School News NZ - Term 4 - 2015

Science education essential in a 21st-century world Essential Reading for Principals • Department Heads • Property Managers • Professionals

What teachers and students love about Mathletics…

Engaging student interface Motivating rewards system

Adaptive practice activities with step by step instruction Live multi-player fluency challenges

100s eBooks & interactives

Individual student learning pathways

Comprehensive results and reporting

Covers Years 1 to 13

FREE 2 WEEK Trial Available | www.3plearning.com/nz/mathletics/

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What's Inside This Issue | Contents

ISSN 1178-9964

sn inside | Term 4 - 2015

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 Anna Clements editorial@schoolnews.co.nz PRODUCTION Richard McGill r.mcgill@schoolnews.co.nz

news 04 Ministry News Reading Essential

06 News Round-up

profiles 12 Fruitvale School: Diversity celebrated at multi-cultural Auckland school

what's hot 14 What's Hot: The latest trends in products for the education industry

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.

17 Professional Development: Why collaboration technology is sending

School News is proudly published by:

education 16 Principal Speaks: Reflections of a Southlander on the West Coast educators ‘back to school’

19 Teaching Hearing-Impaired: Teaching for hearing-impaired learners 21 Ulearn 2015: Thread of digital learning woven through conference

administration 24 Buying New Zealand Made: Buy New Zealand Made ensures authenticity and quality

teaching resources 25 Book Reviews 24 Maths Programmes: Digital programmes make maths easier to teach and learn

30 Science: Science education essential in a 21st-century world

external learning 34 Overseas Travel: Broadening their horizons with overseas trips

food & beverage PO Box 5104, Papanui Christchurch, 8543, New Zealand Phone: (03) 365 5575 Fax: (03) 365 1655

40 Vending Machines: Healthy food at the push of a button

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44 Teacher Wellbeing: Principals deserve more love!

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.

for Principals

• Department

rty Managers Heads • Prope

ls • Professiona

Mathletics… nts love about ers and stude Individual students & What teach learning pathway 100s eBooks

Engaging student interface rewards Motivating system

Adaptive practice step by activities with n step instructio yer Live multi-pla es fluency challeng

FREE 2 WEEK

interactives

results Comprehensive and reporting

Covers Years

1 to 13

tics/

m/nz/mathle

plearning.co

ble | www.3

Trial Availa

06 Special Report: New CEO sees role as an ‘exciting challenge’

CONTRIBUTORS Will Bowden, Mandy Clarke, Anna Clements, Christine de Felice, Matt Kidby, Katie Fitzpatrick, Chris Hamling, Jeremy Robertshaw, Elaine Shuck, Kieran Stone and Ian Vickers

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.

ion essential Science educatcentury world in a 21st-

health & safety 46 Floor Safety: Suitable flooring prevents falls on slippery surfaces

sports & recreation 49 Sexuality Education Guidelines: The new sexuality education guide: what does it mean for your school?

property 50 Turf Management: Winning the war on weeds 52 Sports Field Maintenance: A staged approach to school sports field upgrades

52 Case Study – Westmere School: Rebuild programme brings new learning environment to century-old school

55 Case Study – Westmount School: Acoustic solution for new learning centre

As we come towards the end of another hectic school year, hopefully it’s with a feeling of pride for what has been achieved in our schools and communities.

Today’s Issuelearning 28 | Term 1 - 2015 environment certainly throws up some challenges – not the least being the rapidly evolving world of technology. Teachers are continually being presented with new methods for educating their students, with ‘digital’ being the key factor across many areas of the curriculum.

In this issue of School News we look at how digital technology is making teaching and learning maths much easier and more engaging than it’s ever been.

We also look at the importance of science at both primary and secondary levels, and the role technology plays within this area of education, too.

Our Special Report features Dr Graham Stoop, the new CEO of the Education Council.

He is looking forward to the challenges ahead and among the goals he wants to achieve is increasing public awareness of the difference our teachers make.

As the saying goes, ‘travel broadens the mind’ and that’s happening for many of our students, who are being taken overseas as part of their educational journey. We look at the types of trips students are going on and the services specialist companies provide to help create valuable learning and personal experiences for them.

The School News team wishes you all a joyous festive season and a restful holiday and we look forward to bringing you lots more informative reading on education in our schools next year.

News | Ministry News

Associate Minister announces three multi-million dollar redevelopments Takapuna Grammar School’s historic main block will be restored as part of a redevelopment worth around $26 million, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye has announced.

Over the last seven years, we’ve invested more than $4 billion in school property maintenance, growth and modernisation. This is more than a 30 per cent increase on the previous seven years.”

“This is great news from a heritage perspective, because the twostorey block, built early last century, is a well-known and much admired feature of the school and community,” Ms Kaye said when announcing the redevelopment on November 6.

“The redevelopment also means crucial space will once again become available to the school, which hasn’t used learning spaces in the main block for around two years because of leaks and the need for structural strengthening.

“Once it’s restored and strengthened, the main block will contain 20 revamped learning spaces, as well as an upgraded administration area and adjoining hall.

“I’m delighted for the school and for Auckland that the heritage value of this feature building can be recognised and retained.

“Takapuna Grammar is also a

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Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye key secondary school on the North Shore, so this project is an important development for local families and the community.

“While the main block has been out of operation, a lot of learning has taken place in temporary facilities.

There are currently 24 relocatable classrooms on-site, but most of these will be removed once the main block is back up and running.

“In addition to restoration of the feature block, the redevelopment will see two new learning spaces for art added to the existing technology block.

“Teaching spaces will also be reconfigured to better reflect the curriculum. Grouping key curriculum areas in closer physical proximity is an important way to help coordinate and share ideas, teaching and learning.

“The school will have 65 learning spaces in total, with the vast majority designed to support an innovative learning environment.

“This means they will feature the latest technology and high standards of natural lighting, heating and ventilation, providing an environment that is physically

comfortable is important to help students fully engage in their learning.

“Learning spaces will also be flexible, so they can be reconfigured to suit different teaching and learning needs on the day. In the restored main block, the degree of flexibility will be balanced against retaining key heritage features of the building. Construction work is expected to start early in 2016.

The announcement followed earlier announcements of a $24 million redevelopment at Aotea College in Porirua, and a $24 million

PM’s Education Excellence Awards open Education Minister Hekia Parata is urging early childhood services and schools to enter the Prime Minister’s 2016 Education Excellence Awards, which opened on November 6.

teaching and highlight the importance of strong leadership and community and parental engagement.”

Entry is open to those working in the early childhood, primary and secondary sectors as well as Communities of Learning.

“The awards are a wonderful opportunity for those involved in the education of kids and young people to showcase their amazing work.

The awards focus on collective effort and collaboration and are open to groups, teams and partnerships.

“Great teachers, great early childhood services and great schools transform lives. The awards celebrate the very best

The four main categories are: excellence in governing, excellence in leading, excellence in teaching and learning and

school news

Term 4 - 2015

excellence in engaging. The winning entry in each category will receive $20,000 and a professional development opportunity. The winner of the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for the partnership or group that has had the most impact on raising student achievement will receive an additional $30,000.

The 2016 Education Focus Prize will be for initiatives that improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Entries close on March 18, 2016.

Prime Minister, John Key

Ministry News | News

redevelopment of Balmoral School in Auckland.

“These projects are further steps in the Government’s commitment to invest in improved school facilities across New Zealand,” Ms Kaye said.

“Over the last seven years, we’ve invested more than $4 billion in school property maintenance, growth and modernisation. This is more than a 30 per cent increase on the previous seven years.”

The redevelopment of Aotea College in Porirua will see around two thirds of the existing teaching spaces at the college being completely replaced Ms Kaye said.

“Four new single-storey blocks will be built, including modern maths, science and technology facilities.

In addition, a new auditorium for performing arts will be built, and the gymnasium and other buildings extended or upgraded. Earthquake strengthening will also be carried out where necessary on existing buildings that are being retained.

“The college has experienced weather-tightness issues with a number of its buildings. This has resulted from a combination of factors, including poor design, construction and maintenance in the past.

“The Ministry of Education, Board of Trustees and school leadership have worked together to address essential repairs and health and safety issues such as mould while planning and consultation for new facilities was carried out, and I’m delighted that the redevelopment now has the green light.

“The new auditorium will be a particular highlight of the redevelopment.

“Aotea College has a strong performing arts syllabus that reflects the cultural diversity and passion of its community. The new auditorium will enable this passion and focus on the arts to be strengthened and encouraged even further.

“The Ministry is currently talking with the Porirua City Council about opportunities to partner together to make the most of this new facility.

“Aotea College is a key school in Porirua, and this redevelopment will ensure the college provides a learning environment that the community can be proud of.”

Knowledge is power

The redevelopment of Mt Eden School will see most of the school’s existing buildings replaced or upgraded, and the total number of permanent learning spaces increased from 33 to 42. Two new teaching blocks will be built, including a two-storey block for years one to six, and a new block for years seven to eight, Ms Kaye said.

“This is an important announcement for the local community, because Balmoral School has faced considerable challenges from both population growth and the poor condition of its ageing buildings.

“The school opened in 1926, and many of its existing buildings have reached the end of their life, with around 70 per cent of permanent buildings affected by weathertightness issues.

“Temporary classrooms have also been brought in over time, to help meet the growing roll, but these have taken up valuable outdoor play areas.

“The new two-storey block will enable land to be freed up so it can once again be turned into fields for outdoor play and recreation. Of the current teaching spaces on-site, 23 will be replaced entirely, and another 10 upgraded.

Nine additional teaching spaces will be added, and the school’s technology block will also be refurbished.

“The revamped school will provide an innovative learning environment that means it will comprise flexible learning spaces, which can be easily reconfigured to support different teaching and learning approaches on any given day.”

Catch-up every Wednesday for the essential education industry information Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter direct to your inbox online at www.schoolnews.co.nz

Ms Kaye said the redevelopment was important for the community and would also help address the rapid population growth that’s affecting many areas in Auckland.

Term 4 - 2015

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News | News Round-up

NZ teacher chosen as world ambassador for Schoology A teacher from Hawke’s Bay has been selected as a world ambassador for Schoology – a unique online learning platform that connects students, staff and parents.

Toni Dunstan, the director of innovation at Woodford House in Havelock North, was one of 25 educators from across the globe, and the only ambassador from the Southern Hemisphere, to be selected. Their selection was based on their experience and deep understanding of the platform, their innovative uses for Schoology, their leadership qualities and commitment to engage with the Schoology community. “It is awesome recognition for the school and our community,” Ms Dunstan says.

“Woodford House is committed to developing the best learning environment for our students and choosing Schoology as the learning management system is the right fit for our girls. ” The Schoology platform, which has 12 million users worldwide, is a modern learning management system based on social media.

Schoology describes it as “an education cloud that connects the people, content and systems that fuel education. It aims to personalise learning and foster collaboration with its built-in network of educators”. Unlike other learning management

Toni Dunstan systems, Schoology uses a social media concept where people create their own Schoology account and post to a rolling newsfeed, similar to Facebook.

Users can like comments publicly, send personal messages to staff, join groups that interest them, access course materials and create and collaborate with their classmates in courses.

It also integrates with a range of other apps such as Turnitin, a popular anti-plagiarism software that has been topical during the examination period. Woodford House was the first school in New Zealand to join Schoology Enterprise, a paid version, which has more features and allows

the school to have more control.

The school partnered with Glenn Cook Technologies, who provided support and strategic advice during the implementation of Schoology.

“It was an early step on our journey to becoming a leading school in innovation. It tied in nicely with the Bring Your Own Device policy, which launched at the same time three years ago,”

views, 36,000 comments posted, 169 active courses and 292 active groups. Ms Dunstan says Schoology transformed the way teaching and learning occurred at Woodford. “We want every student to have the online skills and attributes that are needed in this fast-changing, technologyrich world. We need to prepare students for jobs that have not been invented yet and Schoology is a piece of that puzzle.

Ms Dunstan says. Within the first four months of launching, almost 100 per cent of staff and students were engaged and active users of Schoology. Three years on and the Woodford House platform has had more than two million

“Because it is social media based the students love it. It is familiar to them because it’s in their world.

However, it is still ring-fenced with guidelines and restrictions to ensure it is a safe environment for all users.”

Book your free demonstration today Schoology Learning Management System Brad Friis – National Sales Schoology NZ 06 878 7636 // 021 288 3308 brad@schoology.co.nz www.schoology.com

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Term 4 - 2015

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News | News Round-up

Schools’ digital confidence boosted

by N4L’s Managed Network A new study finds that principals across New Zealand have increased confidence implementing their school’s digital learning strategy since connecting to N4L’s Managed Network.

More than 350 schools responded to a survey asking principals their thoughts on using the new Government-funded Managed Network, which in addition to uncapped and fast internet running at predictable speeds, provides schools with web safety and security services, and proactive support.

Prepared by the New Zealand Council of Education Research (NZCER), the survey found that 94 per cent of respondents feel more confident in implementing their

digital strategy as a result of being connected to the N4L Managed Network and 71 per cent increased their use of digital technology within the first six months of connecting.

All survey participants, which include a mix of urban and rural schools from across New Zealand, have been using the Managed Network for six months or longer.

Almost all respondents (97 per cent) are satisfied with N4L and 91 per cent say the Crown company understands the education sector well or very well. N4L CEO John Hanna credits the survey’s positive responses to the company’s schoolcentric approach, which involves being heavily engaged with the education sector: “Being present and actively listening

to the challenges facing schools, and then feeding this information back into our program has been key to ensuring schools get a service that best fits their needs and that they are happy with."

N4L’s staff includes four educators and many highly skilled technology specialists, with every employee spending time at schools throughout their tenure.

“Whether they are a technology engineer, helpdesk operator, project manager or developer, all of our staff spend time in schools and share a mutual passion for making a difference to our country’s young people,” Mr Hanna says.

He also says the company’s proactive approach to support services, with a particular emphasis

on developing training materials to assist schools on how to get the most from the N4L’s technology and services, is another important measure contributing to the high satisfaction levels among schools.

Principals responding to the survey also highlighted their desire for more professional learning and training programmes to support teachers and help them understand possible uses for their classrooms.

When the Managed Network rollout is completed next year, it is expected more than 800,000 people will be using it. To date, more than 690,000 teachers and students from 2220 schools are connected to the Managed Network, with 90 per cent of all schools expected to be connected by the end of the year.

Holiday programmes develop technology skills During the school holidays, dozens of students and some of their teachers in Auckland, Wellington, Gisborne and Christchurch spent time developing their science, innovation and technology skills at The Mind Lab by Unitec.

The not-for-profit specialist technology lab is dedicated to increasing access to and understanding of technology, offering participants the chance to get hands-on with a range of digital activities – robotics, 3D

modelling design, coding, stop motion animation, electronic engineering, games design, web design, and graphics. Students and teachers work collaboratively developing project-based skills leading to tangible outcomes.

Centre director of The Mind Lab in Christchurch, Michael Campbell, says it’s about facilitating learning, not teaching.

“We give them a project and help them when needed, but we try not to step in. It’s about giving them the skills to do it themselves.

It’s allowing them to think about what's going on around them,

developing the resilience to try again when things don’t go right and learning about team work and collaboration,” Mr Campbell says.

The Mind Lab programmes are held every school holidays in the four cities, and two additional centres are planned. In partnership with Unitec, The Mind Lab also offers a 32-week, part-time postgraduate programme aimed at providing teachers with the skills they haven’t yet been taught, but need in order to teach students in today’s more technological school environment.

schoolnews together with Kiwibots New Zealand are pleased to offer the chance of winning a Vex IQ robot starter kit

Entries close 31st January 2016.

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Enter online @ www.schoolnews.co.nz

News Round-up | News

Theatre company to present a range of programmes in 2016 Capital E National Theatre for Children will be offering a range of applied and creative programmes for New Zealand’s school and early childhood students between years 0-13 from in 2016.

Two new productions presented

by Capital E National Theatre for Children tour the country in Shu’s Song by Laura Gaudin & Rachel Callinan and Hinepau based on the book by Gavin Bishop. In Wellington Capital E’s OnTV Studio adds another OnTV session, Sports Desk – an insight into New Zealand’s sporting identity in time for the 2016 Rio Olympics. In MediaLab students will discover the intricacies of computer hardware through a new A Slice of Raspberry Pi learning experience.

“Capital E’s strength,” Capital E’s director Stuart Grant says, “is that we link young people with industry expertise in digital technology and live performance. Our learning

experiences reflect the need for New Zealand children to be confident and creative thinkers.

Our programmes cover key competencies in The New Zealand Curriculum and encompass effective pedagogy. Building on what works, the 2016 Capital E programme has been impressively designed to ignite children’s creative spark.”

Shu’s Song is a new show directed

by Gina Moss aimed for children at Early Childhood Centres and up to year 3 primary students. Over 45 minutes it follows the journey of Shu learning to adapt to an unfamiliar world, gradually turning curiosity into confidence with each new encounter. Capital E National Theatre for Children’s creative producer Marianne Taylor says Shu’s exploration of new objects and environments encourages ideas such as exploration, identity, belonging and critical thinking.

“We’re very much looking forward to premiering this production for

schools and ECC’s across the country.”

For students in years 5-9 Hinepau, directed by NZ theatre artist Jamie McCaskill, presents a mythological story about staying true and standing strong, respecting our environment, history, cultural traditions, and understanding how the choices we make affect other people. Hinepau shares the message of how our rangatahi are the kaitiaki of the future. Based in Wellington, Capital E Digital features new programmes catering for years 4-13 students. Creating their own OnTV programme, students can speak the language of sports in Sports Desk, feature in and make a tabloid style talk show in The Moot Point or choose from existing popular OnTV programmes.

“Our digital programmes are facilitated by expert tutors. Whether students are in our OnTV Studio or MediaLab, we guarantee that their experience will be hands-on and

up to industry standard,” creative technology manager Melissa Conway says. In MediaLab Capital E is introducing an electronic design experience by plating up A Slice of Raspberry Pi. Visiting school students will set up these innovative credit card-sized computers to receive coding with either Scratch or Python to create anything from traffic lights to game controllers.

School bookings are now open for all Capital E creative programmes.

For the full range of programmes, further information on how to book, dates and times visit the Capital E website capitale.org.nz.

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News | Special Report

New CEO sees role as an ‘exciting challenge’ Dr Graham Stoop has just taken up his new role as chief executive of the Education Council. He talks to School News about his plans for the council and aspirations for teachers in New Zealand.

What attracted you to the position of CEO at the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand – did you see it as a natural progression in your career in education and what do you hope to achieve there?

I’ve been involved in education all my life – first as a teacher and then a principal. Later in my career I worked as a chief executive in the tertiary sector and for the Education Review Office. Before taking up this role, I was in charge of student achievement at the Ministry of Education.

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New Zealand teachers are highly regarded around the world because we put an emphasis on effective teaching practice in our training. I believe this is something we could build on in initial teacher education.”

So it seems I’ve turned full circle by coming to work at the Education Council. And it’s a virtuous circle, as it turns out, for me. I’m starting over in a way, working with teachers again, not as one of them, but for them.

Now I’m serving the profession directly – working to elevate the

status of teachers and providing practical assistance to help with centre and classroom delivery, and leadership. So, in answer to your question, yes I saw this as a natural progression for me – a new and exciting challenge.

Notwithstanding the legislative obligations the council has, I

want to see us put huge effort into increasing the public’s understanding of the difference teachers make to children and young people, and to the wider society. And I want our profession to attract the brightest and the best to early childhood, primary and secondary education.

The council must demonstrate leadership by developing (in consultation with the sector) a leadership strategy that is system-wide, collaborative and evidence-based. We will also focus on building capability, and initial teacher education – a very important area for us.

There’s a lot to be getting on with but I think I can build a very solid platform during my threeyear tenure. Having a three-year contract means I must prove my worth during that time. There’s a lot to do.

Special Report ? | Profiles | News

What do you see as the key issues facing teachers in New Zealand schools and how do you believe they can be addressed in order to improve teacher competence and confidence?

Teaching is a profession that gains strength through collaboration. I don’t think teachers have, in the last couple of decades, been given as many opportunities to do this.

We have great teachers and principals working discretely, and sometimes collaboratively, but that hasn’t been system-wide because our schools are not designed for collaboration at that level. I think the review of the Education Act is timely from this perspective.

I’m very interested in the potential of Communities of Learning (CoL) to play a strong role in enabling more collaboration. CoL will help build a structure that facilitates the exchange of knowledge and learning from others. We benefit from being able to professionally critique each other, and, because this is what happens when the culture is set up to expect excellence, there will be a focus on improvement.

Technological change is also challenging, and because of this we must see ourselves as lifelong learners.

New demands will be made on us about what, and how, we learn. As teachers we must rise to that challenge and ask ourselves what skills are needed, and what will learning look like in the future.

I read a report from the European Commission where teachers were asked for their views on the future of school education.

The main comments were about an expectation there would be more active ways of learning, an emphasis on competencies and principles and values, and an expectation of new settings and contexts.

I’d like to do something similar here, and in fact we will be

We are evolving rapidly and in the next 20 years society could look quite different as we see more and more non-New Zealand born citizens living and raising families here."

important foundations, but society is complex and our role is to help form curious, competent, productive and participating citizens.

I think we could also be more culturally competent. While we live in a multicultural society, we are fundamentally bicultural and our practice must reflect that.

However, we must also understand, and act on, our changing social/ethnic make-up.

We are evolving rapidly and in the next 20 years society could look quite different as we see more and more non-New Zealand born citizens living and raising families here.

Given both the increasing diversity of the student population in New Zealand schools, and the exponential growth of technology in our classrooms, do you see areas of teacher training that need to better reflect the changing environment?

surveying teachers in the New Year.

practised with self-review and critique of practice.

What are the strengths of the New Zealand education system and our teaching methods, and how can they be built on?

There is still more work that can be done here. Finally, I am heartened by an increased focus in recent years on boosting Maori and Pacific achievement.

I believe one of our greatest strengths is what is often called ‘the front end of the curriculum’.

While there is still a way to go, we have made identifiable gains and we need to build on that.

We have a great statement of competencies and principles and values that the teachers surveyed in Europe regarded as so important. Early childhood education (ECE) is also embedded in the New Zealand system – we know high-quality ECE gives our youngsters a great start in their school life. In my experience, New Zealand teachers are highly regarded around the world because we put an emphasis on effective teaching practice in our training.

I believe this is something we could build on in initial teacher education. Over recent years teachers have become more

What are the weaknesses and how can they be overcome?

We still have boundaries around formal and informal learning.

We are lifelong learners and I think we need to get better at recognising informal learning plays a role in making us better teachers.

I think teachers reflect the general public in that there are gaps in our literacy around technology, science, finance, mathematics and civics.

As a result we’re not linking these areas to pedagogy. Reading, writing and maths are incredibly

This is a really big conversation – one I’d very much like to continue because there is a lot to consider. But, in a nutshell, yes I do. I think we need to be much more responsive to labour market needs and at matching supply to demand. Indeed, I think we also need to look ahead much more, predicting trends and developing strategies to ensure we meet current and future needs.

Information technology is moving at a very fast pace; we simply cannot be left behind.

Determining where this is going to go is anyone’s guess, but ITEs need to have appropriately trained people who can work, and indeed thrive, in complexity, change and innovation.

Exciting times – so watch this space.

For more information about the Education Council and Dr Graham Stoop visit educationcouncil.org.nz

Term 4 - 2015

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Profiles | Fruitvale School

Diversity celebrated at multi-cultural Auckland school Diversity is the word that characterises Fruitvale School’s 260 students in their New Lynn, Auckland setting, and diversity is what makes the school special, says principal Donal Mclean, though it also presents some unique challenges for himself and his teachers.

“We draw on a low-decile community and we work hard to get the kids achieving at the level they do, while recognising and celebrating their different cultures and languages,” Mr McLean says.

“There’s a lot of work involved in making sure the children can access the curriculum. We encourage the families and children to speak their own language at school and home and teach them English vocabulary they need for reading and writing.”

In order to help the children improve their English, and consequently their learning in all areas, several of the school’s teachers have the TESSOL qualification.

“This strengthens and deepens the approaches we have to the work we do, building the children’s vocabulary through experiential learning as much as possible.

For example, the senior classes’ trips like the week-long camp at Motutapu, made possible by the Motutapu Trust, are excellent opportunities to create shared experiences and grow language,” Mr Mclean says.

“All language – written and read – comes from children’s understanding and use of oral language, so the children have many opportunities to discuss what is learnt in their classrooms.

We teach the children to respect each other’s languages in the classroom and this helps support their more formal learning.

“We get very good results from that as we are very focused on the kids understanding what they are learning, so they become masters of their own learning. They know where they’ve come from in terms

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of their learning, where they are now and where they are headed.

The biggest challenge is opening up opportunities that stimulate, engage and grow minds,” Mr McLean says.

they very much need to know what that difference is and whether it is enough. Teachers who know their impact look at data and think about that in relation to what kids need to learn next.”

The school has embraced several education-related programmes to build the students’ learning.

Mr McLean says VLP has been in New Zealand for about three years and Fruitvale School is one of 14 schools involved in a pilot scheme here. Countries across the world are using Hattie’s ideas to lift pedagogy, he says.

“We use the Visible Learning Plus (VLP) framework, which places the child at the centre of learning.

It was developed by (educator) John Hattie. His phrase, ‘Know thy impact’ is aimed at helping teachers understand that while they are there to make a difference,

As a principal of a multi-cultural school, Mr Mclean has a strong interest in how cultural understanding can contribute

to children’s achievement. This prompted him to attend a Culture Counts day, along with some of his teachers, under the guidance of Laurayne Tafa from Cognition Education, the providers of the programme. The aim was to help staff understand the implications of being culturally aware and culturally responsive each day at school, he says.

“The concept on which Culture Counts is based is that if you get the culture of the school right, then VLP sits easily alongside it and the two work hand-in-glove to lift practice and achievement. The aim is to accelerate the achievement

Fruitvale School ? || Profiles

levels of all cultures, particularly the indigenous and minority cultures that we have in our school.”

Mr McLean has been in the education sector for 24 years – the last nine as principal at Fruitvale School. He says he became involved in education to “make a difference”.

All the school’s systems and curriculum subjects are organised around its five core values – respect, responsibility, risk-taking, resilience and reflection, Mr McLean says.

“These five Rs underpin everything we do. The first two weeks of each term we work with the values in relation to the particular cultural focus for the term, such as Samoan, Pacifika, Maori, Asian, Middle Eastern, and so we explore our school values through a cultural lens.”

The culmination of the work done in term three this year was the school’s production, ‘Fruitvale Discovery Channel’, in which the cultures of all the students were represented in costumes, sets and performances.

“This was designed to reflect the children to themselves and boost their cultural understanding of each other.”

The production was an example of a ‘celebration of learning’, which happens at the end of each term.

Previous events have included fashion shows, food shows, experimental exhibitions, parades and art projects to name just a few.

Since the start of 2014, teachers and students at Fruitvale School have been taking part in a ‘daylighting’ project. Mr McLean explains: “We have what was a

stream in pipes running under the school and we uncovered it, developing the field the pipes were under at the same time. This is the beginning of the sustainability projects into the future. The stream now runs as a natural stream that native fish, birds and plant life can inhabit and enjoy.”

The school initiative started from links the school has with the local Sustainable Neighbourhoods Group. The daylighted stream project was funded by a local bus company, which needed to offset their terminus development where a stream was being covered on their site. There are plans to develop a walkway and an outdoor classroom and install art projects next to the stream, Mr McLean says.

Daylighting streams, making them visible is an international movement, and undertaking it at Fruitvale School fits in with their VLP programme, he says.

“We are making visible the stream, uncovering what was below, and with VLP we are making visible the learning, uncovering, making what is often invisible and assumed

During the process of daylighting the stream

visible and taught.”

A graphic of the stream, developed by one of the teachers, depicts progress in the reading, writing and maths programmes and serves to track learning across the school.

Each classroom is named after a native bird and native bird markers will be used by children to track their own progress. Technology also plays a key role – the graphic incorporates QR codes. The QR codes connect to information about the levels of learning the children are investigating and they pick up the QR codes with their iPads.

“There’s a high ratio of digital devices to students at our school.

It’s important that we get the kids in control of IT.” The roll is growing at Fruitvale School and is expected to reach 400 within five years.

A new special housing area in New Lynn will see the construction of 2000 new homes and there are eight new classrooms planned for Fruitvale to meet the needs of the growing community, Mr Mclean says.

“I had a family member who struggled with reading and writing and I saw first-hand the hardship that caused. I have also worked in prisons helping teach literacy and saw the potential education provides for all people to succeed.”

He also recognises the importance of schools having a strong connection with their community, and Fruitvale School includes the community in as many activities as possible such as the Family Fun Day, dance nights with local musicians as well as many learning-focused events.

“It’s about fundraising and friend raising. The more you are connected with people the more valuable it is for the school and the community. As a principal I have the opportunity to be an integral part of the life and growth of the community, from the youngest to the oldest.”

Future plans for Fruitvale School include environmental developments, new classrooms, learning systems and the growth of collaboration across local schools and to continue growing and deepening the school’s proud tradition of achievement and innovation, Mr McLean says.

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

The catchment of the daylighted stream as it currently is

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y d n a d l o o c l e approved v r a m n e e k t u o t s u j d n a m groovy inde t n e c e r r a l u p o p y h c a e p y t f i n e neat h t o t p u y d n e r t r e p u s r sought-afteT TRENDING EDUCATION INDUSTRY PRODUCTS

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A Journal for Young Writers and Artists Toitoi is a quarterly journal of writing and art by New Zealand children, ages 5–13. Packed with 100 pages of stories, poetry and artwork, Toitoi gives our young writers and artists a real purpose and a wide audience and is an important new resource for schools.

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Sitech e-Fun table The Sitech e-Fun table is a breakthrough new tool for children learning in small groups. It supports up to four users simultaneously. The 39" LED touch-sensitive screen with Android processor is the ideal size for students to collaborate.

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Education | Principal Speaks

Reflections of a Southlander on the West Coast

I managed to earn myself a speeding ticket recently as a result of panicking when passing a truck.

It is not usually in my character to panic, nor is it to get speeding tickets. The field of view due to an upcoming hill was disappearing fast and I made the decision to continue to pass at a higher speed rather than pull back in behind the car I was passing.

In education I have found myself often taking a measured approach to ‘exciting’ and ‘new’ initiatives often instigated, it seems, by academics with little or no grasp of the realities faced in schools, especially in the classroom; ‘Open for learning classrooms’ for example, now referred to as ‘innovative learning environments’– does that mean that if you don’t agree with that philosophy that you’re not innovative? A cunning plan by someone wanting to push through their ideology possibly!

Mind you, I am certainly ‘open’ to new initiatives as long as there is sound reasoning behind them and they don’t try to provide their magical solution – because there simply isn’t one best way to do things.

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Now I don’t want to come across in this article as a cynic as I believe I am far from it. I have welcomed the Minister’s initiative to have a nation-wide goal of an 85 per cent pass rate for all 18 year-olds, for example. I don’t think this is just an aspirational goal and I see it as being achievable and a necessity for our country to move forward.

Gateway and the Trades Academy have been instrumental in helping improve the motivation of, and thus the achievement of, our boys in particular at school.

Bring your own devices/browsers has been and still is a challenge for our schools on the Coast. We are very lucky to have our local West Coast Development Trust that has helped all of our schools with ICT wireless infrastructure costs. I must say I am concerned at the rapid push towards having exams on line by NZQA. If there is the expectation for all secondary schools to have students do their exams online then how is our computing system at school going to cope with exam conditions?

If each student has to have a computer, then the Ministry is going to need to come to the party a lot more in terms of financial and technical support to allow

schools to have large numbers of computers, especially if we are going to keep referring to education in our country as being free.

principal truly is a very rewarding job 99 per cent of the time but the trick it seems is being able to manage that one per cent of the time when it’s not!

After four years in my first principal position, I was referred to recently by a colleague as an ‘experienced principal’. I still feel quite green but it’s nice that people have that confidence in me even though at times I still suffer from the ’imposter complex’, but I suspect that is possibly par for the course for all principals!

The cost of living on the West Coast of the South Island is certainly a draw card for new teachers to the area; however, I have noticed of late a reluctance from North Island teachers to move down here. I would have thought the high cost of living in Auckland, for example, would have been a factor driving people out of Auckland, but is the fear of not being able to return there due to house price rises becoming an issue – I’d like to know? Frankly, though, I think there is a strong case for some sort of differentiated pay system based on location for teachers living in New Zealand….

I can feel unions spitting at me already but hey, unions are meant to be about representing all their members and their needs!

On the First Time Principals’ programme I was introduced to the concept of principal burnout and stress. I find whitebaiting at this time of year to be quite beneficial in helping with my reflective practice and stress relief. Being a principal can definitely be a lonely and demanding job at times, but the advice given to me to establish a balance in my life between family, work and my time has been invaluable. SPANZ executive certainly did a great job highlighting this for me two years ago! ‘If I’m not feeling well and able to perform at my best – what chance has the rest of the school’ is a statement that I reflect on often. Being a

Health and safety can be a wonderful thing and having had several of our school buildings identified in recent times as being structurally at risk in the event of an earthquake we have had several new classrooms built for us and

Professional Development | Education

Why collaboration technology is sending educators ‘back to school’ Previously, I talked about the changes schools need to make in order to remain competitive in today’s 21st-century learning environment. This included integrating collaborative technology into the classroom to ensure today’s students will have the skills they need to thrive in the digital workplace of the future.

I would now like to switch gears and look at the area of professional development. As we know, schools and colleges are under increasing pressure to deliver technology-enhanced learning.

So, what’s needed to upskill our teachers to ensure they have the tools and knowledge required to thrive within this new learning paradigm?

More funding and professional development needed to keep pace with future workforce needs Polycom recently undertook a study among educators within ANZ to gain insights into technology needs within the education sector.

Perhaps, not surprisingly, the findings found that educators still see a need for more professional development when it comes to using new technologies. It also found that funding, the curriculum not keeping pace with future workforce needs and the lack of government support, were all seen as inhibitors to creating a more positive education future.

It’s clear that there are still challenges to be overcome. I firmly believe that globally, there needs to be more focus on professional development within the education sector. Not just in

New Zealand. We can have the greatest technology on the planet but if you don’t know how to use the technology and apply it within the learning environment then you have a big problem. I am a huge fan of tools and for me, video collaboration should be seen as another tool that teachers have available in their tool box.

‘Train the trainer’ delivers collaboration success At Polycom we believe it’s important to deliver useful professional development to the education sector, from basic video collaboration functionality through to adoption ideas and tools for engaging both students and teachers. We also find that some of our most successful teacher training is delivered with the support of our existing education customers using a ‘train the trainer’ approach. This involves

Elaine Shuck Director of Education, Polycom

helping facilitate connections and collaboration among customers who can share and pass on knowledge to newer customers just starting out.

Remember, if you decide to go down the ‘train the trainer’ route, here are some tips to keep in mind: Demonstrate the technology utilisation to your team in a way that you would want them to teach their students.

1.

Introducing a case study, as indicated earlier, can work well. Invite an educator to your session that can explain and share their success in using technology within their learning environment.

This will help your team start thinking about ways they can integrate technology within their own learning environment. 18

place of our usual biennial sports trip to sister schools in Australia.

Nineteen of our students and four teachers took up the challenge and they had a very rewarding and memorable experience. Needless to say we will be repeating this opportunity again in the near future!

The school’s Student Leadership team for 2016 several others strengthened. Our school is looking a lot newer and as a result students and staff alike are feeling more invigorated! God certainly does work in mysterious and wonderful ways at times!

Christ is the reason our school exists – we are a Marist and Mercy school and proud of

it! When it comes to student achievement I have the firm belief that by looking after the whole student – physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally – good results in terms of academic achievement will follow. The values and key competencies in the new curriculum are reasonable steps in the right direction towards whole

child development.

The concern of our students for others is something we have been working hard to develop at our school, especially in relation to ‘social conscience’. To this end we offered our students in Years 12 and 13 this year the opportunity to go on a service trip to Samoa in

I’ve just realised that parts of this article don’t link too well, so thanks in anticipation for the lenience of readers. I’m off to Hokitika tomorrow but next time I’m tempted to pass a vehicle at speed and risk getting another ticket I’m going to relax and remember to take the safe and measured approach, as after all what’s the hurry, I’m on the beautiful West Coast and life does not need to be rushed here, rather it’s to be appreciated and enjoyed!

By Kieran Stone, Principal, John Paul II High School, Greymouth John Paul II High School is a Catholic integrated, co-educational Year 9 to 13 school, decile six, with a roll of 200 students.

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Education | Professional Development

17 2.

Try to incorporate the many technologies that your team is currently using in their ‘educator tool kit’, making sure to use the technology that fits the application.

In my role as president of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA), I recently visited Alaska. Like New Zealand, it is geographically remote and this has to some extent accelerated its technology adoption. Lessons learned from this trip included realising that there is a difference between rural, remote and really remote. This may also affect the type of training needed. Likewise, there is no such thing as good one-training-fits-all instruction.

Flexibility is vital and offering simple, easy-to-use technology is critically important. Just because you have access to technology doesn’t mean you know you have it or are proficient in using it.

When asked about how they introduced their teachers to using technology in the classroom for the first time, one of our customers, FarNet in New Zealand, put it rather well. They simply asked their teachers to remember what it felt like to be a first-year teacher – the uncertainty and excitement of the unknown and all that was to come.

For them, this was something every teacher could relate to and they felt it was a good way to introduce teaching online.

The role video collaboration can play within professional development In the same way that video

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technology is enhancing learning in schools for students, it is also being used with success on the other side of the blackboard. As I said earlier, video collaboration should be seen as a tool. With this in mind, many schools and colleges that I work with are realising that video can provide easy access to training and development programs. Outlined below are four ways that video collaboration can help you transform professional development within the classroom.

1. Demand for ‘just-in-time’ training It is often a challenge to find the time for fitting in professional development and teacher training in and around other commitments.

Video collaboration can make it possible for schools to find and offer the right training resource at the right time. Just-in-timetraining can streamline teacher education because it does not require a classroom or even coordinating schedules. If created through a video collaboration platform, learning can be accessed and tracked online whenever necessary, with opportunities for Q&A interaction or live forums for discussion and feedback.

2. Capturing teacher knowledge and transferring intellectual capital prior to retirement With New Zealand’s ageing workforce this issue has never been more relevant. Many schools have teachers on staff who are coming up to retirement and have years of invaluable expertise and institutional knowledge, which

simply can’t be found in text books.

These teachers have often been "running the school" for years or even decades, helping guide younger members of faculty with their wisdom and experience.

With video collaboration solutions, it is simple to record and stream knowledge of these long-time experts for the next generation of teachers to benefit from.

3. Training a diverse range of learners, from traditional to tech-savvy Everyone learns and retains information differently and often these differences vary due to comfort and familiarity with technology. Each generation is becoming more connected, visually oriented, and faster at technology adoption. The user-friendliness of video collaboration ensures that even traditional learners can easily benefit from its increasingly intuitive and interactive approach to training.

4. Improving training effectiveness While few challenge the need for professional development and training, it can often come at significant cost and disruption to teaching schedules. With video collaboration, many of these issues such as travel expenses and time out of the classroom can be significantly reduced.

Communication via video eliminates or minimises the need for offsite travel. These days, video training modules can also be accessed on demand to ensure teachers can access them during quieter periods. Delivering video training can reduce costs associated with overtime, fuel and accommodation.

It can also lower fees for external experts. The calibre of experts that teaching staff may access via a video collaboration tool often improves significantly when using the video route. Popular trainers or expert speakers are often time poor due to the demands on their time and video often enables them to reach more people more effectively.

Keep collaborating to drive adoption of video as teaching tool While schools and colleges may be keeping up with technology in terms of what’s available in the classroom, they are still looking for guidance on how to use it and get the most out of it. Likewise, as our research shows, there are still concerns regarding current funding and delivery models and their relevance to the needs of our future workforce. I believe it’s about going back to basics. The use of technology should be driven by what makes teaching and learning more engaging and fun for students and teachers alike.

Happy collaborating!

Elaine Shuck, with a background in technology, curriculum, and integration, is the global director of education, for Polycom. She is a leader in collaborative learning and interactive videoconferencing. For close to two decades 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).

Teaching Hearing-Impaired | Education

Teaching for hearing-impaired learners

Children gather 50-90 per cent of information through hearing alone so it is not surprising that the better they hear, the easier it is for them to learn.

Unfortunately, a typical classroom in session has a noise level of around 60 decibels, meaning a teacher’s voice needs to be at 75 decibels. This is essentially the same as having to give a lesson on a noisy street corner – not an easy task.

Consider too that children’s brains are not fully developed for listening until they are in their early teens, and primary-age children find it much harder to hear and understand their teacher.

Today’s teaching methods, such as group work and incidental learning, contribute to increasing noise levels in the classroom.

Open-plan learning also presents new challenges for students,

of educational failure than their normal hearing peers.

It is clear, therefore, that teachers need to make special considerations for hearingimpaired learners. These include facing the child when speaking, keeping distance between teacher and student to a minimum and using plenty of visuals to reinforce auditory information.

regardless of their hearing ability.

Research shows that to recognise speech, young children need a quieter setting than adults.

Basic literacy and numeracy will not develop properly in an environment where they miss hearing key words, phrases and concepts.

According to The National Foundation for the Deaf Inc.

(NFD), the key is in the classroom design. School planners and architects must begin the development process with good acoustics in mind.

Catering to children with hearing loss or learning difficulties provides a greater challenge as international research has shown that children with even mild hearing loss have 12 times the risk

There are also a number of technologies available to support clear communication in the classroom. Phil Mellar from Sitech Systems NZ Ltd reports that the sound field systems Lightspeed Soundfield and Lightspeed RedCats, in which sound is distributed evenly across the classroom using a wireless microphone and speakers, are proving very popular.

“Whenever we put the system into classrooms to trial, whether or not the school goes ahead and buys it, the teachers always want to keep it,” Mr Mellar says.

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Education | Teaching Hearing-Impaired

19

the ministry’s special education department or through referral from audiology clinics.

“The main thing is that the system does not add noise, it adds intelligibility. The teacher can be heard clearly throughout the classroom, without yelling.”

It is important to understand that APD is not hearing loss and cannot be detected through a normal hearing test. Children with APD cannot process what they hear in the same way others do because their ears and brain don’t fully co-ordinate. Something interferes with the way the brain recognises and interprets sounds, especially speech.

Improved audio can also reduce a child’s sensitivity to distraction, one of the most common impediments to listening. When sound and clarity is amplified, the teacher can better capture the student’s attention and the student does not have to expend as much energy blocking out distracting sounds or movement such as the hum of an air-conditioner or classmates moving around. This is especially important for children with learning difficulties such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and sensory processing disorders, who have much lower resilience to distraction than their neurologically typical (NT) classmates.

A child with APD, thought to affect four per cent of schoolage children in New Zealand, will typically exhibit difficulty understanding spoken language unless it is brief, clear and simple.

They are likely to have trouble with comprehension, language, phonics, spelling and reading, and may also exhibit excessive tiredness after school from the strain of listening.

Ngongotaha Primary School principal, Cathryn Naera, says the Lightspeed Soundfield system has proven extremely beneficial to both staff and students.

“The clarity of the sound is excellent. Children are able to hear the voice of the teacher in all parts of the classroom. It has also been very beneficial for children when presenting their speeches or when reading to the class.”

Teacher wellbeing is improved, too. Research validated from the Mainstream Amplification Resource Room Study (MARRS Project) concludes that teacher absenteeism owing to voice problems can be reduced by half with the use of classroom audio.

Teachers report that classroom management is enhanced and discipline problems are diminished because they have better voice control of every student in the classroom.

Systems start at around $1500-$2000 for a wireless microphone and speaker, and can be extended according to the classroom environment. A bigger room such as an innovative learning space (ILS) may require

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Consider too that children’s brains are not fully developed for listening until they are in their early teens, and primary-age children find it much harder to hear and understand their teacher.”

multiple microphones for the room’s teachers and speakers for different zones of the room. It can also be enhanced by a pod system, which allows a teacher and children out of normal earshot to speak to each other at the touch of a button, and enables the teacher to listen to the children even when they are out of sight. for example, in a breakout room.

Other audio technology available to help learners is the personal FM system. There are two types; the first is for children who wear

hearing aids and is a device that transmits sound to a child through a receiver attached to a hearing aid. The second is designed for students with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD); the teacher wears a transmitter microphone and the child wears discreet miniature hearing aids that incorporate radio receivers so that the voice of the speaker is amplified and transmitted directly into the ears.

The Ministry of Education funds FM systems for some schoolage children, accessible through

However, with the right therapy, children with APD can be successful in school and life. Early diagnosis is important because when the condition isn't caught and treated early, a child can have speech and language delays or problems learning in school.

Interventions for APD include working with a speech and language therapist, and auditory training programmes. Using the TOMATIS® method, for example, the child wears a headset to listen to specific classical music and the human voice as a means to re-train and re-activate neural pathways. Over time, new connections are established between the ear, brain and body, gradually improving the child’s ability to process audio information. Access to the TOMATIS® method and other auditory integration therapies are available through private practitioners.

By Anna Clements, Staff Reporter

Ulearn 2015 | Education

Thread of digital learning woven through conference

The fundamental message at uLearn15 was that the role of educators has shifted from the transfer of knowledge to teaching students how to learn in a digital world.

CORE Education’s annual conference was held at Auckland’s SkyCity, October 7-9, and was a sell-out.

More than 1600 delegates signed up to listen to speakers and take part in workshops, and a further 200 attended the pre-conference, Permission to Play.

Keynote speakers were Grant Lichtman, a recognised thought leader on education transformation in the United States, Dr Ann Lieberman, Professor Emeritus of Education at Columbia University, and local author and educational trust chairman, Pat Snedden.

“Children have instant access to the internet and any amount of knowledge,” Mr Lichtman said.

“They don’t need teachers for that.” He likened the teacher’s role to that of a farmer’s, saying, “The teacher has to clear the land of obstacles and lay out the fence lines so they can nurture

the crop and animals, the learner.”

He also stressed the importance of teachers being active in the learning with the students, not being “a guide on the side with a degree of detachment”.

Dr Lieberman spoke about the changing role of teacher leadership, and Mr Snedden spoke about the transformational journey to improve student achievement through public good partnerships.

CORE spokesperson, Meredith Noonan, said the thread of digital learning was woven through all aspects of the conference.

“Re-imagining classrooms, teaching and leadership were the main themes woven into uLearn15. Technology is a huge part of future-focused education.

It was an opportunity for teachers to get up to speed with a range of technologies and practices to help guide our learners into the next era of teaching.”

The pre-conference focus, a one-day event, was ‘Permission to Play’, a collection of hands-on workshops about digital tools and games that literally gave educators the chance to play and engineer, and take ideas back to their 22 classrooms.

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Education | Ulearn 2015

teacher, Marianne Malmstrom, an internationally recognised leader in the innovative use of virtual environments and digital multimedia in the classroom.

In short, a thoroughly modern teacher.

21 Kiwi ingenuity was on show in a workshop about Gamefroot, an online game creation tool, which was designed with schools in mind. Teachers can use Gamefroot to teach basic skills in programming and code, making game creation accessible to those without coding ability.

Her virtual classroom, Knowclue, was born out of the constant refrain she heard from educators discussing technology – “I have no clue!”

At another, teachers were shown how to use 3D printing as a teaching tool by designing bottle rocket fins, 3D scanning the kids for stop motion animation and how to print prosthetic hands for the 3D world.

Then there was Minecraft – for grown-ups. Delegates learned to play Minecraft “like a nine year-old” and find out why it has become a world phenomenon.

They discovered how the game inspires children to create, code, program, design and engineer, as well as work collaboratively and engage in community.

The Minecraft topic was extended in a workshop about Mineclass, an international shared learning project in Minecraft. Students

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from around the world collaborate and create in student-devised challenges, with teachers facilitating design thinking, computational thinking and global project management.

For teachers wanting entry-level skills in teaching technology, there were workshops on how to code a website, how to use iTunes U to customise their courses for students to access on iPads, and Robotics Made Easy. Attendees

used a 3D printer to make parts for a little robot, assembled him, and were shown how to code to make him move, dance and even drive. There was even a workshop called, Ask Me Anything, for anyone who wanted support with e-learning such as using iPads, iBooks, blogging and apps.

Perhaps nowhere was the focus on digital learning more evident than as presented by US

“It is my journey to find a clue. As with everything in life, it is work in progress,” Ms Malmstrom says.

Her current work focuses on exploring the use of multiplayer online games to support social-emotional growth and foster healthy norms in online communities.

Another expert on digital learning was Spotlight presenter Jim Sill, who teaches how to update story-telling techniques in the classroom. Mr Sill has a 10year background in the video and television industry and is a Google-certified teacher, a Google Education Trainer and specialises in workshops on Cinematic Narrative Techniques,

Ulearn 2015 | Education

Encouraging a Creative Student, Google in the Classroom, and Instructional Video Production.

“Self-produced content is causing a sea change in film and TV, but in education we have the tendency to still tell our stories in the same ways that we have for decades,” he said.

A digital and connection theme was also evident in the line up of sponsors: Microsoft, Toshiba, Samsung and Noel Leeming, and Educational Business Partners Ruckus Wireless, HP, Sitech and Allied Telesis. Wireless internet was available to all delegates, with many tweeting their feedback throughout the conference. For those who didn't know how to connect on Twitter, a dedicated “connected educator” lounge was set up to help them get started.

There was a strong focus on Maori and Pasifika learning, too, with workshops and tasters delivered in te reo, including Maori language workshops, and a Spotlight speaker about Re-imagining Maori language acquisition in schools. Dr Ruakere Hond has been at the forefront of revitalisation efforts for Maori language spoken in Taranaki and the revival of language-based identity resources. His work focuses on linking language revitalisation efforts with better health outcomes for Maori.

In the breakout, Te Reo Maori in any classroom, teachers were

to be modelled on a Eurocentric hegemonic model steeped in exclusivity and centralised power.

To change the landscape of Maori and Pasifika learners, there must be a shift from this model to a culturally responsive ideal that fosters a more holistic approach to leadership and governance.”

introduced to apps and tools to strengthen their knowledge of Maori language and their confidence in using it. Presenter Gemma Stewart: “Although Te Reo Maori is our indigenous language, often we are very nervous about teaching and using it because we are worried about getting our pronunciation wrong or not knowing enough.

We can therefore miss out on the joy of participating in one of our

Empowering you to lead change with CORE’s online facilitated programmes In-depth professional learning from 8 – 20 weeks

national treasures. We may also unwittingly deprive our students of an opportunity to display an unknown strength and capability.”

South Auckland primary school principal, Wayne MacGillivray, spoke about the importance of transforming leadership in order to raise all aspects of Maori and Pasifika achievement.

“Leadership within the New Zealand school system continues

Meanwhile, staff from Tahatai Coast School, Papamoa, shared the school’s journey of an almost complete rebuild which they refer to as MLE – Mostly Leaking Everywhere to Modern Learning Environment. The initially devastating news turned out to be exactly what was needed, they say, as it also presented an opportunity to reconsider all aspects of school life. As it turned out, “2015 has been the year that the school took things to the next level”.

It’s the second year running that uLearn has sold out; next year it will be back at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre, a bigger venue.

By Anna Clements, Staff Reporter

Choose from a variety of 13 programmes at www.core-ed.org/learn2016

WIN the cost of your programme back!

Register and pay by 5 December to go in the draw

Term 4 - 2015

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23

Administration | Buying New Zealand Made

Buy New Zealand Made ensures authenticity and quality The Buy New Zealand Made Campaign is about more than encouraging New Zealanders to buy and sell locally made products.

These consumers prefer to eat local produce, buy local clothing, cars and in fact all goods, if possible.

All consumers are more concerned with exactly what they buy, where it comes from and what the ecological impact of those goods are. Interest from consumers in the Buy New Zealand Made campaign “appears to be increasing in a lot of different areas such as food, gifts and souvenirs, baby products etc.,” Ms Snow says.

It also pushes for the export of New Zealand products and brands across the world. Those involved say they are aiming for, “pretty much World Domination”.

Buy New Zealand Made is owned and run by Business New Zealand, which began the campaign in 1988. The kiwi in the triangle tag is iconic – it has been around since the campaign commenced and represents products that are homemade and home-grown.

But, the commitment to buy local in New Zealand can be trickier than in Australia. According to Trina Snow, the manager from Buy New Zealand Made, “Unlike Australian law, New Zealand does not specify exact proportions of material or labour content. So working out if products qualify can be tricky,” she said.

A precise formula that will prescribe exactly which products fit the bill cannot be given but there are guidelines and considerations for what constitutes New Zealand made: •

For a clothing item, where is it actually changed from a fabric into a garment?

•

For a food item, where is the essential character of the food created?

•

For a manufactured product, is it substantially manufactured in New Zealand? Where was the critical componentry manufactured? Are any significant stages of manufacture carried out overseas?

“The test as to whether a made in New Zealand claim breaches the Act is based on whether such a claim is likely to be misleading to New Zealand consumers. We have guides on our website if you require further information on this,” Ms Snow says.

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The Buy New Zealand Made campaign’s logo for country of origin labelling has changed slightly over the last three years.

The “old” original logos and the new logos all depict a product that is New Zealand made according to the rules of our Fair Trading Act. There were a number of logos and so they had to change. “We now have three in circulation all though some of our members are still using the original artwork,” Ms Snow says.

The Buy New Zealand Made concept is easy to sell, she says: “Kiwis love New Zealand made products and most prefer to buy them too. We're guessing if you're here reading this, then you feel the same – so join us in the campaign and show pride in Aotearoa. You're not only buying great, high-quality products, you're promoting growth and job opportunities within your country.”

Added to the ingrained sense of national pride is the fact that according to research by Mintel, the top consumer trend for New Zealand and Australia that relates to healthy eating, is that consumers are now more than ever, concerned with labels and what is in their food.

The sugar free, gluten free, nonprocessed food brigade are making their needs known en-masse.

Reliable and accurate labels and logos are therefore more important than ever and when you see the New Zealand Made logo on a product, you know that the product is in fact made in New Zealand.

Companies that use these logos are members of the campaign and have to follow the rules of country of origin labelling.

“We have a complaint procedure in place that is used if there is someone or a company who believes that our members are not using the logo as they should be.

This provides an accountability for each of our members.”

Beware, there are many other logos that depict products as New Zealand made that have been created by individuals and various companies, but these are for their own private use and so they are not held to the same levels of accountability.

By Mandy Clarke, Staff Reporter

Book Reviews | Teaching Resources Dragon Knight Book #4: Dragons!

into puppets, building mechanical puppets, finding accessories, performing, inventing voices, building stages, and more, this is the most comprehensive book of its kind.

And with jokes and puppet humour throughout, it’s not just a handbook – it’s a joy to read!

From the Cutting Room of Barney Kettle

Dressing the Naked Hand: The World's Greatest Guide to Making, Staging, and Performing with Puppets

When bestselling New Zealand author Kate De Goldi’s novel The 10pm Question was published in 2009 it was an overnight success, winning numerous awards including the NZ Post Children’s Book of the Year Award and the Corine International Book Prize.

Many-layered, amusing and filled with big-hearted characters readers will grow to love, it will appeal to those aged from nine to 90.

With tonnes of colour photographs and over two hours of hilarious instructional videos, Dressing the Naked Hand is the perfect how-to book for all levels of puppetry skill, from beginners to master artisans.

With instructions on making hand puppets, turning stuffed animals

He has written so he can remember the street where he lived, home to a cavalcade of interesting people, singular shops, and curious stories.

Kate de Goldi Random House For ages 9-plus

Now Kate De Goldi has created another richly entertaining and powerful world in her new novel From the Cutting Room of Barney Kettle.

Mark H Pulham Exisle Publishing For all ages

He has written it over many months as he recovers from serious injuries sustained in a citywide catastrophe.

Bloodtree Chronicles Sanspell

It has since been translated into numerous languages and published extensively overseas.

Meet filmmaker Barney Kettle, who liked to invent stories but found a real one under his nose.

Barney Kettle knew he would be a very famous film director one day, he just didn’t know when that day would arrive.

He was already an actual director – he’d made four 15-minute films – but so far only his schoolmates and the residents of the High

The Amazing Book is Not on Fire: The World of Dan and Phil

So begins the manuscript written from the hospital bed of an unnamed man.

He has written so he can remember the summer before he was injured, the last days of a vanished world.

Kyle Mewburn & Donovan Bixley Scholastic For ages 7-10 Young shape-shifting dragon Merek is following his dream to become a knight – and this week the young trainee knights are learning the time-honoured skill of falconry. But what are those dragons doing in the skies above the castle? What are the sevenheaded cyclorgs after? It’s up to Merek to employ his shape-shifting skills to avoid disaster!

Street had viewed them. Global fame was a little way off. It would come, though. Barney was certain about that...

Dan Howell & Phil Lester Penguin Random House For ages 13-16 Hello reader, In this book is a world. A world created by two awkward guys who share their lives on the internet! We are Dan and Phil and we invite you on a journey inside our minds! From the stories of our actual births, to exploring Phil's teenage diary and all the reasons why Dan's a fail.

Learn how to draw the perfect cat whiskers, get advice on what to do in an awkward situation and discover which of our dining chairs represents you emotionally. With everything from what we text each other, to the time we met One Direction and what really happened in Vegas.

Historium

Elizabeth Pulford Cover illustration and design by Donovan Bixley Scholastic For ages 10-plus When the Bloodtree loses its last leaf, there will be no more stories in the Silvering Kingdom. The Silvering Kingdom is the home of fairy tales but the kingdom and all those within are in danger of vanishing because the Bloodtree – the source of all stories – has been poisoned. ‘Sanspell’ is a story that has been cursed. It is up to Abigail to enter the fairy tale world, where she is known as Spindale, and save the story-tree.

Together with Flint, whose mother Trinket is being held captive by the evil Rackenard, they set off on a journey: three drops of Trinket’s blood is what is required to save the tree. The race is on – but can they survive the wicked Zezmena’s spells?

Jo Nelson & Richard Wilkinson Templar Publishing, For ages 12-plus Discover more than 140 exhibits in this virtual museum, open all hours! An exclusive, collector's edition of Historium. Welcome to the museum! Here you will find a collection of objects from ancient civilisations. Objects of beauty, objects of functionality, objects of war, objects of life, and objects of death and burial. As you wander from room to room, explore the magnificence of what civilisations have left behind over thousands of years of human history.

Term 4 - 2015

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Teaching Resources | Maths Programmes

Digital programmes make maths easier to teach and learn Like almost every other area of 21st-century school education, maths has gone digital, and in the process, it has become much more accessible and understandable to many more of our students, some of whom otherwise might not ‘cotton on’ to the subject.

Teachers have the choice of a wide range of innovative, curriculum-aligned digital programmes designed to both engage the students as well as enhance their own ability to assess students’ capability and progress on both a class and individual level.

Numicon The term ‘rich task’ refers to a type of teaching practice in which a project connects different

subjects (interdisciplinary) and involves a variety of teaching and learning methods. Within the maths learning programme Numicon, rich tasks are designed for learning in a variety of contexts, usually from everyday life, and reaching across the maths strands.

Stimulating problems, discussions and activities appeal to many learners. Tasks begin where all children can participate, and extend to complex problems drawing in the deep thinkers, challenged by possibilities and different outcomes. Children enjoy having time to think, experiment, create and imagine. Bright children, even if they are not successful at maths, thrive on this style of learning.

The Numicon Approach was written specifically to provide connections within mathematics,

but also with the world around us. The sequence of learning opportunities, and many contexts for learning using ‘rich tasks’, provides a maths programme for all abilities with robust assessment.

Numicon 2 (NZ Curriculum L2) Pattern and Algebra 7 – ‘Finding all possibilities’ includes ‘rich tasks’ to teach problem-solving skills: • • •

Working systematically Keeping track of possibilities Reasoning logically

The rich tasks in the week include: •

Numeracy (addition and subtraction) – finding all the possibilities of finding five

•

Statistics

•

Logic and reasoning

•

Measurement – how many ways can you pay for

something with $1 •

Communication – choices of pirate costumes for a party

•

Problem solving – planning the number of costumes to be available

•

Choices for purchasing icecreams with combinations of flavours.

These activities engage children and teach them to think mathematically in a wide variety of contexts, demonstrating the ‘why’ we learn maths. Learning the language of maths is a vital link in the connections of ‘rich tasks’. Words and terms for use in conversation are listed weekly, along with assessment opportunities. The words and terms include investigate, find out, combinations, all possibilities, all the ways, organise, system, systematically, prove, keep track of, table, “I know because… so…”

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26

school news

Term 4 - 2015

anywhere, anytime

For more information go to edify.co.nz

Maths Programmes | Teaching Resources

Research and evidence from around the world has shown this is an effective approach. Numicon is a hands-on programme with Interactive Whiteboard software that teachers and students can easily use for problem solving and illustrating mathematical concepts. Children say they “love Numicon”. Numicon’s proven pedagogy raises achievement across all ability levels and builds confident teachers. The teaching resources are rich with activities, built-in assessment and professional guidance.

Pearson Mathematics Pearson Mathematics is a primary-level, structured, whole-school maths programme – print and online – covering all strands of the NZ Curriculum, levels 1 to 4, Although there is an emphasis on Number and Algebra, the strands of Geometry,

Measurement and Statistics are interwoven in the programme throughout the year.

Launched in 2010, it was written specifically for New Zealand schools by highly regarded mathematics specialist Charlotte Wilkinson, the facilitator of the Government’s Numeracy Project.

Schools, Jane Huston. “Learning the language of maths also enables students to read it easily and understand the maths. With this programme there is a focus on real-life problem solving and investigation strategies in the form of activity cards and student books.

“Problem solving is an important part of it,” says Head of Sales -

“The programme’s teacher guides provide extensive teacher support

and with sample implementation plans it is easy for them to implement in the classroom,” Ms Huston says. “A key advantage is that it offers a balanced yet flexible programme that provides consistency across the entire school, from years 0-8. Plus there is an assessment tool that runs side by side with the programme, with the assessment aligned to National Standards.”

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Loved by teachers and students the world over!

The Numicon approach brings instant success for your learners, including those with high learning and special needs, with structured apparatus, comprehensive materials, and robust assessment tracking.

Say goodbye to the long tail of underachievement!

Rich tasks from Year 1 Week 1!

Built-in PD Conversation in problem-solving, exploring relationships

NZ Curriculum levels 1-4

Making connections across all strands, developing generalizing skills

www.numicon.co.nz Term 4 - 2015

school news

27

Teaching Resources | Maths Programmes

27

Maths-Whizz As teachers, the team at MathsWhizz continues to have input into the development of Maths-Whizz to ensure it is the best programme available in New Zealand says manager Ross Perkinson.

“We are passionate about MathsWhizz and how it can be used in the classroom. As teachers we know what works in the classroom, and work closely with our schools to ensure the MathsWhizz is well integrated into school programmes.

Maths-Whizz is designed for primary and early secondary levels, and has comprehensive coverage of Level 1-4 and around half of Level 5 of the New Zealand Curriculum. Detailed progress and achievement data enables teachers to easily identify class

28

strengths, weaknesses and trends.

Individual student performance can be calculated and measured against each NZC Achievement Objective across all strands, with comprehensive data available at the teacher’s fingertips to measure class and individual performance.

Feedback from teachers on how Maths-Whizz is working in their school includes comments on how the programme creates a culture where learning maths is fun, and that learning is accelerated beyond what would be expected.

Extensive international data analysis has shown that with regular use, student achievement in numeracy is accelerated through all levels.

Maths-Whizz ticks all the boxes: •

Online differentiated adaptive learning

•

Proven to raise numeracy results (as measured against NZ standardized tests)

•

Reduces teacher workload – assesses, sets and adjusts levels automatically

•

Reporting against individual NZC Achievement Objectives

•

Aggregates achievement data across all strands

“Currently, New Zealand students have access to PDF versions of text books, but these have limited functionality and interactivity.

The Pagewerkz platform is very dynamic and provides interactive, peer-to-peer learning, plus the ability for the students to interact directly with the teacher,” Mr Keane says.

Edify Digital Due to be launched next year, Edify Digital is a digital platform for delivering workbook and textbook content to secondary school maths students.

“Edify is collaborating with WERKZ Publishing to put these marketleading products authored by David Barton into a ‘best in class’ platform, to be launched in term 1, 2016,” says CEO Adrian Keane.

Supplier Profile | Maths-Whizz

t Online differentiated adaptive learning t Proven to raise numeracy results against NZ t t standardised testing t Reports against NZC Achievement Objectives t Reduces teacher workload - assesses, sets and t adjusts levels automatically t Aggregates achievement data across all t t t t t strands automatically t Over 1200 engaging lessons across all strands “If there is one set of data that I trust it is the data I get from Maths-Whizz” Ted Barks, Pt England School Contact us now for a no-obligation presentation of Maths-Whizz and see why it is becoming the online numeracy programme of choice for so many schools

P: 09 431 4466 M: 027 431 4466 E: info@ilearn.co.nz W: www.ilearn.co.nz

school news

Term 4 - 2015

Our teachers are our best advocates “Through ongoing Teaching as Inquiry, it is evident that active integration of Maths-Whizz fosters cognitive engagement and raises student achievement.

I have observed an incredible shift in attitude toward maths learning.

Maths-Whizz creates a classroom culture where learning maths is fun – and if children are relaxed and happy, they’re a lot more willing to learn!

I have taught for nearly 20 years and I have never seen such motivation for learning maths, and to be honest, I wouldn’t want to teach without it now.”

– Fiona Hett, TIC Maths, Mangawhai Beach School

“Kia ora, I just wanted to say how great I think the Maths-Whizz program is and how valuable it is for my programme.

A highlight of the programme is that it adjusts itself to meet a student’s learning needs, I feel that this program brings together several successful elements of other types of learning programs and combines them into a one stop shop.

If I had to pick just one digital program for my students to have access to, then this would be it.

Nga mihi,” – Cheryl, Rotorua Intermediate “If there is one set of data that I trust it is the data I get from MathsWhizz.”

–Ted Barks, Pt England School

Maths Programmes | Teaching Resources

“It enlivens content in a way that increases engagement, subsequently lifting performance.

Engagement is a critical factor and this will be far more engaging for students, producing positive outcomes.”

He says this is the first time NZ Curriculum content has been available on this platform, and Edify is the only company working with the product.

“We hope to have the entire maths curriculum up to year 13 on Pagewerkz by the end of 2016.

What we’re most excited about is that there’s nothing else like this out there.

"New Zealand learners deserve better than PDFs, and in making this product available we hope to offer them a far superior experience.

It will be available across multiple devices so will be flexible and as accessible as possible for students.”

Mathletics Mathletics has been designed by a passionate team of educators to provide the right balance of stimulation, encouragement and support to allow students to achieve more, Mathletics’ NZ Curriculum specialist Mandy Bradshaw says.

Catering for Years 1 through to 13, Mathletics creates an individualised pathway for each student, working at their level, providing step-by-step guidance and rewarding student effort.

“Our Mathletics courses have been created for New Zealand students. Courses are available both in year level groups and by curriculum level. All new activities in our Mathletics courses are carefully placed according to the New Zealand Curriculum and the relevant Achievement Objectives,” she says.

Mathletics uses game theory as learning motivators – explorer, achiever, competitor and socialiser – to engage students in learning that facilitates and enhances the experience for each one of the gaming types.

For example, competitor types are drawn towards Mathletics’ live mathematical races against

classmates or other students around the world, achievers can master topics whilst collecting points and certificates, explorers might like to unlock hidden parts of the program and socialisers like to earn connector points through connecting with others.

Mathletics’ teacher centre contains a dedicated reporting tool that highlights student, class and school progression within the program.

Through the single-click activity assignment, teachers can identify gaps in a student’s learning and instantly assign tasks to concentrate learning around the identified gap.

The grouping functions allow for ability-based grouping within the class, whilst the courses function provides teachers with the choice of assigning pre-created New Zealand year-level courses or using the Mathletics wide range of resources to create their own courses.

Mathletics can also be used as a front-of-class teaching tool.

The range of interactive demonstrations, printable eBooks, and conceptual videos all work perfectly with a class projector or interactive whiteboard.

A recent study of over 8,000 schools found that schools who use Mathletics show a

significant improvement when compared to schools that don’t use it.* 

The Mathletics Advantage

9%

Spending as little as 30mins a week on Mathletics curriculum activities, schools can gain a potential advantage of more than 9%* 30 mins



Discover Mathletics

1,100+

Adaptive maths activities

Mathletics looks at how teachers ensure they are getting the best from their students by using a maths programme.

Conceptual videos deeper understanding

A good digital resource ticks all the following boxes:

Real-time reporting

•

Creates an individualised learning pathway

•

Immediate feedback for both student and teacher

•

Ability to review results and instantly identify gaps in learning

•

Clear learning outcomes

•

Engaging/fun

•

Assessment for learning

•

Reporting of results.

•

Caters for a variety of learning styles

NZ curriculum aligned

Over 200 interactive & printable eBooks

Trial Mathletics in your class 0800 375 327 registrations@3plearning.co.nz

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

Term 4 - 2015

school news

29

Teaching Resources | Science

Science education essential in a 21st-century world Science, technology and innovation are increasingly important to our economic well-being and quality of life. According to the Prime Minister’s Science Advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, New Zealand needs to focus on producing quality scientists in order for New Zealand to stay economically viable.

“There is an international consensus that a strong science education system in the school years is a necessary prerequisite to having an economy based on knowledge and innovation.”

To achieve this, quality science education in primary and secondary schools is essential.

And not just for those who see their careers involving science but as “an essential component of core knowledge that every member of our society requires,” Sir Peter says.

“There is no doubt that the role of science in modern society is changing. It is very different to that of a generation ago. Increasingly the challenges we face as a community – be it at the global level such as dealing with climate change or at the local level such as the problems of an ageing population, of environmental degradation, or of enhancing our economic productivity through science and innovation – all

depend on science. There is no challenge affecting our society which does not have science and technology associated.”

Today’s teachers talk about science literacy, a broad definition that includes science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Rather than being taught as four separate subjects, STEM integrates them into lessons based on real-world situations.

And the pressure is on for technology to keep pace with the trend towards STEM learning.

At Crescendo Enterprises Ltd, suppliers of science learning products, orders for traditional lab equipment are being matched by demand for Amazing Science teaching tools – items such as Fun Fly Sticks, Water Rocket Launchers and World Energy Balls, which demonstrate scientific principals in an engaging, hands-on way.

Manager Janeen Tunnicliffe says this is in response to the gap that has emerged between children knowing how to use digital devices and having basic understanding of the electronics and science behind them.

Schools have been investing in computers, but not the teaching of computer science and programming.

Ms Tunnicliffe has also noticed that many primary teachers,

especially those whose strengths are language-based, lack confidence in leading science lessons. Crescendo addresses this by supplying kits to make the task easier. At primary level, Ms Tunnicliffe recommends 10 kits for each class, each comprising an invention kit, light bulbs and batteries.

the process, children learn how to make a circuit and explore concepts of engineering.

“The lessons need to enthuse the kids. Science is about doing stuff, not listening to theories,” she says.

At a very basic level is The Lighthouse Challenge, a collection of sticks, leads and battery supplies, which children assemble into a lighthouse, competing to build the tallest. This was developed by primary teacher, Nick Pattison, who leads the country’s first primary-level STEM class at Rongomai School in south Auckland.

Popular products include the Makey Makey, an invention kit that can be used to turn everyday objects such as bananas or pasta shells into touchpads to be connected to the internet. In

“I based it on an existing challenge of building a structure with spaghetti and marshmallows and added a circuit and called it ‘The Lighthouse Challenge’,” Mr Pattison says.

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Science teaching resources online The government-provided website for science-teaching resources, both primary and secondary, is www.scienceonline. tki.org.nz, which guides teachers on how to weave the Nature of Science strand and key competencies into science teaching and learning.

Kiwi Kids Science www.kiwikidsnews.co.nz/science offers articles as wide-ranging as why dogs sniff bottoms and why people sleepwalk, guides to simple experiments, and facts about the living world.

Auckland University hosts the Incredible Science website for students to explore all sorts of fascinating topics such as encryption, whale poo and the world of fossils. www. incrediblescience.co.nz

The Science Roadshow The Science Roadshow is a mobile, science discovery centre for primary children. Annually, it travels the length of the country in a 15m truck and trailer, taking a range of interactive and technology exhibits into communities.

Current themes include astronomy, real chemistry, and light and sight. www.roadshow.org CREST (Creativity in Science and Technology) is an international awards scheme designed to encourage years 0-13 students to be innovative, creative, and to problem solve in science, technology and environmental studies.

For primary children this could be studying volcanoes or finding out what weather is, while secondary students are invited to problem solve – how to keep a bicycle secure or investigate the water quality in their local stream, for example.

CREST projects can also help provide the evidence for NCEA assessment and be used as entries to regional science and technology fairs and other such competitions. www.royalsociety. org.nz/teaching-learning/crest/

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Teaching Resources | Science

30 “This gives the students a more realistic yet fun reason for the challenge. In the process, children learn to identify a problem and engineer a solution as well as develop teamwork and communication skills.�

Robotics programmes continue to sprout up in schools and afterschool clubs, too. Once seen as exotic, robotics is now considered to provide meaningful, problembased learning and hands-on learning in co-operative groups.

Robotics engages students in complex, strategic problemsolving and higher-order thinking –

32

The lessons need to enthuse the kids. Science is about doing stuff, not listening to theories.� a set of skills that is a high priority for 21st-century education. For younger primary children, the BeeBot can be sufficient. This simple robot responds to commands to go forward, back, left and right, at the touch of directional keys.

Bee-Bot blinks and beeps at the conclusion of each command and children are challenged to enter ever-more creative and complex

t $PTU JODMVEFT (45 GSFJHIU &NBJM PSEFST UP t PSEFST!DSFTDFOEP DP O[ school news

Term 4 - 2015

command sequences. At a more sophisticated level, there are Lego Mindstorm kits, a range of robots for children to build and program.

There are two major competitions for students to channel their competitive instincts; Kiwibots New Zealand hosts VEX competitions in which robots play against each other, while the RoboCup Junior New Zealand invites entrants in Robot Theatre, Rescue or Soccer.

Traditional science, however, has taken a hit. Ms Tunnicliffe reports that schools are struggling with increasingly tight budgets, which makes it challenging to keep up with demands for consumables.

Some schools allocate no budget at all for science. Capital items in the lab often require funding to be purchased and teachers that have the vision are applying for funding for kits like the STEM-approved STELR range. STELR is a science education module themed on renewable energy.

Safety equipment is a must, however, and school budgets are under pressure to accommodate new HSNO codes of practice in science labs.“Historically, the rules around safety were a bit lax but this has sensibly been addressed.

Chemicals need to be handled appropriately,� Ms Tunnicliffe says. “High schools need good supplies of gloves, safety goggles and masks.�

There is also increasing demand for resources to teach environmental and earth sciences.

Resources such as rock and mineral sets are in the lower price range, depending on the size of the set, and at the other end are models such as Orbit Tellurium.

Assorted charts on carbon cycles and energy sources are sought after too.

For life science classes, Crescendo supplies assorted skulls and skeletons of animals, humans and hominids, demonstrating the differences and similarities between them. Models and charts of life cycles and of processes such as mitosis and meiosis depict how life transforms and changes.

By Anna Clements, Staff Reporter

Science | Teaching Resources

Competition excites and inspires students With the growing demand for students to learn programming and other digital technology skills, a good way to encourage students to learn is to leverage the excitement of a competition.

to get excited about science and technology and thereby make a difference to the country’s knowledge economy.

A competition in which the rules are clearly defined and students are required to develop robots and associated software in order to play the game inspires them to develop products to meet a customer specification (rules of the game) whilst having fun. Robots are built and designed from a specific catalogue of components, meaning all players work within limits and none can gain advantage by spending more money.

Through participation, students develop skills in management of time, stress and anger, as well as the ability to work successfully in a team. They also gain familiarity with the design process and the principles of continuous improvement. Software forms an essential part of any robot as students quickly discover that whilst they can create a robot that can play the game, a robot that automates most of its processes will excel in the competition. This drives students to investigate software and look for efficiencies in where and how to use it. Students quickly

For the past eight years, The New Zealand Robotics Charitable Trust has been inspiring school children

Known as Kiwibots, we co-ordinate the VEX robotics competition in New Zealand at junior, intermediate, high school and tertiary levels.

share their knowledge with other students and learn more through helping each other than they ever would as an isolated entity.

This learning to share in turn will strengthen their character and the foundations of their knowledge.

Although the VEX IQ platform is targeted specifically at junior and intermediate-age students, we are finding that more and more high schools are adopting it as the platform of choice in their digital technology classes. This is mainly a result of the fact that the VEX IQ platform is not only very affordable but it can be programmed using a scratch-like application, Python, or at the top level RobotC. Several schools are identifying the benefits of using robotic platform in their physics classes as well.

The VEX IQ platform can also be interfaced to Android, iOS, Arduino, Raspberry Pi or any other

device that supports USB serial ports. This opens the door for many a classroom project and the whole world of IOT interfacing to mechatronic systems. The world of technology is moving forward at an astounding pace, and increasingly, employers are looking for people with skills in connectivity rather than isolated skills. By bringing these platforms together we are making physical world outcomes possible to programming skills that used to be limited to computer screen. We are breaking down the image of programmers being tucked away in dark rooms and putting them on the world stage.

For the past seven years, New Zealand competitors have been world champions rising to the top of a pool of 36 countries and 11,000 teams. This is something that would excite any student.

By Chris Hamling

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Term 4 - 2015

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External Learning | Overseas Travel

Broadening their horizons with overseas trips

Students from Chilton St James School enjoying Paris on a trip organised by Travel to Learn.

Travelling overseas to broaden our horizons, otherwise known as the ‘big OE’, has been an integral part of Kiwis’ lives for decades, with thousands of young New Zealanders in their late teens and early 20s setting off to discover the world.

Moments has often received feedback from parents that their son or daughter has come back a “better person”.

“That’s the definition of a success,” he says. “We enjoy the positive impact that comes from exposing them to an experience.”

World Challenge spokesperson Alice Rowe says the life-changing developmental expeditions they provide to developing countries helps the students develop crucial life skills such as leadership, teamwork, self-awareness and compassion.

These days, though, trips are happening even earlier in life, with groups of school students enjoying first-hand experiences in faraway places as part of their educational journey.

The trips are aligned with a range of subjects, including geography, history, classics, languages, music, tourism and sport, though as the providers of the tours spoken to by School News agree, the benefits the students get from the trips are much more far-reaching than improving their subject knowledge.

world out there and the trips are such a great learning experience, in terms of a student’s education and as a person. They come back so much more mature.”

As Fiona Atkinson from Travel to Learn puts it: “There’s a whole

Programme development manager for Student Horizons Richard

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Cambridge High School students on their trip to Sri Lanka last December, organised by World Challenge.

Gorrett says his company’s ethos of challenge, discover, achieve, means the students discover selfawareness and self-confidence, and achieve personal and social development through the trips.

Stephen Gillingham of Defining

For schools wanting to send students on overseas trips, specialist educational travel companies can make the whole experience run smoothly, from helping teachers select the destination, through to organising the documentation, arranging travel, accommodation and incountry activities, even assisting with fundraising.

Overseas Travel | External Learning Mini Case Study – Wairoa College: A group of 31 boys from Wairoa College, along with six administrators and 12 supporters, travelled to Europe for a rugby tour in September, organised by Student Horizons. They played nine games in two weeks, which was a “huge call” for the boys, the school’s youth co-ordinator Denise Eaglesome KareKare says.

“It was an amazing experience for the boys.

Some will probably never go overseas again, or not in the foreseeable future. The whole experience was not just about rugby, it was about the life experience. They saw things and did things they would never have otherwise have done. They were billeted for half the trip and they gained an amazing reputation. The locals wanted to help the boys. It was a first-hand cultural experience for them.

“One word of advice for schools going on rugby trips to Europe – find out what their rugby rules are first.”

Mini Case Study – Waikato Diocesan School For Girls Earlier this year a group of students from Waikato Diocesan School for Girls travelled to Europe for a Religious Studies Pilgrimage organised by Student Horizons.

Travel to Learn “Teachers come to us as it’s often their first school trip and they are unsure of how to proceed, and experienced teachers come back to us having experienced their first trip with our help,” Travel to Learn’s Fiona Atkinson says.

“We visit the school and have face-to-face meetings with the teachers, and attend parent information evenings. We can show them sample itineraries and they are able to select the activities of most interest to them.

“They often want to know what they can do in that country, and we look at how the trip fits in with their budget and the curriculum. We work on the basis of one teacher travelling free per 10 students, although this can be adapted to the school requirements. Our trips are extremely cost-effective and we cater to all budgets.”

Popular destinations that groups visit with Travel to Learn include the United States, France, Spain, the UK, Greece, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and South America.

“The US is very popular because

“The recent European Religious Studies Pilgrimage was certainly a highlight for our 19 students and three Religious Studies teachers,” chaplain and leader of the school’s European Religious Studies Pilgrimage 2015 Jill Clark-Olson says.

“The aim of the pilgrimage was to find and experience places in Italy and the UK which have held spiritual significance for Christians for at least 1500 years. None of these experiences would have been possible if we had not had the provision and guidance of Student Horizons. We felt very well

looked after in all our travels and certainly enjoyed the company of the tour guide who accompanied our group.

Our tour leader was fun, well-organised and a pleasure to travel alongside. All of the organisation that had occurred prior to our departure was also a solid and dependable foundation on which to build our adventures.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Student Horizons as a future travel provider if you are also thinking of planning travel with your school students.”

it’s closer than Europe and it’s easier to get to,” Ms Atkinson says. “For example, we organise music trips to the US with student choirs and orchestral groups performing there, and also commerce and digital technology trips.

“For all destinations, we use English-speaking guides and only use contracted guides and licensed suppliers. The guides know that these are school groups so their ideas of what they want to do are different from an adult group, and they are catered for accordingly.”

The accommodation also caters specifically for groups, she says.

Educational Travel Experiences for Students No matter what the budget, destination, group size or age, we can cater for it.

We take the stress away!

ONE CALL DOES IT ALL!

“We have also combined smaller groups from different schools to take advantage of group rates.

“The safety of the students while they are overseas is a priority for Travel to Learn, and we also provide sample EOTC forms for the teachers.”

Travel to Learn offers ideas about fundraising, helps parents set up a fundraising committee and also provides prizes for raffles, Ms Atkinson says.

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0800 304 382 dmt@hot.co.nz

www.definingmoments.co.nz Term 4 - 2015

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35

External Learning | Overseas Travel Mini Case Study – Cambridge High School: In December 2014 eight year 11 and 12 students from Cambridge High School went on a three-week expedition to Sri Lanka, which consisted of cultural trips, a week-long trek, a week working in a hill country school and some R and R.

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The key feature of the trip, teacher Gareth Manis says, was that while in country, the students made all the decisions regarding transport, food and accommodation. They were guided by an outdoor education specialist from World Challenge and a teacher from the school, who provided pastoral care and support.

The trip was not based around any single curriculum area but crossed over multiple areas – outdoor education, geography, history, accounting etc.

The standout was helping turn a concrete block hut into a fully weather-proofed and resourced classroom for a hill country primary school, Mr Manis says. “World Challenge was a fantastic organisation to work with. The group had multiple planning meetings with World Challenge staff to prepare for the expedition. The expedition leader was both fully qualified in student safety and very experienced in running expeditions in-country.�

Student Horizons Student Horizons’ is “passionate about providing opportunities for students to travel overseas and engage with different cultures�, programme development manager Richard Gorrett says. “We believe that overseas travel can play a significant role in the personal growth for young people. It’s about raising their aspirations so that they can weigh up their goals and ambitions for the future.�

Student Horizons has established its Community Partnerships Programme, which provides unique assistance to all their groups with fundraising with the aim that any student, regardless of background, is able to have the opportunity to travel overseas.

“Through the exclusive partnerships we have established with New Zealand businesses we provide fundraising options to our groups to simplify the whole process,� Mr Gorrett says, “For example, some of the students from Wairoa College (Hawkes Bay), who recently travelled to the UK and France on a rugby tour during the Rugby World Cup, had never left New Zealand before – it was an amazing experience for them.

There was a lot of hard work that went into their fundraising but we knew the benefits this tour would have on the boys, the school and the wider community. “Wherever a school wants to travel for an educational, music or sports tour, we can organise it. Using our expertise we work in partnership with school staff in putting together personalised

Challenge . Discover . Achieve

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Challenge. Discover. Achieve. These 3 words describe the guiding principles behind all that we believe in at Student Horizons. As specialists in organising overseas sports, educational and music tours for schools in New Zealand and Australia, our goal is to provide students with an unforgettable RYHUVHDV H[SHULHQFH WKDW LV VDIH ZHOO FRRUGLQDWHG DQG EHQHͤFLDO IRU WKHLU SHUVRQDO JURZWK By challenging students to discover their strengths, our desire is to see them achieve greater self DZDUHQHVV DQG FRQͤGHQFH

36

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Term 4 - 2015

MUSIC TOURS

NEW ZEALAND

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+64 9 555 0439 info@studenthorizons.co.nz

+61 7 3067 3649 info@studenthorizons.com.au

3-5 Auburn Street, Takapuna 0622

22 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane 4000

www.student-horizons.com

ABN 77 167 042 793

Overseas Travel | External Learning

itineraries depending on what outcomes they are looking for their students to achieve from their trip.

“Safety is the number-one priority for us. We go to great lengths with our due diligence and risk assessments, making sure that every aspect of the trip is well managed and potential risks are mitigated. For any unforeseen events that might occur we have comprehensive incident management plans in place to deal effectively with any situation.”

Student Horizons also has partnerships with New Zealand organisations within the education sector and is committed to supporting these organisations; some examples include the Association of Boys’ Schools of New Zealand, College Sport, Stage Challenge and the Passchendaele Society.

Members of the Student Horizons team often travel with their groups to ensure that the trips run smoothly and so the school staff can concentrate on the supervision of the students and to maximise the experience for them, Mr Gorrett says. Students are sometimes hosted by local families, which is another great experience for them, as they really get to know local people and destinations they travel to, he says.

Students from Riccarton High on their recent trip to Vietnam, organised by Defining Moments. ourselves. Our aim is to ensure the next generation have the same opportunities to develop their awareness of the wider world and to help in defining their role within it.”

Defining Moments

Student Horizons also offers a fixed price guarantee at the time of booking to provide schools and parents with financial reassurance knowing that the trip costs will not increase.

Defining Moments is aligned with the House of Travel brand and over the last 12 years has developed a specialised programme of educational travel for students, explains owner Stephen Gillingham.

“Our team is very passionate about the benefits that young people can gain from travelling overseas as we have travelled to various corners of the world

“We saw a lot of teachers getting great ideas about taking students away but having no idea how to go about it. They would develop an itinerary then go to a travel

agency to organise it. We could see it wasn’t working for them.

They would have meetings with parents, who asked questions they couldn’t answer, such as about getting cheaper airfares.

But cheaper is often not necessarily better.

“That’s why we decided to become specialists so we could help. After all, parents are paying the bill and it’s a major investment, with trips costing $5000 or more.

We were also trying to understand why some trips were successful and some weren’t. We realised the biggest obstacle was time resources, especially for the teachers.

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www.travel2learn.co.nz info@travel2learn.co.nz 0800 825 511

We make overseas school trips manageable.

Let Travel to Learn handle your global travel needs.

About Travel to Learn: As part of NZ Travel Brokers we are: • Affordable high quality tailor made tours • IATA accredited • 15 years experience in educational school tours • A bonded member of TAANZ to ensure your • All subjects, sports, music and special interest financial security. groups catered for.

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External Learning | Overseas Travel Mini Case Study – Chilton St James School:

Mini Case Study – Fraser High School:

Susan Hart, head of languages at Chilton St James School says Travel to Learn was “really good” to work with when the school’s educational trip to France was being organised.

In late September a group of students from Fraser High School in Hamilton went to the United States for a 10-day trip – six days in New York, two days in Washington and two days in Los Angeles.

“They focused on what we wanted. It was a language trip, not just a tour.” Travel2Learn organised home stays for the students, which gave them a lot of exposure to French, she says.

Head of faculty social sciences Rueben Healy says the students went to Wall Street in New York as he wanted them to see a country where there were different ways of doing business, and that it was a lot bigger than in Hamilton, New Zealand.

“With the home stays, there was not much English spoken as they were staying with elderly women. The girls had to use their French and they loved the challenge of it.

“It gave them a broader view and the chance to experience and understand that it’s a lot bigger out there.

"They went to Paris as tourists and focused on language acquisition there and that went really well.”

37 The onus on teachers has increased considerably over the last few years, so we provide support by co-ordinating with parents, senior management and getting board approval for the trips. Our message to teachers is to call on specialist providers who have the expertise and resources.”

Not all teachers are open to students taking trips, or keen on being away with them for two weeks, Mr Gillingham says, so it is important to have teachers who are willing to be involved in the planning and to give up their holidays.

“Planning and co-ordinating with the teachers is critical, and we recommend planning trips at least 12 months in advance. Health and safety is also a top priority for us, so we make sure we cover off all those areas as well.”

School trips usually take place in the holidays and one of the biggest challenges is fitting a range of

worthwhile experiences into a twoweek window, Mr Gillingham says.

“Senior students, especially, are looking for more enriching experiences, and they can be quite critical. So it’s about finding a balance between relaxation and those valuable experiences.”

World Challenge The student-led expeditions organised by World Challenge follow a programme that reflects the company’s ethos of Challenge, Participation and Environment, Alice Rowe says.

“This facilitates ownership and responsibility within the individual student to achieve a successful expedition. We provide them with a unique opportunity to experience diverse cultures and develop a more global perspective on life.”

Schools have the choice of over 50 destinations around the world, with recent additions being Fiji, Java and Myanmar. A typical expedition sees

“Travel to Learn were fantastic. They have obviously done this before and they have links with companies there, so they were careful to look after us and were helping us all the time.”

students completing four phases – acclimatisation, challenge, which includes a physical trek, project phase, in which students give back to the local community, and rest and relaxation.

“Community projects are a major focus of the expeditions,” Ms Rowe says, “as they offer an opportunity for the students to learn from a local community in their chosen destination.

“The communities with whom we work possess a wealth of practical, cultural and historical knowledge that serves as an incredible potential resource for the education of New Zealand students. By allowing them the space to share this knowledge, the students have the chance to build confidence and knowledge of global issues.”

“As a result there is no monetary cost to the school, while at the

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

They started in Hanoi and travelled the length of the country to reach Ho Chi Minh City. This involved four internal flights, a train and buses.

Places the students visited included Dien Bien Phu, where the French were defeated by the Vietnamese, and a fishing village

Term 4 - 2015

When groups are in-country, even in the most remote locations, they have support from the 24-hour World Challenge operations centre, Ms Rowe says.

Months in advance of their trip, the students are involved in planning the itinerary and raising funds.

At the end of term 1 this year a group of years 12 and 13 students from Riccarton High School in Christchurch went to Vietnam on an 18-day social sciences trip organised by Defining Moments.

school news

World Challenge guides schools through the expedition process starting with a build-up programme that includes thorough training for students and travelling teachers with a two-day training expedition, in-school meetings and unlimited phone and email support.

“This dedicated facility has the infrastructure to handle incidents of any size and is staffed full-time by people who pro-actively monitor events. We also have dedicated incountry agents at every destination, who live locally and can help with logistical queries, translation and local knowledge.”

Mini Case Study – Riccarton High School:

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same time the students learn about taking initiative, project planning and budgeting.”

near Ho Chi Minh city. Teacher Chris Stoop says the trip was “absolutely brilliant”.

Riccarton High students have been to Vietnam previously and Defining Moments gives them back-up and support, she says.

“Their communication is good and that takes the worry out of the trip. The stress levels aren’t there.”

The trips to Vietnam always include a visit to an orphanage, and a couple of the students have gone back to help, they enjoyed it so much, she says.

“Their horizons are broadened and their eyes are opened.”

Overseas Travel | External Learning Supplier Profile | World Challenge

World Challenge prepares young Kiwis for life!

WORLD CHALLENGE WORKS in partnership with schools to deliver life changing, developmental expeditions to developing countries, as a means of aiding students in developing crucial life skills such as leadership, teamwork, self-awareness and compassion. Globally, we have been organising international expeditions since 1987! This year a number of teams from all across New Zealand will travel to exciting destinations such as Borneo, Ecuador and Galapagos and India.

Travelling overseas pushes you out of your comfort zone and into the unknown. Imagine doing that for the very first time as a student with a group of your peers by your side and the knowledge that as a team you will be responsible for the success of your journey!

Our student-led expeditions follow a program that reflects the World Challenge Ethos: Challenge, Participation and Environment.

This facilitates ownership and responsibility within every individual to achieve a successful expedition.

World Challenge provides a unique opportunity to experience diverse cultures and allows students to develop a more global perspective on life.

knowledge that serves as an incredible potential resource for the education of New Zealand students.

By allowing them the space to share this knowledge, it offers the chance for students to build confidence and knowledge of global issues.

Schools can choose from over 50 stunning destinations world-wide.

Most recently we have added expedition destinations in Fiji, Java and Myanmar. A typical expedition sees students completing four ‘phases’; Acclimatisation, Challenge; which includes a physical trek, Project phase; in which students give back to the local community and some welldeserved Rest and Relaxation.

The World Challenge experience sees the learning process begin long before students step foot on a plane as the program has them engaged in planning their team’s itinerary and raising funds for their expedition months in advance. The result is that the expeditions come at no monetary cost to the school, but return enormous benefits as students learn about taking initiative, project planning and budgeting skills.

Community projects are a major focus of the expeditions offering an opportunity for students to learn from a local community in their chosen destination. The communities with whom we work possess a wealth of practical, cultural and historical

World Challenge offers a team of experts to guide schools through the expedition process. Our buildup program includes thorough preparation for both students and travelling teachers with a two day training expedition, in school meetings

and unlimited phone and email support! When teams are in country, even in the most remote locations, they have support from the 24 hr World Challenge Operations Centre.

This dedicated facility possesses the requisite infrastructure to handle incidents of any size, and is staffed on a full-time shift rotation basis by staff who pro-actively monitor events. In addition to this every destination has a dedicated in-country agent; a World Challenge employee who lives locally and can assist the team with logistical queries or language translation and local knowledge.

Our aim is to offer all students the opportunity to step outside their comfort zone and challenge themselves both mentally and physically to achieve great things!

Talk to a member of the World Challenge team in our Auckland office: Freephone 0800 456 134 support@worldchallenge.co.nz www.worldchallenge.co.nz

MORE THAN JUST A TRIP OVERSEAS

World Challenge is the original schools overseas expedition company.

We offer life changing, developmental expeditions to developing countries.

Preparing young Kiwis for life!

To learn more about launching an expedition for your students call 0800 456 134 www.worldchallenge.co.nz

Term 4 - 2015

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Food & Beverage | Vending Machines

Healthy food at the push of a button On October 19, Health Minister and Sport and Recreation Minister Jonathon Coleman announced the Government’s comprehensive plan to reduce childhood obesity, which he said was expected to overtake tobacco as the leading preventable risk to health in New Zealand within the next 12 months.

vending machines, he says.

“With all products selected for healthy vending machines at schools we specify that they have a strong emphasis on portable nutrition, providing healthy choices for students – and teachers – every day.

“That means, for kids who are not getting breakfast and a healthy snack at home, they can now get it at school in the morning and have access to portable nutrition and hydration all day and before and after school,” Mr Ah-Young says.

The Childhood Obesity Plan focused on children, the Minister said, because evidence showed that was where the Government could have the greatest influence, and in turn, children were expected to influence their whole family.

One of the main culprits identified as contributing to obesity in children is the over-consumption of foods and beverages containing high levels of sugar and fat, which are unfortunately, items they enjoy and are easily accessible – almost every school in the country has a dairy just down the road.

One way to help counteract these harmful eating patterns is to make healthier options available and conveniently located in places where children spend much of their time – school.

And while many tuck shops and canteens have been introducing new varieties of healthy food and eliminating the less healthy choices, such as pies and fizzy drinks, from their menu they are only open at certain times of the day.

Vending machines, on the other hand, can be accessed at any time.

Sanitarium The Sanitarium Healthier Vending initiative supplies and services its specially designed vending machines at no cost to schools, and pays dividends for life, says the company’s National Key Account Manager – Vending Strategic Partnerships Fitu AhYoung.

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“We encourage schools to work with us on the most suitable range of products for their school. Increasingly, our Up&Go Reduced Sugar offer is becoming an important focus. This option has one third less sugar than the standard Up&Go,” Mr Ah-Young says.

Some schools choose to only have Up&Go available in their

vending machines. However, the healthy vending option is becoming popular at schools where there is a wider range of food and hydration choices consisting of healthy and nutritious snacks, such as Weetbix-Go biscuits, protein bars, packs of nut-mix selections, plain water, vitamin-enhanced water, breakfast cereals and fresh juice/drink items that can be purchased from the

“Our high-quality vending machines are US designed and made especially for school conditions, they can be fully set up for integrated support with DPS. i.e. credit card, debit card, dollar and coin operations to handle old and new New Zealand currency, chilled to three degrees to keep all products fresh and chilled, and are set up with tracking technology to tells us when the machine is nearly empty to maintain high daily service standards.

“All machines are designed to be very robust with a theft-proof delivery system. We provide security options for internal and external machines, with light cards to display the partnership between Sanitarium Healthier Vending initiative and the school.”

Vending Machines | Food & Beverage

Sanitarium, has in place a quality assurance programme, so that each machine is fully maintained, is reliable and serviced daily by highly skilled vending technicians, backed up by a full customer service call centre and customer support follow-up programme.

mechanism and note reader combined, or coin and note plus card reader for Eftpos or debit cards.

“Schools can also link card payments into their own computer network system, if they wish,” Mr Upjohn says.

The machines, essentially, are designed to be highly convenient for active students wanting to purchase healthy options to keep their energy levels high, early in the morning and after school, for pre- and post-training for sports such as rugby, soccer and netball, Mr Ah-Young points out.

Sanitarium’s state-of-the-art vending machines are supplied brand-new and at no cost to schools that partner with Sanitarium, while at the same time the partnership enables schools to raise funds, with the amount they get depending on how many items are sold each quarter.

“The partnership is designed to give schools and communities a hand-up by helping them fund extra-curricular activities and classroom resources, and help families who need support,” Mr Ah-Young says.

Since the scheme was launched two years ago, over 100 schools and growing, across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch have become involved, he says.

“From 2016 we will look at schools in the smaller centres such as Hamilton, Hastings/ Napier, Palmerston North, Dunedin and Invercargill. An important part of the roll-out is expanding the initiative to other centres in future as we are able to.”

Gevenza Established in 2001, Christchurchbased company Gevenza (formerly General Vending NZLTD) has been importing and supplying Italian-made vending machines to the New Zealand market for the last 14 years.

The fundamental advantage for schools in having a Gevenza-

The mechanism for dispensing the food and drink items is simple and extremely reliable, he says, and easily serviced if anything does go wrong.

supplied vending machine installed is that they can choose whatever products they wish to stock them with, because they are not tied to a specific supplier, company director Lindsay Upjohn says.

“This gives schools greater flexibility as they can research whatever type of healthy and nutritious foods and snacks they believe will be appealing to the students and sell them in the vending machines.”

can arrange service if required.

The payment system can comprise a coin-only changegiver mechanism, a change-giver

A computerised telemetry system can also be included to monitor the contents and function of the vending machine with the information being transmitted to a smartphone, but this is an extra cost for schools for a system that might not be justified, Mr Upjohn says.

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

Not Just Coffee

& Not Just Vending!

Products can range from healthy snacks such as muesli bars and small packs of cereal to healthy beverages like soy milks and flavoured milks that are low-fat and low-sugar, Mr Upjohn says.

Gevenza offers schools the choice of two types of vending machines, bi-temperature and single (3°) temperature. The lower section of the bi-temperature model is maintained at 3-4°C, allowing perishable items such as flavoured milk to be stored safely, while the upper section is maintained at 7-8°C, for the storage of items such as muesli and fruit bars. The gas refrigeration units meet all legal requirements as specified in the Australian and New Zealand standards.

The machines can either be purchased outright or leased from Gevenza and the company

3/11 Homersham Place, Burnside, Christchurch 8053

0800 111 820

sales@generalvending.co.nz | www.generalvending.co.nz

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Food & Beverage | Sanitarium Healthier Vending Initiative Supplier Profile | Sanitarium Healthier Vending Initiative

Standing Tall with Achievers – Rangitoto College – A Showcase School!

Sport in education, is about using the power of sport; to help address the academic and social challenges facing students in secondary schools.

Standing Tall Profile: Sportswoman of the Year, Bryony Botha

We know from research, overseas experience, and from the results achieved by Rangitoto College students at national and international level, that sport is a great way to engage with students, and students learn best when they’re engaged and motivated. Sanitarium Healthier Vending initiative is proud to be associated in a five (5) year partnership to support Rangitoto College as our very first ‘Reference School’ to develop future champion New Zealanders! Principal David Hodge says. ‘Sanitarium has a wonderful association with sport be at grass roots level through events like the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon or at the highest level with the All Blacks. We are delighted to be joining their sponsorship family.”

Bryony is also winning this award for the second year running.

She has continued to excel in all things cycling. She took part in the North Island Schools Road and Track Championships in July and gained the following places:

At the NZSS Road Race in September Bryony was placed first in the Under 20 Girls.

Ten days later Bryony competed at the ITS and ANZAC Cup Track Series (Under 19) were she was:

By Standing Tall with Achievers – Rangitoto College – is a ‘Showcase School’ backed up by a world class education! The vision of Rangitoto College is for every student to maximise their potential through the provision by the school of an exceptional education. We have a large number of athletes who have the determination and work ethic to succeed in their chosen sport. Principal Hodge says, ‘The partnership with Sanitarium will help us ensure we have the right programmes, coaches, facilities and equipment to take them to the top’

In Club Nationals she was 1st in the Team Pursuit, 2nd in the Omnium and 3rd in the Individual Pursuit. She also placed 3rd in the Under 19 Individual Time Trial.

• • •

Rangitoto College Sport’s partnership with Sanitarium Healthier Vending, is designed to achieve a dual purpose in its approach to strongly support that vision and through their passionate Director of Sport, Mr Tony Rogers, is focused on laying solid foundation blocks for success. Tony, a former Olympian, understands the essence of the support networks required to achieve excellence to make a difference for young people.

Through his coaching experience and highlights at national and world championships, he has actively imparted his philosophy of excellence in sport to young people at the highest level, including many young people who have come under his mentoring and coaching support at Rangitoto College. Tony, along with Principal Hodge, Senior Leadership

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common goals’, ‘Sport is often what brings a community together – and we believe our partnership with the Sanitarium Healthier Vending initiative, is a fantastic way to support our school communities to stay active and healthy’.

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• • • • • • •

1st Under 20 Road Race 1st Under 20 Criterium Winners Women Teams Trophy 1st Under 19 Girls 500m Team Sprint Final 1st Under 19 Girls Elimination Race 1st Under 19 Girls Scratch Race Trophy for Most Outstanding Female Rider

Bryony has represented NZ at a number of events and become a global citizen at the same time.

She gained full NZ Honours at the World Cup in Colombia in January.

Team and the school are proud of the sports achievements by students from Rangitoto College at national and international level. Through restructuring and prioritising the delivery of the multitude of sport available in schools, the aim has been to develop habits that foster excellence.

By ‘Standing Tall with Achievers’ - Rangitoto College’s vision, aligns perfectly with Sanitarium Healthier Vending and the five (5) year partnership through the provision of Sanitarium Healthier Vending machine(s) in strategic locations around the school and in ‘key energise zones’ close to the Sports Complexes at Rangitoto College helps deliver this message.

Rangitoto College recognizes that by fostering excellence is achieved by educating students to maximise their potential by ensuring they understand the importance of quality fuel that

Tony, has focused on key people to drive the variety of sports on offer at Rangitoto College; especially in the focus sports that are important to the College and local community like Athletics, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Hockey Netball, Rugby, Volleyball and Water-polo.

She was placed 8th in the Team Pursuit. At the UCI Juniors Track World Champs in Kazakhstan she won a Gold Medal in the Team Pursuit, in a time that was a new World Junior Record, and was 4th in the Omnium.

• •

1st Elimination Race 2nd Team Pursuit 4th Women 5km Scratch Race Final 5th Women Elimination Final 3rd Points Race

Bryony is an amazing athlete and she has all the characteristics needed to succeed at the highest level.

drives their engines with sound hydration and nutritional habits before and after sport to develop healthy minds and grow healthy individuals.

The provision of Sanitarium Healthier Vending machine(s) in strategic locations around the school and in key ‘energise zones’ close to the Sports Complexes at Rangitoto College helps deliver this message.

Tony, who represented New Zealand as an Olympian in the 1500m final at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, knows all about the disciple of setting goals and running; shared his insights, recently, while preparing for the recent Rangitoto College Sports 2015 Awards, ‘Working in Sport allows you to develop a mentoring relationship with adults and with positive, school-oriented peers’, Sport helps socialise youth into being more focused on school, and supports development of timemanagement skills, initiative and an ability to work with others for

Managed by Tony, the Department comprises a dedicated team of Sport Administrators and Co-ordinators who actively support all Teachers in Charge of each sport.

Through the appointment of excellent coaches and experienced people in the youth sport environment as leaders requires investment and a high level of fiscal resource. The Sanitarium partnership over the next five (5) years will ensure this a more sustainable objective.

Tony’s philosophy is that good people develop good individuals and these individuals make excellent teams leading to better performances. In developing the ‘SUCCESS Cycle’ - a sports model for Personal Development, Tony believes, the foundation blocks are in place to continue the vision of excellence in sports at Rangitoto College. This year Rangitoto College, Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year Awards were sponsored by Sanitarium Healthier Vending with the 2015 Awards going to two champions of excellence Bryony Botha [cycling] and Tai Wynyard [basketball].

Rangitoto College, as New Zealand’s largest secondary school, has a proud sporting history which features numerous students; who have become national champions and have triumphed for New Zealand competing at the highest levels as world champions. The College provides over 40 different sports. Students are encouraged to participate in sport throughout their time at the College. With an extensive range of sports on offer and with a focus on long-term healthy lifestyle choices, students are pushed to unlock their potential and expand their talents.

Sanitarium Healthier Vending Initiative | Food & Beverage

Student participation is an important aspect of College life. Everyone is encouraged to participate in competitive as well as participatory sport. Whether it be Athletics, Cross County, Sports Days or intra school class challenges in volleyball or football, they are all designed to allow participation across the spectrum.

Rangitoto College, sporting facilities are among the very best in New Zealand. They include an Olympicstandard water-based hockey turf, three gymnasiums (including full sized basketball and netball courts) indoor cricket nets and bowling machine and the nearby athletics track at the AUT Millennium Institute of Sport. Students also have access to the Institutes indoor 50 metre swimming pool, health and fitness centre and their specialised medical facilities. The College also has onsite full-time physiotherapist’s services to all students and staff and an onsite podiatrist offering support consultations.

Rangitoto College staff say ‘…that for many students whose motivation may have been low, they have been motivated to achieve…’ Students are being offered opportunities to develop their leadership skills through local and national school sports tournaments; senior students coaching Year 9 and 10 students; students speaking at assembly to promote the Olympic Values.

Rangitoto College’s Head Boy, Liam Anderson and recipient of the School’s Award for Excellence in Sports and Academia, says, ‘Rangitoto College ended up making it (sport) a huge part of my life today along with improving my football immensely. I just want to recognise Rangitoto College’s outstanding coaches, managers and personal mentors that are very special to me and a lot of other people who I have journeyed with’.

The Sanitarium Healthier Vending project, is a one of a kind New Zealand healthy initiative, it provides and

named the MVP at the tournament.

have over 100 schools, and growing, partnered with the Sanitarium Healthier Vending initiative. We’re proud to have been voted New Zealand’s most trusted breakfast brand! We partner with over 800 schools, together with Fonterra and the Government through the Kickstart Breakfast programme providing more than a million free breakfasts each year to hungry kids.

We believe a sit-down breakfast with the whole family is still the best breakfast and nutrition option and at schools where our children are spending most of the lives learning.

It’s time to lead with a positive new direction on healthy vending for busy and active Kiwi’s’.

Tai trialled and made the Tall Blacks for the second time in July and they competed in London, Slovenia and China finishing with a series against Australia.

Alongside, health and wellbeing, there is a widespread assumption, that taking part in sport and other physical activity results in better academic achievement.

Tai has been offered a Scholarship to Kentucky University in the States.

Kentucky is the considered the premier College in the States for basketball, having won multiple All American College Titles.

As Tony says “The presumed mechanisms underpinning this relationship vary and include: •

increased energy derived from fitness;

Tai leaves in December to take up this scholarship with the hope that it will lead to his dream to picked up by an NBA team in the future.

•

productive diversion resulting from time away from classroom;

•

reduced disruptive behaviour;

•

improved cognitive functioning as a result of increased cerebral blood flow or improvement of brain neurotransmitters; and

•

a relationship between motor and mental skills and increased self-esteem”

Standing Tall Profile: Sportsman of the Year, Tai Wynyard For the second year running Tai has won this award. He plays for our Premier Boys basketball team who this year won the Premier Grade Auckland wide competition, the Regionals and were crowned National Champions at NZSS in October. Tai was named in the Tournament Team and MVP at this event.

Tai also represented the school in the National 3X3 tournament held earlier in the year and the team of four players won this title as well.

Outside of school, Tai is a member of the Supercity Rangers who play in the NBL, a development player with the Sky City Breakers and he has represented New Zealand in a range of other events.

As a result of this he is becoming quite a seasoned world traveller.

He is one of only three New Zealanders, and the first in five years, to be invited to the Nike Hoop Summit held in Portland, Oregon, as a member of the World Team. He also attended the Nike All-Asia camp in China for the second year running.

In June Tai went to the World 3X3 Championships in Hungary. The team won the gold medal and Tai was

services vending machines at no cost to schools, says the company’s National Key Account Manager – Vending Strategic Partnerships, Fitu Ah-Young, ‘Sanitarium is all about giving Kiwis families a good start to the day - Up&Go provides the fibre, protein and energy of three Weet-Bix and milk in a convenient form. We know from our research, that Kiwis are concerned about health and wellbeing.

We are proud of our partnership with Rangitoto College and we have worked closely with the College on the product range in our machines. Indeed, across

His high level of skill, strong work ethic and motivation will stand him in good stead for his next challenge.

New Zealand, we always include water options, and are adding other nutritious snack options for schools to choose from. Sanitarium encourages all schools to select the best product range for their students, and note that the Reduced Sugar option is increasingly becoming an important focus.”

Fitu, says, ‘That we take our partnerships with schools seriously with a significant investment like the partnership with Rangitoto College – our first ‘Reference School.’ We

Furthermore, the broader significance of sport for many young people enables it to attract educational underachievers to educational environments in which they have the opportunity to raise their level of educational achievement. In particular, research evidence indicates that the importance of sport for many young people means that it may have a significant role to play in educational achievement. These outcomes will depend on the nature and quality of the learning environment.

Supporting Local Communities Sanitarium UP&GO Partnership Vending Programme: Making a difference for our children, making a difference for our schools and paying dividends for life.

0800 UPANDGO (0800 87 263 46) Term 4 - 2015

school news

43

Health & Safety | Teacher Wellbeing

Principals deserve more love!

Ian Vickers Assistant Principal, Sancta Maria College, Auckland teacherwellbeingnz@gmail.com

I have been reading with interest what our Minister of Education has been doing in between her visits to see the All Blacks play their World Cup quarter-final match in Cardiff and then a week later, the semi-final game in London.

She has been meeting with educational leaders and experts in Helsinki, Paris and London, sharing some of the good things going on in New Zealand’s education.

Sounds like a perfect work-life balance. With this in mind, I have submitted a request for leave with pay, August 5–21, 2016. There is an international educational conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil on school furniture designs for 21st-century learners and two weeks later, an education forum in Montevideo, Uruguay on raising mathematical achievement for right-handed students. By way of relaxing whilst overseas and just by coincidence, how lucky am I, is that the Olympic Games are being held in Rio during my time in Brazil, so I might be able to get to see some of our athletes in action. What great timing and I am sure that the Minister would approve of me making the most of this wonderful opportunity.

On a serious note, I wonder if she picked up whilst in England, that teachers are leaving the profession in droves. Many have simply had enough. I was shocked to learn earlier this year, that three teaching friends in England, who I admired as outstanding teachers and whom I thought would be lifers in the profession, have left it all behind.

Reasons: too much change, overworked, stressed to the max, lack of leadership in school due to unwell and burnt-out principals and that the job was beginning to affect their own health.

Warning noises are now coming from a large number of the education experts in that part of the world. Chief executive of the UK’s Teacher Support Network Julian Stanley said: “If we are to stem the tide of departures, the culture in schools must change to

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Term 4 - 2015

proactively engage with teachers as highly competent professionals, who deserve a high level of respect, support and professional development. In short, we must love our teachers or lose them forever.”

principals being unwell, off work sick, struggling to cope so working all weekend just to stay afloat, comments around being poor ‘wellbeing’ role models as they are often seen at school when they are clearly not ‘fit for purpose’.

principal have an assigned mentor, someone who is au fait with 21stcentury education? Could ERO’s ‘wellbeing in schools’ focus be widened to provide positive actions around principal and teacher wellbeing?

John Howson, of the University of Oxford’s Education department said: “Schools and the government need to make sure that we keep as many teachers as possible in the profession. We can’t afford to lose people.”

Interestingly, I heard from about half a dozen principals, who are so busy that they have now moved gym-type equipment into their office, so that they can jump on the rowing machine /exercise bike or do stretches on a medicine ball. Over the past 20 years, there has been much research and reports around the wellbeing of the principals of New Zealand. They all point to overwork, high stress levels, poor health and burnout and yet nothing seems to have changed.

We recently had an ERO review at my school. In one conversation they bleated about how overworked they were, working long hours, that they were shortstaffed and things were quite stressful. I suggested they could look at our college’s staff wellbeing programme that is now in its fourth year (and was highly commended for its innovation in the nationwide HAPINZ/Heart Foundation workplace wellness awards in November 2013). One of the reviewers picked up her clipboard and journeyed her finger down the key indicators for a school review but as teacher wellbeing was not on the list, she declined the offer to explore this aspect of our school life. However, she said: “Whilst you are here, can we have a chat about another matter. We notice that since your last review, you have changed your toilet tissue, from two-ply to three-ply. We are struggling to find the evidence of your self-review process for this change. Did you seek out student voice? What about staff feedback?

Did you involve your wider community in your deliberations?”

This is a real concern, because I am hearing a lot of similar comments from teachers and principals here in New Zealand.

At a recent and very successful TRCC ‘Wellbeing in Schools’ conference, I asked teachers what was the greatest barrier around introducing a staff wellbeing programme at their school. The most common reply was that the principal was the obstacle. Not that they were against the idea of developing a programme but, as individuals, it appears that a significant number of principals across all sectors are struggling under the demands of leading a school. I listened to tales of principals being invisible due to being office bound to meet the required external administrative demands. I heard stories of

Again, I ask the key players in our education system, what are you doing collectively to support and look after the welfare of the nation’s school principals?

Does the sabbatical system need to be revamped, so that principals can have refreshment time, every five years? Should principals have a fixed term at a school and then move on? What would an experienced principal bring to ERO’s school review process, if they were added to the team to visit other schools? Should each

Teacher Wellbeing | Health & Safety

I will leave you to make up your own mind as to whether this could be a true account of a conversation. However, I know one thing and that is many of the principals in New Zealand schools are doing it tough. Is the support for these key people going to be improved dramatically or will nothing change. I wonder how they look after their principals in Finland?

Wellbeing tips for Term 4 Tip 1: Celebrate!

As your school goes through prize-giving season, make sure that all school staff are acknowledged and take time to praise and congratulate each other on their part in supporting your young people throughout the year or through their journey at your school. We applaud the students, whilst their parents and caregivers enjoy seeing success

being highlighted, but we too, as teachers, leaders, principals, wider support and admin staff, like to be given a pat on the back and thanked for our efforts. I feel a lavish BOT laid-on staff morning tea on the way.

general statistic was shared with me. Over 50 per cent of those attending the clinic showed low hydration levels. It is important to keep remembering to drink a few glasses of water during YOUR working day at school.

Tip 2: Drink water

Tip 3: Spruce up your staffroom

We recently held our annual ‘Staff WOF Clinic’ at my school. Teachers signed up for a free 20-minute health check with some visiting medical professionals. A regular batch of checks were carried out: bmi, blood pressure, blood test, urine test and a general health check-up alongside a personal health review questionnaire. Water drinking is regularly promoted at our school but sometimes when the cooler spring temperatures are present, we possibly don’t drink enough.

Interestingly, after our clinic, a

Wouldn’t it be delightful and uplifting to return in February to a revamped and modernised staffroom? Replace those old chairs, tired, worn carpet and tidy up cupboard, shelves and noticeboards. Add some colour on the walls, modernise the furniture, get plush new carpet, add a few plants and provide some cleanlooking wall boards and shelves.

Don’t delay, do a staffroom audit today and get the key people on board. A staffroom spruce-up is probably long overdue.

Tip 4: 2016 Teacher wellbeing programme resources If you are interested in starting a teacher wellbeing programme at your school, then I have written some generic resources for 2016, which you can request for free and edit, rejig and use at your school in 2016.

It is a starting point and hopefully over time, you can develop a wonderful wellbeing and wellness programme that aligns with the ethos and culture of your educational institution.

Please contact me at teacherwellbeingnz@gmail. com and I’ll forward you the ‘Good New Habits’ resource, a ‘Supporting Resources’ document and a 10-step plan of action for implementation. Good luck.

Any opinions offered in this article are purely my own.

Term 4 - 2015

school news

45

Health & Safety | Floor Safety

Suitable flooring prevents falls on slippery surfaces When it comes to selecting flooring in schools, the Ministry of Education has no specific requirements on what type of flooring is used, and leaves it up to the board to make the decisions according to the areas where the flooring is being installed.

However, boards of trustees have the overall responsibility for health and safety in their schools and under the requirements of the Health and Safety Code of Practice for State and State Integrated Schools, in areas where floors can get wet there must be “an effective means of draining off the wet”.

Entranceways, where both water and dirt are constantly brought into school buildings on the shoes of students and teachers, potentially creating a slippery surface, require some form of matting that will mitigate these circumstances.

Alumat Auckland-based company Alumat specialises in supplying mats for entranceways, says owner David Probett.

“You don’t want people slipping over, so the product that’s right for the job is one that will remove as much water and dirt as possible,” he says.

Alumat has recently introduced a new range of water-draining mats, which feature channels to drain water away and are suitable for interior and exterior use.

“Some carry more water than others, depending on the number of drain channels, so schools need to specify the right one for each situation – we can advise them on that,” Mr Probett says.

The water is contained within the channels and evaporates so the mat dries relatively quickly, while dirt and grit are scraped off as feet cross the mat, preventing damage to inside surfaces.

The other safety aspect that schools need to consider when

46

school news

Term 4 - 2015

selecting entrance mats is fire safety. All mats over five sqm must demonstrate they meet or exceed fire safety standard ISO 9239-1 (2010) Critical Radiant Flux 2.2 kw/sqm in most cases.

“The fire regulations have changed and some products on the market no longer comply. It’s very important to only use mats that do comply,” Mr Probett says.

“Most infills have vinyl or rubberised backing, which don’t stand up to heat. We have changed to a different infill supplier. We now get our infill from a company in Holland, which has a special fire-resistant backing, and we are the exclusive supplier of the product in New Zealand.

In fact, our mats exceed the fire safety requirements with a

Critical Radiant Flux of about 7.5 kilowatts per square metre.”

The frames of the mats are made from exterior-grade anodised aluminum, the same as is used for aluminium window frames. These are guaranteed for five years, and Mr Probett encourages schools to retain the frames and simply replace the infills when necessary, which will give them a new mat for 30 to 35 per cent of the cost.

Alumat offers free delivery to schools throughout New Zealand, with products priced lower than others on the market, Mr Probett says.

Altro With over 50 years of history in New Zealand through distribution, Altro is now directly involved in the market and offers a range of high-quality, high-performance products for any demanding school environment, New Zealand sales manager Shaun Armstrong 48 says.

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Health & Safety | Floor Safety

movement,” Mr Armstrong says.

46 A family-run business and worldleading specialist manufacturer and supplier of slip-resistant vinyl safety flooring, Altro has built a reputation in the education sector by providing slip-resistant, hygienic and durable products for floors and walls in communal areas, science laboratories, art rooms, technical rooms, toilets, kitchens and cafeterias.

“Our flooring products are resilient, designed to withstand high usage, including foot traffic, chair scraping and regular furniture

48

“All our flooring incorporates a form of Altro Easyclean maxis PUR technology for ease of cleaning and colour retention.”

A product that has proved hugely popular for school use, he says, is Altro Walkway.

“This hard-wearing 2mm safety flooring provides lifelong slip and abrasion resistance. Altro Walkway 20.VM20 is featured at various schools across New Zealand where it provides excellent slip and abrasion resistance, durability

and is easy-to-clean for these high-traffic environments.”

It is available in 42 colours featuring bright and subtle, sparkle-free designs and decorative chipped options for design flexibility.

A complementary product, Altro XpressLay is an adhesive-free, environmentally flooring. Unlike traditional glue-down flooring, which typically requires the adhesive to cure overnight, Altro XpressLay can be walked on and welded the same day it is installed, saving schools

money and installation time, Mr Armstrong says. It is available in 40 colours.

“The success of our products is due to the innovation and ongoing inspiration of our staff. Since we were founded in 1919, our floor and wall products have changed and evolved to meet the changing needs of the education sector, from pre-school to university, and we will continue to meet those needs in terms of safety, hygiene and durability.”

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

discounts. Call Shaun on 027 970 1696

Create safe, hygienic, sustainable and inspiring interiors with Altro safety flooring & hygienic walling

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school news

Term 4 - 2015

Sexuality Education Guidelines | Sports & Recreation

The new sexuality education guide: what does it mean for your school?

What should you do?

In June this year the Ministry of Education released new sexuality education guidelines for all schools. These guidelines are an update of a document last published in 2002 and so reflect changes in New Zealand society, as well as the latest research.

The guide relates specifically to teaching in health and physical education but also has recommendations for the whole school, including for physical activity and sport.

The new guide – Sexuality Education: A Guide for Principals, Boards of Trustees and Teachers – aims to help schools think about and teach issues of sexuality and to make sure schools are inclusive places for students and their families.

Schools generally don’t have enough time for health education.

With the Health and Physical Education learning area, sexuality education is just one of the key areas of learning (the others being mental health, food and nutrition, body care and physical safety, physical activity, sport studies, and outdoor education). The Education Review Office (2007a, 2007b) and the Ministry of Education (via the sexuality education guide) recommend that all schools spend 12-15 hours per year on sexuality education. Given the importance of other topics in health education (such as interpersonal skills, communication, food and nutrition, friendships, managing stress, etc.) this means that dedicated time needs to be spent on health education (separately from physical education).

Why focus on sexuality education?

We want our young people to be safe, to have positive experiences, to be able to stand up for themselves and to be informed about key political and social issues. This is why we need quality sexuality education in all our schools: to help young

people to think critically about social messages and to have the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their bodies and about relationships. While many parents and community members may assume sexuality education to be about sex, this is only a small aspect of a curriculum focused on relationships, personal identity, gender, communication, friendships, and personal safety.

The new guidelines encourage schools to also look at the whole school environment. New Zealand schools are (or should be) places where young people can question social norms, develop knowledge and engage with others in an inclusive environment. Schools may then ask themselves: do students have free access to health care and counselling?

Are school policies protecting students and staff against harassment and valuing diverse families and values? Do students have reasonable uniform choices that reflect the 21st century (or are uniforms still requiring students to conform to 19th-century gender roles?) Are gay and trans students, staff and families fully supported? Recent research from the adolescent health group suggests that young people who are same-sex attracted are more likely to experience depression.

School environments play a key

role in welcoming and affirming diversity and enabling students to express themselves, develop a wide range of knowledge and feel confident in who they are.

Increasing numbers of schools are welcoming same-sex partners to the school ball and other events, and many schools have a range of uniform choices. These changes are healthy and are reflective of a society that values gender equality, gay rights and freedom of expression.

How does this relate to school sport and physical activity?

The guide recommends that schools review their practices in physical activity and sport to ensure these environments are inclusive for all students.

Students shouldn’t, for example, be discriminated against in sporting contexts on the basis of gender and sporting uniforms should be comfortable for all students and unisex.

•

Download and read the new guide (available from TKI)

•

Review your programmes in health education and sexuality education using the recommendations in the guide at different levels of the NZC.

•

Plan to consult with the community (this is a legal responsibility and there are lots of ideas for how to do this in the guide)

•

Reflect on how inclusive your sports teams and physical activity practices are. You might want to ask, for example, whether the school has equal opportunities for girls and boys to play a range of sports and be involved in a range of physical activities.

You might reflect on what the school policy is on trans students playing sport?

The new sexuality education guidelines are a welcome addition to the education landscape in New Zealand and reflect contemporary thinking and a proactive approach to current social issues. We all want young New Zealanders to be knowledgeable about these social issues, to be confident in who they are, and to feel positively engaged in schools and society.

This document is another step in that direction.

By Katie Fitzpatrick, Associate Professor, University of Auckland

References Education Review Office. (2007a).

The teaching of sexuality education in years 7-13. Wellington, New Zealand: Author. Education Review Office.

(2007b). The teaching of sexuality education in years 7-13: Good practice.

Wellington, New Zealand: Author.

Katie Fitzpatrick is the lead writer of the document, Sexuality Education: A Guide for Principals, Boards of Trustees and Teachers. She has a background teaching health and physical education in schools and has worked on a variety of policy documents, including the health and physical education pages of the New Zealand Curriculum. Ms Fitzpatrick is an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland and teaches and researches in health and physical education.

Term 4 - 2015

school news

49

Property | Turf Management

Winning the war on weeds

Matt Kidby Territory Manager, Lower North Island, PGG Wrightson Turf

As a territory manager with PGG Wrightson Turf, I’m part of a team that is dedicated to the New Zealand turf industry.

As a company, our focus is on the delivery of knowledge and services across the whole industry - from golf courses and major stadiums to local councils and schools.

Over the next few issues of the School News, my aim is to provide you with information and recommendations to help your school fields become increasingly sustainable across changing seasons. This can be achieved by implementing management techniques such as seasonal aeration/renovations, earth worm control, management of wear and tear, nutrient management and basic broadleaf weed control.

And when it comes to the issue

50

of broadleaf, now is the ideal time to start looking at control through the application of a broadleaf herbicide (which is a herbicide that only targets broadleaf weeds without interference to established grasses).

middle of this season each rosette of leaves contains a flower head with many spines and the seeds mature and drop from the plant by about the middle of summer. The best time for control is when the plants are putting on their flush of growth during spring (Oct-Nov).

Weeds can tell us a lot about what is going on beneath our turf. The presence of clovers and plantains can indicate compaction, whilst dandelion and wireweed can be an indication of low pH. This is not recommended if you are managing a ryegrass sward, where your soil pH ideally needs to be approximately 6.0.

Onehunga about enjoying their lunchtime play on school fields. Onehunga weed is an annual weed which looks like a small ferny, rosette about 20 cm in diameter, with flowers that are a tiny, greenish-yellow. Seeds germinate in autumn but the Onehunga weed doesn’t put on much growth until spring. By the

It is currently the season when the biggest weed issue of the playground starts to show its ugly face - Onehunga weed (Prickle weed). There wouldn’t be one child that this weed hasn’t affected during the summer, where it will make children think twice

CREATE SHADE AND SHELTER

Unfortunately, there isn’t a ‘one herbicide fixes all’ approach to control broadleaf weeds in turf, but my recommendation would be ‘Bow & Arrow Herbicide’ (20g/L clopyralid, 15g/L diflufenican, 300g/L MCPA) at label rates of five litres per hectare. Bow & Arrow Herbicide has a large spectrum of weed control and can be tank mixed with another herbicide - ‘Smackdown’ (Carfentrazone) - to broaden the weed spectrum even further.

Like all chemical applications, I always recommend talking to your nearest PGG Wrightson territory

Pinehurst School

FOR YOUR STUDENTS St John’s School Mairangi Bay

Sunnybrae Normal School

Dairy Flat School

frescoshades.co.nz

school news

Term 4 - 2015

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.

Turf Management | Property

Plantain manager on site for additional application details and rates. I would also recommend that you engage with an approved and accredited applicator to spray such chemicals.

It’s also the time of year when the changing of sporting codes happens, with rugby and soccer taking a break and cricket and athletics commencing. For those schools with artificial cricket wickets, maintenance requirements are minimal. A spray for any moss or algae that may have established over the winter, with products such Mostox® or 30 Seconds ‘Spray and Walk Away’, will have the wicket ready to go in no time and both

Wireweed

By the middle of this season each rosette of leaves contains a flower head with many spines and the seeds mature and drop from the plant by about the middle of summer.”

products are easiest to apply via a spray knapsack.

With those schools that have the pleasure of being able to produce a natural clay-based cricket block, now is when the hard work of renovation begins with wetting and re-wetting, rolling and cross rolling of your block will set you up for the rest of the season. It’s important to keep up the feeding of your block with

a 1/1 ratio slow release fertiliser such as Andersons 15-0-15 50% slow release. This keeps growth slowly ticking along, as well as delivering added potassium to help harden the grass surface in preparation for rolling. Keep an eye out for disease on block as this can very easily take hold and can sometimes be hard to recover from. Prevention is better than cure in this instance,

so applying fungicides such as ‘Dithane’ (Mancozeb), ‘Cavalry’ (Chlorothalonil) and ‘Instrata‘ (Chorothalonil, Propiconazole, Fludioxinil) at regular intervals (e.g. every third week) will help protect against these diseases.

I hope the summer treats you all well with a good break over the holiday period in preparation for 2016.

PGG Wrightson Turf are proud suppliers to schools throughout New Zealand • NZ bred winter active seed varieties

• Hessian cricket covers

• Competitively priced chemicals and adjuvants

• Solu-Cal Granulated lime, gypsum and dolomite

• NZ agents for Croplands sprayers

• Soil wetting agents

• Granular fertilisers including Andersons slow release NutriDG (dispersing granular) technology

• Graden scarifying machines

• Foliar fertilisers including the Emerald Isle range

• Supaturf line marking products

For more information contact your PGG Wrightson Territory Manager North Island 09 570 2570 Palmerston North 027 487 4002 South Island 03 372 8719 info@pggwrightsonturf.co.nz

facebook.com/pggwrightsonturf pggwrightsonturf.co.nz

Term 4 - 2015

school news

51

Property | Sports Field Maintenance

A staged approach to school sports field upgrades The upgrading or enhancement of a school sports field can be a costly and sometimes intimidating process.

These days it is not as simple as just replacing like for like or throwing some sand and seed down and seeing what comes up! There are a wide range of surfacing options available some of which include: •

Sand carpet

•

Soil profile

•

Artificial (3G)

•

Hybrid (blend of artificial matting or fibres with natural turf grass component)

•

•

The table on the right briefly summarises (in general terms) the various pros and cons of each option. This information is generic, but provides a great starting point from which your school can identify your best option(s) for your site and resources.

From experience, most schools' sports field expectations will be achieved through installing a wellconstructed, drained, watered and reasonably maintained soil field. Where ‘premier’ rugby or a relatively high level of multi-use of the sports platform is likely then sand carpet sports surfaces are preferable. For instance, in the case of a rugby/soccer field that also doubles up as a cricket outfield in summer, sand carpet surfaces (with full irrigation) will perform best and may well justify the financial investment.

Whichever option is available to your school, staging the entire upgrade process can help.

As with any form of resource investment staging the order of priority should be reflective of the need. For example, where a school needs to have a decent rugby field up and running in a relatively short period of time and

school news

• Sand carpet

Term 4 - 2015

Soil profile

• •

• • Artificial

Hybrid

Build cost¹

Annual maintenance cost

Costly construction (in comparison to soil field) Requires irrigation.

Requires fertiliser applications Surface likely to erode

$200,000$250,000

$25,000$30,000

Typical playable hours per week = Average of 10 Surface likely to become muddy in winter Surface likely to erode May require secondary drainage (i.e. slits)

$49,000$120,000

$15,000

Expensive to install Ecological issues High disposal costs Comparatively high maintenance costs that require specific machinery vulnerability to vandalism ‘Potential for injury’

$1.2M-$2M

$25,000$42,000

Expensive to install Fewer accredited contractors able to install Long-term issues unknown (relatively new technology) Expensive on-going maintenance costs

In line with artificial

In line with artificial

Pros

•

The key factor to consider is that no single option will provide your school with a ‘maintenance free’ or ‘silver bullet’ solution.

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Field

• • •

Cons

Superior surface drainage Typical playable hours per week = Average of 18 ‘Cleaner’ surface in winter (i.e. less mud)

•

Cheaper to build compared to sand field (from new) Cheaper to maintain (from new) May not require irrigation

•

All year round surface Typical playable hours per week = 30-40 No surface erosion No loss of turf grass No mud

(See above) • Slight reduction in weekly hours due to natural turfgrass component

• • •

• • • • • • •

• • • • • •

where resources dictate that a soil sports field is the only realistic option, a staged approach to works could be as follows:

Stage 1 (Year 1) a.

Site survey and sports field design,

b.

Installation of primary drainage (i.e. lateral and main drains with connections as required),

c.

Remediation of any localised low spots existing on the field,

d.

Application of up to 10 mm of sand topdressing, seed and feed,

e.

Installation of temporary irrigation system (i.e. irripods).

Stage 2 (Year 2) f.

Design and installation of an appropriate irrigation system,

g.

Further application of 10 mm sand topdressing and feed.

Stage 3 (Year 3) h.

i.

Installation of secondary drainage (i.e. gravel bands or sand slits), Allowance for further sand application to top up secondary drains and feed.

Notes: •

The extent and scope of steps (a) to (e) should be identified through an initial (brief) feasibility report of the site.

•

The above scenario is based upon maintaining the existing surface of the sports field platform(s).

When considering an upgrade, or any sort of significant improvement of your sports field asset it is advisable to make provision for an initial (site

specific) investigation. In my last article I described the various key components of such an investigation and how important this small investment is in regards to the long-term success of any upgrade project. A site-specific investigation will identify what is actually required, how this should be achieved (i.e. staging) and independently provide some technical assurances and safeguards on behalf of the school when it comes to contractors proposing or tendering for physical works etc.

Where multi-code sports fields exist (as most schools have) the scope of upgrade works should be dictated by reviewing the most appropriate use of the existing space and deciding upon the optimal layout of sports fields, cricket wickets etc. As school fields evolve over time the original layouts can often become limiting factors in relation to the management of reasonable (and safe) playing surfaces. Prior to making any financial commitment to any form of staged upgrade it is advisable for the school to clearly identify the most appropriate orientation of each sports field asset – what can realistically fit on-site and how can this be managed?

In summing up, any significant enhancements your school is planning to carry out to sports field assets need to be carefully planned, resourced, and any decisions regarding appropriate surface options and associated infrastructure should be made in full appreciation of all current options, costs of installation and the on-going commitment to maintenance demanded to each option.

SSDM is an independent turf consultancy able to assist your school in all aspects of sports field scoping and design option.

By Will Bowden, Sports Turf Consultant, Sports Surface Design Management

Case Study – Westmere School | Property

Rebuild programme brings new learning environment to century-old school Auckland’s Westmere School is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, although its actual centenary was in 2014. As principal Carolyn Marino explains, the celebrations were not held last year, due to the major rebuilding programme taking place at the school.

School growth throughout the decades had resulted in the piecemeal addition of classrooms at Westmere School, she says.

For example, in the 1970s, 12 classrooms were added to cater for growing numbers of students, which saw the school become one of the first in the country to have open-plan classrooms. Then, five years ago, Westmere School underwent a period of major growth. This stretched its facilities and prompted the board to

to discuss how redevelopment issues would be dealt with in the future. We had a meeting with the Ministry and our board expressed their concern that there was not a Master Plan for the school. The 12 classrooms from the 1970s, which were prefab, were old and tired, and six more classrooms had been put up in 2009. We all agreed that the school needed a new Master Plan to drive future growth and development.”

petition the Ministry of Education for additions, Ms Marino says.

“It took 18 months to get a response, and during that time a building inspector from the Ministry came to look at weathertightness issues in the old library building and the admin

building. We thought we needed three more classrooms, but the Ministry was looking much further out and said we needed seven to cater for roll growth. The roll had almost doubled in five years from 380 to 670.

“Then the opportunity came up

Ms Marino says the Ministry recognised the country was entering a time of change in 2012-13 that would see significant population growth, especially in Auckland where there was greenfield development as well as major infill housing being constructed.

That meant there needed to be much more forward thinking done, 54 she says.

Enhancing your natural and artificial turf environment We work with our clients throughout New Zealand to design, build and maintain sports and recreational surfaces.

• Site investigation • Drainage improvements • Irrigation upgrade • Surface renewal • Disease analysis • Fertilise programmes • Ecological greenspace management • Artificial turf planning • Project management

09 442 0298 : www.ssdm.co.nz Term 4 - 2015

school news

53

Property | Case Study – Westmere School

53 “For every extra 20 to 25 children, a school could petition for another classroom, but for us it wasn’t going to be easy to just add the extra seven classrooms. We had to get rid of some of the prefabs, so we did a feasibility study looking at the site where we could put the new classrooms to get the whole school site working well.

“There was also a 1940s’ hall, which provided access to the other side of the school site, and two community classrooms for bi-lingual teaching of Te Reo. In the end, we had to pull down 10 of the old classrooms and as a result, 17 new classroom spaces have been built.”

These are made up of eight studios, seven with three teachers and one with two teachers. Each studio is approximately 260sqm containing two withdrawal spaces, which separately can accommodate 10-20 children each, or can be used as one large space for performing arts.

Between each two studios is a shared large space able to accommodate 40-50 children.

Heavy-duty glass sliding doors separate the areas.

The studios are each equipped with a kitchen bench and stove, and two studios share an office

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space for six teachers. There are also art and science areas.

The six classrooms built in 2009 have been transformed into three, two-teacher spaces. The 1970s’ block has been refurbished and changed from six classrooms to two studios with three teachers in each.

“The biggest difference with the new spaces, and what I’m thrilled with, is the soundproofing,” Ms Marino says. “There are Autex acoustic ceiling panels, and 30 per cent of the walls have Autex panels, which are fine acoustically, though we would have preferred more panels for display purposes.

“But we are thrilled with the new spaces. They are warm, beautiful, modern environments, and the open spaces are very versatile, allowing for more fluidity and flexibility.”

The rebuild was also an opportunity for the school to utilise a government grant for new furniture and ICT wireless equipment. This includes touch screen TVs and a range of portable devices including iPads and Chrome Books.

“This new environment and the suite of tools allow the children to learn and work in very different ways.” Ms Marino says. “With internet-based online learning they can work collaboratively, and parents can go online and look at their children’s work.

“For today’s learning and teaching the school environment needs to be much more flexible. We still believe in the power of handson learning, hence why we incorporated the kitchen facilities and the large art areas in each studio space.”

To ensure the new spaces would work for the teachers and students, architect Peter Davidson had several meetings with the staff and asked them to brainstorm and draw what it was they wanted children to learn and how they wanted to teach. From those he created spaces for science, technology, drama, music, and dance, which Ms Marina says are equally as important for the students as literacy and numeracy.

“It allows us to provide education for the whole child.”

At the end of 2013, in order for the construction to start, 20 classrooms were set up on the school playing field, with the school site being cut in half by the building project throughout 2014. A ‘yellow brick road’ linked the junior school students and teachers on one side of the campus with the majority of the school down on the field.

In addition to the new learning spaces, Westmere School has gained outdoor area. While most inner-city schools lose space when new buildings go up, following the removal of all the prefabs Westmere School has actually gained space for extra netball courts, Ms Marino says.

The move into the new buildings took place at the start of term 3 this year, with the official opening

by Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye and local MP David Shearer being held on August 21.

By Christine de Felice, Staff Reporter

school news

Term 4 - 2015

Case Study – Westmount | Property

Acoustic solution for new learning centre Westmount is a registered private school for students in years 3-13. It operates 11 campuses and satellites throughout New Zealand, with a national office in Auckland. There are currently 1670 students on the roll.

reverberation in the open space, whilst complementing the room’s furnishings.

The school’s innovative teaching practices are complemented by state-of-the-art specialist facilities including science laboratories and technology workshops. At the heart of each school is the learning centre, which offers a multipurpose, teacher-supported resource to support all children’s learning.

As design and aesthetics were particularly important for this project, Autex CubeTM was chosen, due to its impressive sound-absorbing properties as well as allowing for complete design flexibility. Having used CubeTM in a previous project, the team at Unispace were confident that the lightweight and semi-rigid acoustic panel would be perfect to create the custom acoustic feature they sought.

The concept of a learning centre is to provide an inspirational atmosphere conducive to creativity and independent learning. Far from being just another classroom, a successful learning centre must be well planned to incorporate many elements that support the learning and the learning environment in a welcoming work area.

Westmount School recently refurbished its Kaipara campus to include a new learning centre designed around forward-thinking learning styles. The modern learning centre includes a large, open collaborative area, banquette seating and glazed brainstorm and project rooms. Although aesthetically pleasing, the hard surfaces and large open area had the potential to produce high levels of noise reverberation and create a disruptive learning environment.

Aware of the potential issue, interior design group Unispace sought out a high-performing custom acoustic solution that would be visually appealing and represent a fun and engaging learning environment.

Having previously worked with Autex, Unispace associate designer Rosie Taylor approached account manager Anton Agnew for a practical acoustic solution that would complement the school’s vibrant culture. A bespoke acoustic feature was an ideal solution to reducing noise

Working in collaboration with Autex, Unispace designed a rippled water pattern to form a softened, fluid effect, creating a kinetic illusion that changes as you move around the learning centre.

Working to an extremely tight programme, 74 24mm thick CubeTM fins were water-cut in Autex colours: Senado, Flatiron and Savoye. Fixed directly to the ceiling using an aluminium channel, the ‘rippled water pattern’ had lights suspended in between fins to create a vibrant, glistening effect, highlighting the contemporary colours selected to further complement the space.

The finished result was truly phenomenal.

Post installation of the custom acoustic feature, the new learning centre promotes a calm yet collaborative environment, benefitting students and staff alike.

Upon the success of this project, there are similar projects in the pipelines for Nelson and Hastings Westmount campuses.

Not only ideal for acoustic absorption; CubeTM presents many benefits that make it a staple in any educational environment. CubeTM is highly durable, impact resistant, non-allergenic, non-irritant and non-toxic. The complete design flexibility of CubeTM creates endless possibilities and solutions for functional environments.

By Jeremy Robertshaw, Autex

TIME & ATTENDANCE SYSTEM Admin & teachers are able to record students movements between classes & activities, and access reports and see trends as they happen Parents are given real-time updates on the whereabouts of their children Easily adaptable options for fast input from students and they love the instantaneous nature of it

Call ScanOne today to see if you are eligible for a 30 day trial system

www.scanone.co.nz

0800 44 77 00 | info@scanone.co.nz Term 4 - 2015

school news

55

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 ergo-dynamic PantoFlex chair. Designed by one of the world’s greatest furniture designers, Verner Panton, the PantoFlex chair promotes correct posture, improves blood and oxygen circulation, assists the developing musculo-skeletal system and most importantly contributes to an increased attention span. And that’s only half the story.

To find out more about our innovative range of educational furniture visit woodsfurniturenz.co.nz or call 0800 196 637.

We’re for flexible learning