has been to gain and impart an

understanding of what global citizenship education is and to find ways of incorporating it into the curriculum as well as providing meaningful extracurricular opportunities for our girls to grow their understanding and practice. Global Citizenship is • asking questions and developing critical thinking skills • equipping young people with knowledge, skills and values to participate as active citizens • acknowledging the complexity of global issues • thinking globally acting locally, whether in a small village or a large city • understanding how we relate to the environment and to each other as human beings.

Principal Speaks | News

Model United Nations Assembly - 95 teams from 60 schools debate world issues. We believe that our students and staff have now become familiar with the concept, language, values and principles. Global Citizenship Education is best fostered by debate, discussion, experiential learning, exchange visits and independent research and participation in the community. This year all of our Year 11 students are taking part in a global thinking project. This is student led and teacher facilitated. Students will engage on global issues at a local level in the spirit of the key competencies, values and principles outlined at the front end of the NZ Curriculum. Some of the other projects that our students are involved in include: The Global Citizenship Committee, which is made up of students from the senior school supervised by the Global Citizenship Facilitator. In 2014, the group worked on a number of projects, the most significant of which was ‘Waste Away’– the introduction of a new Waste Management system at AGGS

linked to the three Rs – rights, respect, responsibility. In 2014, 20 AGGS students worked with 20 students in the Netherlands on a global thinking project where, in teams of four, they chose global issues to work on and critiqued each other’s work. The students enjoyed this project, although the challenge was that for the students in the Netherlands, it was coursework and for the AGGS girls it was co-curricular. If we are able to do this again, we would choose to do it with one of our philosophy classes so that students can work on it during class time. The skills that are required for global citizenship education are the skills that philosophy specialises in. Education for Sustainability – we have strengthened the links between EFS and global citizenship. Students taking this subject have worked closely with the Global Citizenship Committee. The big collaborative project for 2014 was the installation of beehives behind the pool area. Students are continuing to work on and maintain this project this year.

The Human Rights Group works on human rights issues with staff, students and NGOs with its main projects being connected with Fair Trade, Amnesty International, the Peace Foundation and the Global Poverty Project (Live Below the Line) campaigns. Leadership – Global Citizenship at AGGS facilitates leadership opportunities for students with participation in the ASB Polyfest, UNESCO Aspnet Schools; Sir Peter Blake Trust; the Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA), which AGGS has organised and hosted with Rotary International for the last 18 years. Last year, four AGGS students and the Global Citizenship Facilitator attended the UNESCO International Education for Sustainable Development Youth Conference, for teachers and students, in Okayama Japan where students and teachers from 32 countries shared their views and challenges on global sustainability. AGGS has sister schools in China, India, Japan and Thailand with regular cultural and learning exchanges especially with the

schools in Japan and Thailand. There are educational trips to the United States, Hawaii and Samoa and World Challenge expeditions to Cambodia and Vietnam. We hosted two bioethics conferences in association with the University of Otago in 2014, one for juniors and one for seniors. The conferences were lively and informative, a mix of lectures and interactive work on complex ethical issues to do with life and making ethical decisions. In June this year AGGS will host the Senior Ethics Roadshow, an initiative of the Centre for Science and Citizenship Trust, which will cover a diverse and interesting selection of issues relating to crime and punishment – a similar show will be held for junior students in October. We no longer live in the industrial world of the 20th century but in a globalised, networked world that is less linear and structured. Global competence is of increasing importance to ensure that our young people are equipped for the opportunities and challenges ahead.

Term 2 - 2015

school news

Education | Learning Difficulties

ADHD – strategies in the classroom There is no easy solution for the management of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the classroom. Effectiveness depends on the knowledge and persistence of the school and the individual teacher. Medication, behavioural modification, home and classroom strategies and accommodations can all help children with ADHD reach their potential.

Types of ADHD • Predominantly hyperactive/ impulsive • Predominantly inattentive • Combined ADHD These result in difficulties with: sustaining attention, effort and persistence; organisation; and disinhibition – difficulties with controlling emotions, impulses to act and delaying responses.

Ways to help children with ADHD Verbal instructions: • Keep instructions brief and clear. • Say the child’s name or make eye contact when giving important information. • Ask the child to repeat instructions to make sure they have taken it in and understood. • The child may need prompting, monitoring and encouragement to keep them focused on tasks. Written work: • Highlight important points in written information using *asterisks*, CAPITAL LETTERS or bold text. • Limit the amount of information that needs to be copied from a board. Instead, give ‘hand out’ sheets with this information. • Use outlines, teach outlining, and teach underlining. Colour code books or timetables.

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Term 2 - 2015

Other learning strategies: • Provide one-to-one instruction as often as possible.

tasks or errands such as delivering notes or taking lunch orders.

• A class ‘buddy’, who gets along well with the child, can be helpful to reinforce instructions and directions.

• Prepare a number of lowpressure fun activities for when the child needs to spend a few minutes calming down.

• Make sure activities have plenty of ‘hands-on’ involvement.

• Or provide a specified timeout location to which the child can go when not in control.

• Schedule the most important learning to take place during the child’s best concentration time(s). This is usually in the morning.

Keeping structure:

• Give a checklist for what the child needs to do. • Physical environment: o Sit them near the front of the classroom. o Plan seating and furniture carefully to decrease distractions, e.g. sit the child near classmates who will be good role models. Reducing over-activity and fatigue: • Build rest breaks into activities, e.g a five-minute break for each 30 minutes of activity. • Alternate academic tasks with brief physical exercise, e.g. the child could do structured

Children with ADHD can struggle with changes to routine and need to know what to expect. • Have a fixed routine. • Keep classroom activities well organised and predictable

• Use a school-home daily communication book. • Communicate both positive aspects of the day and inappropriate behaviour. • Be sensitive to parents’ feelings. They have the difficult task of raising a child with ADHD. • Help parents feel proud of their child. Find positive things to share with them about their child on a regular basis. This can be done in front of the child.

Key points to remember • Acknowledge and reward achievements and positive behaviour often.

• Display the daily schedule and classroom rules, e.g. attach a flowchart to the inside of the child’s desk or book.

• Encourage the child to take

• Tell the child in advance of a change in the schedule.

• Attend to learning difficulties as

• Give the child advance warning of transitions, e.g in five minutes you will have to put your work away. You may have to remind them more than once.

• Talk with the child about the

• Keep choices to a minimum. Communication between home and school:

part in activities where they will experience success. • Set achievable goals.

soon as possible.

consequences of their actions upon themselves and others. • Use visual prompts to remind the child to think before they act. e.g. STOP, THINK, DO. By Marceline Borren, National Co-ordinator, ADHD Association

Hobsonville Point Secondary School | Profiles

New PPP school ‘transforming secondary education’ Hobsonville Point Secondary School in Auckland is the country’s first Public Private Partnership (PPP) secondary school. Launched in February 2014, it was built to service the new residential area being developed on the former Hobsonville air force base. Currently, there are 250 students on the roll, the majority being years 9 and 10, with some year 11 students. The school will expand its year 11 roll in 2016, then will open to year 12 students in 2017 and year 13 students in 2018. The school has 28 staff members, and there will be an overlap in the staff to student ratio for the first three years until the school reaches its full capacity of 1500 students. As a PPP school, principal Maurie Abraham explains, Hobsonville Point Secondary School provides New Zealand Curriculum-based education the same as all other state schools, but school property, furniture and equipment is funded and managed by a private company, Learning Infrastructures Partners, in partnership with the Ministry of Education. “This leaves the teachers, myself and the board of trustees to focus on the development of

teaching and learning for our students,” Mr Abraham says.

constructed with student involvement.

However, while it follows the new Modern Learning Environment (MLE) model in terms of layout and design, the methods of teaching and learning are quite different from those of the standard state school.

“Every term we select a ‘big concept’,” Mr Abraham says.

Students at Hobsonville Point don’t cover the curriculum by attending single subject classes; rather they take specialised learning modules, which combine learning areas within contexts

“This could be identity, or systems and how they work, for example. Teachers meet with student representatives, explain what that concept means and get feedback from them on how they want to explore the concept. Teachers from different subject areas, such as maths and English, or science and visual arts, then pair up to decide

what areas to focus on and create a programme to teach the concept. “The programme is divided into modules focusing on the different subject areas, and the students are then able to choose the modules they want to study.” Mr Abraham says not only does this method of teaching makes students’ learning more authentic, it also enables them to become more flexible and responsive and as a result they are more highly focused on and engaged in their learning. “We’re transforming secondary education. Our kids love coming to school. For us, the 21stcentury learning environment is one where learning has a purpose, and is planned with the students and pursued through authentic and relevant contexts.” He says visitors to the school, both from New Zealand and overseas, have expressed amazement at what the students are doing at such a young age. “Some of our students are doing high-level scientific experiments, for example. Their passion and their interest drive their learning.” 14

Term 2 - 2015

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Profiles | Hobsonville Point Secondary School

Habits of being resilient, resourceful, purposeful, adventurous, curious, compassionate, creative, reflective, responsive and contributive.

operation. “We are very close to the parents. We run workshops for them every term and we communicate with them every three weeks on their children’s progress.”

“We track our students’ progress both academic and personal, through their development of these habits, which shows the evidence of their learning,” Mr Abraham says.

This engagement actually began a year before the school opened, so the parents of potential students could gain a grasp of the new educational concepts the school would be offering.

He believes the methods of student assessment currently used in the New Zealand education system place too much stress on teenagers, and he doesn’t see the relevance of them. By developing the Hobsonville Habits, he says the students also learn about the role they can play in the wider community, through asking questions such as ‘what do the habits mean?’ ‘what can I focus on?’ and ‘how can I be a good global citizen?’ 13 The school also runs MyTime workshops three times a week in which students are free to choose what they need to work on, where they need to work and who they need to work with. Mr Abraham says this gives students the opportunity to develop selfregulation and move towards becoming independent learners. “It’s not total free choice for everyone. It depends on the individual learner. For some it’s a guided choice and for others there is no choice, but all our students are fully supported in their learning at these workshops.” Where other state school students are divided into classes with a classroom teacher, Hobsonville Point Secondary School students belong to learning hubs, which are located in nine learning commons – large, open spaces within the MLE. Each hub comprises 15 students, who are attached to one teacher – their learning coach. “We have a huge belief in developing strong relationships. Our learning coaches are

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focused on looking after both the academic and personal needs and goals of their 15 students. We all want our students to achieve both academic and personal excellence.” To reach their academic goals, students study for NCEA qualifications from level two upwards. Personal goals are based on the school’s dispositional curriculum. This comprises the 10 Hobsonville

Having an online presence is also seen as vital for staff and students, with blogs and Twitter giving them the opportunity to share their successes and difficulties.

For those with children now attending the school, the response has been mostly positive. “We have had eight families who decided it wasn’t for them, but the vast majority of parents are thrilled with the progress their children are making at Hobsonville Point Secondary School,” Mr Abraham says. He describes it as a “futurefocused school, whose mission is to innovate through personalised learning, engage through powerful partnerships and inspire through challenge and inquiry”.

“Our staff are driven by a sense of obligation and desire to share knowledge with their students and we are putting online what we are actively doing so everyone in the community can see it.”

“I also believe schools need to work more collaboratively, rather than competitively, to improve the quality and relevance of student learning in all schools within a community, rather than contributing to the winner/loser school climate we currently have.”

Engaging with the parents is a key aspect of Hobsonville School’s

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

Hobsonville Point Secondary School | Profiles Supplier Profile | Distinction Furniture

Improving how children learn and teachers teach MLE, the focus for our schools. The New Zealand Curriculum requires that young people be confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners. The Key Competencies encourage schools to develop children who can manage self and children who can relate to others. At Distinction, we are proud to be the leaders in Modern Learning Environment furniture. We have based our range on the Herrmann Brain model on how children learn and how teachers teach. The model show that children learn in different ways and the spaces that they need to learn in should be varied to meet the needs of all aspects of the Herrmann model. We create several different areas within the classroom to accommodate our Logical learners, Creative learners, Controlled learners and Interpersonal learners. High tables for our Meerkat kids that need to know what is happening in the classroom, shaped tables for our kids that like small groups but need the interaction, bean bags, cushions and low chairs for reading, study corrals for those that are easily distracted and need individual space. We utilise where we can, existing furniture to assist with the costs and encourage the use of colour to stimulate the learning minds. Distinction has been supplying furniture to schools for many years and has seen the changes in the classrooms as the curriculum evolves. As technology

advances your learning space and the furniture required must develop in tandem with it. The need for flexibility in the classroom is paramount so making the furniture as mobile as possible is vital. This not only makes for an easy classroom layout, but also allows for trouble-free alteration of the configuration of their learning space for the teacher and students. Common spaces in new schools and new blocks built have become as important as the classrooms themselves. These areas allow the students to work together unsupervised, which in turn encourages them to think independently from the teacher.

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Profiles | Breens Intermediate

New philosophies grounded in school’s core values site sharing, and some teachers were not coping with the postquake stress of dealing with damage to their homes and other issues.”

Christchurch school Breens Intermediate, built in 1986, has been recognised as an example of the Modern Learning Environment (MLE), the new educational concept being introduced in schools across the country.

Mr Price says the new teaching methods that are the basis of MLE have seen the traditional practices that were developed in the industrial age, with teachers working in isolation and the children sitting in rows like a production line and working to time constraints, being superseded.

MLE incorporates both physical aspects – open-plan learning spaces, quiet spaces, a variety of furniture, and new teaching methods with a focus on sharing and collaboration. However, as Breens Intermediate principal Brian Price points out, there is very little that is modern about the physical nature of his school.

The onset of the information age and the development of ICT have required this new approach to education.

“Breens is a school that in 2008 had to get permission from the Ministry of Education to put glass windows inside and convince the Ministry’s property staff that it was a good way to deprivatise teaching practice,” Mr Price says, “and that’s when the Breens story started with new philosophies being adopted that were grounded in the strong values the school sees as its core.” One of the significant chapters in that story was the February 2011 earthquake, which resulted in 280 Year 8 students from Heaton Intermediate and later the children from the Bishopdale Community Preschool sharing the Breens site. “We learnt a lot about the importance of our values and how every school needs to have a strong values base, as a result of site sharing,” Mr Price says.

“Now we are into the creative age, which involves more interactive learning. Social media and electronic devices are all part of that. The speed at which digital devices are being developed and used means things are changing exponentially.

While the Heaton Intermediate students have now returned home, the preschoolers will be a permanent presence. “The idea of a preschool on an intermediate site originally presented challenges and some nervousness, but it has turned out to be brilliant for everyone,” Mr Price says.

Canterbury Education Services is proud to be associated with Breen’s Intermediate School in the supply of modern furniture solutions and other services. See CES for: School Board Services

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“There is a lot of interaction between our students and the preschool. The Bishopdale Community Preschool is now building a permanent facility on our northern boundary and everyone is thrilled that the relationship can continue.” The renewal programme at Breens Intermediate that followed the quake also meant there was no 5YA money to spend on property, though classrooms have been opened up to create a shared environment, Mr Price says. “MLE is not about the buildings or the furniture, it’s about the ability to have teachers working collaboratively and students leading their learning and understanding where they are at, and how to get to the next level. But the teachers have had to rethink things and it has been an exciting challenge. “The year after the quake, 2012, was a difficult time. There was the

“It gives teachers the freedom to teach to the particular needs of the students, but they had to understand the ubiquity of today’s learning, the concept that online teaching and learning can happen any place at any time. “These are exciting times, different times. But the question was, how do you get every teacher feeling better about the position they were in and how would they keep up with the changes,” Mr Price says. The answer was the ‘power of three’, a concept he says everyone discussed and agreed made sense. The school was divided into ‘hapu’ of 90 students with three teachers – a people’s person, a systems person and a big picture person – responsible for each hapu. “This means each child has the opportunity to work with three different teachers. We started the year in single cell classes for the first six to seven weeks for years 6 and 7 and then moved it into the deprivatised environment. It’s about giving the students choices and challenges. They can choose what they want to do.

Breens Intermediate | Profiles

“It requires close monitoring and very careful planning, but the students really enjoy it, and we have seen behaviour and motivation improve significantly. They are not bored any more. It also enables every teacher to get to know the individual students.” For the concept to work, Mr Price says, a high trust environment is essential. “When you have a high trust environment within a collaborative environment, risk taking becomes natural and education can be more relaxed and natural. I love the educational model we are evolving at Breens.” The school’s strong values base, which is centred on the school’s iconic totara tree and embraces the first three pages of the New Zealand Curriculum, has underpinned the events and changes that have occurred at Breens Intermediate.

Assembly Student Management System Assembly supports you, so you can get on with the job of teaching

Are you looking for a new innovative solution to… • Record your assessment data and compare progress over time using stunning reports and graphs? • View and analyse assessment data in interactive views with simple �iltering and drilldowns? • Enter data just once and use it in a variety of reports?

• Deliver Caregiver Reports that re�lect your school’s individual personality?

If you answered “Yes” to any of the above, call Alvin for a demonstration on 021 354930 or 0800 555987. Visit www.assembly-sms.co.nz for more information.

"Each child has the opportunity to work with three different teachers. We started the year in single cell classes for the first six to seven weeks for years 6 and 7 and then moved it into the deprivatised environment."

“We spent a very long time working on developing the values. Over the last six or seven years the staff, students and community at Breens not only created our school’s five core values – Belonging, Beauty, Bravery, Brilliance and Boldness, but these also became the tools to help us during the strains and pressures of the earthquake, get through and move forward. They were the measuring stick of 18 change.”

Key Features • Simple, Intuitive Student Administration • Interactive Data Visualisations

• Xero Integration

• Fully Customised Caregiver Reports

• Anniversary Assessments and Reminders

• Exceptional Customer Support

What Breens Intermediate School says about Assembly...

"We �ind the Assessment Visualisations on Assembly especially useful as we look across the school to see patterns and trends in the data. It also enables us to very quickly compare data across lots of different groups of students. Our Reporting to Parents has become seamless using Assembly and in our collaborative environment it is a simple tool to aid this process." - Nikki Clarke, Deputy Principal, Breens Intermediate School Term 2 - 2015

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Profiles | Breens Intermediate

“I look forward to seeing schools working closer together so that every school is a great school, not the winner/loser school situation that has evolved over the last 25 years.”

17 They also define the roles of the three hapu teachers. The people’s person is responsible for Belonging and Beauty; the system person is responsible for Bravery and Boldness; the big picture person is responsible for Brilliance and looks after excellence and quality, ensuring a “rich and responsive” curriculum is delivered. One area of the curriculum the students identify as a subject they love is technology, Mr Price says. “It’s what Kiwi kids love and need – making real things with real tools in a real environment.” Topics covered in the technology department are food, textiles, science and digitech. The school library is the centre of information and technology learning, with 3D printers among the range of computerised equipment available to the students. “Whatever the changes are to technology, let’s never water

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down what is central to the DIY philosophy that makes Kiwis great, and famous around the world,” Mr Price says. Having been in the teaching profession for 24 years and the principal at Breens Intermediate for almost eight years, Mr Price says he loves the concept of collaboration across schools

and the way schools are finally starting to work together. “Competition in New Zealand schools has had its day. We need to be more collaborative for the greater good and start to see gains across schools, not only within schools. “But you need to get

collaboration in schools before it goes between schools. I look forward to seeing schools working closer together so that every school is a great school, not the winner/loser school situation that has evolved over the last 25 years.” By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

School Management Systems | Administration

Diverse choices offered in School Management Systems from any device that accesses the internet, it also seamlessly integrates with Xero, Paystation credit card payments, Ministry of Education enrolment and compliance systems, MUSAC Library Manager and PoLi - no more manual file upload or download, managing director Jeremy Dombrowski says.

School Management Systems (SMS) are designed to collect, store and access student information and also provide information to parents and the school community. There are a number of companies providing SMS and to help schools with their research in making the decision, a document on the Ministry of Education’s website, entitled Choosing & Implementing a Student Management System, provides relevant information.

KAMAR School Management System provider KAMAR is one of the main SMS providers in New Zealand, with around 340 secondary and composite schools, plus 14 primary and intermediate schools currently using their product, the company’s director, Kent Lendrum says. Developed as a complete school administration package specifically written for New Zealand schools, KAMAR offers all the functions administrators need to keep track of students and their activities, as well as many other functions including online awards, home contact, pastoral, resource booking, reporting and timetabling. “Keeping the data base of students is the core function of KAMAR, which includes a flexible and easy to use Timetabling module, necessary for secondary

schools,” Mr Lendrum says. “Schools put all their classes into the system and it generates the days and times for all the different classes and courses.” KAMAR also interacts with NZQA, a relationship it has had since it started working in school administration in the late 1990s. It is approved for the Ministry of Education Roll Returns and meets National-Standard requirements for junior-aged students. When a school decides to introduce KAMAR, the company’s trainers visit the school on-site, to train the staff and set up the software, helping them change over from their existing system if required. The Help Desk provides ongoing support as necessary via phone, email or live chat.

“The edge team have worked hard to challenge the status quo and use good/best practice concepts to take the complexity and cost out of administration,” Mr Dombrowski says.

Massey University and supported by a senior development team. Leveraging their extensive customer knowledge and the services of educational thought leaders, MUSAC developed edge, a simple and secure cloud-based tool, with a focus on tracking student achievement. Along with being able to access edge

“Our focus is to give teachers, students, parents, senior managers and principals better information concerning student progress and achievement – in a holistic sense. Ask any teacher – learning is not just about percentages, standards and credits. 20

MUSAC Another major provider of SMS in New Zealand schools is MUSAC, which was established over 25 years ago and is based at

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Emergency Alert System www.school-links.co.nz

0800 333 480

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Administration | School Management Systems

19 "Taking a best practice approach to administration means we can focus more of our thinking and development on what really matters – student achievement.” edge has been designed as a cloud-based system in the way it functions and the user interface. “Computer systems are made for people to use and so often the visual appeal factor is overlooked, which is just bizarre,” Mr Dombrowskis says. “We’ve also seen attempts at data transfer protocols come and go, therefore we designed our edge data architecture so information stays with the student no matter which school they attend.

A custom-written App for iPhones and Android mobile phones is available for Assembly users, giving teachers access to student information outside of the classroom.

“People in edge exist as entities once and are linked by relationships – whether that be a school enrolment, class membership parental or sibling – edge mimics the real world! “As far as technology goes it is far from revolutionary. In terms of what is available in the New Zealand SMS market it absolutely is. We’ve also created Interfaces (APIs), which will enable thirdparty vendors to add further value to data from edge. “We’ve certainly watched what Xero has done and their success and while we are far from a Xero, there is no point reinventing the wheel. Xero uses APIs extensively for their business partners to add value to the core Xero general ledger. “We see an analogous ecosystem being built on top of edge, albeit on a smaller scale. “MUSAC is also about to release a Win8 App leveraging some of our APIs through a collaboration with Microsoft and Marker Metro. “Like MUSAC Classic, edge covers all New Zealand school types – primary, intermediate, middle, area and secondary. It has been a challenge to get to where we are today, but the benefits of being able to track a student’s progress holistically over their school career is unparalleled.”

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Term 2 - 2015

Assembly SMS was established in Christchurch five years ago and to date has been installed in over 400 schools throughout New Zealand. The Support Team is based in Christchurch.

Assembly The Assembly Student Management System fulfills all the requirements a school looks for, but with one key difference from other SMS products, says company representative Alvin Brown. And that’s interactive data visualisations. “This unique feature allows you to explore, drill down and analyse your data on dashboards. Data can be seen in action: select different groupings and see the changes as you request them live on your screen.” All aspects of the school’s operation, including student assessment, attendance records, texting via Early Notification, board of trustees reports and professional Caregiver Reports are part of the Assembly package. All data can be displayed in real time and can be combined, collated and integrated across all sectors of the school community. Searching for a student in Assembly is a breeze, Mr Brown says. All information on a student is accessible from one page,

saving time for administrators and teachers. Attendance is made easy with single screen data entry and student popup with caregiver contact details. The system has the Ministry of Education’s tick of approval and it checks and validates information entered to comply with the Ministry’s Roll Return and ENROL requirements. National Standards reporting is made easy with simple anniversary data entry and anniversary alerts and robust error checking to ensure Ministry requirements are met, Mr Brown says. “Another feature administration staff will find particularly beneficial is the link with the accounting software system Xero. The Assembly package includes a full Accounts Receivable module where you can invoice, receipt and report with ease. We have a unique relationship with Xero, as we are the only SMS option in New Zealand to integrate with them.”

“Help is never far away with Assembly. Email or call our 0800 help line to talk to our amazing support team. Professional developments webinars are scheduled Monday to Thursday and are free for all Assembly users. Attendees are supplied with a recording of the session to refer back to.” The set up of Assembly SMS is extremely easy, with no installation or IT expertise required. Everything is completed within house, making the client’s initial experience hassle free. All new Assembly schools are assigned an Assembly support team member to guide you through the transition process. Visit Assembly at www.assemblysms.co.nz

PCSchool PCSchool School Administration Software connects all facets of school management, attendance, curriculum, timetable, full financials and teacher/parent/student web portals seamlessly through

School Management Systems | Administration

in a short space of time. Within 18 months, we have been able to expand beyond using the Scholastic package to also use the Debtors, POS, International, Parent-teacher interviews, online subject selection and other modules. The PC Schools help desk is fantastic and reliable.”

one common database. Schools can value add by purchasing individual modules as they expand or by integrating PCSchool with their existing Learning Management Systems. Director of information services, Auckland Grammar School, Cameron Watt: “When Auckland

Grammar School decided to change our SMS package we were looking for a system that would allow us to integrate our scholastic, pastoral and financial systems. PC Schools was the best-fit package that suited our system requirements. Their presales service was excellent

and they worked closely with us to ensure that their product would be able to meet the needs of our school. "The high level of after-sales support and training meant that the change of SMS went very smoothly and our staff were able to confidently use the system

Establishing itself as a leading SMS in New Zealand schools 10 years ago, PCSchool is fully accredited with the Ministry of Education and compliant with on-line roll marking, Student Record Transfer, ENROL (Arrivals/Leavers) and Get Check NSN. Its web-based controls include National Standards profiling to assess the growth of a student across their years of enrolment as well as NZQA Analysis allowing inquiry of results by gender, ethnicity etc. and integration with the NZ Pathways initiative. 22

Assembly Student Management System Assembly supports you, so you can get on with the job of teaching Key Features • • • • • •

Simple, Intuitive Student Administration Interactive Data Visualisations Xero Integration Fully Customised Caregiver Reports Anniversary Assessments and Reminders Exceptional Customer Support

• Deliver Caregiver Reports that re�lect your school’s individual personality?

If you answered “Yes” to any of the above, call Alvin for a demonstration on 021 354930 or 0800 555987. Visit www.assembly-sms.co.nz for more information.

Term 2 - 2015

school news

Administration | School Management Systems

"School closure? No problem, all parents were emailed and texted at the click of a button. The system also provided delivery reports reducing the need to phone parents to a manageable few." 21 PCSchool offers flexibility to schools from large schools such as Rangitoto College (3200), Avondale College (2600) and Auckland Grammar School (2500) to small schools like Chapman College (82) and Ficino School (120). Associate principal at Rangitoto College Don Hastie says when they decided it was time for the college to replace its in-house developed student management system they knew exactly what they wanted. “We required software that allowed us to embed our processes rather than drive them. It needed to be fully integrated to run all aspects of our operation, it needed to be flexible to allow for customisation, and it needed to be future focused. Above all it needed to support our 3200 students and 270 staff. In PCSchool we got all of that and more. Wrapped around that we found a company that listened to us and were responsive to our needs. Well done PCSchool.” Catering to the needs of smaller schools PCSchool offers a fully hosted solution to user such

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Term 2 - 2015

as Vicky Preston of Chapman College. “Chapman College is a small private school of 82 students; we have limited resources when it comes to managing both our computer software and hardware. PCSchool offers a hosting service that gives us 24hour, web-based access to our Student Management System. The team at PCSchool manage all software updates and nightly backups. The thought of knowing our data is secure and accessible anywhere, anytime and backed by excellent support from the wonderful team at PCSchool is very reassuring and much appreciated.” Future focused and user driven PCSchool’s current developments include converting its software into a complete web/ browser based product fully responsive to any device, and workflow implementation across areas such as behaviour, eforms and purchasing.

School Links All schools have emergency response plans and one key

element is identifying how situation updates will be communicated to parents and caregivers. With many schools relying on email, phone trees and social media, it became glaringly apparent to Christchurch-based company School-links, even before the 2010/11 earthquakes, that schools needed a more robust solution, says managing director Andrew Balfour. School-links already offered a browser-based emergency alert feature, he says. “School closure? No problem, all parents were emailed and texted at the click of a button. The system also provided delivery reports reducing the need to phone parents to a manageable few. Plus the system was perfectly adequate in most emergencies where schools could still access a device, a network and power was on.” Mr Balfour, cites two examples where the School-links emergency alert system proved itself invaluable. When a tornado hit the North Shore in Auckland, Albany Primary School immediately alerted all

parents that children were safe. At Otumeotai Intermediate, management were able to swiftly notify all staff and students across the campus that a lockdown was underway. However the earthquakes made Mr Balfour aware that they could do more and his development team set to work. “School-links now offers a smartphone app so that even if the school is inaccessible and the power down, parents and caregivers can still be updated via a smart device.” School-links integrates with a school’s Student Management System for its Ministry-approved absence management tool that enables schools to alert parents to the unexplained absence of their child at the push of a button, avoiding that other dreaded scenario of a missing child. “School-links continually strives to provide the New Zealand education system with the best that technology can offer to facilitate communication between school and home for the safety of our students,” Mr Balfour says.

Administration | School Management Systems – Case Study

New SMS a good fit for Edgecumbe Primary

Edgecumbe Primary School staff show off their edge T-shirts marking the installation of the SMS at their school. In early March 2015, Edgecumbe Primary School had the edge student management system (SMS) from MUSAC installed. The new system has replaced the company’s classic system, which the school had taken on in the early 2000s, and which was a good fit for the school. “As a management system, classic suited our school very well,” deputy principal Kim Beattie says. “It allowed us to track our student achievement and within this system we created our own stylised reports for caregivers. At the same time, our school used the library package and of course student manager.” The school decided to change to edge because of ongoing issues with hosting. As MUSAC’s Geoff Flett explains, “Their data base had been hosted. They wanted to move their SMS online, so we

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Term 2 - 2015

“It allowed us to track our student achievement and within this system we created our own stylised reports for caregivers. At the same time, our school used the library package and of course student manager.”

discussed this with them and edge was a good fit as it gives them the ability to do that as a lower-cost option. edge allows them to enter and analyse assessment data and gives teachers the ability to track student process.” Ms Beattie: “We liked the idea of being able to access student achievement from anywhere, on any device, at any time. The system has also allowed us to mark our attendance registers, electronically tracking individual students with ease. “Our teachers like the fact that it has PAT, e asTTle, JAM, PROBE, Gloss and STAR included. Also, when a student transfers to another school their achievement

data goes with them, providing their new school is on edge. edge also allows for our data to be stored offsite in a cloud-based environment.” Several training sessions were held for both administration and teaching staff to help the school transition to the new system, and there is a support team available and an online knowledge base with information and videos.

been excellent. Our rep, Geoff Flett trained both myself and our admin team and then held a staff meeting. You can also get 24/7 support through edge answers. Back-up support was a very important aspect and consideration for us when choosing a new management system.

“Although it’s early days, the teacher and admin staff are excited and enjoy the ease of use and access from both school and home environment,” Ms Beattie says.

“edge is excellent and we can thoroughly recommend it to any school who is considering a school management system. If anyone would like to make contact with our school to find out more, this would be welcomed.”

“The customer service throughout our change has

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

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Term 2 - 2015

school news

Administration | School Websites & Apps

Setting your sights on sites and apps In today’s learning environment the internet has become virtually indispensable – a tool that literally opens up the world for our students, offering an unlimited source of information on any topic through millions of websites. At the same time, the internet enables schools to put their own information out there, on their own unique website. Accessible to anyone with an internet connection, a school’s website gives it the opportunity to share its culture, philosophy and way of operating. It is a platform for displaying school projects and activities, a forum for teachers, students and parents to share information among themselves and with the community, and a marketing opportunity to attract potential students. To make a good initial impression on users and to keep them

coming back, a school website needs to be well designed, easy to navigate, engaging for the user through interactive content, and be regularly updated. Meeting these criteria usually involves calling in the experts. Spike@School was established 10 years ago for the express purpose of helping schools set up their websites and founder Brendon Muir says for them, the key factor is to build every website from scratch. “When a school signs up, they work with the designer to create their website template according to how they want it to look. “While the basic content, such as the school profile, newsletters and blogs, is usually the same, and they all include the easy to navigate index bar on the left, the designs are all different and unique to the individual schools.” There are also 26 modules available, which allow them to add content for different groups in the school, set up newsletters, post school notices, post images, create blogs. Staff-only and parent-only areas accessible by password can also be set up. Another important feature of Spike@school are the Learning Caves and ePortfolio areas. As Spike@School’s representative Nigel Wilson explains, by using these, teachers can create portfolios of resources for 24/7 access. Students can create portfolios of their work and share the content with their parents, and experts on various topics can have online conversations with teachers and students. “Spike@School is accessible on all digital platforms and devices and the way the template is set up, means it is easy for all users to become familiar with,” Mr Wilson says. Both he and Mr Muir emphasise the importance of having more than one person within the school knowing how to administer the website.

school news

Term 2 - 2015

“That means, if one person leaves, many others are still able to continue looking after it,” Mr Muir says. Signing up to a website platform like Spike@School, rather than using free, open source software from the internet also helps schools avoid potential hacking through failure to maintain that software, Mr Muir says. Mobile apps is another digital platform now available specifically for New Zealand schools, and for apps developer Snapp Mobile, the impetus to start developing mobile apps for schools actually came from a school. “Lindisfarne College in Hawkes Bay approached us because they wanted an app that would help them communicate with students and parents,” company director Joshua Woodham says. “We thought it was an amazing idea, and since building the app for that school, we have gone on to provide apps for 100 schools in New Zealand. We design and develop customised applications for each individual school,

School Websites & Apps | Administration

incorporating their branding and logo, so the app for each specific school can be identified and downloaded.” A range of modules can be added to the app, including the Alert module, which allows users to subscribe to an alert group and receive relevant messages. A sports team alert, for example, means match postponements, practice time changes and so on can be relayed through the app. A new newsletter alert has also been added. The app enables schools to send out notifications such as mufti day dates, or postponements of school events, all of which means

less time on the phone for the receptionist, Mr Woodham says. “An app is a great way of getting information out as quickly an cost-effectively as possible. From the feedback we’ve had, 98 per cent of people read their alerts within 30 seconds of receiving them.” For parents and caregivers, the app can be used to direct dial the school to advise them if a child will be absent. “The app can also be integrated with different forms of software, for example the school’s SMS. We have a strong integration with the KAMAR SMS, which many high schools use.

Attendance records and NCEA results can all be included. Primary schools can integrate with a Google website calendar so all school events can be listed on the app.” There is a one-off cost to have the app developed, which is based on what features the school needs. These will vary according to the size and type of school. Once it is developed there is a small monthly fee for maintenance.

common,” Joshua Woodham says. “Brendon got in touch with me and we quickly realised the benefits of working together. Now, several of Spike’s website features can be integrated seamlessly into our apps, which cuts back on a lot of the duplication of effort. For example, loading newsletters and calendar events etc.

Spike@School and Snapp Mobile are now joining forces in some instances.

“We are continually looking at ways to increase the integration between the two products to deliver more time savings to our mutual customers.”

“We both had started to realise we had several clients in

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

Term 2 - 2015

school news

Teaching Resources | Book Reviews Dragon Knight Book #2: Rats!

1915 Wounds of War

alongside his main tormenter, Miller the Killer!

A heartbreaking and brilliantly poignant novel.

But Rafe has grand plans for a better year: First, he decides to start a super-secret art project that's sure to rock the school.

Lair of the Leopard

Then, if Rafe manages to make a play to save his team, he might have to deal with something completely new: popularity!

Evie’s war

Diana Menefy Scholastic For ages 12+

Kyle Mewburn Scholastic For ages 7-10 Young shape-shifting dragon Merek is following his dream to become a knight – but seems to have found an enemy in Lord Crumble’s son Percy, also training to become a knight. Trying desperately to keep his dragon identity a secret, Merek finds himself locked up in a rat-infested dungeon, where his shape-shifting skill proves invaluable. But bettering young Percy may be his undoing.

But when they join the NZ Army Nursing Service and board a hospital ship headed for Egypt, Anzac Cove and beyond, they have little idea of the horrors they will face, the wounds they will tend, and the hearts they will help to heal.

Middle School Just My Rotten Luck

Grasshoppers Dance

Juliette MacIver branches out from her usual humorous rollicking rhyme to write a lyrical tale that celebrates luscioussounding language in an uplifting story of music and movement. Nina Rycroft’s lively illustrations conjure up the power of imagination to bring the scenes to magical life.

school news

When teen adventurer Beck Granger finds himself stranded on a Himalayan mountainside, he has to draw on all his strength and skill to survive. Anna Mackenzie Random House For ages 14+ Evie is 18, straight out of school and excited by the prospect of a tour of Europe. Instead, she finds herself immersed in war; first in the Home Counties – where the young New Zealander is confronted not only by society's restrictions and her family's expectations, but by the burgeoning women's rights movement – then as a VAD nurse tending injured soldiers in a local hospital. After personal tragedy changes the course of her life, Evie impulsively travels to Belgium, experiencing first-hand the shambolic horrors in a Casualty Clearing Station just 10 km behind the Front Lines.

Juliette MacIver Scholastic For ages 3-7

Bear Grylls Random House For ages 14+

Mel and her cousin Harriet are keen to nurse brave Kiwi boys fighting in the Great War, half a world away.

Term 2 - 2015

James Patterson Random House For ages 10-14 In this seventh Middle School episode, Rafe heads back to the place his misadventures began: the dreaded Hills Village Middle School, where he's now being forced to take 'special' classes... He also finds himself joining the school's football team –

War, at first distant, becomes increasingly personal. When her health gives out, Evie returns to England and a new battle: that of meshing her hard-won independence and experience with the still Edwardian attitudes of her family. From where can she find strength for love and the resilience to face the future?

After death-defying climbing and sheltering in some of the hardest terrain on earth, Beck also has to somehow make it through bear attacks and flash floods. But the biggest challenge of all is still ahead… Can Beck finally learn the truth about his parents' deaths and bring their killers to justice? Issue 28

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Teaching Resources | Interactive Teaching

Technology turns classrooms into interactive, creative environments

Students working with Canon interactive flat panel technology. Technology such as Bring your own device (BYOD) and mobility are changing the face of the modern classroom, creating an interactive and engaging environment where students are much more involved in their learning experiences.

Canon The ongoing development of new technology has seen significant changes in the classroom, particularly in the past 18 months, says Canon New Zealand general manager Craig Williams. “Interactive technology has become a key learning resource in classrooms with increasing numbers of schools seizing the opportunity to enhance their students’ learning and encourage collaboration through the use of devices and equipment,” he says. Canon’s partner, Canadian company SMART, designs and manufactures interactive boards, screens and software to provide new and innovative teaching methods for the classroom. SMART recently launched a cloudbased SMART Amp collaborative software programme that works

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Term 2 - 2015

with the SMART Board and interactive flat panels, and can be used anywhere, at any time, on any device, Mr Williams says. “Schools have become interested in the benefits that interactive technology brings to the classroom and are breaking away from the traditional classroom environment.” Schools with SMART Boards and iPads can use add-ons like SMART Maestro to involve students more actively in class. “Teachers can write on a SMART Board and the writing will appear on every iPad or SMART Board it is linked with to enable everyone in the class to interact with it. “As a parent, I see real value in providing two-way dialogue, particularly in larger classes. I want to know that my child is connecting with the material and is actively participating in their own learning. “This software is especially useful for Special Needs schools, and can be of great assistance for students who may be reluctant or unable to interact in the classroom,” says Mr Williams.

“With the move to breakout spaces and cluster learning, mobility is increasingly important for schools. Schools are opting for SMART interactive panels that can be attached to trolleys and moved around the room to allow for greater flexibility in classrooms,” Mr Williams says. “Canon is New Zealand’s leading SMART partner and provides all the installation, support and training to get full advantage of the new SMART technology.”

Activboard NZ Auckland-based company Activboard NZ has been supplying interactive teaching solutions to New Zealand schools for over 15 years, and has installed products in about 40 per cent of the country’s schools, company director Murray Thoms says. “We started with Promethean Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs), branched into learner response systems and then introduced the Promethean ActivTable, which is one of our leading multi-user collaborative learning platforms. “The activities that are supplied with the ActivTable are all designed

for collaboration in learning – the kids can work collaboratively, or if they’re working on different projects, they can work individually at the same time,” Mr Thoms says. “Three years ago we delivered our first interactive flat panel touch screen (IFPD) and these now make up more than half of our sales. The IFPD is designed as a dedicated touch screen, with safety glass. Either a pen or finger touch can be used, it comes with software specific for teaching and learning, and it allows for multiple users.” IWB technology was introduced to schools in the United Kingdom around 15 years ago, and while still being used in many New Zealand schools, it does have the disadvantage of being affected by high ambient light on the screen. Some classrooms need curtaining for it to be used effectively, and shadowing is also an issue. Also, the projected image brightness deteriorates over time, requiring costly replacement lamps. Touchscreens are not affected by ambient light, and being high definition, have much better resolution, resulting in sharper, brighter images. 32

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Teaching Resources | Interactive Teaching

The Epson EB-595Wi interactive projector. 30 Some screens now offer UHD ultra high definition, which has four times the resolution of high definition so is ideal for large screens – 75inch and 84inch. “However, we offer a range of technology – flat screens don’t suit everyone, some still prefer projected images,” Mr Thoms says. He describes IFPDs as allowing the option of a large touch screen mounted on the wall at the front of the classroom for “whole of class” teaching, or smaller devices, which are placed on trolleys and can be moved around the classroom. “Eighty per cent of our touch screens are now sold on mobile stands,” Mr Thoms says. “Not all IFPDs and IWBs are the same, and we aim to supply the best of breed products for schools’ needs with support and educational resources focused around the New Zealand curriculum. We also provide professional development and a range of services including on-site warranties for hassle-free ownership and operation. “In addition to IWBs and IFPDs, we are seeing increased demand, particularly in secondary schools, for PC-free interactive projectors

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Term 2 - 2015

that offer large image with interactivity.”

Epson Epson also offers the new technology and one of its latest contributions to the realm of interactive learning is the EB595Wi finger touch-enabled interactive projector. Teachers and students can annotate, open and close files, scroll through pages, and move and enlarge objects with their finger. Multiple users can annotate on the interactive area using a combination of two pens and up to six fingers at the same time. Interactive functionality is also available without a PC connection, so drawing on the projected screen is now possible when connected to other devices such as visualisers or DVD players etc. Even when there is no input source, you can annotate on the screen like a whiteboard. Another advantage for teachers is that when using Epson EasyMP software with a networked interactive projector, they are no longer constrained by cables. They can wirelessly display and interact with content as they move about the classroom with their laptop.

In July 2014, Queensland Australia’s Saint Stephen’s College introduced Epson EB-595Wi finger touch-enabled interactive projectors to its new science centre and learning support section. The college had been using Epson interactive projectors for a number of years as replacements for their IWBs (Interactive Whiteboard). IT manager David Croft says with projectors in general, but with the new EB-595W1 in particular, Saint Stephen’s was looking for consistency and quality. “The initial reaction to the performance of the EB-595Wi was very positive. The EB-595Wi goes further than the other models with its finger-touch capability, the accuracy of the finger touch is very good and the control is intuitive.” He says in the senior school teaching staff are timetabled in more than one learning space, so it is important for them to be able to move from space to space with a good understanding of how the equipment works. “Critically, any teacher can walk into any one of our new learning spaces and use the technology like they can in the rest of the college. The fact that the college is already using other Epson interactive projectors meant we

could implement the EB-595Wi with the confidence that the quality of the hardware would be of the highest standard and ultimately meet our needs.” Last year, when looking for a more dependable resource than the smartboards housed in all its classrooms, Queensland’s Northgate State School also decided on the EB-595Wi finger touch-enabled interactive projector. Principal Carol Scriven: “We needed projectors that were affordable and reliable and that the students and staff could use with relative ease. Clarity of images was also very important to us, as was the dual capacity of touchscreen and pen usage. Finally, a multi-user capability was paramount. So we did our research and the EB-595Wi was assessed to be the ideal projector for our needs.” Ms Scriven says they are enjoying the capacity to go from finger touch to pen touch to whiteboard and the internet in easy steps. “Students from prep through to year 7 are very engaged and motivated by their opportunity to be more interactive than they were ever able to be previously.” By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

Finger touch interactive projector. No pen required!

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Teaching Resources | Interactive Teaching – Case Study

Touch panel seen as ‘absolute success’

Sir Edmund Hillary Junior School in South Auckland introduced IWB technology from Activboard NZ several years ago, but more recently has started having the Sahara Interactive Flat panel technology installed. Principal John Shearer says the new technology has a number of key advantages. “Being smaller, the touch panel is excellent for small groups of students. The children can touch the screen and work directly on it. The brilliant display also means that you can use it in a brightly lit room and it’s still vibrant. “It gives the students a shared learning experience where up to four or five students can work on

school news

Term 2 - 2015

“It gives the students a shared learning experience where up to four or five students can work on the screen together as a group. They can all get in there. It’s dynamic, things can be changed and moved around, and it brings huge engagement from the kids.”

the screen together as a group. They can all get in there. It’s dynamic, things can be changed and moved around, and it brings huge engagement from the kids. They do their own enquiry and get such enjoyment from that. They like having control.” The school chose to have their screens mounted on the wall,

which makes good use of classroom space, Mr Shearer says, and avoids having leads and connections lying around the room.

says. “There’s no turning back

While some of the teachers initially preferred the larger IWB screens they were used to, they have now fully embraced the new technology, Mr Shearer

learning. It’s been an absolute

now. Today’s classrooms need to step up a level and the touch panel is a great vehicle for collaborative teaching and success.” By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

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Teaching Resources | Video Conferencing

How collaboration technology is driving a teaching transformation

Elaine Shuck Director of Education, Polycom

Previously we discussed how virtual learning using video collaboration allows us to create the classroom of the future while still delivering a personal face-to-face experience.

control, letting students learn in a more blended environment. Students and teachers are collaborating and learning together which creates a higher trust environment.”

I would now like to look at the impact technology is having on classroom dynamics and more specifically, the way we teach, to ensure our students will be equipped to enter the future workforce.

So how well are teachers adapting to the digital classroom? What constitutes best practice pedagogy in a technology enabled world?

Carolyn Bennett, e-principal at FarNet and Polycom customer said: “Once they [teachers] have experienced online teaching we see them taking what works back into their face-to-face classes. This is where we are seeing truly powerful learning and collaboration as teachers stop seeing themselves as deliverers of information. They release this

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According to New Zealand’s Minister for Education, over 95 per cent of New Zealand schools have now signed up to use the government-funded Managed Network, giving them fast and reliable internet access and uncapped data. A significant step in ensuring schools have the necessary infrastructure needed to embrace digital technologies to their fullest potential in the classroom. More internet means

more educational opportunities, greater communication options and reduces the distance between two points.

Cultivating higherorder thinking and creativity

With internet for everyone, one of the most rapid changes we are seeing in classrooms is the power of connectivity and its impact on teaching and learning dynamics. Today students can connect with their teachers and fellow class members anytime, anywhere. This could mean connecting in from a tablet, from a smartphone, from a conference room, from a classroom, from a lecture hall and this is only going to increase. This increased connectivity promotes more interactions, content sharing and engagement among instructors and students, key in today’s learning environment.

We all know that face-to-face teaching remains important. One-to-one is as well. But the key question we must be asking ourselves is whether the traditional face-to-face teaching method is still relevant in today’s blended learning environment? I’m not saying lose the ‘blackboard’ altogether, but this style of teaching does endear itself to a ‘sit and get’ environment with the teacher centre stage and little interaction or collaboration. I really believe that by adopting a more collaborative style of teaching we can help students cultivate a higher level of thinking and creativity.

Video Conferencing | Teaching Resources

Improving teaching and learning experiences can engage students with high-impact and interactive learning experiences that provide better access to knowledge and expand curriculum portfolios. Student learning spaces can be transformed through video collaboration with project-based learning, virtual guest speakers or field trips and collaborative partnerships. Yes, traditional teaching has its good points, but it was designed to prepare students for jobs that are disappearing. Jobs of the last century. Sitting in rows, doing rote learning…. even the bell between classes was originally designed to get students in a habit of working on repeat processes and knowing when to take a break. It prepared them for rote jobs in an industry or on a manufacturing floor or at a desk. It does not promote higher order critical thinking skills or encourage students to think differently and be creative. Today, we have to prepare students for jobs that demand these skills. Educators need to accelerate the demand for a broad and rounded knowledge base that equips citizens with skills for a new economy. Core Education recently identified 10 key digital technology trends, within key areas of change that are impacting all aspects of education in New Zealand. One of these key areas of focus is learner orientation and the idea of designing learner-oriented systems built around the learner, rather than the learner being required to fit with the system. A learner-oriented approach is also being seen in the development of modern learning environments, where more flexible, multi-use and purposeful spaces are being created, replacing the traditional ‘egg-crate’ classroom, built to a common specification regardless of whether it is catering to a group of five-year-olds or 12-yearolds.

“When teachers get it right, Collaborative Clusters promote interaction and content sharing and engagement among students. They also provide flexible access to collaborative environments.” At Polycom, we believe that the happy medium is creating an on-demand collaborative learning environment. Being able to do this outside a traditional classroom, using video collaboration with geographically dispersed students and teachers is priceless.

Understanding the virtual classroom approach and how it enhances learning As I have touched on previously, a virtual classroom is where the teacher and students are logged into the virtual learning environment at the same time seeing each other face to face. It also means you have the flexibility to connect from a remote site using a tablet, smartphone, classroom or other location. I often call it a virtual meeting room (VMR) as it expands our classroom walls and allows students to connect with students, experts and teachers based at remote locations. One of the biggest advantages to adopting this technologybased teaching approach is that you have the flexibility to bring anyone into a virtual classroom. For example, if you teach music, you could invite a guest pianist to join the class remotely and share this learning with all participants. And it is wonderful to see the collaboration between the students themselves, taking ownership for their learning, which creates a highly interactive and engaging environment. Students also up their game when they are learning with technology as it gets them

excited about learning. It’s a different way to learn but there’s a lot of success.

Collaborative clusters – gaining traction Collaborative clusters is another teaching method that is gaining ground quickly. As an educator teaching a specific class, I can now record a session prior to the scheduled class, allowing me to set the stage for what will happen in that specific class environment. With lecture capture, students are no longer limited to in-class experiences. They can view recorded lessons anytime, anywhere from the convenience of their mobile device. Having viewed the lecture, when students meet in my class, they may then break into cluster groups and go into their own virtual meeting rooms to collaborate on a specific topic. This allows me as their educator to spend more one-on-one time with them working on group projects, completing homework and participating in more in-depth discussions — all during class time. I can then use different technologies like a smartphone or tablet as a back channel to engage with students, working with them in their virtual meeting room or they can request help or invite me to join their discussion. When teachers get it right, Collaborative Clusters promote interaction and content sharing and engagement among students. They also provide flexible access to collaborative environments, enabling access to distance learning opportunities that students would not normally have. This type of teaching is

exciting and it gives students access to anytime anywhere learning.

What does the future hold? Our students are living and working in a digital world. Schools must do their part in providing students with the tools to make their learning experience up-to-date, engaging, and effective. To succeed in the ‘workplace of the future’, it is important that students have critical thinking skills, understand how to work in geographically dispersed teams, how to problem solve and how to communicate. It’s clear that video collaboration and online access are changing the way students learn. Teachers can now use their classroom time to lead activities and discussions that drive home the subject matter in a more memorable and engaging way. Distance learning can provide students with access to experts and experiences across the globe while minimising the limitations of cost, time, and travel. Education institutes and providers need to recognise this demand and provide an interactive, innovative and collaborative learning environment that makes people want to continue learning and set them up for future success. Education technology isn’t a “nice to have” anymore — it’s critical to the success of all students throughout their education. Elaine Shuck, with a background in technology, curriculum, and integration, is the director of education, U.S. Public Sector, for Polycom. She is a leader in collaborative learning and interactive videoconferencing. For almost 20 years she has brought stimulating and engaging learning opportunities to K-20 classrooms. Elaine works with a host of educational groups and is currently the President of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA).

Term 2 - 2015

school news

Teaching Resources | Interactive Learning

THE ONE-STOP SHOP FOR ALL EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIES!

Interactive site a new tool for science class Science teachers and students now have an innovative new interactive tool to work with following the launch of a website in May by Carmel College science teacher Benjamin Himme. “I started developing the idea after having a conversation with my friend, Samuel Crookes, who works in IT,” Mr Himme says. “I was inspired by the Khan Academy website. I was making videos for my junior science and senior biology students and after watching a Salman Khan video in which he made a mistake then went back and corrected it, I started wondering if I could contribute to the website, like you can with Wikipaedia.” That wasn’t possible, so the science teacher and the computer programmer joined forces to develop their own open access website, www.pathwayz.co.nz.

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“I wanted it to be free education for everyone. I saw it as a waste of expertise if teachers and students couldn’t share their knowledge,” Mr Himme says. The site contains videos and notes for students, and teachers have the ability to add and edit content and share their expertise and resources. “It will be really good to have teachers contributing material,” Mr Himme says. “As with Wikipaedia, I believe

“I wanted it to be free education for everyone. I saw it as a waste of expertise if teachers and students couldn’t share their knowledge” – Benjamin Himme

that brings a greater breadth of knowledge and better quality. The system will track every change and can roll back the site to remove any errors. “As it becomes more sophisticated, we hope to add multi-choice questions for students to answer. This will enable teachers to monitor students’ progress, and we’ll also get students to write questions, which other students will rate.” The website’s content is organised on a tree and branches, and as content is added the tree will be restructured automatically to best display the content. One idea builds off another, Mr Himme says. So far, response has been positive. A week after going live 70 teachers and about 240 students had registered, with 400 different people visiting each day. By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

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school news

Term 2 - 2015

Benjamin Himme, left, Emma Newby and Samuel Crookes view the new website.

School Workshops | External Learning

School workshops and objects created from a demolished house From fine jewellery and cutlery to furniture and toys, the reused materials have taken on a new life in the form of nearly 400 objects.

This winter, MOTAT will host Jiwi’s Machines, a comedy web-series created by YouTube star Joseph Herscher. In the series, Herscher plays Jiwi, a brilliant and hilarious character in the grand tradition of physical comedians like Buster Keaton and Mr Bean. Funded by NZ On Air, Jiwi’s Machines packages Rube Goldberg machines, slapstick comedy and cool interactive videos into an immersive online science experience for Kiwi kids aged six to 11. Filmed in MOTAT’s exhibition halls, the set of Jiwi’s Machines will be visible to the museum’s visitors, where they can watch Joseph and his team build and test their machines and see the director and cast rehearse. Videos of Joseph’s other Rube Goldberg machines will also be on display. Rube Goldberg machines (also known as Heath Robinson devices) are overly complicated contraptions that ultimately perform very simple tasks. Each episode of Jiwi’s Machines features at least one big machine, built from everyday items you would find around a New Zealand house. Featured in each of Jiwi’s contraptions is one (or more) of the six basic machines that form the building blocks of all mechanisms: the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge and screw. These simple machines can also be experienced first-hand in MOTAT’s popular 'Welcome to the Machine' exhibition. Jiwi’s Machines also introduces concepts like friction, gravity, speed, distance, oppositional forces, chemical reactions, and much more. During his time at MOTAT, Joseph will be running limited edition workshops - The Ultimate Machine - for school groups. Students will be challenged to think creatively as they design, construct and test their own Rube Goldberg machine from everyday materials using a combination of levers, pulleys, gears, inclined planes, screws wheels and axles. “It feels absolutely right to be building my machines at MOTAT,”

“This was a massive undertaking by any consideration," says museum director Anthony Wright, “and scale is an ongoing theme throughout: the sheer volume of materials, the number of artisans, the length of time, and the number of final objects.

piece, down to the last splinter, was saved.

“And because we are doing it in one of the public galleries, we’ll actually be a live exhibition, which is cool!”

Since then, over 250 people from around New Zealand and the world have invented ways of reusing these resources and the result is a huge collection of objects from a delicately carved taonga puoro (flute) by master carver Brian Flintoff, to a finely crafted backyard studio by artist Nic Moon and architectural designer Lyn Russell.

Jiwi’s School workshops ‘The Ultimate Machine’ at MOTAT: Dates: Monday, August 31 Wednesday, September 2 Friday, September 4 Monday, September 7 Wednesday, September 9 Friday, September 11 Time: 10am – 2pm Learning Areas: STEM – (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with a design thinking focus. Years & Levels: Most suitable for (but not limited to) years 7-10. Bookings: Numbers are limited to 60 students per session and bookings are essential.Please email bookings@motat.org.nz or call (09) 815 5808

Transforming a house

This exhibition showcases original works by some of the country’s finest designers and craftspeople and it also includes works by school children, retired experts, community organisations like Kilmarnock Enterprises, and students of various arts and crafts. Participants have created works all over New Zealand and as far away as Illinois and Ohio in the United States, London and the Isle of Tiree in the UK. Objects include chairs made of lath wood, delicate bowls made from window glass, precious musical instruments carved from framing timber and games made from plastic piping.

“Transformation is another equally important theme and a purpose of the exhibition is to encourage us to consider the value in objects that are usually thrown away. The exhibition itself is an example of how Cantabrians turn disaster into innovation and opportunity.” The project was the brainchild of Rekindle - a social enterprise that aims to change the way waste is viewed and managed. They believe that transformation of wasted resources is basic resource efficiency, especially when the creativity and social impact of this process is valued. Rekindle instigated the one-off project in response to the issue of disposal of reusable materials within demolition, in Christchurch and across New Zealand. This exhibition not only demonstrates the scale of waste occurring and the value of these materials, but also celebrates the power of design and craft as tools to address, and benefit from, wasted resources. Whole House Reuse opens on Friday, June 5, 2015 in the Special Exhibition Gallery of Canterbury Museum and runs to August 23, 2015.

The unique challenge of reusing an entire house to save it from waste has formed the basis for a new and inspiring exhibition called Whole House Reuse at Canterbury Museum. The project involved reusing every single piece of 19 Admirals Way, a 1920s’ weatherboard home in New Brighton, Christchurch that was scheduled for demolition in 2013. The house was deconstructed by hand over nine days and every

Porotu carved by Brian Flintoff. Photo: Christopher Gardner

Term 2 - 2015

school news

Food & Beverage | MAGGI Kitchen Showdown

Young chefs offered chance to win cash for their school Teams of young chefs once again have the chance to wow New Zealand with their culinary skills and creativity in the kitchen, and win cash for their school.

• be a main course meal and be able to serve a family of four people (two adults & two children)

The call is out for teams of 11-15 year-olds who dream of becoming the next superstar chefs to enter the sixth annual MAGGI Kitchen Showdown cooking competition. Teams enter online by submitting a recipe for a nutritious and balanced main course meal for a family of four, costing less than $20.

• include the use of at least one MAGGI product

The top eight teams’ recipes will be showcased on The 4.30 Show over eight weeks. The MAGGI Kitchen Showdown judges will then have the tough job of selecting three teams to compete in the national final in Auckland in August, where $5000 is up for grabs for the winning team’s school(s). This year teams can

• cost a maximum of $20 to make

• be able to be made and plated up in no more than 50 minutes.

consist of members from different schools, and the age range has widened to 11-15 year-olds. These changes mean that even more budding young chefs will be able to learn all about cooking delicious, nutritious and affordable meals the whole family can enjoy. The 4.30 Show presenter Mike Lee and Richard Brogan from the MAGGI Kitchen are back to judge this year and are excited about the

competition’s new format. “This year’s MAGGI Kitchen Showdown is set to be better than ever! It’s going to be great to see teens involved in the competition for the first time, and I’m looking forward to seeing the range of delicious, creative meal creations the teams come up with,” Mr Brogan says. Each team must create their own recipe, with a few key requirements. The meal must:

Last year, the Sancta Maria College team ‘SMS Sizzling Chicks’ took out the national title and went away with $5000 for their school, with Palmerston North Intermediate’s ‘The Spice Chicks’ and Barton Rural School’s ‘Country Cooks’ taking the runner-up spots. Entries close Friday, June 26, 2015. Teams must consist of two to four students from ages 11-15 (as of August 31, 2015). To register or for information, visit www.maggi.co.nz/ kitchen-showdown.

Cooking a career choice for boys and girls Home economics has been around for a long time but its heyday was mainly when a woman’s place was seen as being in the home while her husband was out earning the family living. Either that, or girls were not regarded as having many career options. The emphasis would have been on cooking roast dinners or whipping up a sponge cake or a batch of scones. How many boys would have been interested in that? How things have changed. Women chefs such as Alison Gofton, Jo Seager and Annabelle Langbein have become well known over recent years, but television food programmes are now also the domain of highly successful male chefs. Think Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver, who are often shown cooking up a storm in exotic parts of the world – along with local icons such as Al Brown, and it is evident cooking has become not only acceptable to boys, but a highly respected career choice as well. While very few of them will go on to become household names, there is no doubt that cooking is a very

school news

Term 2 - 2015

realistic career choice for boys and girls these days. Apart from New Zealanders’ expectation of being served with an excellent meal when they go out to a restaurant, New Zealand’s international tourism industry is booming, with more overseas visitors pouring in every year. Last year, total tourism expenditure was $23.8 billion (up five per cent on the previous year). With more than three million visitors coming to these shores each year, a huge number of meals need to be cooked to replenish them, and in a wide variety of styles. Hotels, motels and restaurants catering to this influx need well-trained and talented staff. The hospitality industry in general is growing rapidly and tertiary institutions are catering for their needs with a growing repertoire of qualifications. Apart from helping to provide the foundation for potential careers, a school kitchen has another very practical advantage – learning about the health aspects of food. With obesity and related diseases such as diabetes becoming a major problem, usually beginning in childhood, it is now accepted as essential that children learn about

healthy eating while they are young. Their knowledge about food will serve them well throughout their whole lives, and they will often pass on what they have learned to their parents and other family members as well. No longer is food preparation just about serving up an enjoyable meal. It is now recognised as an important and interesting science that can have a huge influence on our wellbeing for decades ahead. It seems that almost every day, more discoveries are being made about the impact food has on our health. So, for schools looking to install a kitchen, the first essential is a plan. With thousands of restaurants in the world, a great deal of knowledge has been developed over many generations about the ideal layout for a certain sized space. Schools can take advantage of this vast heritage to determine what arrangement of benches, cupboards, drawers, hooks, shelves, walkways and equipment will provide the smoothest flow. A kitchen design specialist should always be consulted before any practical building or installation

work is done. Not only will they advise on the best arrangement of the kitchen but also on the ergonomic factors. For someone who might be going to spend a large part of their working life in a kitchen, learning to avoid strain on their body is essential. But the one factor that tops them all is safety. Remember that your kitchen will be used by young people who, while they might be verging on adulthood in years, are unlikely to have developed that maturity in their decision making. Hot surfaces and sharp implements always carry an element of danger. A well designed, built and managed school kitchen is going to be a big plus for your school, providing enjoyment for both staff and students, and leading the young people to valuable lifelong skills and potential employment. It is not at all out of the question that future stars of the New Zealand hospitality industry might have developed their ambitions and culinary skills in one of those kitchens. By Brent Leslie, Staff Reporter

Canteen Change-up | Food & Beverage

Competition to encourage healthier food choices To enter, all you need to do is: 1. Make one healthy change between Term 4, 2014 and the end of Term 2, 2015. 2. Submit up to 500 words explaining the change you have made, along with a photo(s) showing your great work. 3. One change = one entry into the draw. So, the more changes you make, the better your chances are of winning! 4. Entries close 5pm, July 3, 2015.

The Heart Foundation is running a new competition for schools aimed at encouraging them to provide healthy food choices in the school canteen.

To be in with a chance of winning a KitchenAid Blender, schools need to make just one healthy change to the school canteen, tuck shop, lunch order system or other food environment in the school. There

will be five regional winners - two in the South Island and three in the North Island, with each receiving a KitchenAid Blender valued at $320, kindly provided by Choice Catering - www.choice.co.nz

Email your entry to: fuelled4life@ heartfoundation.org.nz. For more information and changes you can make to improve the food environment at your school head to www. fuelle4life.org.nz

arE you up fOr thE fuElled4Life caNteen chAnge-Up? fuElled4Life Is heRe to help

We are excited to be running a new competition! To be in with a chance of winning a KitchenAid Blender for your school, you need to make just one healthy change to your school canteen, tuck shop, lunch order system or other food environment. There will be five regional winners â&#x20AC;&#x201C; two in the South Island and three in the North Island. PRIZE: KitchenAid Blender (valued at $320), kindly provided by Choice Catering â&#x20AC;&#x201C; www.choice.co.nz

hoW to Enter

All you need to do is: 1. Make one healthy change between Term 4, 2014 and the end of Term 2, 2015. 2. Submit up to 500 words explaining the change you have made, along with a photo(s) showing us your great work. 3. One change = one entry into the draw. So, the more changes you make, the better your chances are of winning! 4. Entries close 3rd July 2015. Email your entry to: fuelled4life@heartfoundation.org.nz For more information and ideas about changes, head to www.fuelled4life.org.nz

wWw.FuellEd4liFe.oRg.nZ Term 2 - 2015

school news

Food & Beverage | Up&Go Vending Partnership Programme Supplier Profile | Up&Go Vending Partnership Programme

Pasifika student’s journey to success

Phoebe Tiatia and Saint Andrew Matautia

WITHIN JUST FIVE MINUTES of meeting, Saint Andrew Matautia and Phoebe Tiatia had already asked each other: “Are you Samoan?”, found a shared love for photography, and swapped contact details. The brief exchange between the two students demonstrates the sociability and openness of the Pasifika community at Victoria University of Wellington. The pair may share a heritage, but both are forging their own personalised path to success at Victoria University. Saint Andrew was born in Samoa and migrated to New Zealand with his family when he was four. He grew up in Porirua, part of a family of six, and graduated with a conjoint Bachelor of Arts in Design and Samoan Studies as a mature student. He then undertook a Bachelor of Design Innovation and this year graduates with a Bachelor of Design in Culture + Context. Saint Andrew has well and truly found success at Victoria University. He enjoys university life, has made great social connections and his study has afforded opportunities to showcase his talent internationally.

school news

Term 2 - 2015

...“It’s not just about getting you through study, it’s about giving back and using your skills in – Phoebe Tiatia the community”... But like most students, he admits to being nervous when he first arrived at university. “I was a little bit apprehensive because there weren’t many brown faces around. I wasn’t used to that, coming from Porirua. At first I thought I don’t really belong here, but once you get to know everybody, you begin to feel welcome and settled,” he says. One of the things that helped Saint Andrew was the University’s Pasifika Haos. The converted house on Victoria’s main campus provides a communal space for Pasifika students to study and socialise. He says the Pasifika student community is “a really tight knit family”. “We get together every now and then, go out for dinner, play bubble soccer or volleyball. We look out for each other.” The Pasifika student community is part

of Victoria’s wider cultural diversity, which Saint Andrew says “really helps to enrich the atmosphere and helps progress students like myself”. He adds: “My heritage is particularly important to me, and it’s heavily supported at Victoria.” As an example, he points to Te Ropu Awhina, a group for Maori and Pasifika students aimed at producing high achievers and collective success specifically in the fields of science, engineering, architecture and design. “I’ve been part of that since I started and they’ve helped me with the written aspects of assignments and, in some instances, with applying for scholarships.” He says there’s a reciprocal element of Te Ropu Awhina, where older members are given the opportunity to mentor the newer students.

The mentorship, networking skills and academic support he gained from the group have certainly helped Saint Andrew flourish. In 2013, he won the Gibson Group Award for Excellence and Innovation in Culture and Context. The following year, he attended the Pacific Histories conference in Taiwan and has showcased his photography both locally and in Canada. He appreciates Victoria’s inclusiveness of other cultures, something that allows him to integrate Samoan values into his learnings which, in turn, has enhanced his studies. “I started to incorporate my culture into my assignments – I think that’s when I started to get better grades.” “One of my projects was questioning the moral implications of Nike’s leggings that were inspired by Samoan traditional men’s tattoos. So I created a photographic response to that and asked what would happen to culture without language.” Phoebe’s academic success resulted from following a very different path. The 22-year-old began her tertiary study at another university and transferred to Victoria after two years.

Up&Go Vending Partnership Programme | Food & Beverage

She graduated this year with a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies and Art History. “At Victoria, everything was so easy. There were so many classes that fitted with my interests, it was a no brainer to switch here. She appreciates the “strong sense of community” at Victoria. “Even the campus layout gives that sense of community, the Student Hub [area], even the library – it’s just fun being here.” Phoebe was raised by her Pakeha aunt and uncle in New Plymouth and Victoria’s Pasifika community has given her the opportunity to reconnect with her Samoan heritage. “At Pasifika Haos, they’re always welcoming new people. They always made sure I was on track, kept in contact with me and made sure somebody was there when I needed it. Victoria is a big institute—it would be easy to get lost, but they make sure you’re not. “Now as an alumni, they’re so supportive about getting me into the community and encouraging me to give back. It’s not just about getting you through study, it’s about giving back and using your skills in the community,” she says. “I like how supportive everyone is, right from the very beginning. There’s always

...“My heritage is particularly important to me, and it’s heavily supported at Victoria”... – Saint Andrew Matautia an answer, there’s always someone to give you advice and make sure you’re on track.” She remembers meeting the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika), Associate Professor Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, who, from the first meeting, treated her as if she was family. She’s hoping to put her skills and newfound knowledge to good use and be part of Victoria’s mentoring programme next year. There are over 1000 self-identified Pasifika students enrolled at Victoria, which represents about 5.7 per cent of total enrolments. That number has doubled over the last decade and continues to grow. Victoria is actively trying to increase its Pasifika student population by providing top-level services, resources and networks to help students like Saint Andrew and Phoebe find success and reach their potential. That includes services such as a Pasifika Liaison Officer to assist course planning and help with entrance and admission enquiries. There is a dedicated

Pasifika Student Learning Support Advisor and regular Pasifika events, seminars, special lectures, library research tutorials and Maori and Pacific Island tutorials are held. There is also the opportunity to represent the Pasifika Students’ Council on the Victoria University Students’ Association. To provide additional opportunities for Pasifika students, Victoria University has partnered with Sanitarium to provide annual scholarships for New Zealand-based Pasifika students who are facing financial hardship and are either currently enrolled, or intending to enrol, at Victoria. The one-year Sanitarium Pasifika Scholarship is just one of a host of scholarships open to first-year students attending Victoria University. Another feature of Victoria are the variety of ways in which New Zealand’s Pasifika values are incorporated into the tertiary spaces used by all students. The main university library has recently opened ‘Wan Solwara’, which not only houses the University’s Pasifika col-

lection, but also provides a vibrant and versatile space in the library for group or individual study. Another example is that every year, first-year students studying Pacific Studies give a cultural performance in the Student Hub as part of an assessment. Both Saint Andrew and Phoebe have flourished at Victoria, but their journey towards success doesn’t end when they don their cap and gowns to receive their degrees. Their student experience at Victoria has provided the foundation to reach even greater heights so they can challenge themselves further and make their mark on the world. Phoebe is looking forward to a final year of study so she can be a qualified secondary school teacher, while Saint Andrew aspires to work as a curator of Pacific arts. Whatever their individual success, both are mindful of contributing to the wider community. Saint Andrew hopes that through his volunteer mentor role, he will continue to elevate the Pasifika presence within design education. Phoebe, with her characteristic clearsightedness, says: “I want to be part of someone else’s journey, not just my own.”

No risks. No costs.

Just partnership rebates. Making a diﬀerence for our children, Making a diﬀerence for our schools and paying dividends for life. For more information please call:

0800 UPANDGO (0800 87 263 46)

www.UPANDGOVENDING.co.nz Term 2 - 2015

school news

Sports & Recreation | Jump Rope

Skipping programme a fun way to stay healthy Jump Rope For Heart has helped over 2.4 million Kiwi children learn to skip since 1985. It also helps them learn about leadership, communication, teamwork, balance and rhythm. The programme also teaches children about heart disease and what the Heart Foundation is doing as a charity to address its prevalence in New Zealand.

Jump Rope For Heart is a free physical activity programme run by the Heart Foundation, designed to help school children learn about the importance of physical activity. It also raises funds for the Heart Foundation’s work. The fundraising programme is marking its 30th birthday this year and the Heart Foundation is encouraging all schools to get involved and celebrate the occasion. The official birthday month for Jump Rope For Heart is September. To encourage schools to take part in ‘Skipping September’, the Heart Foundation is aiming to send staff out to join as many schools as possible during that month. “It will be a bit like synchronised skipping as schools across the country find themselves skipping simultaneously throughout September, along with Heart Foundation staff,” the Heart Foundation’s Shabana Stuart says. She says the Heart Foundation would love to see schools invite members of their local community

(and any local celebrities) to join in on the Skip-a-thon day by turning a rope or even trying some skipping. To mark Jump Rope For Heart’s 30th birthday, the Heart Foundation is offering a 50 per cent rebate of total funds raised to all schools that sign up in 2015.* That means schools can choose to receive a rebate of half the money they raise. “It’s our way of saying ‘thank you’ to all the schools who have

supported Jump Rope For Heart and the Heart Foundation for 30 years, and helped millions of Kiwi children to stay active and healthy,” Ms Stuart says. “Jump Rope is all about teaching Kiwi kids to look after their hearts by learning a variety of skipping skills, while having heaps of fun with their school friends. “Getting children moving from an early age is so important because it sets them up for a lifetime of good heart health.”

“Almost 65,000 children took part in Jump Rope For Heart last year, raising a massive $140,000 to support the Heart Foundation. Through their fundraising, we’re able to put money back into the programme and continue reaching Kiwi kids with our heart-healthy messages,” Ms Stuart says. “This is an iconic programme that brings back fond memories for many; let’s keep those memories going for the next generation,” Ms Stuart says. There is still plenty of time to register for Jump Rope For Heart - simply sign up online at www.heartfoundation.org.nz/ jrfhschools. *Conditions of registration apply visit www.heartfoundation.org.nz/ jrfhschools for details.

Are Fundamental Movement Skills really fundamental? In primary schools across New Zealand, Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) are frequently taught as a key component of physical education (PE) programmes. These skills are sometimes divided into different categories, such as flight, swings, statics, pathways and rotation, or ‘locomotor’ (e.g. walking, skipping), ‘stability’ (e.g. balancing, landing), and ‘manipulative’ (e.g. throwing, catching, kicking) skills. The FMS approach is based on the belief that children must first learn individual movements before they can be used in more complex skills as they mature. Such a belief is misguided, like

school news

Term 2 - 2015

believing children must learn individual letters and words before learning to communicate. Complex movements are composed of more fundamental actions, but it doesn’t mean children should learn by developing the fundamental actions out of context. What is critical for students’ learning is not developing sets of FMS, nor is it getting children to repeatedly copy FMS in circuits, parallel lines, or by themselves. Rather, children need rich, varied and regular activities that connect children’s learning needs, interests, and lives. PE programmes should also be closely linked to The New Zealand

Curriculum. A quality PE lesson will not simply focus on developing FMS (e.g. running or throwing), but see these as emerging from a focus on other aspects that are critical to children learning ‘in, through and about’ movement. The game Hogsnort (in the Ministry of Education resource Curriculum in Action: Creative Play) is one good example of an activity where children learn to move, balance, think, problem solve, cooperate, communicate and reflect on how it feels to help others. FMS are only fundamental in the sense they are developed as a result of children participating relevant, real situations; when

children learn how to run, sidestep, escape or chase in a game of tag; to call out, catch a ball then throw to a team mate in a fun game; to balance on a tree branch, scooter or stilts; to know how to support and teach friends how to perform a certain parkour, breakdancing, or poi movement. In other words, a quality PE lesson will aim to teach children more than some simple actions; it will help develop an awareness that movement is fundamental to their everyday lives. By Darren Powell & Dr Alan Ovens, Physical Education New Zealand

BRATIN

E EL

30 years

Celebrate our 30th birthday in Skipping September! Jump Rope For Heart is turning 30 years old and we want to celebrate by skipping with your school.

www.heartfoundation.org.nz/jrfhschools

Health & Safety | NZ Blood Service

New Zealand Blood Service inspires visiting students

Team leader of recruitment for Northern, Scott Sinclair, showing platelets to a group of AGGS students. Silva says: “I found the tour of the Blood Donor Centre really interesting and inspiring. I think New Zealanders take donated blood for granted that it will always be there when they need it, but now I understand how important it is to donate. While I’m not eligible to donate blood yet, I hope I can next year.

Auckland Girls Grammar School (AGGS) students were recently given a ‘backstage pass’ tour of New Zealand Blood Service’s Epsom Donor Centre, to witness firsthand the journey donated blood goes on, after they learnt about blood testing in the classroom. The year 12 applied health science classes were given the opportunity to donate blood if they met the eligibility criteria.

“I have no idea what I want to do when I leave school, but I’m certainly very interested in working in the healthcare sector. It was really cool to see what people actually do in their jobs at NZBS, and that the staff are really passionate about what they do.”

The students were then shown how donated blood is tested and separated into different products such as plasma and platelets, and how the blood was stored and transported. They also got a sneak peak at some of the other services offered by New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) such as bone marrow donation, tissue typing and bone banking. Head of biology at AGGS, Sherryn Dammers, says the field trip was a fantastic opportunity for all the girls, but particularly for those interested in a career in the healthcare sector to see all of the different types of jobs available at NZBS. They were also given

school news

Term 2 - 2015

AGGS student checking current red cell stocks at the Auckland Donor Centre. the chance to ask staff questions about what their roles entail. “It encouraged the girls to explore what career paths are out there in the science, health and technology fields that they might not know exist, or perhaps

think are only for males. It was wonderful to see their eyes opened to the wide range of opportunities that are out there for them, and have a lot of fun at the same time.” AGGS student Polyana Rodrigues

Ms Dammers says she is a keen user of NZBS’s educational resources in the classroom, as they are full of hands-on experiments such as blood testing, that the students really enjoy. “The resources are brilliantly written, and as a teacher I find they deliver the whole package, which makes my job a lot easier. The students thoroughly enjoy them – my classes particularly loved making fake blood and learning about blood testing.”

Teacher Wellbeing | Health & Safety

An invitation to collaborate Ian Vickers Assistant Principal, Sancta Maria College, Auckland

This is an open letter and invitation to the Minister of Education, Secretary of Education, Leadership Team at the Ministry of Education, National Executives of all the teacher and principal unions, National Executive of ERO, NZ School Trustees Association, teacher training providers, aspiring and first time principals programme organisers and all other key stakeholders involved in New Zealand education. The reason I became a teacher is that I believe every young person in our schools deserves to have amazing teachers working with them every day. I admire teachers who are passionate, creative, innovative, caring, fun, bring wonder and awe into their classrooms and who go that extra step for the

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I admire teachers who are passionate, creative, innovative, caring, fun, bring wonder and awe into their classrooms and who go that extra step for the young people in their care. â&#x20AC;?

young people in their care. We have thousands of such dedicated professionals in New Zealand schools and I applaud them with all my heart, as they are shining examples of excellence. However, many of these outstanding and conscientious practitioners are struggling with health issues, as they strive to remain passionate and effective in the classroom. Working at such high intensity in a stressful environment, takes its toll over time, on the vast majority of

teachers. Over three years ago, I started talking to you all individually and asking what you and your organisation could do, to massively improve the quality of support of teachers around their wellbeing, wellness and morale, during the hours at work. Your collective response has been extremely disappointing. Every organisation initially pointed the finger at the board of trustees of every school and said that it is their job to look after the workplace wellbeing of

its employees. A simple solution looks like just adding another bullet point to the employment contract list for health and safety issues in our schools. Plus the BOTs could seek advice from NZ School Trustees Association on how to look after their teachers. Take a look at what the NZSTA currently offers around teacher wellbeing in the workplace and that whimsical, easy solution is sunk without trace. 48

Term 2 - 2015

school news

Health & Safety | Teacher Wellbeing

each day, with a focus on wellbeing, wellness and morale.

47 Just a little research around teacher wellbeing and wellness confirms that teaching is indeed an intense and highly demanding profession, with high stress, burnout concerns and a worrying trend of high-quality teachers leaving our schools. So with sickness rates of teachers increasing, I am concerned for the future. I am also horrified that some of the key educational people, making many of the important decisions for the future, have no real understanding of what it is like to work in a modern 2015 school. Schools have changed dramatically in the last five years and much of the 20th-century thinking is well and truly defunct. It appears that the Minister is happy to keep spending millions of dollars to cover for sick teachers. This figure will continue to rise if nothing changes. A few individuals at the Ministry have told me that teacher wellbeing and wellness is not an issue and besides, compared with all other employment opportunities, we have very generous holidays. Mmmm! For ERO to keep pushing on with their ‘Wellbeing in Schools’ project, with the sole focus on the students, I find difficult to comprehend. Are not all the people in our schools important? It seems sensible that if you also look after the teachers, then the students benefit hugely. For some of the teacher and principal unions to suggest that they have no role to play in teacher/principal wellbeing, wellness and morale, is madness. It is time that you freshen up your executives with personnel who fully understand the demands on a 21st-century teacher, in a 21st-century school. Taking a constant combative approach in all dealings with the Minister and Ministry is counterproductive. Just take

school news

Term 2 - 2015

Wellbeing tips for term 2 Tip 1: Organise for yourself or a colleague to attend the first ever ‘Wellbeing in Schools’ conference being organised by TRCC (Teachers’ Refresher Course Committee) October 6-8, 2015 in Auckland. As one of the organising team, I can confirm it will be a brilliant line-up of presenters to cover student wellbeing, teacher wellbeing and wellbeing of the school community. Tip 2: Fight procrastination – It is time to do that one task that you have been putting off. It might be some marking, writing a report or new unit of work. Well, make a start today. Set aside 30 minutes to start the task. Just having taken that initial step will fill you with satisfaction and joy.

a look at the shambles of the education system in England. Teacher training providers, why do your courses not provide some meaningful strategies and support mechanisms to assist new teachers entering our profession? Telling them that it is a demanding job, so don’t overcommit and be wary of stress, does not count as support. For aspiring principals, keen on leading our schools, sorry, there will be no support through your programmes, as it not on the Ministry’s list of priority topics. So, repeating the advice passed to me by a top academic, please get good at making lists and if you cannot sleep, take some sleeping tablets. So what is the purpose of this open letter? It is time to put a stop to the on-going deflection around a serious issue and work together to put some proper and useful resources in place. It will need about 20 initiatives to really make a difference to the

Tip 3: Workspace tidy up – It is that time in the year to have a look around your working environment and have a tidy up. Clean out cupboards and drawers, empty shelves of boxes, replenish walls with new work and posters and finally, clear your desk of paper. The pleasure you will get the next day when entering a ‘tidy zone’ is immeasurable. Tip 4: Term 2 this year is long so mid-term plan a wonderful ‘date night’ with a loved one or friends. Leave work early one day and do something really special. Have a candlelit dinner, switch off the TV and mobiles and reminisce, go for a walk and look at the stars, enter a quiz at your local pub, go bowling, go dancing, have a karaoke night – have fun!

wellbeing, wellness and morale of New Zealand’s teachers and principals. It might cost a few dollars initially but long term it could save millions. Workplace wellness research points to increased productivity, increased morale, reduced sickness rates, lower turnover of staff, improved calibre of future employees and creation of a caring workplace culture. I have been very fortunate to be awarded a senior manager’s sabbatical this term and will be putting my time to good use in writing more teacher wellbeing resources, which I intend to share with schools nationwide. I would like to suggest a national forum in early August 2015, where each organisation sends their best innovative people to sit around a table and work together. Yes, work together! Each organisation will have a chance to share what they intend to do to support teachers and principals in their workplace

Leave your negative people at home. I want positive, creative, 21st-century-thinking people who can collaborate, are prepared to start a ‘new dawn’ and commit to playing their part in looking after New Zealand’s teachers and principals. This is a win-win for all and particularly for the young people in our schools. Venue: My college’s board of trustees have kindly offered the use of our auditorium as a possible venue. Whilst it might be a bit cool on a winter’s morning, it would clearly focus our minds on the challenges ahead. Equally, I am happy for an alternative ‘neutral venue’ to be suggested. Date: Monday, August 3, 2015. Aim: To produce a raft of initiatives and resources to support the wellbeing, wellness and morale of the teachers and principals of New Zealand. Twenty different initiatives is the goal. Implementation timeline: The talking has gone on long enough, so it is time for action and all initiatives and resources, need to be in place for the commencement of the 2016 academic year. If we want New Zealand’s education system to be world class and an example of excellence, then seize this moment and come together to collaborate. I look forward to hearing from you shortly. Yours sincerely Ian Vickers Assistant Principal Sancta Maria College Auckland i.vickers@sanctamaria.school.nz NB: The above are my own personal opinions and the invitation to this forum, is my own initiative.

Solar Energy Case Study – Clifton Terrace Model School | Property

Wellington school a model for solar energy efficiency

with solar, but also provides detailed reporting of how the learning about solar energy and energy efficiency has been integrated into the curriculum.

The Schoolgen programme developed by Genesis Energy is New Zealand’s leading solar energy and energy efficiency education programme designed for New Zealand schools, Schoolgen team leader Maggie Twaddle says. “Schoolgen links sustainability and energy conservation into a school-wide curriculum delivery programme and Clifton Terrace Model School has totally embraced the Schoolgen programme with some impressive learning milestones,” she says. The inner-city Wellington school, which has a roll of 70, has a strong history in environmental education dating as far back as 2001. In 2009 it was selected to join the Schoolgen programme and receive free solar panels from Genesis Energy. “The Genesis Energy solar panels option was an amazing offer and it gave the school an onsite educational resource,

The ‘Mean Green House’ allowing the children to view the live solar data every day and see how much electricity their school was generating from solar,” coprincipal Jenny Austin says. In 2013, it became the first school to be awarded the Schoolgen Super Solar Bronze Award. This was followed in 2014 by the Schoolgen Super Solar Silver Award – Clifton

Terrace Model School was the first school to receive both the Super Solar Bronze and Silver Awards and was rewarded with a new 4 kW solar panel array in addition to its existing 2 kW array. Schoolgen schools prepare an annual Schoolgen Annual Report that collates not only an historical record of their story

Clifton Terrace Model School also embraced the Schoolgen competition to design a ‘Mean Green House’. For their winning entry in 2013 the students researched house design and the efficient use of energy, including insulation. The competition requires the students to create a 3D model of the house and produce a video explaining how they developed it. The video can be viewed on the Schoolgen website www. schoolgen.co.nz. The Schoolgen link to their school’s science implementation plan can also be viewed at www.ctms.school.nz. The school continues to share its environmental activities with the community, locally and internationally, through blogs and other videos. 50

Term 2 - 2015

school news

Property | Solar Energy Case Study – Clifton Terrace Model School

learning about solar and energy efficiency from the Schoolgen lead team.

49 “The Schoolgen website has the best live solar data from schools across New Zealand. It also links with Australian Solar Schools and students can compare data with up to five schools at a time from both countries,” Ms Twaddle says.

The lead team students put initiatives in place, such as signs beside light switches as reminders to turn them off when they are not being used, and they monitor good, energy-saving behaviour. Students who have done well are recognised at assembly.

“The Schoolgen e-books, with character voice-overs, enable all students, even the very young to start learning about solar energy and energy efficiency in a fun way.”

Schoolgen schools are also encouraged to host neighbouring schools, giving the lead teams the opportunity to share their ideas.

Teachers in Schoolgen schools have to take the key concepts of solar energy on board as well, and they often learn as much as their students, with words like photovoltaic – the solar panels which turn sunlight into electricity – entering the school vocabulary. A driving force behind the Clifton Terrace Model School’s ongoing commitment to sustainability has been lead teacher Katrina Laurie, who joined the school in 2011. “We have integrated science and technology into our curriculum and we are lucky to have had Katrina to pick up the Schoolgen lead teacher role and work with our other staff to integrate these subjects,” Ms Austin says. Ms Laurie: “Primary school

“It’s an exciting opportunity for students to step up, and it’s good for schools that are considering becoming a Schoolgen school to see a model of what great changes can take place in a school,” Ms Laurie says. teachers need to be versatile across the curriculum, and when I started and was given the role of Schoolgen lead teacher it was another step for me to become familiar with this aspect of the school’s environmental education programme. “To me, that’s the magic of a small school. It’s easy to get the students’ buy-in. They already had a lot of ownership from when they became an Enviroschool

and joined the Schoolgen programme. Every child had a good understanding of the philosophy of sustainability.” Children who have a particularly strong interest in environmental concerns join the Schoolgen lead team, which is made up of students from across the school at all levels up to year 8. New students coming into the school develop their skills and

Ten schools in the Wellington region joined Schoolgen last year and six more will join this year. Currently, the Schoolgen package is a 4kW solar array. The Wellington City Council provides funding for 1 kW, Genesis Energy provides 2 kW and the school comes up with funding for 1 Kw, so the result is a 4kW array of solar panels. Genesis Energy covers all other expenses including the cost of installation, the inverter and the educational resources. An annual ‘Green Day’ is held at Clifton Terrace Model School in Term 4, which gives everyone the opportunity to celebrate the school’s environmental initiatives and achievements. Stations are set up around the school on the energy efficiency theme, with the lead team responsible for organising it. “Students have said it is their favourite day of the year,” Ms Laurie says. “Throughout the school there’s a strong sense of trying to make a difference to the environment and that flows through to the students’ homes and therefore out into the community.” By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

school news

Term 2 - 2015

Property | Outdoor Shelters

Modern canopies and shelters bring numerous advantages Let’s face it, if your school could not benefit from some extra space, it is probably in serious decline. Finding the funds to obtain it, though, is the perennial problem, given the cost of building anything orthodox. However, particularly with the development of some modern materials, canopies and other forms of shelter can provide generous amounts of indooroutdoor space at a far more reasonable cost. At most schools, some fairly large outdoor areas, recreational and intra-school transit in particular, can be made much more practical to use in the fickle New Zealand climate. A major side-effect is to remove considerable pressure on a school’s indoor spaces, while also helping to transform some fairly plain looking schools into far more attractive ones.

Before

Until relatively recent times it was usually the school summer sports days that saw the main use of additional temporary enclosed features, such as tents or canopies. Usually of canvas or similar fabric, they provided some protection from the burning sun, passing showers or annoying gusts of wind. Tents in particular provided and still provide an enclosure for sports administrators or refreshment facilities. Over many years they have made the difference between success and failure to countless outdoor sporting and cultural events. Marquees can be wonderful entertainment facilities and provide a feeling of excitement for a dance or concert where the school has no orthodox building of that size. Very few schools would own adequate tents, marquees or sun shelters, but they can be readily hired. Several companies specialise in providing outdoor solutions in the form of portable shade and shelter for use in all aspects of outdoor leisure, events and activity for all seasons. They offer a wide

school news

Term 2 - 2015

After variety of products ranging from massive marquees to very simple sun shades – some of them even inflatable. Even huge marquees can usually be set up or taken down and removed remarkably quickly by as few as two people.

But these are temporary facilities, set up for a special event and taken away immediately after. These days, new materials mean canopies and other forms of sustainable buildings have the potential to be an essential component of a school for many

years. Pre-designed, they can be installed quickly with very little disruption – or none at all during the holidays. When their use is outgrown or it is time to upgrade to something else, this can also be done quickly and efficiently.

Outdoor Shelters | Property

They are most likely to be used in the following areas: 1) Forming a covered, light walkway providing protection from the elements between different areas of the school 2) Allowing students to sit or play outside but undercover, whereas previously they would have been forced to sit in the classroom in poor weather or blazing sun 3) A space where outdoor lessons can be held in warmer months 4) A shared space to connect two or more classrooms. Canopies and shelters for schools provide children with the opportunity to play and learn outside, no matter what the weather, all year round, a seamless link between being indoors in the classroom and

outside, in a sun and rainprotected environment, enabling free movement between them.

“From the beginning our emphasis has been on innovation rather than replication, and finding solutions to suit even challenging situations.

Each shelter or canopy can be individually made to suit the designated site, and the modular approach means canopies can be added to as funds permit. Prospective customers should always expect to obtain highquality products, well-researched advice and a comprehensive guarantee.

“At Fresco Shades we’re aware of the importance of using the best product to resist New Zealand’s unpredictable weather and we import our architectural-strength PVC roofing material from globally recognised Serge Ferrari, based in France. This special fabric not only lasts for many years, but also stops harmful UV rays, a real benefit in New Zealand’s sometimes rigorous climate.”

Fresco Shades, established in 1998, is New Zealand owned and provides cover for homes, schools and businesses and has won international awards for its innovative designs.

Mrs Cummins gave the example of Fresco Shades’ work for the Seventh Day Adventist School in Hamilton.

“We designed and developed our award-winning product range ourselves and we can custom make a shade a school structure to fit most situations,” manager Megan Cummins says.

“This primary/intermediate school, built in the 1970s, had 2.5 hectares of grounds but insufficient sheltered spaces for pupils. Their brief to us included:

CREATE SHADE AND SHELTER

creating extra space outdoors that is sheltered from the elements so that pupils can eat outside, also to create an ‘outdoor classroom’ shelter from the rain when walking from the classrooms to the office, and to make the adjoining classrooms cooler in summer. Overall, they needed to generate more usable space outside in a cost-effective manner. The design was difficult due to the unusual angles, but we custom designed a solution that achieved the wish list.” And what has been the reaction to the work? “The SDA school administrators are so thrilled with the canopy they have asked us to create similar canopies for three more of their schools,” she said. However, the before and after pictures alone tell the transformation story. By Brent Leslie, Staff Reporter

Pinehurst School

FOR YOUR STUDENTS St John’s School Mairangi Bay

Sunnybrae Normal School

Dairy Flat School

frescoshades.co.nz

Fresco Shades have custom designed outdoor canopies for Auckland schools and pre-schools for 16 years. A Fresco canopy provides sun and rain protection for students and staff alike.

Key benefits: v Extend your usable space v Shade in summer and sheltered areas for students all year round v Keep classrooms cooler in summer and increase productivity! v Strong PVC roof blocks 99% of all UVrays v Modern curved shape enhances any environment v Great for pools, walkways, entrances and school shops v Make your school Sunsmart We have many delighted customers in the educational sector, and would be happy to provide references on request.

For an obligation free quote, please call (09) 443 3414 or 0800 Fresco (0800 373 726) Please ask for Grant or Tony.

Term 2 - 2015

school news

Property | Maintenance Programmes

Extend the paint life on your building Painting maintenance programmes are not unique in the concept of maintaining buildings and structures. First, you have to define what is a painting maintenance programme and secondly what benefit does it provide to school management.

Definition In brief a painting maintenance programme is constructed over a set period of time, generally in years. It will in most cases consist of a full repaint followed by annual paint maintenance services which, if external, will include cleaning of soiled painted surfaces and painting of any painted surfaces that have been damaged by normal wear and tear. The cleaning component will in most cases include detergent washing of painted surfaces to remove dirt and grime and dry cleaning using a soft broom to remove cobwebs and dust where washing is not appropriate. The external cleaning is an important part of the process of maintaining a building as it is the build-up of salt, dirt and grime over time that will break down painted substrates. A simple analogy is ‘we clean our cars regularly to protect the paint so why would you not clean your painted building on a regular basis’ especially when you consider the cost difference between a car and a school complex. It is a well-known fact that if you wash your building externally every year the life of your paint work will be extended by three to four years. Once upon a time, paint manufacturers never used to mention the need to maintain your paint work, now they do as their warranty is linked to maintaining painted surfaces. It is no secret that the environment we live in has changed in regards to climatic conditions, pollutants in the air and the effect of acid rain impact on painted and prefinished surfaces so it makes sense to wash your building on a regular basis. Paint maintenance is the last

school news

Term 2 - 2015

step of the maintenance process where by any painted surfaces that have been damaged by normal wear and tear are sectionally repainted to an architectural break to ensure uniformity of appearance. Nothing looks worse than patch painting, so it is important that the painting extends to a break line in the building to project a uniform finish. A typical painting maintenance programme will be over six to seven years depending on the location, consist of a full repaint in year one and annual paint maintenance services on the anniversary of the initial repaint. There of course will be variances to the above; for example if you have a group of buildings that are in varying degrees of condition, your programme will be structured accordingly with the repaints spread over the programme - no point painting everything in the first year if does not need it. The only exception to this would be if you wanted to implement a full colour change.

The benefits What are the benefits you may well ask - the logical one is that you will extend the life of your painted surfaces and therefore save yourself the cost of regular repainting and possible building repairs where the substrate has broken down due to moisture

ingress caused by your paint work breaking down.

cost at any time which provides greater flexibility.

The other stand-out benefit is that your building will be maintained at an acceptable level that does not detract from its appearance.

Suitability

Depending on which company you engage to put in place your painting maintenance programme, there are a number of payment options to consider: first, there is the even spread of payment approach that divides the total cost of the programme evenly over the term of the contract. This is a simplistic option that makes it easy to budget for. This system is generally a lot more expensive as it has an interest factor built into the price and “indexation” or rise and fall when calculated over the life of the programme can increase the overall cost by up to 25 per cent. The other payment options include paying a higher percentage in the first year to lessen the on-going payments in the latter years, or the standard pay as you go option where you pay the exact value for the work each year. The added benefit of paying for the work each year is that the contract becomes a performance-based agreement, as no money is owed it can be terminated without additional

When considering a painting maintenance programme approach to your building, ensure that it is beneficial. For example, a multi-storey classroom block generally would not suit a standard painting maintenance programme unless it is close to the sea and susceptible to salt air build-up. In this type of situation, full building washes can be tied in with high inaccessible window cleaning to minimise costs. With multi-storey blocks that are not close to the sea, it not so much the repaint but the annual paint maintenance that has to be considered when it comes to accessing the building. Put simply it would be just too expensive to maintain all the building every year, hence you would have to compromise and only maintain ground level areas and internal common areas. The majority of buildings and structures in the education sector would suit a painting maintenance programme. The main factor is that it must suit your requirements and be structured accordingly to your benefit not the contractors. By David Roney, Higgins Coatings

TRANSFORM YOUR SCHOOL GYM IN JUST ONE WEEK PULASTIC SHOCK ABSORBING SPORTS FLOORS

Sika: 1287

Over 25 million square metres of Pulastic Sports Floors have now been installed worldwide. Many of these floors are in school gyms. Not only are they extremely durable – their life expectancy exceeds wooden gym floors – they instantly absorb the shock of sudden impacts, reducing sports injuries. And they can be installed directly over existing timber or concrete floors in just one week. For a no obligation quote, contact Sika. www.sika.co.nz

Scan for more info and a list of the many NZ schools with Pulastic Sports Floors.

At Woods, we believe that education is of the utmost importance – not just for the children of today but for our world tomorrow. This belief has driven our team, for over half a century, to study how children learn – from a behavioral, ergonomic and cognitive perspective – to develop furniture that is flexible, adaptable and stimulating. It’s this philosophy that inspired our innovative Hokki Stool. An intelligent ergo-dynamic stool designed to improve motor and muscular-skeletal development of growing children. To find out more about our innovative range of educational furniture visit woodsfurniture.com.au or call +61 3 9316 0600. We’re for flexible learning