School News NZ - Term 1 - 2016

Sports Tours: How travel strengthens sports teams Essential Reading for Principals • Department Heads • Property Managers • Professionals

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sn inside | Term 1 - 2016 Welcome to the first issue of School News for 2016.

This term we look at the increasing popularity of team travel, and reveal that Argentina is the most-requested destination by schools in New Zealand. Find out how other schools manage the organising and fundraising, and who can best help you with planning.

In the classroom we take a close look at specific learning difficulties, particularly dyslexia and dyscalculia, with advice from the experts at SPELD, The Dyslexia Foundation, a dyslexia specialist, and a publisher that specialises in books for reluctant readers.

We also investigate the online literacy programs that cater to readers across the spectrum, and how they can be utilised in your school.

If you’re looking for inspiration, you’ll get it in spades from this month’s Principal Speaks column

by Sean McDermott. Sean and his

amazing team have transformed a tiny school in Northland that was on the brink of closure into a sought-after academy.

The Bay of Islands International Academy, formerly Te Tii School, was awarded International Baccalaureate status late last year.

Hopes and dreams have come true also for the tiny island of Niue in the form of a brand new primary school, illustrating how a school really is the beating heart of its community. Locals hope the investment in the school will bring about a cultural revival for the nation which has suffered a vast population exodus since the 1960s.

As summer comes to an end and we plan for the cooler terms, it’s a good time to think about installing a solar energy system to keep the school power bills down and teach students about harnessing natural energy. One school has wiped out its power bill altogether and is able to divert the $5000 savings to other much-needed resources.

news 05 Ministry News 07 News Round-up

profile 10 Niue Primary School: New school in Niue brings hope of a cultural revival

what's hot 12 What's Hot

education 14 Principal Speaks: Radically re-imagining school

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17 Special Report: What we can learn from Minecraft 19 Specific Learning Difficulties 19 Dyscalculia focus for SPELD NZ conference 2016 20 Learning differences in a nutshell 21 Dyslexia in the classroom – a literacy focus 22 Get reluctant boys reading – and loving it!

24 Professional Development 24 Principal upskills at The Mind Lab 25 Using virtual excursions to enhance learning 26 Huge choice of further study for teachers 28 There’s nothing more certain than change!

28 Advanced higher education programmes

administration 30 Innovative Learning Environments: A modern approach to teaching and learning

32 E-Commerce: Cashless payments remove administration woes

Sports Tour How travel s: strengthen s sports te ams

Essential Reading for Principa ls • Departm ent Head s • Property

Manager FOR A PR s • Professi onals OFESSION WEBSITE AL AND CALL TH ARBO E SPECYE 09 580 0069 IALISTS OK or visit www .cmcscho ols.co.nz

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We also look at another great way to stretch funding, by introducing a cashless payment and paperfree permission slip system. Some schools are reporting a saving of up to 70 per cent on administration time and say that teachers’ time has been freed up by no longer having to deal with permission slips.

Have a happy and successful 2016 in school.

Noho ora mai.

teaching resources 34 Online Literacy Programmes: Which online literacy programme for your school?

38 Book Reviews

food & beverage 39 Healthy Eating Options 39 Easing the way for healthy canteen choices 42 Venture Out! Healthy Outlook, Healthy Future!

external learning 44 Sports Tours: How travel strengthens sports teams

health & safety 48 Teacher Wellbeing: Teachers need to be valued more

50 Sun Safety: Sun safety as vital as core curriculum 51 The New Zealand Blood Service: Blood donors saved my life

sports & recreation 52 Sports Field Maintenance: Synthetic sports surfaces allow year-round access

property 54 Solar Energy 54 Schoolgen – New Zealand’s leading solar programme in schools 56 Using solar power to wipe out electricity bills 57 Interacting with school children

60 Case Study – Richmond Road Primary: Futuristic paging system improves student engagement

62 Sports Field Maintenance: Getting maximum use out of school playing fields

Ministry News | News

Helping hand for at-risk students Education minister Hekia Parata has launched a new initiative to support atrisk students to stay and succeed at school.

including through extra-curricular activities, as well as addressing any issues which are barriers to education – both in and out of school.

Based in the wider Gisborne region, the $2.2 million Year 9 Plus will provide targeted support to try to improve outcomes in retention, engagement and attainment of NCEA Level 2.

“Champions will work with the student’s family, school, community organisations and government agencies to ensure the student is well-supported to attend, stay and succeed at school. They’ll also work with the student’s siblings who may need similar support.”

Around 100 students from Wairoa to Hicks Bay identified as most at risk of needing help will receive extra support from an education “champion” throughout their secondary education.

“Champions will show students the value of education and the doors it can open for them,” says Ms Parata.

“They’ll do this by facilitating the development of young people,

Rawhiti School officially open Rawhiti School in New Brighton, east Christchurch, has been officially opened by education minister Hekia Parata.

The decile 3 school, a full primary with a current roll of 502, is a merger between Central New Brighton, North New

Education minister Hekia Parata meets Rawhiti School pupils.

Brighton and Freeville Schools.

The new buildings include six flexible learning studios and a multi-purpose hall, library and community space, and cost $13.6 million.

“This school is a welcome addition to the Christchurch schooling network, which is emerging as one of the most modern schooling networks in the country,” says Ms Parata.

“Merging three schools together is a challenge but the Rawhiti School community has risen to

that challenge and successfully developed a unified school culture.”

The government is investing $1.137 billion renewing and restoring the greater Christchurch schooling network. This involves 115 school schools that are being rebuilt, repaired or remodelled by 2022.

“We’re really pleased with the progress we’ve made in Christchurch and the way that the community has embraced the rebuild,” says Ms Parata.

“In the supporting role”

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News | Ministry News Teachers recognised on New Year’s honours list

Professor Helen May

The recipients are: CNZM

•

Professor Max Abbott, for services to health, science and education

Teachers specialising in early childhood, Maori learners and special education were among the recipients of New Year’s honours.

•

Penelope Simmonds, for services to education, sport and the community

Twelve awards were made for services to education. These include Professor Mere Anne Berryman from Waikato University in recognition of her 35 years’ service to Maori and education.

•

Professor Mere Berryman, for services to Maori and education

•

Emeritus Professor Alan Bishop, for services to Maori and education

Professor Mere Anne Berryman

Ms Berryman’s focus has been addressing disparities in education achievement of Maori students, and she has published ten books which include detailed outlines on culturally responsive teaching methodologies.

The principal of Allenvale School in Christchurch, a provider of special education, was also honoured.

Mr Daniel is known as a champion for special education and a thought leader in national education.

Up until the end of last year he was president of the Special Education Principals’ Association of New Zealand.

Otago University professor, Helen May, was honoured for her work particularly in early childhood.

Ms May, a former primary school teacher, worked with Margaret Carr on the development of Te Whaariki, the early childhood curriculum.

ONZM

School network upgrade almost complete Within the next few months, all New Zealand state and stateintegrated schools will have the ability to access high quality, highspeed internet.

The 11-year project has seen 2,431 New Zealand schools given the infrastructure to access fast and reliable internet.

MNZM

From city centres to rural towns throughout the country, schools are harnessing the power of 21st century technology to improve learning.

•

Janet Adams, for services to education

Collingwood Area School

•

Norman Campbell, for services to tertiary education

•

Larry Ching, for services to education

•

Graeme Daniel, for services to special education

•

Carolyn Solomon, for services to education

•

John Taylor, for services to education

•

Professor Helen May, for services to education

QSM

•

Billie Chote, for services to education

“These 12 people are fine examples of the passionate and dedicated people working in education to make a real and positive difference for young New Zealanders,” said minister Stephen Joyce.

While Collingwood Area School is physically isolated, there’s nothing off the beaten track about its technology.

The school, the most north western in the South Island, is near Farewell Spit and a two-hour trek by road over the tortuous (if scenic) Takaka Hill to Nelson.

The school was an early adopter of broadband and digital technology, and now the government’s ultrafast broadband project means Collingwood can access benefits of the digital super highway.

Principal Janelle McKenzie says with these upgrades to the school's technology,

broadband speeds throughout the classrooms have gone from 1-2MB a second to 30MB plus. That means instead of at times waiting 5-10 minutes to connect to the Nelson-based student management system, the response is now instant.

The technology and communications provided through the broadband enhancements mean even though the students are a long way from big city schools, their educational choices are not restricted.

Using technology is integral to the school’s daily life – from video conferencing calculus lessons, to West Coast students taking art history through WestNet, a top of the South and West Coast e-learning community, or accessing human biology courses from Southland Institute of Technology for two students keen to pursue careers as potential personal trainers.

For teachers, long hours of travel can inhibit professional development, so being able to Skype other remote area schools (covering Rai Valley to Westland) means they can share their experiences without getting in a car for long time-wasting journeys.

ROBOT STARTER KIT WINNER ANNOUNCED schoolnews together with Kiwibots New Zealand are pleased to announce the winner of the Vex IQ Robot Starter kit is Waipahihi School in Taupo.

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News Round-up | News

School a struggle for children living in poverty Teachers held in high regard New Zealand’s teachers and primary schools continue to enjoy very high levels of confidence and respect, according to UMR Research’s latest Mood of the Nation survey.

A new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has highlighted the negative effects of poverty, showing that disadvantaged children in New Zealand are more than six times more likely to underachieve in maths than children from wealthier homes.

The report looked at results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of 15-year-olds in 64 countries and found that the disadvantages of poverty are compounded by a lack of early childhood education or coming from a single-parent family.

necessities of life. When a child is poorly housed, fed and clothed, their health suffers, their dreams slowly shrink and it’s no wonder that school can be a struggle.

“The report said that, worldwide, socio-economic status was ‘probably the most important risk factor associated with low academic performance’. It makes sense to focus on reducing that risk factor. Introduction of the living wage of $19.25 would have a positive effect for many children and their families,” said Ms Green.

“Many of our underprivileged children come from homes where one or both parents are employed, but the minimum wage is not enough to live on and provide the

Membership includes 97 per cent of all primary and middle schools, 90 per cent of all area schools and 32 per cent of all secondary schools.

New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa president Louise Green said New Zealand’s teachers were dedicated to ensuring every child reached their potential.

Education Outside the Classroom

Rotorua Christian Camp

New president for NZPF

Modern Facilities at Tui Ridge!

President of the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa, Louise Green, said the report was more evidence poverty had a massive impact on children’s ability to learn.

“We should be putting our efforts into pulling children and their families out of poverty so they can achieve their true potential, but this government is clearly not serious about lifting educational system success while it pursues policies that breed poverty and inequality,” she said.

drawn from public, integrated and private schools.

Public confidence in primary schools increased by four per cent in 2015, with 69 per cent of those surveyed expressing a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence. Only general practitioners (GPs) rated higher amongst institutions, on 70 per cent. Teachers came fourth in the occupational respect ratings, with 7.97 points on a scale of 0-10. Nurses, doctors and the police took the top three places.

Iain Taylor

The 2016 president for New Zealand Principals’ Federation is Iain Taylor, principal of Manurewa Intermediate School in Auckland.

Mr Taylor has been released from his school for the year to work from the NZPF office in Wellington.

The federation is the largest professional body for school principals in the country and has a membership of 2,200 principals

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News | News Round-up

“Schools are the centre of their communities and it’s not surprising that New Zealanders value and trust the educators teaching their children. Teachers do a fantastic job, despite increasing challenges and limited resources,” she said.

Disabled children getting a raw deal in school IHC New Zealand has welcomed a new survey revealing inadequate support for disabled students in school. The survey of special education needs coordinators (SENCOs) was conducted by the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa and shows that around 16 per cent of students were on schools’ special needs registers, but nearly 90 per cent of schools’ special needs coordinators did not believe there was adequate support for students and their learning.

Trish Grant, IHC director of advocacy says, “The information in this survey provides us with another piece in the puzzle, creating an overall picture demonstrating the urgent need for a total transformation of the policy and funding framework for the education of disabled students.

“The results of the survey mirror IHC’s survey - both provide clear evidence that there’s not enough funding to meet the need and not enough resourcing of teachers who play a critical role in ensuring that disabled students access education on the same basis as their non-disabled peers.

“Clearly the ministry of education’s approach of increasing some specific funding priorities is not fixing the problems, rather is adding to the difficulties experienced by teachers, schools and students. Both the NZEI and IHC surveys clearly point to the need for transparency on government funding priorities”.

“IHC calls for an “open the books” exercise. The MOE will be just as concerned as IHC is about the lack of effectiveness of the substantial investments made so far.”

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Maori board game for geography learning A simple board game is bringing local history alive for Kiwi students.

Books have been put aside in 60 Tauranga schools in favour of the hands on Koha: The Culturally Cool Card Game of Tauranga Moana.

Koha is the brainchild of Tommy Kapai Wilson (Ngati Ranginui/ Pirirakau) and is designed to strengthen players' knowledge of local sites, historic locations and the meanings of Maori place names.

"I think it’s important for all Kiwis to know what’s in their own backyard," says Tommy, who has authored more than 30 children’s stories.

People always want to know

‘Why is that place significant?’

They’re places we often drive past and don’t know what the name means.

"Koha breaks down barriers about what’s important in our own backyards."

Tommy says Koha is an interactive and hands-on teaching tool that has been needed for a long time.

"The resource and the knowledge has never been there," he says.

"There’s a definite thirst to engage

by Maori teachers and others with students on these things."

Kaimai Primary School principal, Dane Robertson, says his school has received five copies of the game and the students are enjoying it.

"The children like it and have really gotten into it," he says. "We started off with the senior students

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Chris Hamling from Kiwibots says the competitions inspire a passion for science and technology by having teams

playing it and they then taught the younger ones."

"It has been great to hear the children and even staff members making an effort to pronounce Maori words and break down Te Reo as they look for clues as to what things mean."

Dane says children learn best through play and Koha has been good for them to learn things about their local areas that they would not have known otherwise.

The Ministry of Education supported Tommy and three Bay of Plenty iwi – Ngati Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi and Ngati Pakenga – on the project.

"It’s great the Ministry worked with three iwi on this. It is a really amazing resource," said Tommy.

"We can be very grateful for what we’ve created." Two hundred copies of Koha: The Culturally Cool Card Game of Tauranga Moana have been distributed to 60 schools in the Bay of Plenty.

Tommy says he would like to develop an Aotearoa-wide game to include rivers of significance, marae and much more.

"It would be a wonderful resource of what is in Aotearoa."

Gifted students could be accelerated develop, over a period of time, the robots to the best of their ability and then have those robots tested on a “field of dreams”.

Discussions around how to best serve gifted children are flourishing at the Ministry of Education online learning site, Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI), which has a section for the gifted and talented community.

News Round-up | News

But New Zealand has no set definition of what makes a gifted student, and no set of rules on how they should be progressed through the school system.

Dr Janna Wardman, from Auckland University, says it's estimated that one in 50 students in every school is sufficiently gifted in a broad range of subjects and socially mature enough to enable them to be accelerated a full year, if they wish.

“In 2005, the ministry decided to categorise gifted and talented as a section within special needs students, but this has so far not assisted their cause, and there is still no targeted budget to assist gifted students in schools.

“Acceleration as a strategy, however, does not require extra funding; it simply requires a willingness to consider the full year acceleration option that has been

proven around the world to be the best strategy for even moderately gifted students.”

Many New Zealand schools have programmes in which gifted students accelerate in a few individual subjects, but full-year acceleration allows students to progress at a faster rate in all subjects and some finish secondary school in just four years.

This allows early progress to university study, or to follow another pathway. But not all schools offer such strategies and without it, Dr Wardman says some gifted students drop out of school.

"I call them 'The Lost Gifted' because I became aware that a number of very bright students become so bored with the pace of the curriculum that is offered to them that they play up," she says.

There is no data on New Zealand gifted students who exit early, but overseas it is estimated up to 20 per cent leave school early with no or few qualifications. Rather than allowing this to happen, Dr Wardman would like to see a set process where students are identified as gifted as early as possible.

In secondary schools testing is usually done at the beginning of year 9. If multiple forms of identification agree, at the end of

term one, they could be moved to start term two up a grade, in year 10. Some profoundly gifted students require a two grade acceleration to keep them challenged and engaged in their learning.

The process at primary school is similar; multi-level classes make it easy for gifted students to progress with their ability peers rather than being retained with their age-peers.

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Profile | Niue Primary School

New school in Niue brings hope of a cultural revival While much of the world frets about how it will accommodate rapidly growing populations, some islands in the Pacific face the opposite dilemma: how to stop everybody from leaving.

In the tiny island of Niue, a steady decline in population has threatened to wipe out the 1000-year-old culture.

In the 1960s, the island was home to more than 5000 inhabitants, but with the vast majority leaving for “a better life” in New Zealand, the population dropped to 1100 by the end of 2014. By contrast, there are more than 24,000 Niueans living in New Zealand. Niueans are automatically New Zealand citizens.

Back in the 1960s, there were also six primary schools bustling

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We look forward to welcoming Niue expatriates home. Here their children will learn vagahau Niue (Niue language) and culture as well as the essential learning areas of the curriculum. So the new building is a huge boost for us.” with life. All but one closed and that had fallen into disrepair.

A leaking roof meant teachers and children got soaked during classes on rainy days, and the school was forced to close every cyclone season, November to April.

27 and welcomed 220 children across both sites. There are 12 teachers and three teacher aides in the primary school, led by principal Itzy Tukuitoga.

Importantly, the new school is located safely away from the sea.

“We look forward to welcoming Niue expatriates home. Here their children will learn vagahau Niue (Niue language) and culture as well as the essential learning areas of the curriculum. So the new building is a huge boost for us.”

Worryingly, the school was also located very close to the sea and locals had very valid fears of it falling victim to a tsunami.

The opening ceremony celebrated more than a shiny new school, says Birtha Togahai, director of education.

It represents hope for a cultural revival and possibly a turning point for the trend in population decline. It is thought that Niueans living away from the island will be tempted to return.

Not only are the buildings new, they contain new furniture and plenty of resources to support delivery of the curriculum. Niue Primary School follows the New Zealand curriculum with the addition of weaving, performing arts and music. Many of the children played ukulele at the opening ceremony.

Happily, hope has returned to the island this month in the form of a brand new primary school and early childcare centre (ECC).

Agoga Tau Fanau Ikiiki was formally opened on January

Niue Primary School ? | | Profi Profiles le

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Along with the children and teachers, Ms Tukuitoga comes from the island’s existing primary school. She has been principal for nine years after teaching there for 11 years. She is a New Zealand-trained teacher and also has leadership qualifications from the University of the South Pacific.

Funding for the new school, which caters for 400 children from pre-school through to year six, came from the governments of Niue, New Zealand and

Australia. Clearing of the land commenced in December 2014 and construction began in earnest in April 2015.

“The children are very excited and happy. They feel very fortunate to have a beautiful new school, uniforms and a playground,” says Ms Togahai.

“It is a much-needed gift to empower their futures.”

By Anna Clements, Industry Reporter

For more than 12 years we have worked alongside many schools that acknowledge the importance of a strong professional image.

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Websites Yearbooks Prospectus Email newsletters Logo branding Stationery Signage (electronic & static) Call Kirsten today for a chat about how we can help you.

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Education | Principal Speaks

Radically re-imagining school

In 2010, Te Tii School had a roll of six children, and a commissioner had just been appointed to oversee its closure or recovery.

The local community passionately supported the school and had a close connection to it, and discussions began about how a new direction could be set. A man named Donald Chandler went to one of these community meetings and saw an opportunity for a new vision and direction - become a world-class International Baccalaureate (IB) School.

After some vigorous debate, the community agreed to go forward with this vision. A new principal was hired, and detailed consultation on the future of the school began.

This was a challenging and at times controversial process, and my brave, caring predecessor, Rosina Wikaira, deserves a lot of credit for success that followed.

It became clear that in order to really restart and set a new direction, a name change was needed. Financial recovery was also necessary as the school was in dire economic straits. The support of key community members such as May Kemp was integral

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to establishing the school’s new direction.

I was Googling “IB schools nz” when I came across Donald Chandler describing Te Tii’s new vision, and it sounded like exactly the professional challenge I was looking for. I’d gone straight overseas after graduating with my BEd, and spent ten years working in local and international schools in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Returning to New Zealand in 2009, I taught at a large private IB school in Auckland during which time I’d completed a master’s degree in educational leadership.

I had no state school experience

in New Zealand, let alone in low-decile, rural Northland, but I was determined to make a difference. I was inspired by the people I met during my interview and their determination to see the community’s vision through.

I arrived in Northland at the start of the Easter holidays in 2013 and the original plan was that my family and I would get settled in and explore Kerikeri for a week before work started.

Needless to say that didn’t happen; my wife and I cleaned the school instead. We started in the classrooms, replacing graffiticovered tables, recovering walls,

cleaning windows and steamcleaning the carpets. It was a big job - the school’s tiny kitchen took two full days. Others joined us: Donald and his family, my parents, school parents and local community and, once the classrooms were finished, we moved out into the other buildings and grounds.

The cleaning work continued during evenings and weekends right through Terms two and three.

We removed gorse, rubbish and old garden beds, and dealt with our rat and mouse infestation. We filled three large skips with rubbish in 2013 alone. The old playground was dangerous and I closed it immediately.

Principal Speaks | Education

The school didn’t have a working drinking fountain, power cuts were frequent and the buildings were not secure. The water tanks were old and cracked, the pumps in a similar condition and, as we entered winter, the lack of heating and insulation became a problem. We had a fireplace in each classroom, but we couldn’t use them because of rust. The school’s only television was stolen four weeks after we arrived, and I was forced to spend some of our extremely tight budget replacing the locks in the school. We had few books so we ordered readers; our unused entitlement from Down the Back of the Chair totalled several hundred books, and those provided a much-needed boost to our struggling literacy programme.

To say resourcing was tight would be a gross understatement.

On the first day of Term two, I watched as the children explored their new, clean classrooms. They were wide-eyed. I caused a stir by wearing a shirt and tie. “This is rural Northland, what are you dressing like that for?” came the teasing. It was a signal to our children and wider community that I was serious about our vision.

I wanted everyone to see that the school was important, that I respected them, myself and my profession.

At that time, there were two classrooms in the school, one taught by myself and the other by our junior class teacher, Shelley Ash. Immediately we began work on a programme of inquiry and assessment framework for the rest of the year.

day of teacher aide time. Intensive, wrap-around support often only began once the behaviour was so bad that the child could no longer safely be in a school. This was no reflection on the fine professionals who worked within the system, merely a symptom of its structural failure.

Shelley and I spent a lot of time focusing on the discourse in our classrooms, and listening to the language the children were using when they talked about themselves and their learning.

As a community of learners, we talked about aspirations, potential, and the importance of taking risks and experiencing failure in a constructive way. From the start, we wanted to ensure the best possible evidence-based practice, so we assessed carefully and taught on that basis. We agreed to publicly celebrate differences and the fact that we were all learners, and we also agreed that school must be a safe and fun place for children; kids who aren’t happy do not learn to their potential. We set high standards for effort, and designed learning experiences that were relevant and engaging.

Organisationally, one of our first jobs was to address the school’s short-term Educational Review Office (ERO) cycle, with the next visit only a few months later. I was quite nervous about this

process as I’d never experienced it before. I needn’t have worried as our visitors were professional and supportive. We were honest about where we were at and what needed to be done, and the visit was a success - we moved to a standard three-year cycle.

Locally, we were starting to build a reputation as a quality school that paid close attention to individual needs. While we were pleased, it was a double-edged sword.

We started to get enquiries from families who had high aspirations for their children and other enquiries came from desperate families whose children had been excluded or were in the process of being excluded from their current schools.

Being new to the state system, I soon learned that children who present major behavioural challenges, such as violence towards classmates and teachers, receive very little practical support. At most, a school will receive advice about an individual behaviour plan and two hours a

We worked extremely hard to support all children who joined us, and started to achieve success with those who for various reasons had previously found schooling a challenge. Occasionally, teachers and/or students were assaulted and the school locked down, or a student would leave the school grounds and try to hitch-hike into town or escape through the farmland and bush.

There’s nothing like chasing a child through the Northland undergrowth in your shirt and tie! Unfortunately, these events resulted in some of our more engaged students leaving us. Their families believed quite rightly that their children deserved to be safe at school, and also deserved to be in a classroom environment conducive to learning.

How bad does behaviour need to be before the rights of one child matters more than 24 others? As an educator who believes fundamentally in inclusive education, I had many sleepless nights pondering the answer.

Our reputation continued to grow and we started 2014 with a roll of 80 - double the number we had finished with in 2013. It was a very diverse group, and every family had their own beliefs about what our school was all about.

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Education | Principal Speaks

The first six months were extremely challenging as we managed some very difficult learning needs and behaviours, and I met frequently with families and whanau to reinforce the school’s vision, values and expectations. I had to be clear and consistent, and I always tried to listen carefully to people’s concerns and aspirations, and to understand them.

I also had to manage the wider community’s perceptions about what was happening at school.

I heard all sorts of things that were news to me: that we were a “special needs” school, a charter school, a private school, a Maori school or a school for problem children; such misconceptions were common.

Financial pressure caused me more sleepless nights in 2014.

Many of our children needed teacher aides which added pressure to the already overstretched budget. Twice that year we had less than $1000 in the school’s account one week out from our next operations grant instalment, not a comfortable position to be in.

But we also started to have some victories: the children were happy, working hard and clocking up some remarkable successes, for example, the year 8 Northland Mathex trophy. We installed drinking fountains, insulated the school, painted the pool and got it operating, installed heat pumps and planted thousands of native trees. We also installed a printer/

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photocopier that didn’t jam constantly, bought some books and got our learning centre up and running. We lifted old carpet, sanded floors and painted walls.

We focused on the children and their learning, and if we couldn’t justify what we did based on improving learning experiences it didn’t get done. We also finally managed to open a new playground built from donated or heavily-discounted materials and a lot of volunteer labour.

The Bay of Islands International Academy became an IB World School in November 2015 - a remarkable achievement considering our humble beginnings, and we ended 2015 year with a roll of 118 students.

We even have an enrolment zone!

Our children love coming to school, classrooms are settled with extremely high levels of engagement, and we have rigorous, collaborative planning, teaching and assessment. This simply would not have been achieved without the support and effort of some pretty remarkable people, too many to name here.

However, I would like to single out Donald Chandler for special mention. He is a remarkable man: a visionary who cares deeply about learning and his community, who sees challenges as great opportunities. I’ve learnt a lot from him.

Challenges and opportunities remain, and there is much that I’ve not mentioned here: our superb staff, who routinely go

far beyond what one could reasonably expect. Bay of Islands International Academy was, and will be for some time, a recovering school. We still have a rock to keep one of our classroom doors closed, and the buildings need modernising. We’re waiting for new classrooms to accommodate our roll increase. Our children still use the high school bus because we can’t afford our own service.

Our decile rating increased from 3 to 6. We didn’t challenge this as we felt that it was a fair reflection of the school’s changing demographic. However, the high needs that existed in our community remain, and losing our weekly health nurse visit, dental caravan, social worker and $25,000 a year in funding has been a big hit. We’ll meet these challenges as we always have through out of the box thinking and innovative solutions.

There have been lots of lessons, and I’ve made numerous mistakes during the past three years. I started as a teaching principal, and quickly realised that trying to be the best possible teacher and leading a growing school was not conducive to a good work/ life balance. At times I’ve asked too much of people, and missed the signals when stress was becoming a problem. I’m guilty of trying to do too much, losing focus and not doing fewer things as well as they should have been done. I also have a tendency to focus too much on what still needs doing and, until writing this, I’ve been reluctant to celebrate

what we’ve achieved as a school and community. We have big plans for our school and I’m excited about what we can still achieve together as a community.

When preparing our children for success in a modern world of such rapid change, it’s with an increasing sense of urgency that I feel significant structural, resourcing and pedagogical improvements must be made in our education system and schools. We need leadership.

Why do we persist with an outdated educational model that has its roots in the 19th Century? Traditional subject and knowledge-based teaching is becoming irrelevant, and the changes in the world of work and business are accelerating rapidly. Every routine cognitive and manual job on the planet is at risk of being eliminated through the growth of exponential technologies such as advanced robotics, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and synthetic biology.

Why are we distorting learning by focusing only on reading, writing and numeracy? What about creativity, curiosity and logic?

We must question everything we currently do, establish a national culture of lifelong learning, and nurture the competencies and character qualities needed to thrive in an exponential world.

By Sean McDermott, principal, Bay of Islands International Academy Bay of Islands International Academy is a state-funded, year 1 to 8 school, decile 6, with 118 enrolled students.

Special Report | Education

What we can learn from Minecraft

It’s the global phenomenon that grown-ups don’t understand. It’s highjacked our live streams, mesmerised our children and generally risen to world domination. Minecraft is the video game in which players dig (mine) and build (craft) different kinds of 3D blocks within a world of varying landscapes. If you need a child to show you how to play, you won’t have to search long to find one. Every day, millions and millions of children spend hours clicking buttons as they dig holes in a virtual landscape.

Minecraft is an open-ended “sandbox” game, meaning players create their own experience.

To the casual observer, it looks like a lot of clicking to dig holes and arrange blocks. Because it doesn’t come with instructions, the gameplay is confusing — but apparently that’s what makes it irresistible. Says eight-year-old Tiger, “You can do anything and make anything. You can make awesome houses, water elevators and secret passageways.”

Because there are no guidelines, players are forced to explore – in the game and out of it. If they’re out of ideas, they trawl websites for direction and download tutorials. Minecraft is the secondmost requested topic on YouTube

and one of its biggest stars is Stampylongnose. Stampy, or Stampy Cat, is a character played by a 25-year-old English man, Joseph Garrett, who uploads videos of himself playing Minecraft. It can be difficult to understand the appeal, but there’s no denying it; with more than 3 million subscribers, Stampy is more popular on YouTube than Justin Bieber.

Should we be worried?

Apparently not. Minecraft blogger Bec Oakley, or MineMum, says watching others play Minecraft allows children to extend their experience of the game, to share it with others and to learn from each other. "There's a huge amount of content available, and

much of it is incredibly engaging and educational.”

In fact, many educators have taken Minecraft into the classroom and there is even a special educational edition, MinecraftEdu, for use in schools. In Northern Ireland, the government funded the supply of Minecraft for all secondary schools, and in one Swedish school it’s a compulsory part of the curriculum.

International teachers’ network, TeacherGaming claims that MinecraftEdu is used by more than 3,000 teachers in hundreds of schools around the world, in classes ranging from languages to the history of art.

Photos courtesy of Microsoft

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Education | Special Report

In New Zealand, many teachers are just as enthusiastic about the game’s educational benefits, and at CORE Education’s uLearn conference last year, delegates were invited to learn to play Minecraft “like a nine-year-old”. Workshop leader Marianne Malmstrom, an internationally-recognised leader in the innovative use of virtual environments and digital multimedia in the classroom, says the game “taps creativity, fosters collaboration, and builds community — inspiring kids to code, program, design and engineer.”

Jane Mavoa is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne.

She has been studying the role of digital games such as Minecraft in contemporary childhoods and concludes that digital games are “sticky” – can hold a user’s attention - and provide opportunities for deep learning.

Learners feel empowered and solve meaningful problems.

“It serves as a creative space, a social space, and a trainer for cognitive skills and 21st century work skills. The construction aspect in particular provides opportunity for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) learning.

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When you use technology together, playing games or setting up activities, there is an opportunity for sharing, communicating and empowering kids to demonstrate their skills and knowledge."

Marianne Malmstrom “Thinking skills can be developed.

Players have to plan, stay focused and work out solutions to obstacles that crop up.

And on a social level, players share an interest, a culture and experiences which in turn boosts self-confidence, social status and wellbeing.”

For Tiger and his friends, Minecraft is not just a video game, it’s a topic of conversation at break times. “We tell each other new things to make, stuff like that.

There’s a spawn egg and you can spawn a baby rabbit and it’s so cute.”

Little do they know that in doing so they are developing essential workforce skills such as networking, collaborating, being innovative and being able to evaluate.

However, Australian psychologist Jocelyn Brewer advises teachers and parents to practice “digital nutrition”, an awareness of the impact of screen time on our wellbeing. “Imagine that that activities we use technology for (apps, games, social media platforms) came with nutritional labels to help us understand their impacts. Imagine we considered the way we consume digital content the way we have learnt to consider food and its impacts on our wellbeing.”

Ms Brewer says digital nutrition borrows from decades of research on healthy eating to provide a framework for the kinds of online activities that provide the most benefits to consumers, the duration, frequency and intensity of optimal use and the

developmental age at which games and apps are appropriate.

“Video games when played in moderation and at developmentally appropriate levels can help develop a range of executive functions that are useful for social, emotional and cognitive development – however playing for long periods of time, alone and to the exclusion of other activities can cause problems for young people.”

Whether or not you’re a fan of Minecraft, you can be sure it’s not about to go away. Since the game was launched in 2009, more than 70 million copies have sold, more than 9000 during the past 24 hours alone, Google tells me. It is immensely popular across all platforms.

Ms Brewer recommends adults play online with the children.

“When you use technology together, playing games or setting up activities, there is an opportunity for sharing, communicating and empowering kids to demonstrate their skills and knowledge.”

According to Tiger, some grownups find it hard to grasp Minecraft “because their brains are filled with jobs they have to do”. But according to his older sister, Millie, 13, there is hope. “I think that you have to be pretty open-minded but it’s quite a simple game really.

Even an adult could get the hang of it.”

By Anna Clements, Industry Reporter

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Specific Learning Difficulties | Education

Dyscalculia focus for SPELD NZ conference 2016 It’s been described as the number one cause of maths weakness that you have never heard of.

Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability we know very little about yet it affects around six per cent of the population. This huge deficit of knowledge has prompted SPELD NZ to make dyscalculia the focus of its conference this year.

“Deciphering Dyscalculia” will include an exciting line-up of world experts on dyscalculia, including UK-based Judy Hornigold, Angelica Benson from LindamoodBell in the USA and researcher Dr Anna Wilson from New Zealand.

Dyscalculia affects a person’s ability to acquire arithmetical skills. People may find it hard to understand basic number concepts and/or number relationships. The 2016 conference will cover how to:

• • •

understand what dyscalculia is; recognise and assess for it; teach those with dyscalculia to maximise their learning potential.

SPELD NZ chairperson, Marion Fairbrass, says the conference will be a fantastic opportunity for professionals to enhance their

skills, enabling them to offer sound, evidence-based strategies to learners with dyscalculia.

“We expect the conference will be a huge boost to the pool of knowledge professionals can draw from. As with dyslexia, research indicates that dyscalculia is due to a difference in the function of certain brain pathways. What we know now, that we didn’t in the past, is that the brain can change.

Early identification and intervention will help students to acquire the mathematical skills they need to achieve success at school and beyond. It sounds rather like what we know about intervention for dyslexia, doesn’t it?”

“This is a very timely topic for our conference in light of recent publicity on the state of mathematics in our schools. We need to spend more time focussing on helping those who really struggle with this subject. It can have a huge impact on their lives.”

The “Deciphering Dyscalculia” conference will be held at InterContinental Hotel, Wellington, October 7 and 8. A registration website link will be available soon on Training and Events pages of SPELD NZ’s website www.speld. org.nz.

By SPELD NZ

SPELD NZ’s 2016 “Deciphering Dyscalculia” speakers:

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UK-based Judy Hornigold is renowned internationally as a leading dyscalculia specialist. She is in demand as a speaker at workshops and conferences and has written a book on ready-made lessons for learners with dyscalculia.

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Californian-based Angelica Benson is a graduate of Harvard University’s School of Education and has been with Lindamood-Bell for more than 18 years. LindamoodBell is a world leader in research and remediation for specific learning disabilities.

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Dr Anna Wilson is a researcher whose speciality is dyscalculia and mathematical cognition. She has been a lecturer at the College of Education, University of Canterbury, and also teaches educational psychology and neuroscience.

What is dyscalculia?

People with dyscalculia have a huge struggle acquiring arithmetical skills in spite of a good learning environment at home and at school. People with dyscalculia:

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Lack an “intuitive feel” for numbers and struggle to learn basic number facts and procedures

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Even if they produce a correct answer or use a correct method, they may do so mechanically and without confidence

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There may be issues with long-term, shortterm or working memory or with sequencing These difficulties can have an adverse effect on day-to-day activities

such as following directions, keeping track of time and dealing with finances

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We know where one specific learning disability exists, there is often a cluster. For example, a child with dyspraxia and dyslexia may well have difficulty with numerical concepts too.

To find out more about dyscalculia, go to:

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lindamoodbell.com/ instruction/cause-ofmath-weakness

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www.judyhornigold. co.uk/dyscalculia.html

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www.aboutdyscalculia. org

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Education | Specific Learning Difficulties

Learning differences in a nutshell

Esther Whitehead Managing Trustee, Dyslexia Foundation of NZ

Academics agree that the single most common characteristic of dyslexia is a problem with reading and/or spelling. As a spectrum of neurodifferences however, dyslexia can impact motor skills, cognitive processing speeds and comprehension [written and verbal], auditory and visual perception, planning and organising, and short-term memory and concentration.

Dyslexia is often co-morbid with other conditions – communication disorders, Asperger’s and autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, dysgraphia etc.

Brain research, including Auckland University studies and fMRI mapping at Yale University, has shown that while it is common to use the ‘verbal’ left side of the brain to understand words, dyslexic people use the ‘pictorial’ right side. Dyslexic individuals thus tend to think in pictures rather than with the sounds of words, receiving and retrieving information in a different part of the brain to neuro-typical, word-based thinkers. Put simply, translating these ‘pictures’ back into words, whether spoken or written, can take extra time and considerable effort.

Bottom line, difficulties with the acquisition of basic skills are a symptom of the different ways the dyslexic brain processes information. This is a fundamental point to grasp as it shifts the focus from difficulties with reading and spelling to an understanding of the root cause. Dyslexics are therefore often less able to navigate the education system.

engagement. However, this ‘route to success’ currently only applies to students at NCEA level.

teachers with confidence, and allows difference to manifest into success. Unfortunately, this type of pathway is most often absent or dysfunctional, and as a result we see all the problems that underlined the urgent need for the Select Committee Inquiry.

Where no educational pathway is identified and implemented:

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Early identification is not sufficiently prioritised and resourced and too many children wait too long for appropriate intervention

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Children are progressing through the education system with unmet needs which often create long-term negative effects

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There are poor transitions through school years, with minimal to no forward planning for learning outcomes

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Failings in the system Schools that are succeeding in this area have one thing in common – a clear and transparent educational pathway to create successful learning outcomes.

This pathway reflects and facilitates strong leadership, provides students, parents and

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Too many principals, teachers and support staff are not sufficiently trained or knowledgeable on learning differences

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Access to services and decision-making is unnecessarily complex, for example, there are currently 10 ways for a child to access funding for a teacher aide There is a lack of transparency and certainty of services, for example once an intervention is complete, often no further support is mapped out

Interventions and accommodations Often, dyslexia’s greatest difficulty is self-esteem – it only becomes a disability if not appropriately addressed. If addressed, dyslexia can become a key driver for creative thinking and problemsolving, enhanced spatial understanding and innovation.

By prioritising and addressing dyslexia in schools we avoid flow on adult-related expenses from social, mental health and prison services.

Once dyslexia is understood, it is not difficult to see what changes would benefit dyslexic students.

Best practice is a fully inclusive learning environment, ensuring that legal rights to inclusive learning and accommodations are delivered on. Best practice comes down to three things – early identification; a ‘notice and adjust’ teaching approach to accommodate difference and, if no improvement; interventions to specifically target problem areas.

Key to success – an educational pathway from Year 1 At NCEA level, provision of NCEA Special Assessment Conditions (SACs) such as reader or writer assistance, computer use, and/ or extra time, have created a ‘route to success’ for students with learning differences.

Schools already au fait with SAC applications and accommodating student needs are seeing better NCEA results and student

As mentioned earlier, a critical step to meaningful change therefore is to create a clear-cut, accountable pathway to successful learning outcomes that starts at year 1.

Such a pathway would outline what constitutes effective teaching training and professional development in respect of learning difference. While there is plenty of information available, this is not finding its way into the daily interaction between student, teacher, school, and parent.

Best practice in action Despite the challenges, some New Zealand schools are providing effective support for dyslexic students. As noted earlier, in each instance these schools have aligned around a clear and transparent educational pathway that celebrates inclusivity and diversity.

Kapiti College is one such school where creation of a dyslexiafriendly environment has seen significant improvements in self-esteem and academic achievement, plus reductions in negative and destructive behaviour. Sarah Sharpe, Kapiti College teacher and SENCO, says families from throughout New Zealand and even overseas are now choosing the school because of its approach. “While it is undoubtedly flattering, it seems shocking that whole families are relocating because of the limited choices available within the education system”.

For more information about dyslexia, how a school can become more dyslexia-friendly or how to advocate for dyslexia, go to: http://www.dfnz.org.nz http://www.4d.org.nz http://www.dyslexiafoundation. org.nz/daw2015/ or like us on Facebook and be part of the community. https://www.facebook.com/ dyslexiafoundationNZ

Specific Learning Difficulties | Education

Dyslexia in the classroom – a literacy focus Statistically, around one in 10 pupils is likely to have dyslexia, which means that most classes have at least one or two pupils who are affected to a degree.

decoding and encoding regular words and teach your learners to look for the phonic cues.

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There are likely to be several more who, although not actually dyslexic, struggle with similar issues.

Although our awareness of dyslexia has grown substantially during the past few years, teachers are often perplexed when some children struggle with literacy, while others don’t – with exactly the same teaching approach!

Literacy is certainly not the only area which causes difficulty for dyslexic learners, however it is definitely one of the major barriers so we’re going to look at key issues and some ideas for using technology to even the playing field.

Research shows that dyslexic learners actually use different parts of the brain and many teachers assume that this means they need to be taught totally differently.

Luckily that’s not the case. The principles and methodologies which are vital for struggling learners are also those which benefit all learners. Instruction needs to be explicit, multi-sensory and cumulative – and structure is the key.

Some key strategies are listed below, but one of the crucial aspects is awareness of individual needs.

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Literacy teaching •

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Include a strong emphasis on phonological awareness, particularly in the early stages. Check key phonological skills and develop the weaker areas.

Research shows that phonological awareness is one of the key processing difficulties in dyslexia.

Make sure your learners know how sounds are represented in writing – in other words, teach the code.

Provide plenty of practice

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Base early literacy on word families and phonic patterns, and avoid random lists of high-frequency words which overload struggling learners. A spelling list of one-word family, plus one to two high-frequency words will be retained much more easily than a list of unrelated words – and it also develops an awareness of patterns in language.

Don’t have a separate ‘spelling scheme’, but integrate spelling and other aspects of the literacy curriculum. All words need to be seen and used in context, rather than taught as isolated items. A structured literacy curriculum throughout the school is best so there is a set progression and all teachers know what is taught at different levels.

Provide differentiated learning. Ideally, each learner needs to work at their own level and at the appropriate speed. Most learners with dyslexia need considerably more reinforcement than their peers and some need to work very slowly in the early stages.

In reality, the only way to enable learners to work at their own level is to either split the class into groups, or to utilise computer/online programs such as Steps in which learners can work at their own levels.

Identify struggling learners as early as possible. Often they are not identified until they are demonstrably failing, usually one to two years behind their peers. By this stage, the gap is so large that making up that ground will take far more resources than most schools can provide. Target children as soon as they show signs of struggling and give them

extra input at that stage.

Don’t wait until they have failed.

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Provide a variety of activities to practice spelling words, including ones which develop vocabulary and comprehension. As stated above, spelling needs to be integrated into the literacy curriculum.

Don’t neglect handwriting.

Many schools are putting handwriting onto the back burner because they think it’s no longer so relevant.

But there is a growing body of research showing the developmental importance of handwriting.

Literacy in maths •

Consider the literacy difficulties. Teachers often don’t realise that some of their learners can’t actually read the questions.

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Teach maths words.

Research shows that 70 per cent of dyslexics struggle with the language of maths (Chasty, 1985). Think of how many words there are which mean + (add, sum, addition, and...).

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Give examples so that your learners can follow the process, even if they’ve forgotten all of the original instructions.

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Give as much support as necessary to ensure your learners can read or write at their intellectual level rather than being restricted to their current literacy level.

This may require the use of assistive technology, allowing them to dictate to parents or teacher aides, or letting them listen to stories, not just read them. If we restrict them to what they can read or write independently, we are not developing those crucial higher-level skills of writing, vocabulary and comprehension.

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With creative written work, mark content, not accuracy.

Too much emphasis on accuracy may lead to learners only using words they are confident about spelling. Teach accuracy separately.

A final thought is to consider how we can set learners up for success rather than failure. Think what it must be like for a learner who is struggling with reading when a new topic comes up in class. All of a sudden, they are overloaded with up to a dozen new words. By the time they’ve got their head around those, the class has probably moved on. Wouldn’t it be better to use ‘homework’ creatively? Consider sending home a list of topic words which will crop up in coming weeks. A little note along the lines of: “We’re going to be doing a topic on X in two weeks’ time.

These are the important words for this topic. The homework for the next two weeks is just to practise reading (not spelling) those words.” Then, when the topic comes up in class, your dyslexic learner may actually be one of the few children in the class who can read those words. And when you start the topic, how about putting a poster on the wall with all of those topic words nice and clear, so the learner can write them easily, too.

One of the crucial principles is that advocated by Neil Mackay, a leading UK expert on dyslexia.

His mantra is simply: “Notice and adjust”.

By Ros Lugg, creator of Steps literacy programme Ros Lugg is a NZ and UK-trained dyslexia specialist. She is an NZCER Registered ‘C’ Grade assessor with nearly 20 years’ experience and she is the creator of the Steps and StepsWeb literacy programmes, which is now used in more than 800 NZ schools and by some of the leading specialist dyslexia schools internationally.

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Education | Specific Learning Difficulties

Get reluctant boys reading – and loving it!

First the good news: literacy isn’t dead, it just looks different.

simpler, compensate by making the rest richer. Don’t dilute the message and don’t patronise.

Now the bad news: we still have far too many struggling readers in our schools. And we seem to have even more reluctant readers – especially, but by no means exclusively, boys. Where did they all come from? How did we get here? Why don’t they like reading?

What can I do about it? And how can I prevent it happening?

2. Don’t be tempted to fight the good fight.

At Ransom we make books for kids-who-don’t-like-books.

Specifically, high interest age, low reading age books for reluctant and struggling readers.

So what’s our mantra? Have we learned anything to help busy, overworked teachers, learning support assistants or special needs support staff? I’d like to think so. After all, you’ve taught us publishers rather a lot over the years.

If your kids really don’t want to read the standard school reading books, you probably won’t get very far by forcing them to do so.

At best you’ll get them to read them, but you won’t be creating readers.

So here are my top five thoughts from the coalface of ‘high-low’ publishing, things that I’ve noticed about where kids are coming from, where we should be going to, and where the blockages are.

1. Kids may not be able to read very well, but that doesn’t mean that they’re ‘thick’.

Just because the text of a book has to be simple doesn’t mean that the message has to be simple. Most kids are very literate visually – more so than you or me. Poor readers are often extremely visually literate, just as the visually-impaired purportedly have better than average hearing.

They can ‘read’ pictures and they can ‘read’ design: they can make visual associations between elements. To them this is all part of the narrative, it doesn’t all need saying with words.

My view? If you make the text

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www.learningstaircase.co.nz school news

Term 1 - 2016

Experts call this force-field analysis: the harder you push the kids to read those books, the harder they’ll resist. It turns into a kind of entrenched stalemate. Better to sidestep the confrontation.

Every child is interested in something. And that something, somewhere, has words associated with it. So rather than trying to take your literacy to the kids, let them bring their literacy to you.

One simple example: most schools see waves of trading card mania in the playground. It might be Top Trumps, or Match-Attax, or (currently, in our local school, Top Gear trading cards). OK, reading Lamborghini Murcielago on a card may not improve boys’ decoding skills, but it’ll do a lot for their sight vocabulary – and hey, reading is reading! Why not build literacy games around trading cards? Think how shocked your boys would be if you made them do for ‘work’ what they regard as fun.

Ransom published Goal!, a soccer-themed synthetic phonics series for older readers. Suddenly, instead of the teacher teaching the child about reading, the child is teaching (and reading to) the teacher about the offside rule and about Wayne Rooney’s skills … That is reading and it is empowering.

4. Meet kids in their ecosystem, not in yours.

School is school and fun is fun.

School means work, it means words like ‘boring’, ‘must’ and ‘have to’. Fun means cool,

Wellington - 7 & 8 October, 2016 Focus on dyscalculia and dyslexia/maths

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22

You’ll be sending the clear message that reading, like maths, sprouts and long country walks, is a thing-not-to-be-enjoyed, a chore.

3. If a dog runs at you, whistle for it.

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DR ANNA WILSON (NZ) – researcher specialising in dyscalculia and mathematical cognition.

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Specific Learning Difficulties | Education

enjoyable, doing what you want to do. Children live their lives positively marinated in media/ culture - it’s their home, their ecosystem. Brand matters, cool matters, and being entertained matters. Nearly all media they consume is heavily branded: The Simpsons, Premier League soccer, Dr Who, Top Gear, comics. It’s a no-brainer: they watch The Simpsons because they want to, not because they have to. This is their ecosystem.

meet educational requirements and be an enjoyable read at the same time. All too often, the educational requirement dominates, to the detriment of reading pleasure.

You as teachers need to be more demanding on behalf of your readers. We, as publishers, need to be more responsive to what children really, really want to read.

Especially boys.

5. Don’t forget the reading bit.

Synthetic phonics is fine and so is the gradual progression in reading (and associated box-ticking). But let’s not forget that it’s all about reading. And reading means wanting to read, comprehension and pleasure in reading. We need to send these messages – and back them up with real substance – from the time kids start engaging with text. We can’t teach them to read and postpone the pleasure bit for a few years.

By then they will have voted with their eyeballs.

But at school it’s different. At school they do what the teacher tells them to do, not what they want to do. School is not their ecosystem, it’s yours. So asking the children to go to the library to choose a book to read – for pleasure – is sending a mixed message. ‘This is my domain, here I call the shots, but now I want you to enjoy yourself reading. And here are the enjoyable books for you to read.’

Guess what? They’re not enjoyable books (at least, not to the kids – and who else is supposed to enjoy them?). Most educational books do a pretty good job of supporting literacy, but they do a terrible job of being enjoyable (really enjoyable, in the way that The Simpsons is really enjoyable) to read.

Educational books are unusual: they are selected by teachers but they are read by children. So we as publishers have two sets of customers. The books have to

Has Ransom succeeded? Not yet, but we’re getting there. In a recent study, 15 of the top 20 most popular books for boys in Years 7-9 (admittedly a bit older) were published by Ransom. Visit Ransom at www.ransom.co.uk.

You can read Steve’s blog at www.ransom.co.uk/blog.

By Stephen Rickard, Creative Director, Ransom Publishing

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Telephone: 09 448 1591 or Email: sales@spbooks.co.nz

Term 1 - 2016

school news

23

Education | Professional Development

Principal upskills at The Mind Lab Gordon Pepere, principal of Mata School, says he hasn’t looked back since he first took students to The Mind Lab by Unitec in May, 2015.

Mata School, a small remote rural school outside of Gisborne, consists of six students, ranging from years 1 to 8. Situated 35km inland from the main highway, Mr Pepere says that thanks to school visits and undertaking a postgraduate qualification through The Mind Lab, he is able to connect his students with evolving technology that otherwise would have been out of reach.

“From day one, our students were hooked. They would sit and do activities with the knowledgeable tutors – learning everything from coding to web design,” he says.

“It was great for me too, as I was able to observe and learn from The Mind Lab team about how I could best apply technology in the classroom. Everything grew from that first session; we booked the students to go back straight away.”

Mr Pepere explains that the decision to study a postgraduate certificate through The Mind Lab didn’t come easily, and he was initially quite hesitant. However, the 32-week part-time course in applied practice (digital & collaborative learning) proved to be an eye-opener and learning experience for the principal.

“It is a big commitment and there are elements of the course I struggled with. It was interesting to reflect on past practices and the teaching styles I’ve used in the classroom over the years.

“As teachers we have this discussion about technology in the classroom but then look around and find that it doesn’t actually fit into our current education system. Studying my postgraduate certificate has expanded my horizons and I’ve found things I want to investigate more in the future.”

This year, Mr Pepere will be taking on further study into e-learning

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school news

Term 1 - 2016

Gordon Pepere (far left) with the other teachers studying the postgraduate certificate in applied practice (digital & collaborative learning) at The Mind Lab by Unitec in Gisborne.

Eighty-one teachers have either graduated or are enrolled in the Gisborne course.

and how it supports small rural schools.

“There were things about the postgraduate certificate that were really new to me. We would take part in online discussions and ask or respond to questions with others studying the course.

“At first, I thought the online discussions would just not be me – I’m not social media savvy. But taking part in this process proved to be a real breakthrough for me. I found myself reading other comments and enjoying others’ views on various topics so I had to get over my personal prejudice.”

Mr Pepere says the use of online platforms through his study has meant he’s discovered further ways to showcase students’ work.

“My students’ enthusiasm for technology and learning was the real motivator for me. With each session they attended, they’d take their existing knowledge and think about how to build on that. Their skills were already really advanced but the speed at which they learn never ceases to blow me away.

“The best thing about The Mind Lab’s school classes has to be that the software they use with

our kids is free. This means the students are able to access it from home, show their parents, and build on their skillset in their own time.”

Mr Pepere says another key learning has been that as a discipline you can’t put technology into its own curriculum area; it can and must be integrated into all subject areas – teachers just need to know how.

“Through course, I came to the realisation that my limited knowledge of technology was holding my students back because I didn’t have the skills to take them where they needed to be.

“Now instead of getting our kids to publish their work with pen and paper, they have options.

Whether that’s by creating an animation, looking at augmented reality or using a variety of the other programmes that are on offer, I encourage them to make choices for themselves and as a result, we see the students testing themselves and discovering new things the way they want to.”

Mr Pepere says he hopes more schools take up study

opportunities at The Mind Lab and move with the increase of technology in education, not against it.

“I would really like to see more schools not only attend The Mind Lab but do it over a series of sessions.

“You’ve got to bite the bullet – do it right. Get your students to talk about The Mind Lab back at the classroom and build on their knowledge and skillsets.

“It’s changed the way the Mata School board and I look at our curriculum and technology investment – and it’s all for the better of our kids as we look to equip them with the skills they need to build bright futures.”

By The Mind Lab The Mind Lab by Unitec's Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice (Digital & Collaborative Learning) is a part time 32-week programme and is redefining professional development for teachers through the offering of a hands-on, progressive and blended qualification. Intakes for 2016 are in March, July and November. For more information visit www.themindlab.com

Professional Development | Education

Using virtual excursions to enhance learning

Elaine Shuck Director of Education, Polycom

Previously I talked about the role of video collaboration within professional development, very timely as we think about 2016 and the learning road ahead.

When it comes to curriculum planning, one question I’m constantly asked is how to remain relevant and engaging for students in a rapidly changing technology environment.

It’s both a challenging and exciting time to be a student or teacher in New Zealand as digital technology is continuing to transform education and create new learning opportunities on both sides of the ‘blackboard’.

Today’s learning is characterised by flexibility and diversity, with access to a variety of subject matter experts and learning opportunities both inside and outside the traditional learning environment. Increasingly students are expecting a highly engaging interactive learning environment, not stagnant instructor-led designs.

The classroom of the future: connectivity, collaboration and virtual excursions Learning technologies and changing pedagogical methods are not only changing the way we teach but also the physical environments in which we teach. The classroom of the future recasts tomorrow’s educational settings in exciting new formats: global connectivity and collaboration combined with technology that allows for interactive and student-tailored lessons. It is both physical and virtual, it is mobile and engaging, it is personal yet scalable.

Schools can join virtual education events that allow students to participate in a diverse range of learning experiences from trekking through the jungles of Borneo to observing the transit of Venus with commentary from a professor of astronomy.

These events allow students to

interact with others and are a highly effective way of increasing the absorption of knowledge.

Perhaps one of the best ways to demonstrate the benefits of virtual excursions and how they can work in the classroom environment is to highlight a local example. I’d now like to share a Q & A with Polycom education partner, Ben Newsome, managing director of Fizzics Education . Based in Australia, Ben and his team deliver virtual learning experiences to schools throughout Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

He shares insights into how to make the most of the virtual excursion experience: 1. Please describe what a typical virtual excursion hosted by Fizzics Education, using video collaboration, involves. How easy is it for a teacher to sign up?

We treat virtual excursions the same way as real world school visits. This means that students should be able to interact with experiment materials, watch science demonstrations that couldn’t be done in a classroom setting and ask our presenters questions.

Signing up for a typical virtual excursion involves a classroom teacher either contacting us directly or through our calendar bookings platform.

To make it interactive we send a list of materials that the teacher can source from their local shop e.g. vinegar, bicarbonate soda, so the students can run experiments in their classroom while being guided by us on video.

Our role is to link the more complex demonstrations, such as the effects of liquid nitrogen on plants, with the local curriculum and to explain the science at the level of the students’ knowledge.

2. What are the key benefits delivered to students and teachers during virtual science lessons? How do you engage the audience?

One of the key benefits of participating in a virtual excursion is the meshing of 21st century collaborative technology with the sheer simplicity of being able to connect with anyone around the globe. Want to learn about a piece of art? Why not speak directly with the artist who made it?

If a class is studying any topic,

there is undoubtedly a subject matter expert in a museum or similar who can show you the real artefact and explain in real time the story behind it. The extra dimension of connecting between countries or even between two cities is that you can talk about cultural differences which is always surprising for students.

The best way to engage the audience is always to think from their perspective. For example, what can they see, what can they do, what can they hear? We always include experiments that students can run in their own classroom. This reinforces the content being demonstrated and engages and focuses students’ attention.

3. What advice would you give to an educator interested in building a virtual excursion element into their lesson planning?

It may sound flippant but the way to start is simply to start! You can always find another teacher in your school or via CAPSpace, a social networking tool for educational video conferencing, to try the technology and see what works for you.

Term 1 - 2016

school news

25

Education | Professional Development

Huge choice of further study for teachers The debate over the merits of teachers advancing their careers through university courses versus teaching experience in the classroom is both long and wide ranging, drawing a vast amount of knowledgeable discussion in various parts of the world.

While arguments might ensue over the balance of one against the other, what is indisputable is that both have their place.

Although teachers working with students in the classroom will always be developing, surely no one could deny that postgraduate university study promotes thinking about all aspects of a teacher’s life as an educator in both breadth and depth.

According to the tertiary education commission

26

Don’t try to bite off too much at the start – perhaps you could start with a simple connection with another class to discuss a piece of work both classes have been doing (e.g. a science or art project). This way students can show the work they’ve been doing to each other which helps with initiating conversation.

They could then move on to adapting a learning activity you would have normally run without video and see how it goes.

If you approach any virtual excursion with the idea that it’s not a passive experience you’re sure to be on the right track.

From a lesson planning point of view, the best way is to look at your unit of work and determine at which point it would be fantastic to bring in a subject matter expert to explain the concept in more depth.

In reality, this is not too different from planning an excursion around any given topic except without having to spend time arranging transport logistics and the cost is much, much lower.

school news

Term 1 - 2016

(TEC), there are 25 providers of teacher training in New Zealand, delivering about 146 programmes. While the scope of this article does not attempt to give an all-embracing guide to what is available in New Zealand tertiary institutions, a small selection makes it obvious that a very wide range of choice is available for those who wish to pursue further formal studies.

Auckland University Auckland University offers “a high-quality teacher education programme taught by a faculty with a high world ranking, extensive research-led expertise and a proven history of delivering outstanding professional education.” Advanced courses include:

(Teaching) Teachers' specialisation

•

Bachelor of Education (Teaching) (Honours)

Waikato University

•

Postgraduate Certificate in Education

•

Postgraduate Diploma in Education

At Waikato University, the MEd is a postgraduate degree that takes a minimum of one calendar year to complete.

•

Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership

•

Master of Education

•

Master of Educational Leadership

•

Master of Teaching (Primary) Master of Teaching (Secondary)

•

Doctor of Education

•

Doctor of Philosophy (Education)

•

Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice

•

Postgraduate Certificate in Education

•

Master of Professional Studies (Education)

•

Bachelor of Education

•

Master of Professional

4. What’s one really cool thing that video collaboration has enabled you to do that you could not previously?

So many choose from! One that comes to mind is a connection we did with schools in New York and Dallas where we read books to K – 2 students in the lead up to Christmas. Whilst this seems simple, I read an Australian book called ‘An Aussie Night Before Christmas’ to a group of American children. Though the kids could only read along as I turned the pages using the document camera, I could also highlight and explain much of the words and context which seemed foreign to these kids.

This included introducing them to a pavlova, discussing what a ‘ute’ was and talking through why we have Christmas in summer. Kids were then able to have an Aussie BBQ using ingredients I had listed in emails to the teachers.

We’ve also been connecting libraries to run after school science clubs. The opportunities for local and even global

Studies (Teaching Chinese in Schools)

collaboration are amazing, you just have to take the first step!

As seen by the work being delivered by Ben and his team, technology is playing a pivotal role in enabling education through increased virtual collaboration, particularly for students and teachers based in remote locations. By linking up with other schools around the country or the world, teachers and students are gaining access to global knowledge and expertise. Not to mention, having a fun and engaging lesson at the same time!

There is a lot more open content and information sharing these days. With CAPspace, Polycom’s own content provider database, special events, academic and instructional training, and an educational social networking tool, instructors can connect with tech coordinators and educators around the globe anytime to exchange ideas, participate in communities of practice, and leverage these resources to enhance curriculum.

It is suitable for qualified teachers and other education professionals who wish to further their career and develop leadership in curriculum, pedagogy or policy development in a particular field of education.

Students may focus their programme of study in a specialist area such as: Curriculum, Pedagogy, Policy, Early Childhood Care and Education, Maori Education, Science, Mathematics and/ or Technology Education, Arts Education, Language and Literacy Education.

More than 300 educators across Australia and New Zealand are already using CAPspace to source content and create more collaboration within their classrooms.

If you have been thinking about arranging a virtual excursion, give it a go. Even if you are a first-timer to virtual learning, small steps will be rewarded.

Best of luck!

1 http://polycomspecialevents. pbworks.com/w/page/17626380/ FrontPage 2 http://community.polycom.com/ t5/The-View/Down-with-Science/ ba-p/70039 3 https://projects.twice.cc/ 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).

Professional Development | Education

Specialisations include:

• •

Master of Education (Global Studies in Education) Master of Education (Professional Learning)

Waikato’s PCSS101 Educational Studies is “An examination of the nature and role of education as a major humanities and social sciences discipline. Bicultural, historical, philosophical and sociological perspectives are applied critically to a broad spectrum of educational issues, activities and organisations.”

• •

Master of Education

• •

PhD

•

Master of Educational Psychology

•

Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Psychology Practice

Master of Secondary School Leadership (MSSL) In educational psychology, the choices are:

For primary and secondary teacher education, there is:

•

Auckland University of Technology (AUT)

Master of Teaching and Learning (Primary)

•

Master of Teaching and Learning (Secondary)

Advanced courses at AUT include:

Canterbury University

•

Postgraduate Diploma in Education

•

Postgraduate Certificate in Education

•

Postgraduate Certificate in Educational Leadership

•

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Education

•

Master of Education

•

Master of Educational Leadership

•

Master of Teaching and Learning (Primary)

•

Master of Philosophy

•

Doctor of Education

At Canterbury University, the Master of Education (MEd), “has been refreshed for 2016 to allow for a 180-point coursework pathway for current teachers, educational professionals, counsellors, researchers and leaders to gain a master’s level qualification.

The MEd is designed to give participants the opportunity to examine practice and critical issues in education, and in their area of specialisation if desired.

There also remains the option to undertake research in a field of interest.”

Other postgraduate courses closely allied to the School of Education, taught by the School of Language and Culture include:

In summary, students can complete:

•

coursework-only path of study or

•

Master of Adult Literacy and Numeracy Education

•

•

Master of Professional Language Studies – Language Teaching

a mix of courses and an original thesis (worth 90 points).

Victoria University Postgraduate study at Victoria includes:

•

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Education

•

Bachelor of Education (Honours)

•

Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma in Education

•

Master of Arts in Education

The university regards this as “an ideal qualification for those who have already undertaken some postgraduate study. Graduates of the MEd are ideally placed to achieve research-informed teaching and leadership in their particular educational setting.”

The Master of Education may be awarded unendorsed or endorsed in one of the following areas:

• •

Curriculum and Pedagogy e-Learning and Digital

Technologies

• •

Hoaka Pounamu

• • •

Leadership

Inclusive and Special Education Literacy Teaching and Learning Languages.

Otago University Otago University offers postgraduate programmes grounded in academically oriented, research-based studies of educational issues, theories, policies and practices at the Certificate, Diploma, Master and Doctoral level.

The Master of Teaching and Learning (MTchgLn) qualifies students to become primary and secondary teachers.

Several programmes provide advanced study in education for those who are already experienced teachers, or who have an undergraduate qualification in education. Several have been specifically designed for teachers.

The college says most of its post graduate programmes can be completed at a distance. They include:

•

Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching (PGCertTchg)

•

Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (PGDipTchg)

•

Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (PGDipArts)

• •

Master of Teaching (MTchg)

• • • •

Master of Education (MEd)

education, theories in learning and teaching, reading acquisition and learning technologies.

Unitec says for those who do not have the time to commit to a full master's degree, the Postgraduate Diploma in Education is suitable for anyone interested in or already working in the field of education in a wide range of institutional contexts.

Unitec sees it as particularly suitable for graduates with early childhood degrees, those working in adult or tertiary education and those interested in general educational studies who want to take their career to a postgraduate level.

Courses cover a wide range of educational theory, policy and practice. It is:

•

Designed to promote critical engagement with contemporary issues in education.

•

Applied in-depth professional learning.

•

Highly qualified and experienced academic staff with experience in both practical and research settings in public and private organisations.

•

All courses are electives, giving participants a chance to focus on the topics that are most relevant. They range from education policy, equity and evaluation in education to theories of learning and teaching, reading acquisition and learning technologies. There is no required research component.

•

Part-time study options are available.

•

Cross-credits towards the Master of Education.

Master of Teaching and Learning (MTchgLn) Master of Arts (MA) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Doctor of Education (EdD)

The Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching is an advanced course and is designed for qualified early childhood, primary and secondary teachers.

Unitec Unitec offers teachers the chance to further their understanding of topics such as education policy, equity and evaluation in

Once completed, students can gain cross-credits for the courses they have completed and step up to the Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership and Management or the Master of Educational Leadership and Management.

By Brent Leslie, Industry Reporter

Term 1 - 2016

school news

27

Education | Professional Development

There’s nothing more certain than change!

One of the biggest challenges facing schools, kura, and centres today, is dealing with the demands of change. How we teach, where we teach and even who we teach are never the same from year to year. Research shows that change and learning go hand in hand, therefore, we need to create professional learning opportunities that are not only engaging, but also empower educators in the change process.

We are all aware of the big changes on the horizon in New Zealand’s education system for 2016 including:

•

Establishment of Communities of Learning

and the new principal and teacher roles associated with that.

•

Outcomes from the review of the Education Act.

•

Establishment of the Education Council and their emergent role in guiding teacher appraisal and educational leadership development.

At the same time, we have our educational imperatives for change, derived from schoolbased data to support all students to experience success and provide learning that motivates students to take risks and develop grit.

To collaborate around this change, it is important that educational leaders understand how to engage their staff and lead their school/kura/centre

(or cluster). Don’t be afraid to draw upon the advice and guidance of external expertise where this will help — engaging a critical friend at an early stage can save a lot of angst. When it comes to effectively managing change, 'nobody's as smart as everybody'. Together we must consistently identify and resolve critical change issues, innovate the way they work, and find new and different ways to grow.

This can only happen if time has been spent considering the following:

vision is it?

•

Has this process involved genuine consultation with the community — including local iwi?

•

Do we have a set of collaboratively developed and owned values that guide how we work?

•

Have we clearly identified the challenges that we must address — and why?

•

•

Is our school/kura/centre/ cluster aligned around its educative purpose? Does this clearly identify the learner at the centre?

Are the responses to the questions above clearly articulated to the staff, Board of Trustees, and community in an action plan with well-defined goals and outcomes that can be measured?

•

Are we guided by a clear vision for the organisation, for our students? Whose

There are a number of researchers, many of whom are New Zealanders, who have been

Advanced higher education programmes The FREEDOM Institute of Higher Education offers a six-programme advanced professional pathway.

The programmes are designed for experienced teachers,

tutors, lecturers, kaiako, faiaoga, educational-academic managers and leaders working at all educational levels.

The programmes were researched and designed by the eminent New Zealand For New Zealand’s only advanced professional higher education programmes in: • Educational Facilitation • Curriculum Design • Academic Management • Academic Leadership

Available nationally full and part-time.

For more information or to enrol Call 07 846 7446 or contactus@freedom-ihe.ac.nz www@freedom-ihe-ac.nz

28

school news

Term 1 - 2016

Curriculum Design Institute and are based on a 10 grounded research project which examined the capabilities of more than 500 tertiary and higher education educators, managers and leaders.

The programmes are interactive, enjoyable and challenging. Assessments are negotiable and support advancements in capabilities and work related initiatives and projects.

The programme pathway supports educators to move from implementing programmes of learning or field management through to departmental and organisational advising, management through academic and educational leadership roles.

Graduates of the programmes are given membership for one year to the International Curriculum Design and Academic Leadership Society and become registered professional higher educators.

Unique characteristics of the programme are its psychology and education bases, plus professional, reflective and practice-based approaches which support advanced communication and capability development.

The key goal of the programme pathway is to lift the professionalism and capabilities of New Zealand educational facilitators, curriculum designers, programme leaders, academic managers and institutional academic leaders to international levels.

By The FREEDOM Institute

Professional Development | Education

documenting the evidence about change and learning that leads to improved outcomes for young people and their families.

We need smarter systems, organisations capable of learning and improving, that see learning and change as what it means to be vital, to be alive.”

Anthony Bryk’s (Carnegie Foundation) work around improvement science shows that a networked learning community within a school/kura/centre, makes a difference for students when it is:

•

focused on a well-specified common aim

•

guided by a deep understanding of the problem

•

•

disciplined by the methods of improvement research to develop, test, and refine interventions organised to accelerate interventions into the field, and to effectively

– Tony Bryk, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

integrate them into varied educational contexts.

“We need smarter systems, organisations capable of learning and improving, that see learning and change as what it means to be vital, to be

alive.” – Tony Bryk, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Educational change isn’t primarily about introducing new systems, facilities, or resources — it’s about changing people.

It’s about changing hearts and minds, and about ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate in the change process, and not feel that it is being ‘done’ to them.

An effective professional development programme must be a part of the ‘weave’ of everyday activity in your school/kura/centre, with regular opportunity to identify and celebrate the successes along the way as the change goals are achieved.

As you contemplate the changes that lie ahead in 2016 in your school/centre, it’s time to review your vision, values, and action planning, and to ensure that a well-designed programme of professional development is a key part of this planning.

By CORE Education

Keen to accelerate your learning in 2016?

CORE’s range of quality programmes are future-focused and will provide you with the skills and strategies needed to embed change in your school, cluster, kura or centre.

• Breakfast seminars • Practical hands-on workshops • Facilitated Online Programmes • uLearn annual educators’ conference 5-7 October (Rotorua) • Emerging Leaders Summit (June, Wellington & Auckland) • Customised professional learning & mentoring programmes

Contact our experts today, to develop your knowledge in modern learning, digital fluency, leadership, collaboration, Māori & Pasifika.

Phone 0800 267 301 or visit www.core-ed.org

Term 1 - 2016

school news

29

Administration | Innovative Learning Environments

A modern approach to teaching and learning Innovative Learning Environment (ILE) also known as Modern Learning Environment / Flexible Learning Environment is a term we are hearing more often and is becoming the standard for New Zealand schools.

Put simply - an ILE is a collaborative future-focused environment that is flexible with the capability of evolving and adapting to changes in educational practices – thus a modern approach to teaching and learning. ILEs are however, highly complex and require intricate and meticulous planning and consideration.

The majority of schools in New Zealand were built during the 1950s to 1970s, many of which are still in use to this day. Historically, students would be taught the same subjects by the same teacher in the same traditional teaching method - focusing on the mass rather than the individual.

Now in the 21st century, student learning requirements and teaching methods have both significantly developed and evolved.

Research conducted on effective learning environments strongly indicates that students learn best when they are actively involved in decision making, initiate their own learning and collaborate and make connections across learning areas.

In order to provide better learning environments for our students – the Ministry of Education

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Westmount School, Kaipara campus (MOE) has been moving towards implementing ILEs throughout the country. Back in 2008, five schools were selected to participate in the ‘Learning Studio Pilot (LSP)’ project which was intended to develop a ‘Learning Hub of the Future’. Each learning studio was carefully designed with pedagogy, social and physical properties in mind. Though slightly different in design, they all consisted of a central shared learning area with operable walls to connect the surrounding smaller rooms. The openness and flexibility these spaces provided were intended to allow students to work in large or small groups, as a class or individually.

The pilot had a lot of positive feedback from students, parents, teachers and principals; one school even claimed that their year 7 student retention rate had increased from 48 per cent to a significant 98 per cent. There was also great feedback on the

Gisborne Central School

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acoustic performance of these spaces with teachers commenting that outside noise from adjacent activities was not a distraction and there was no need for their students or themselves to raise their voices to be effectively heard.

(If you are interested in reading more about the LSP, the review can be found online at www. education.govt.nz) Upon the success of the LSP project, ILEs are being implemented throughout the country. Many established schools are making the transition from traditional to modern as part of their 10-year property plan while new schools are incorporating ILEs into their campus design and construction.

When designing an ILE, it is imperative to consider the physical, social and pedagogical attributes that function together as a whole to create the ILE. Though the physical aspect is only one component of an ILE – it is an

important contributing factor that can make all the difference. Eight critical physical design elements that need thorough consideration are acoustics, insulation, air quality, heating, lighting, accessibility, sustainability and health and safety. The MOE advises that “An acoustically good classroom will have approx 75 per cent of its walls covered with an appropriate pinboard material, the ceiling will have a sound absorbent surface and the roof structure will prevent rain noise being a nuisance.” (http://mle.education.govt.nz/faq/).

As more schools around the country are transitioning to ILEs, there has been a lot of positive feedback. Auckland Normal Intermediate, where a specialist area was converted to an ILE, commented that since the transition, attendance rates are high, behavioural issues are almost non-existent, students are motivated and engaged and achievement levels have improved.

Campbells Bay Primary School

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Churchill Park School

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Administration | E-Commerce

Cashless payments remove administration woes The start of the school year is a hectic time for staff as they settle students into classes and timetables. And one of the busiest places in the school is the office where payments are processed for fees, donations and stationery.

Given our love affair with eftpos – New Zealanders use electronic payment more than almost anyone else in the world – it is surprising how many schools still process cash payments, but change is happening with schools across the country shifting to cashless payments solutions.

Sandra Finlay, founder of e-commerce system Kindo, and online lunch service Ezlunch, says cashless payments take the work out of processing parent

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Parents can pay at any time, from anywhere, and they love not having to fill in names and room numbers over and over again.” payments and permission slips.

reconciliation.”

“Kindo integrates with some Student Management Systems (SMS) to provide a completely hands-off process, updating account information on the fly.

The system enables parents to view and pay for all their school expenses in one place whether they’re SMS-managed, sports payments with permission slips, lunches, uniform or fundraisers.

This saves hours of administration, as do the online permission slips and volunteer requests that accompany sports, trips and other payments.

If forms are needed with a payment, we gather that as part of the transaction, which saves a huge effort in collation and

invite suppliers in with their lists to take orders directly. The SMS integration automatically displays the latest account information to parents and posts payments into the SMS. For other things, administrators can click to print out labels, lists or download spreadsheets with all the details they need to efficiently run a uniform, lunch, stationery, fundraiser or show ticket ‘shop’.

Ms Finlay says parent feedback is very positive. “Parents can pay at any time, from anywhere, and they love not having to fill in names and room numbers over and over again.”

Kindo, currently in 100 New Zealand primary, intermediate and secondary schools, also handles merchant accounts so there are no additional costs or delays, and offer parents all ways to pay. Some use the system as a savings account making regular deposits throughout the year to manage bigger costs such as camps and donations.

Schools can easily add or remove items themselves or

The charge to school is the lowest of 2.5 per cent + gst or

The Education Review Office further commented saying that “Achievement information shows that most students are achieving above national norms in many areas of the curriculum. This high achievement has been sustained over several years and students show good progress in their time at the school, especially in writing.” (http://mle.education. govt.nz/assets/Uploads/MLE/ Case-Studies/AucklandNormalIn termediateCasestudy-July2014. pdf).

Gisborne Central School is another example; a recent retrofit of existing buildings into ILE has been welcomed by staff, teachers and students alike.

Noise had been recognised as an issue prior the transition – students were easily distracted so teachers would have to raise their voices to compete the external noise sources. Post retrofit teachers have noticed that students are more focused disruptive noises were no longer a distraction.

Though these popular ILEs have been widely accepted, naturally there has also been

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St James the Apostle School some negative responses and resistance to the change. One element that is important to bear in mind whether you for or against ILE, are acoustics.

Competing background noise can be very disruptive, causing students to miss key words, phrases and concepts. Research conducted into US classrooms revealed that speech intelligibility rating is at 75 per cent indicating that on average, every fourth word is misheard (Seep,

Benjamin., Glosemeyer, Robin., Hulce, Emily., Linn, Matt. Aytar, Pamela). This is very detrimental to a student’s ability to learn and communicate. Acoustics are highly important in any learning environment whether it be traditional or modern. So it is important that schools consult an acoustician or ministry guidelines before implementing an ILE approach.

By Caroline Page, Autex

References: Dumont, H. & Istance, D. (2010).

Future directions for learning environments in the 21st century.

In Dumont, H., D. Istance and F. Benavides (eds.), The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, Educational Research and Innovation (pp. 317-338), OECD Publishing, Paris.

Seep, Benjamin., Glosemeyer, Robin., Hulce, Emily., Linn, Matt.

Aytar, Pamela. Classroom Acoustics – A Resource for Creating Learning Environments with Desirable Learning Conditions, August 2000.

E-Commerce | Administration

$5 per item. “Schools tell us this charge is already covered within fees or just adds a few cents to the price, and works out cheaper than paying for staff to carry out data entry.”

is no set up cost, it’s up and running within a day and is so easy to manage.”

There are no set up, monthly or additional fees, but some additional functions such as SMS integration carry a small monthly charge.

Some schools report that using Kindo is actually saving them money. Administration time is down 60-70 per cent at Auckland’s Campbells Bay School, according to executive officer Karen McNair. “And it has completely eliminated incorrect and poorly-coded bank payments, lost coins, detached notes and human error.”

Others schools cite the beauty of removing cash-handling

Sarah Martin – Stonefields School, principal and administration duties from teachers. “Kindo allows schools to focus on their core function of teaching without the distraction of admin headaches,” says Sarah Martin, principal of Stonefields School. Her “office wizard” Ellie Bramwell says, “We’re getting money in much faster since we started using Kindo. The system is easier for our parents – we’ve had no complaints at all. There

The difference between Kindo and some other payment solutions was that they understood how schools work, according to Gae Beckingsale, finance manager at Takapuna Grammar. “We’d been approached by a number of companies offering payment solutions over the previous couple of years but when we dug down into each one, it became clear that they had little understanding about how schools and their accounting systems actually operate. Kindo was different; we were immediately struck by how well thought out it was. We’re happy to say that it’s turned out to be exactly what we hoped – a payment solution that works for schools.”

No training is required.

Administrators raise invoices in ETAP as usual and everything else happens through Kindo.

“Training for listings such as sports registrations and forms or other payments that are not via the SMS are done via weekly, hour-long sessions online,” says Ms Finlay. “Our SUCCEED implementation programme also includes customised templates for communications bringing parents on board, posters and counter cards, website recommendations and more.

These things are often critical to the success of a new system at school, so we believe in supporting schools through this process.”

By Anna Clements, Industry Reporter

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Teaching Resources | Online Literacy Programs

Which online literacy program for your school?

The increasing use of technology in education has spawned an industry of online teaching resources – and a new challenge for schools trying to work out which program will best suit their students.

School News looks at three digital literacy programs, all of which cater to learners across the spectrum.

Steps Digital literacy program Steps is in more than 800 schools across New Zealand, and is the brainchild of dyslexia expert Ros Lugg and her son David.

Mrs Lugg is a remedial literacy specialist and the managing director of educational resource design company, The Learning Staircase.

“My children, both boys, were dyslexic and struggled with the early stages of literacy. However, both turned out to be gifted programrs and web-developers, and David wrote Steps to help students who struggled as he had,” says Ms Lugg.

Steps caters for all learners including extension learners and learners wanting to improve their English language skills. The software and online programs incorporate a range of activities, including games, which specifically develop the processing and perceptual skills needed for learning.

This includes aspects such as phonological awareness, memory skills and visual perceptual skills. Users can choose between a Kiwi, Australian or British accent, and can even create their own materials in virtually any textbased language.

“We have evidence of learners making progress in maths and other subjects, as a result of being on Steps, because in reality those processing and perceptual skills are relevant to almost every aspect of learning.

Steps is completely research-

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based and can be customised to any level of literacy up to and including university.”

The Learning Staircase is currently working with researchers at Auckland University to develop a test which measures how quickly a learner can ‘register’ a word using a part of the brain which has been shown to be not active in dyslexic learners.

The first version of the test is available on the new program, StepsWeb, and Ms Lugg says it’s already proving to be capable of identifying learners who struggle with instant visual recognition. “The program also incorporates activities designed to activate this part of the brain and, although further research is needed, initial results are extremely promising.”

Ms Lugg believes Steps is the only program in the world with this facility.

It also caters for Maori. “There are a number of Maori materials already on the program, but immersion schools or other Maori learners can also use the program to create their own materials and activities.

“Our motto is ‘Changing lives by improving literacy’ and we have a strong community focus. We donate our software to a number

of migrant and adult literacy organisations, organisations working with neurologicallychallenged adults, and special schools in children’s hospitals, including Starship Children’s Hospital. We have also donated Steps to all the Pacific Islands and to libraries.”

StepsWeb can be used on any device including iPad, Chromebook and Android tablets. It can provide a wholeschool literacy approach, as well as catering for learners with difficulties. This has the advantage of preventing many learners from struggling in the first place.

CSI Literacy CSI Literacy uses digital media to transform the teaching approach known as “shared reading” and aims to accelerate reading comprehension achievement for all students.

This digital shared reading approach (DSR) “powers up” shared reading for all students in years 4 to 8 (especially “the underserved”), as research suggests that once students lose traction in literacy, they never regain it. The program is focused on three things: explicit teaching, engagement, and the use of on-year-level texts.

Online Literacy Programs | Teaching Resources

Spokesperson for CSI, Alex Collins says the engagement factor in CSI Literacy is a mix of pedagogy, engaging short texts, and technology.

“It’s not just eyes on the text that we are seeking but thoughtful engagement – an active, cognitive, and emotional engagement that supports accelerated literacy progress for students.”

Use of CSI involves students reading on-year-level texts with the support of their teacher, their peers, and the aid of digital scaffolds. The approach is to accommodate students’ differences through scaffolding rather than levelling.

Following the DSR lesson, students work in pairs using the same strategy that has been demonstrated, allowing a

gradual release of responsibility.

All co-operative learning texts are audio recorded so that students who can’t read them independently can listen as they read and work their way through a series of activities, which mirror those modelled in the DSR session.

The program is designed to encourage students to become critically aware of their thought processes and the strategies they employ to understand a given text.

Students develop skills in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of these approaches when assessing their levels of understanding, and as a result, take ownership of their reading and become more independent and confident readers.

• The only major-level New Zealand literacy software programme • Used in over 800 New Zealand Schools and by some of the top specialist dyslexia schools internationally • Structured, multi-sensory and researched-based • Caters for English and Maori • Structured courses, with automatic error analysis and individualized revision

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Evidence-based and research proven in 7 peer-reviewed published studies “We are thrilled with the Steps programme at Maungawhau School... Some students have moved over a year in less than two months. The results are amazing, but more importantly, the students are loving the programme and enthusiastically attend sessions.”

− Maungawhau School

“It’s fantastic to use a resource that actually works.” − Robyn, Kauri Park School

Lexia Reading Core5®   

Personalised learning path for each student Instant online access to student progress data Online access via computers, iPads and tablets Free One Term Trials ● www.itecnz.co.nz

“In my experience as RTLB, the discovery of the Steps programme has been thoroughly exciting. Students who have been struggling from their beginning days at school, who have had intensive support including Reading Recovery, have been able to make massive gains in reading, writing and spelling. This is thrilling to see students who have been thoroughly ‘turned off’ reading, become excited and enthusiastic learners. I am now confident that students with serious literacy learning difficulties can be supported using this innovative and creative programme.”

− Judith Cain, MEd

t h e L E AR N I N G STA I R C A SE LT D

info@learningstaircase.co.nz | www.learningstaircase.co.nz

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Teaching Resources | Online Literacy Programs

Mr Collins says students enjoy reading the short, quirky and contemporary texts - displayed digitally - and trying to apply newfound concepts (strategies and skills) when using these texts.

skill level, with more time recommended for those who have the largest learning gaps to close.

Business manager for program distributors ITEC NZ, Janine Trembath, says the advantage to teachers over traditional literacy teaching is the amount of time saved. “All students can be working on the same program but at their own pace and level, and teachers have access to up to the minute progress data meaning they can focus on students who need help without stopping to implement external testing.”

The company’s latest resource is CSI Private Eye, launching on March 10. This interactive reading and writing series is for readers in years 4 to 8+, and is New Zealand-developed and aligned to the New Zealand curriculum.

The resource is delivered entirely online, through students’ browsers with no software downloads or installations needed. Students can investigate the cases individually, using iPads, Android tablets, Chromebooks, PCs or Macs.

They can also complete the cases in pairs or small groups, or even as a whole class.

Both students and teachers have individual access to CSI Private Eye at any time from home or school, and each student who completes a case gets an individual case report, generated from the work they complete during the case. Students can access their reports at any time, and teachers can log in, access and assess their students’ reports online, using rubrics built into the reports.

Lexia Reading and Reading Plus Lexia Reading and Reading Plus are literacy programs designed to support teachers in personalising learning for each student.

Students are initially assessed to determine a suitable starting level, are advanced at a rate determined by their success and receive scaffolded support when struggling. Both programs feature extensive reporting to staff. These reports provide data at whole school, class level, and individual student levels, and predictive analysis is also generated to assess expected outcomes.

Lexia Reading Core5 is a blended learning resource featuring an online program supported by printable resources. It provides

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personalised development of reading skills for all Year 1 to Year 6 students, and for those Year 7 and above working on foundation skills remediation.

These skills include phonological awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Students can work from pre-reading skills such as rhyming or spatial concepts, right through to listening and reading comprehension.

Students choose from five reading skill activities at their current personalised level. There are six layers of scaffolded

support on every activity to engage struggling readers, as well as printable worksheets, a dashboard for students to monitor their progress, and reward animations.

Teachers have access to realtime tracking of individual, class and whole school progress.

Lexia runs on all platforms, with recommended weekly usage at three, 15-30 minute sessions. After one month, the program makes personalised usage recommendations based on student’s year and current

More than 400 schools across New Zealand are using the Lexia program with some reporting marked gains.

Owairaka District School program trial of 9 year 5/6 students reading below cohort reported half of the students made gains of more than one year, with overall range of 6 months to 3.5 years gain after only 6 months usage.

(PM Benchmark and PROBE assessments.)

Reading Plus is a separate program suited to students who are beyond the Lexia Reading skill range. It is designed to help students from years 4 to 13 improve their silent reading comprehension. Students are initially benchmarked, with measures of their comprehension, vocabulary, reading rate and motivation ascertained so a personal pathway can be built for each.

There is automatic monitoring and reporting on 25 individual aspects of comprehension.

Scaffolded support is provided when a student is identified as requiring explicit strategies to address an area of weakness e.g. inference.

There are four activity types: SeeReader Students choose from a list of more than 1500 appropriatelylevelled high interest stories. The stories are presented to them

Online Literacy Programs | Teaching Resources

in a variety of formats including flowing text at a specific rate.

At the end of each story the students have 10 questions to answer, which are crafted to measure all aspects of comprehension. Success leads to more challenging material and the option for a faster reading rate.

ReadAround This is for vocabulary enhancement and is based on learning a core of 2400 words.

These core words provide a word family base of 10,000 highfrequency academic words. i-Balance This activity aids eye tracking and visual acuity. “Eye tracking is often an issue that limits slow readers hence reducing their prospects of catching up on reading mileage. Reading

students within the portal.

Plus addresses this with visual cognitive activities,” says John Kennedy, ITEC NZ training and support specialist.

Students are assessed at startup using a test which has a 0.8 correlation with the STAR reading test, and two further benchmarks during the school year allow staff to track gains. Teachers also have 24-hour access to live data to inform instruction, and motivate students.

Writing Portal Students are prompted to write essays based on the material they’ve read. Writing prompts are targeted at teaching students to focus on evidence, ideas, and details when reading. Their writing is monitored online by staff, and teachers feedback to

Mr Kennedy says that feedback from schools is very positive with one reporting that students

using the program three times a week for 10 weeks had gained an average of 115 words per minute, while concurrently making significant reading comprehension gains. (Research suggests average reading rate gains measured were at 10-15 words per minute per year, Carver (1990), Mather and Goldstein (2001)).

By Anna Clements, Industry Reporter

DIGITAL reading and writing experience!

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writing series for students. Cases contain over 100 fullcolour illustrations, 200+ digital interactions and a range of online writing activities. Your students can investigate these mysterious and engaging cases during class time, or at home, and they receive individual case reports that you can assess.

Three NZC-aligned writing lessons are included for each interactive case, making this a truly comprehensive reading and writing series.

E XPAND Expand vocabulary across different subjects

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“It is challenging and incredibly interactive. I like how it is not just a game, it actually gets you thinking.”

Year 7/8 teacher

“Our students were keen on the digital notepad for keeping track of their thinking, and they LOVED the time travel tool.”

Year 4/5 teacher

To enquire about a subscription or for a free demo, email us at info@csi-literacy.com

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Teaching Resources | Book Reviews The Adventures of Hutu & Kawa

If Kaine succeeds, it will mean worldwide cyber domination. And it looks like Michael and his friends are the only ones who can put the monster back in the box – if Michael can figure out who his friends really are.

In an old pohutukawa tree between the forest and the sea live two tiny Pohutukawa Babies, Hutu and Kawa. With the help of Grandpa Kiwi, Hutu and Kawa build a canoe and set off up the river to explore the forest. On their way they make many new friends – and encounter the fearsome Bush Hawk.

During the 1950s children enjoyed the adventures of the Pohutukawa Babies in the New Zealand Herald each week, and Avis Acres' books, with beautiful watercolour illustrations showcasing native flora and wildlife, became bestsellers.

The Adventures of Hutu and Kawa is the first tale in the classic series.

This 60th-anniversary hardback edition captures all the charm of the original tale and brings these delightful characters to a new generation of children.

Avis Acres Picture Puffin Penguin For ages 8-10

The Game of Lives

robot on the block – and loses his ability to help Maddie. Now it’s up to Sammy to figure out what’s wrong with E and save his family.

fun. The VirtNet combined the most cutting-edge technology and the most sophisticated gaming for a full mind-body experience, but the VirtNet has become a world of deadly consequences, and Kaine grows stronger by the day. The Mortality Doctrine – Kaine’s master plan – has nearly been realised, and little by little the line separating the virtual from the real is blurring.

James Dashner Corgi Children’s Penguin Random House For ages 12 and up

Anzac Heroes

James Patterson Young Arrow Penguin Random House For ages 8-10

The House on the Hill

its prisoner-of-war camp. Ewen, whose dad is a guard there, can’t stop wondering about the enemy just down the road. Some say the captives are evil and cruel and should be treated harshly – or shot.

But when Ewen and his friends ride out to the camp to peep through the barbed wire, the POWs just seem like . . . well, people.

Enemy Camp is based on ‘the Featherston incident’ – an episode in which New Zealand blotted its wartime copybook. An assembly of unarmed Japanese prisoners at the Featherston POW Camp charged their NZ guards, who opened fire on them. Thirty-one Japanese were killed instantly; 17 later died of their wounds and a further 74 were wounded.

A gripping new novel based on true events which will engage readers.

Discover the triumphs and tragedies of 30 heroic Australasians during World War One and Two. Read the biographies of ANZAC soldiers, as well as Air Force and Navy soldiers, medics, a spy, an ambulance driver and a humanitarian; surviving battles in England, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.

Enemy Camp The games Michael is playing have become all too real. Only weeks ago, sinking into the Sleep was

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It’s 1942 and the tiny farming town of Featherston is about to receive hundreds of Japanese soldiers into

Kyle Mewburn & Sarah Davis Scholastic For ages 4-8 Reviews by Anna Clements, Industry Reporter

David Hill Puffin For ages 9-14

House of Robots: Robots Go Wild!

Anzac Heroes includes famous soldiers such as New Zealand’s double Victoria Cross recipient Charles Upham, and muchhonoured Australian Hughie Edwards. But you will also find notso-well known indigenous soldiers, such as Albert Knight from Australia and Peter Buck from New Zealand, and brave women Olive King, Joice Loch, Nancy Wake and Dr Jessie Scott.

Maria Gill & Marco Ivancic Scholastic For ages 9 and up

Mewburn’s hauntingly lyrical text, with its nod to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, provides just the right amount of spine-tingling spookiness for children who like the anticipation of feeling a tiny bit scared – until the delightful, fun reveal at the end! Beautifully illustrated in monochromatic style.

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• gers Mana erty • Prop ads t He rtmen Depa

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ipa Princ K NAL BOO SSIO OFE YEAR ISTS A PR AND IALo.n z ls.c FORBSITEE SPEC schoo WELL TH69 or visit www.cmc 0 00 CA 09 58 today

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SCHOOLNEWS WELCOMES EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMAGES ON RELEVANT TOPICS FOR FEATURES, NEW PRODUCT PROFILES AND NEWS ITEMS. In book two of the House of Robots series, Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez and his “bro-bot” E are making new friends every day as E works as his bedridden sister Maddie’s school proxy. But disaster strikes when E malfunctions just in time to be upstaged by the super-cool new

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.

Healthy Eating Options | Food & Beverage

Easing the way for healthy canteen choices A healthy lunch at school can make all the difference to a pupil’s behaviour and performance, but confusion remains over what constitutes “healthy”. Most people are up to speed about the dangers of overloading on fizzy drinks, chips and chocolate bars, but there is a lot of uncertainty around the nutritional benefits of popular canteen items such as sushi, muffins and corn chips.

Fuelled4life is the Heart Foundation’s programme dedicated to helping tuckshops and canteens across the country sort the healthy from unhealthy, and upgrade the quality of food on offer to students.

They have released a classification system, the Food and Beverage Classification System (FBCS), with foods and drinks categorised into “everyday” or “sometimes” according to its nutrient profile.

An egg sandwich on wholemeal bread wins everyday status while a potato-top pie may be relegated to the sometimes category. Foods and drinks that don’t meet the criteria of the sometimes category are considered treats and labelled “occasional”.

Programme manager Larissa Beeby says the system has been designed to inspire schools to provide tasty, nutritious products and to encourage the food industry to produce and supply healthier foods and beverages that young people will want to consume. This in turn would help children get a good start in life through access to healthier food and beverages.

Schools can email the foundation to arrange a visit from a local advisor, and are provided with regularly updated menus and recipes, and information about food safety and equipment.

Cooks are advised on how to

exchange the high fat cheese in a lasagne to one of lower fat content, to use wholemeal flour instead of white, to include more fruit and vegetables, and to alter cooking methods for example from frying to baking.

“It’s easy for schools to improve the nutritional content of a hamburger, for example, by using a wholemeal bun and including vegetables.” Spaghetti Bolognese is another meal which can be improved with the inclusion of as many vegetables as possible, says Ms Beeby.

Online lunch ordering service Ezlunch piloted Fuelled4life Fresh Made with the Heart Foundation to support their healthy food focus.

“Fuelled4life covers some important criteria, and we take it a bit further in that we avoid additives in our foods too,” says Ezlunch founder, Sandra Finlay.

Ezlunch is in 81 New Zealand schools, with parents simply clicking on the website or texting orders through. Orders are then distributed to local suppliers who deliver to the school.

Ms Finlay says schools have been very enthusiastic. Principal’s personal assistant at Cockle Bay School, Ginny Gartland says, “Ezlunch is the easiest way to provide your students with nourishing and healthy school lunches with no ‘man power’ required by the school.”

Schools also enjoy the extra cash of commission paid by service providers.

A parent feedback option on the website allows for communication around dietary requirements, with allergy alerts showing on labels and production lists. “We are also getting more requests for halal and gluten-free so many of our suppliers have extended their menus to accommodate this.”

“We are extremely happy with the Lunchonline service because it is efficient, streamlined, very well organised, offers a fantastic menu and most importantly the children love it.”

David O’Neill, Principal, St Mary’s School

The Ezlunch team also goes out into schools to see what children have in their lunchboxes so they can stay in tune with parent preferences.

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Food & Beverage | Healthy Eating Options

Schools even get a kick back with some receiving hundreds of dollars each term.

Some parents order lunch for their children every day. “It’s not just a once a week treat, it’s also a convenience for busy parents who want to ensure their child is eating well. As a parent myself, I know too well the demands of a busy family life. So we designed Ezlunch to be easy in every sense – easy to order, easy to manage at school, and guilt-free with fresh, nutritious food and a wide variety, not just treats.”

Sushi is by far and away the most popular item on Lunchonline.

“Kids love sushi because it is perceived as being healthy and tastes great. One food provider alone received 10,000 orders for sushi last year, with the next popular item being a sausage roll, with 6,000 orders. After that the healthier choices start to come through, sandwiches, wraps and mousetraps.”

Lunchonline founder David Chapman had similar plans for his ordering service.

“We looked at introducing a traffic light system with green for healthy foods and red for treat foods. However, the feedback in a survey of 5000 parents was overwhelmingly negative. They thought we were being arrogant in suggesting we knew what to feed their children and told us in no uncertain terms. So we haven’t progressed this.

“Instead we look at food holistically, that is, when it comes to putting a pie on the menu, it’s fine if for example it’s once a fortnight and the child is having good evening meals, but if it’s a pie every day and they’re eating chips for dinner, then the child’s heath could be impacted

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Kids at Campbells Bay School enjoying ezlunch negatively. But we are going to allow treat options because for some children, a lunch order is a once a year option on their birthday.”

When schools sign up with Lunchonline, they often have a provider in mind, a local bakery or sushi shop for example. The ordering company then liaises with the provider, ensures food safety rules are complied with, and the provider loads the menu.

The school checks the menu and once everyone’s happy, the menu is uploaded.

Parents are required to lodge money and have a balance before they can order, removing the onus on schools or food provider to count lunch order money and make up the difference when money has been lost or miscalculated.

“The school doesn’t have to do anything at all,” says Mr Chapman. “The provider delivers the lunches to the school and we suggest classroom monitors are assigned to manage distribution.

There just needs to be a point of contact if for example a lunch is missing.”

Mr Chapman hopes to see healthier choices continue to gain in popularity. “Offering healthy choices is critical and it’s a part of our psyche, but at the end of the day parents want choice so we have to offer that. Some schools have removed all treat foods from their menus and we get parents ringing us asking to have them back. Other schools limit treat items to selected days only.

“We need to get our heads around how food providers can make great-tasting food without sugar, white flour and salt.”

By Anna Clements, Industry Reporter

AffOrDabLe HeaLthy Food in Your SchOoL. Here’s how.

Fuelled4life is a practical tool that can be used to identify and offer healthier food choices to children.

Sign up today at www.fuelled4life.org.nz to receive our many free resources.

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Food & Beverage | Healthy Eating Options Supplier Profile | Sanitarium Healthier Vending Initiative

Venture Out! Healthy Outlook, Healthy Future!

In New Zealand, throughout the school year, more and more young people from schools spend a week or day trips away in school camps to; •

support peer to peer exchanges, team build and role model

•

apply learning from the classroom

•

encourage a healthy lifestyle, keeping students active and healthy; supported by learning opportunities in an safe outdoor setting

•

enable mentoring opportunities between senior and junior students

•

nurture buddy opportunities for students to develop friendships inside and outside the classroom

The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa encourage schools to develop school curricula and related learning programmes that: •

reflect the learning needs of their students

•

build on their previous experiences and

•

have meaning for their students because the learning relates to their lives

Outdoor classroom experiences provide students with a range of contexts to develop the key competencies, explore their values and the values of others, and apply learning across the curriculum. When students are involved in education outside the classroom (EOTC) experiences; teachers need to consider the learning and safety needs of all students. Source: http://eotc.tki.org. nz/EOTC-home/For-teachers

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corporate team building events and families who want to simply ‘get away from it all’.

Tui Ridge Park has a long history with many New Zealand Schools.

Affectionately known as the ‘Ridge’ school students have great memories of Tui Ridge. With activities to suit the more adventurous, and some for the less energetic!

‘My time at Tui Ridge Park was an amazing memory event. It was my first time away from home and I did not know what to expect. But I enjoyed the time and thrills so much. It changed the way I learn about things and it gave me new confidence around all my friends. The experience became ‘real’ instead of just reading about it on the web or hearing about it’ – Year 9 student An EOTC experience can be time exploring school grounds, a half day visit to the bush, a guided river cruise, a special event or class time investigating facts and knowledge at a local museum. But a well-planned camping experience takes it a step further, by allowing students to be involved in ‘experiential learning’, such as a hands on project exploring rocks by the beach, visiting a historic locations, hiking through the bush to check out a waterfall, or watching a bird’s nest and its habitat at a local reserve, playing a new sport, performing at a local performing arts or cultural competition, a

live interactive theatre show or participating in a children’s wearable arts festival.

There are great camping and conference venues around New Zealand like Tui Ridge Park, who live and breathe their motto for everyone who comes - Adventure Lives Here! Tui Ridge Park is nestled in 170 hectares of beautiful New Zealand forest with commanding views of Lake Rotorua, Mt Tarawera, Mokoia Island, and the surrounding countryside. Tui Ridge Park offers you the very best activities and facilities! Ideally suited for school groups, church groups, clubs,

A substantial number of people believe that school camps can do more than provide an opportunity to have fun; based on a great school camp, they are designed to promote for students a positive learning experience backed up by a healthy active lifestyle. The Sanitarium Up&Go Vending Partnership initiative is proud to be partnering with Tui Ridge Park to support its efforts to engage with students for all ages who attend school camps. By providing healthy vending options all day, students now have access to portable nutrition and hydration while they are outside and ‘on the go’ attending programmes and activities all over the camp under the watchful care of their teachers and Tui Ridge Park staff. Mr Norman King, Tui Ridge Park Manager, is passionate about the place.

“It is a fantastic place to learn and create memories, where you can experience the ‘real’ New Zealand.”

“At Tui Ridge Park students can experience rock climbing, abseiling, zorb balls, mountain biking, and an exhilarating high ropes course, all under the watchful eye of the Tui Ridge Park trained professionals who keep everybody safe whilst still having fun.”

Tui Ridge Park has something to suit everyone. With a huge 40,000 sq ft auditorium/gymnasium complete with a state of the art spring-loaded floor, this indoor events centre is the size

Healthy Eating Options | Food & Beverage

of three basketball courts and has numerous other activity areas including an indoor rock climbing wall.

It is the perfect place for a school camp, regardless of the weather!

With a camping experience like Tui Ridge Park interest is growing among many schools who choose camping and outdoor education experiences to support what is sometimes known as character education. In its broad sense, that label refers to almost anything we

might do to help kids become good people.

School camps can now be tailored to match the academic standards of schools and at the same time demonstrating how experiential ‘outdoor’ education can be a powerful addition to a school’s curriculum; and provide opportunities for leadership development, socialisation, and selfesteem building, that allow students to perform better in the classroom.

Tui Ridge Park, is an excellent regional choice for schools and from many years of specialising in planning and delivering school camps, it has also developed specialised programmes for businesses, organisations, via a camp or retreat experience to enhance their team development and leadership development programmes through experiential education. Mr King, reports that many clients utilise their expertise in combining proven, impactful

and fantastic facilitation within an environment to create real change. Tui Ridge Park has a team of professional staff that has been partnering with schools to develop their greatest asset – their young people. Tui Ridge Park staff will work with schools to design camps and training that meets your objectives and enhances your schools effectiveness in engaging with the learning and teaching of students from all walks of life.

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43

External Learning | Sports Tours

How travel strengthens sports teams Gone are the days when an eagerly-anticipated sports trip meant squeezing into the school van to drive to, well, another school.

Today’s students journey far and wide in their quest to improve their game, with South America currently the most popular destination for New Zealand school sports teams.

That may sound daunting given the amount of worry afforded to health and safety regulations in schools, but tour companies who specialise in school sports say it’s all in a day’s work.

Tour Time Camaraderie is what sports tours are all about, says Brent Imrie from Tour Time. “Travelling

STEM TRIPS

extensive contacts in elite sports through their management of tours for international teams visiting New Zealand, for example the Boca Juniors and LA Galaxy.

“In September we are taking two football sides from Wellington to Argentina where they’ll have an elite, three-day training camp with the Boca Juniors, who Tour Time looked after when they toured New Zealand in 2010.

“We have an office in the USA and a unique connection with the Boston Celtics for elite basketball coaching.”

Travelling together boosts team morale with friends and team mates to play sports around the world offers a connection with other nationalities and cultures which happens on and off the field, with sport being the connecting factor. Our tours also include a

service day with under-privileged children which opens up a whole new perspective for students,” he says.

Tour Time is a family-owned and operated business of 25 years standing that has built up

SPORTS TOURS

The destination most requested

by Kiwi schools is South America, and the company has its own office and staff in Argentina.

In April, the girls’ hockey team from St Oran’s College, Wellington, will be the company’s 23rd group to tour Argentina. As

EDUCATIONAL TRIPS

Get your free school group travel brochure at www.easchooltours.com Specialists in school travel we have recently put together international trips for:

Christs College, Mount Albert Grammar, Kings College, Epsom Girls Grammar, Mount Aspiring College and more.

To request a sample itinerary email schooltours@educatingadventures.com or phone 03 669 0995

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Sports Tours | External Learning

Taking in another culture well as engaging in elite coaching and numerous matches, the team will visit Buenos Aires, Rosario and Iguazu Falls.

Camaraderie

Australian trip so parents weren’t too out of pocket. “One student paid for her entire trip to Argentina by selling cupcakes, and other groups have successfully raised money busking and chopping firewood.

Other popular destinations for sports groups with Tour Time are Australia, USA, UK, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and China.

We work with schools in various economic climates, and assist them with fundraising. It’s an important part of the tour and can be fun if it’s managed well.�

Tour Time also helps schools with ideas around fundraising, even providing opportunities for ‘big-ticket’ fundraising options, rather than students having to sell small items with a low return. A team from Freyberg High School, Palmerston North, fundraised most of the costs for their

Mr Imrie cites being fully bonded and licensed as one of Tour Time’s advantages for schools and parents. “When parents or schools pay deposits and

progress payments, their money is lodged into a trust account which is fully audited and bonded

by TAANZ; this means that those tour funds can only be accessed for the payment of their specific tour and the funds cannot be used for anything else. All groups’ payments are fully protected.�

Another big advantage is a manager for every tour, he says. “Unlike most companies, we send a tour manager on every trip to deal with any challenges that may arise. This allows teachers to focus on the students. Obviously the students’ safety is paramount at all times.�

Mr Imrie says the company seeks out “like never before� moments to transform each trip into a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For the hockey team from Dunedin’s John McGlashan College, that experience came in April last year when they toured in Singapore and Malaysia. Not only did they have retired Black Stick player Richard Petherick as their tour manager and also on hand for coaching, they were able to meet the Black Sticks at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – and made it onto the television news back home performing the haka at the Black Sticks match.

Tour Time School Tours: Empowering students to achieve their dreams Encouraging students to develop their full potential Inspiring leadership and developing confidence Educating tomorrow’s leaders today

Sports Tours

Music Tours

Engaging and Inspiring your Students like never before

Educational Tours

New Zealand’s leading School Tour Company with 25 years’ experience touring school groups around the globe. As a New Zealand family owned and operated business, Tour Time are the market leaders in Sport, Music and Educational tours for New Zealand and Australian groups. With offices and staff in New Zealand, Australia, South America and the USA, your school will benefit from Tour Time’s incomparable expertise. Tour Time are financially bonded and licensed tour operators - ensuring your finances are secure. Contact Tour Time for your next tour whether it be Sport, Music or Educational.

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2016

Term 1 - 2016

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45

External Learning | Sports Tours

Mount Aspiring College cricket team in UK

Educating Adventures Educating Adventures started out arranging ski trips for school groups in 2006 but have since expanded to offer a wide range of educational and sporting tours to destinations around the world.

They arrange an average of 20 trips per year for New Zealand schools heading abroad, as well as trips for international schools visiting New Zealand and other countries.

The company says the rise in demand for international school trips – up 70 per cent in the past 10 years - is because of increased awareness of its benefits.

International tours provide students with the opportunity to engage in different cultures and traditions, interact with host families, play matches again local sports teams, experience different training techniques, and also visit iconic sites.

The benefits to students are huge, all team sports which are played in high school would benefit from touring. It gives the teams the chance to play in an international setting against teams they wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to verse.”

– Fiona Atkinson, Travel2Learn

especially to South America, the UK and Europe; and for educational trips to NASA, utilising the company’s exclusive partnership with the Kennedy Space Center.

accommodation.” Prices start at around $1500 per student and the sky’s the limit, with some clients budgeting in excess of $15,000 per pupil for noexpense-spared sports tours.

While international travel is never cheap, Educating Adventures say they can make adjustments to reduce costs.

A key benefit of a tour with Educating Adventures is the support person provided to assist teachers 24-7, says Ms Cutler.

Director Eryn Cutler says, “We don’t have control over flight prices but wherever possible we can be flexible with the standard of activities, meals and

Teacher Jon Wale of Soham Village College, UK, said, “I was very impressed with Educating Adventures.

It is evident more teachers understand the benefits of cultural exchange; Matt Cortesi, teacher at Christ's College in Christchurch recently returned from a sports tour of South America and says, “It was a wonderful tour and it achieved great success on and off the field. The boys had opportunity to gain some personal development and really learn about themselves.”

Educating Adventures is experiencing growing demand for international sports tours,

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Auckland Boys Grammar at Havanna Caminito in South America

“I have organised many school trips and I would say that they are the best school travel company that I have dealt with.

They thought of everything and ensured that nothing was missed in the build up to the trip. The EA support guide was fantastic and could not do enough for us.”

Travel2Learn Travel2Learn deals exclusively with school trips. “We understand the needs of teachers and the procedures that schools are required to follow when providing Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC),” says company spokesperson Fiona Atkinson. “We meet with teachers to discuss their requirements, and give advice to ensure the smooth running of the trip from the early planning stages through the actual trip, right through to when they’ve home again.”

Budgets are tailored to each team’s needs, and the schools are matched with groups around the world with similar requirements.

Sports Tours | External Learning

And the benefits to students are huge, says Ms Atkinson. “All team sports which are played in high school would benefit from touring. It gives the teams the chance to play in an international setting against teams they wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to verse.”

Teams can also benefit from coaching sessions especially in countries where the sport is widely played, for example, basketball in the USA and football in South America.

These coaching sessions further enhance players’ skills, a big advantage for when they return to local competitions.

“New Zealand is recognised as being competitive in many sports, and many overseas teams are really eager to prove themselves against our teams

which leads to competitive and challenging events.”

Another advantage for the groups is that they have the opportunity to experience a different culture. Sightseeing is included as well as arranging matches and training clinics so that the players have an allround experience.

Travel2Learn’s most popular sports destinations are hockey to Malaysia, basketball to the USA, rugby and rugby league to Australia, the UK and France, and football to South America, Mexico and Europe. Minimum group size is 10 and the preferred maximum is 45, “else we’d need two coaches,” says Ms Atkinson.

The company also provides a local contact in each destination so that help is always at hand.

Auckland Boys Grammar at Havanna Caminito in South America “We provide input to the school’s risk assessment procedures and only work with trusted service providers to ensure that there is a plan for any unexpected events.”

Travel2Learn also provides the option of combining other subjects such as languages with sports groups in order to ensure the overall cost of both trips remains affordable.

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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Health & Safety | Teacher Wellbeing

Teachers need to be valued more

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

“As Education Minister I have a clear goal. I want every kid to receive a great education. For that to happen every school has to be a great school.

We were told that at the beginning of 2016, the cabinet had experienced a “eureka” moment, that is, they had decided that talk wasn’t enough to create excellence but that excellence could be created with a substantially larger budget than currently on offer. We sat in stunned silence as he delivered a list of planned changes."

“It is for that reason that I have tasked the Education Ministry to focus on the four things that have been shown by research to make the greatest difference to kids' education. Those things are the quality of teaching, the quality of leadership, parental engagement and community expectations.

more synergy between the key parties.

“My job as education minister is not to oversee the ministry's $23 billion property portfolio. It is to ensure teachers and principals have the tools they need to raise student achievement.”

Education minister Hekia Parata in the New Zealand Herald, August, 2015.

Wow, what a day! In fact, one of the most memorable days I’ve ever had as an educationalist. It was contract discussion time and our team had arrived to begin negotiations on the next collective agreement.

Previous contract talks have followed a familiar pattern but today took a different path. The government team was fronted by prime minister John Key, finance minister Bill English, Mr Fix-it Steven Joyce, and education minister, Hekia Parata, with other negotiators from previous years behind them.

Initially I thought that we’d hear the same statements as in previous years, that education spending had gone up by a certain percent under this government, and that their data did not reveal any major issues around teacher shortages, teacher recruitment or retention.

That property issues, charter school problems, ECE concerns, lack of future school leaders and so on were all being grossly exaggerated in the media. In fact, our education system was already great in many parts of the country.

But the exact opposite happened.

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Education minister Hekia Parata We were told that at the beginning of 2016, the cabinet had experienced a “eureka” moment, that is, they had decided that talk wasn’t enough to create excellence but that excellence could be created with a substantially larger budget than currently on offer.

We sat in stunned silence as he delivered a list of planned changes.

•

Teachers’ salaries would start at $100,000 after completing a high quality teachertraining programme so the brightest and best young people consider teaching as a long-term career. Entering

•

NCEA would have a major re-work as teaching to assessments is not what teaching and learning is all about.

•

Similarly, national standards would also be re-visited.

The workload issue as an initial observation is a major concern.

•

ECE. We need a total rethink. This is such a vital sector and we must do better.

•

A positive media recruitment campaign would begin to promote teaching as a wonderful and rewarding profession.

•

Every effort would be made to attract males into the profession, as the current 72 percent, 28 per cent split was deemed as unacceptable.

•

Once we had attracted a high-quality teaching workforce, focus would move to retention with support networks implemented so teachers and leaders could sustain a high quality service to our young people, for years to come.

•

The decile system and ‘parental donation’ would be abolished, and the whole funding of education would be reviewed. During the past two decades, spending has always been in the vicinity of four to five percent GDP, relating to about 17 percent of annual government spending. Yes, we are a small

Prime minister John Key the teaching profession must become an attractive career option.

•

•

All principals would have supervising mentors to support them, and major reviews would take place to reduce and streamline the layers of administration and required documentation.

With the new Health and Safety Act commencing shortly, it was time to widen the requirements around NAG5 to include the ‘wellbeing of teachers’ and provide ministry-generated resources, BOT training and support, and to encourage

Teacher Wellbeing | Health & Safety

population country compared with many but a GDP spend of 5.5 to six percent was being considered, equating to over 20 to 25 percent annual spending during the next decade. As a nation, we needed to be far more strategic in education, and reduce wastage and unnecessary spending on less important projects.

•

Young people deserved to learn in a comfortable 21st century environment and our property funding models would change dramatically from the ‘essential work’ mentality of the past to providing a quality and prompt solution to a large number of school property and building issues. If we could afford to spend millions on our embassy in the USA, as it was looking a little tired, then it was vital to address property issues in our schools at home.

Mr Key continued, we are going to do this, we are going to do that,and then we need to change this and improve funding here and here. A man on a mission!

Across the table, I was totally stunned. After a lifetime in education listening to the ‘same message, same responses’ declaring that all was well when the reality was that the overall education package was ‘mediocre’, it was music to my ears.

Educational data is often compared with other OECD countries, particularly Australia, the USA and UK, and in some areas we are slightly ahead. But let’s be honest, these countries are not exactly doing well at present.

Recently I was talking with an education professor in Oklahoma, USA, and I learnt that the average length of service for a teacher is now fewer than three years.

In the UK, teachers are leaving the profession in droves because of excessive workloads around assessment, the constant

meddling of politicians and a lack of funding. Our colleagues across the Tasman are not happy either because of similar workload issues, and many do not feel valued. They feel that teaching is no longer a worthwhile profession.

Oh my goodness, my heart was racing. Someone had had a moment of magic and realised how much better we could be doing in education in New Zealand, not just with money but with clarity of what was important and what should be ditched.

The wastage of government money makes me sad, the wastage of money in education makes me even sadder. But it was going to change and we were going to be able to recruit top teachers and pay them accordingly to deliver excellence to our young people. We were going to be able to refresh resources and support networks in schools so that they could continue to deliver top quality teaching, hour by hour, day on day, year on year.

What a great day to be in education!

Then I felt a nudge. I opened my eyes and heard my wife saying, “Are you okay? Why were you cheering?” I put my hands to my head: what a let-down. It had all been a dream. How could that be?

The thought of Bill English opening the coffers and providing considerable funds and, at the same time, cutting wastage in education with the help of Steven Joyce, would have been amazing.

A belated Happy New Year to John, Bill, Steven and Hekia. I agree with the goal, that every school must be a great school.

The first priority is to make teaching a highly desirable career.

Let’s recruit high quality teachers and look after them so that excellent teaching is sustainable.

Unfortunately, it will cost a significant amount of money and a lot of very positive and creative thinking.

Here’s hoping for that ‘eureka moment’!

Wellbeing tips for term one This time, two individuallyfocused tips and one schoolwide challenge.

Tip one: Stay hydrated During the summer break, it’s easy to keep drinking water but once we’re locked into timetables back at school, good hydration habits can disappear quickly.

In the humid weather of summer and autumn, take a bottle of cold water with you to class. Refill at interval and lunchtime. Short sips in class are good for you and as an example to your students.

Tip two: Eat a nutritious lunch Spend some time thinking about what foods work for you and actually give you energy and improve your concentration.

A quality, nutritious lunch can make all the difference to your

afternoon teaching. Take at least 20 minutes to stop, refuel and re-charge your body, mind and soul.

Tip three: the new Health and Safety at Work Act will come into effect on April 4, 2016.

All schools will have to review their health and safety policy this term. What a golden opportunity to embed a staff wellbeing programme into your school’s culture.

The act requires that staff as well as students have their health and wellbeing considered and supported, and many educational institutions have commenced new teacher wellbeing programmes.

See the Facebook page, teacherwellbeing nz for ideas on how your school can make positive changes.

Have a wonderful term one.

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49

Health & Safety | Sun Safety

Sun safety as vital as core curriculum The academic year is underway with children around the country settling back into the classroom.

And for SunSmartaccredited schools, promoting sun-safe behaviour is as much a part of the syllabus as the core curriculum.

Corinna School in Porirua is the latest to become accredited, joining the list last November.

Principal Michele Whiting says introducing correct sun protection for students was a gradual process but the response from the kids has been positive.

SunSmart Schools Accreditation acknowledges primary and intermediate schools that have a sun protection policy in place and promotes positive sun-protection behaviour that meets the Cancer Society’s minimum criteria.

“We believe early education about being safe in the sun is very important because we are breaking the habits of two or three generations who still think it’s OK to go outside without sunscreen or a hat. The students here are getting a strong message that the "norm" is always to wear a SunSmart hat in the summer.”

Emphasis is on early education of SunSmart messages. The sooner kids become aware of the risks associated with sun exposure and how to protect themselves, the more likely those messages will stay with them.

As well as a physical education kit, a brimmed hat is Corinna School’s only other required uniform, and is compulsory for students when outside. With the head exposed to more UV than any other part of the body, proper cover is vital, and

Students of Corinna School in Porirua the school supplies hats to their students that meet the SunSmart criteria for $3.

Skin cancer is highly preventable and the slip, slop, slap and wrap method is still the most effective protection against the sun. Ms Whiting credits the school’s decision to make correct sun hats compulsory for all children as driving the school’s SunSmart programme.

“We had a couple of years where we really had to push that message. That took about

two summers and a lot of determination to get that message in. Now we might have three kids who forget their hats and accept that they have to sit in the shade.”

To be effective, promoting SunSmart shouldn’t be costly to parents and this starts with making the school’s recommended hats affordable. The hats effectively protect the face and neck and include a drawstring to ensure they remain on the head.

By The New Zealand Cancer Society

BECOME A SUNSMART SCHOOL Apply online at www.sunsmartschools.org.nz

Our health promoters are available to work with schools to help them become SunSmart

Being a SunSmart School shows that your school:

• Is committed to protecting students, staff and parents from the risks of UV radiation • Wants to raise awareness about the importance of skin protection among parents and students • Promotes the school within the community as one that is committed to the health of its students • Has a sun protection policy that follows Cancer Society recommendations in schools . such as hat wearing • Promotes and supports positive sun protection behaviours • Is developing and maintaining a ‘sun safe’ environment

For more information and to apply online visit www.sunsmartschools.org.nz

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The New Zealand Blood Service | Health & Safety

Blood donors saved my life My name is Rhiannon Nottage and I am 16 years old. On May 7, 2014, when I was 14, I was diagnosed with Acute promyeloid leukaemia (APML), a rare form of leukaemia.

Unfortunately, my GP missed my diagnosis and I ended up in the emergency department of Wellington Hospital, vomiting blood and bleeding from my eyes.

I was immediately hooked up to life-saving plasma, platelets and haemoglobin, and stayed hooked up for two days. After that I had platelets and haemoglobin for two weeks until I stabilised. I continued to receive platelets and haemoglobin throughout my chemotherapy.

Upon diagnosis, my white blood

Rhiannon Nottage cell count was 13,000. It should be five! They had to put a new box on the chart for me and because of this, unfortunately, I needed an extra cycle of intensive chemotherapy.

At diagnosis, I had a brain scan to check whether there was

bleeding in my brain. Then I was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) where I spent four days before I was stable enough to move to Christchurch Hospital.

I was in isolation there for five weeks, then I was able to move into the Ronald McDonald House where my mum joined me for six months. All this time, my dad and younger sister, 12, were back home in Kapiti; it was really hard on our family.

From the date I was diagnosed

through to the end of my intensive treatment, I received approximately 50 life-saving blood transfusions of plasma, platelets and haemoglobin.

Some children go through their treatment with one or two transfusions.

Without the New Zealand Blood Service, and the wonderful people who donate across the country on a daily basis, I would not be here.

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51

Sports & Recreation | Sports Field Maintenance

Synthetic sports surfaces allow year-round access The advances in synthetic turf yarn technology during the past three decades have changed the face of many sports, hockey in particular.

The school multi-use market has primarily been driven by hockey during the past 15 years, with other sports included on the same surface with additional line-marking.

and this would still provide an excellent surface for hockey skill development in junior players.

The main driver for the school board or PTA has been to develop hockey skills at school rather than driving to the closest full-sized turf and paying rental fees.

Larger schools are now choosing to install third generation soccer and rugby surfaces which use polyethylene yarns and are manufactured to pile heights of 40mm to 60mm in length.

The school multi-use surfaces have generally included hockey, tennis, netball, basketball, running tracks and patter tennis.

The major benefit of any sandfilled synthetic turf surface is the “all weather” capability; even if it’s raining, the surface has the ability to soak excess water into the sand and allow the kids to continue to play or resume playing as soon as the rain has stopped.

One of the questions many schools ask is whether they need to install a rubber shockpad beneath the turf.

Hockey at the senior and elite levels requires a shock-pad to

52

BEFORE

The budget would also need to be considered with the pad adding an additional 50-70 per cent additional cost over and above the synthetic turf surface costs.

The past five years have seen the addition of other surfaces alongside the traditional 19mm sand-filled multi-use surfaces.

Bucklands Beach Intermediate

Larger schools are now choosing to install third generation soccer and rugby surfaces which use polyethylene yarns and are manufactured to pile heights of 40mm to 60mm in length.”

reduce the ball bounce and keep the hockey puck on the playing surface for longer, therefore speeding up the game.

of ball bounce to facilitate a good game. In this situation it’s important to choose which sport has priority.

A multi-use surface will generally include tennis/netball lines that both require a high level

If it’s hockey, I’d suggest installing a pad and if it’s tennis or netball, I’d go without the pad AFTER

St Patrick’s College, Kilbirnie, Wellington

school news

Term 1 - 2016

Synthetic turf playground surfaces are becoming very popular for replacing the traditional bark and rubber-tiled surfaces.

Meeting the latest revised NZS 5828:2015 playground equipment and surfacing standard, synthetic turf surfaces with recycled foam underlay provide a permanent long lasting and free draining surface.

These surfaces provide an excellent all-weather safety surface allowing play 365 days a year, rain, hail or shine.

The fully recycled foam underlay comes with a 25-year warranty;

Sports Field Maintenance? | Sports & Recreation

BEFORE

AFTER

Scots College, Wellington this is a very environmentallyfriendly solution providing a long lasting playground underlay surface with fall heights certified up to 3.3m.

Another popular solution in primary schools is the combination of playground structures and multi-use surfaces in the one area. Recent installations at Auckland’s Glen Innes Primary and Wellington’s Scots College have included new playground structures surrounded by smaller multi-use areas with four square, cricket pitches and hopscotch line markings.

The surfacing flows seamlessly from the multi-use area through to the playground, the only difference is the recycled foam underlay covering the specific fall zone areas around the playground equipment. This provides a free and open space for the kids without any trip hazards or borders between the different play spaces.

If you’ve seen the latest yarn technology in synthetic turf for landscaping, I know you’ll be impressed. The curly brown ‘dead’ fibres tufted into the base of the surface add a very natural look to the surface and

BEFORE

AFTER

Pinehurst School can now be used in high wear areas around schools to replace wet and muddy or dry and dusty patches.

grass struggles to grow, no more mower, just need a blower and the work is done for another week!

Ideal for court yard areas and under large trees where natural

By Phil Lewis, Team Sports Surfaces

Artificial turf specialists r playgrounds r multi-use r soccer r rugby r hockey r tennis r cricket

Freephone: 0508 836 647 info@teamss.co.nz www.teamss.co.nz

Term 1 - 2016

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Property | Solar Energy Supplier Profile | Genesis Energy

Schoolgen – New Zealand’s leading solar programme in schools THE GENESIS ENERGY Schoolgen programme is now into its 10th year and is on track to have over 90 Schoolgen schools across New Zealand with free solar panels by the end of Term 1. The Schoolgen programme has led the way with a web based education programme about solar energy and energy efficiency that reflects what is happening in our lives and ensures that students are prepared for their tomorrow. Schoolgen schools can become models of energy efficiency.

New Solar Node Presents Even More Data Schoolgen schools are spread across New Zealand which gives our country the best live solar data from each school’s solar array displayed in real time on the Schoolgen website www. schoolgen.co.nz The emphasis on Maths and Science is a key aspect of the Schoolgen programme especially with the live solar data. Solar panels benefit schools financially by helping to reduce the amount of electrical energy that needs to be bought from the grid.

Check out the new graphs with both solar data and grid usage.

The next round of Schoolgen schools will be able to access this comprehensive information.

Solar – a Visual Model of Renewable Energy Genesis Energy has supported the Schoolgen programme as our young people are our future leaders and decision makers and it is important that they understand the role renewable energy and energy

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Russell School’s solar array is a very visible model of renewable energy. This supplies electricity to the school whenever there is sunlight. The students will see this every day they are at school over many years. The lifelong learning begins.

efficiency will play in their future.

The educational leverage that can be gained from even a small array of solar panels on each Schoolgen school enables students to see electricity being generated from a renewable source. An array of solar panels on a school roof is a very visual model of sustainability which links to a key part of today’s curriculum. Once the solar panels are installed on the roof of the school the whole school and

community can embrace learning more about solar energy. Russell School is a great example of this. As this school became a Schoolgen school with the Genesis Energy package their community supported the school. They raised the extra funding so that a 12 kilowatt photovoltaic solar array was able to be installed on their school which has the perfect roof for solar with a 40 degree north facing roof.

CLIFTON TERRACE MODEL SCHOOL WELLINGTON Aug 2015 - Jan 2016

Lifetime 1,000

Today

500

ENERGY kWh

Schools have been selected to become Schoolgen schools with free solar panels from as far north as Russell and as far south as Temuka at this stage. Each school has been given a free array of photovoltaic solar panels.

Westlake Girls High School received the first free 2 kW solar array in November 2006. In recent years schools have also realised that if they put funding in to have more solar panels with the free Schoolgen solar offer they will have the benefits of a larger array. Genesis Energy also adds more free solar panels to the larger arrays as well. We are now installing larger solar arrays and in 2016 this will be as large as 30 kilowatts on Otonga School in Rotorua.

This reflects the fact that the cost of solar has reduced significantly in the last ten years.

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Jan 2016 August

GRID

September

October

4,595 kWh

November

SOLAR

896 kg

196 kWh

3,800 kWh

Show less

How to use

CO2 Emitted

774 kWh

December

45%

55%

Download data

CO2 Avoided

741 kg

© Copyright 2015

Schoolgen Educational Resources There are comprehensive educational resources on the Schoolgen website which make teaching and learning about solar energy and energy efficiency easy. The schools that are lucky enough to become Schoolgen schools also receive free educational resources for their school as they will be integrating the Schoolgen programme into the Curriculum Delivery Programme at their school.

There is also on-going support from the Schoolgen educators that can benefit both students and teachers from all levels (Year 1 to 13). With this support Schoolgen schools are supported to become models of energy efficiency. Energy detectives ensure that everyone in the school is accountable and teachers have to become models of energy efficiency for their students. Students can then take this learning home and even teach their parents and family.

E-books on Solar Energy and Energy Efficiency in both English and Te Reo Maori Schoolgen books have been a real hit with both students and teachers. This year we have a new book on Solar Energy for five year olds – ‘Chip and Chirpy Meet the Sun.’ Every school can link to the e-books which feature character voices which really brings the stories to life for the children.

There are three e-books on Solar

Solar Energy | Property

Energy and two e-books on Energy Efficiency. Having the books translated into Te Reo Maori also enables schools with programmes in Te Reo Maori to embrace the key aspects of learning.

Mean Green House Competition is a real hit with schools 2015 Mean Green House Competition Winners Yr 9 – 10 Meighan Weber, Josh Miller and Zachary Taylor from Rangiora New Life School researched,

designed and built their ‘Grand Design’ version of a ‘Mean Green House’.

Special Partnerships Support Schools

The Schoolgen Mean Green House Competition is a real hit with students.

Their creative design and high level learning continues to impress.

Students from Year 5 – Year 10 can enter into this competition as they design an energy efficient house for the future. The Schoolgen website has the winning entries that show the high level of research in video clips of their presentations.

The Schoolgen programme has embraced community partnerships.

Wellington City Council has led the way and share funded with Genesis Energy to enable 16 schools in Wellington City over the last three years to become Schoolgen schools, each with a share funded larger solar array due to share funding.

In the South Island the Geraldine / Temuka Rotary Club has share funded

with Genesis Energy to enable six local schools over the last two years to become Schoolgen schools. This has ensured that all of the local primary schools can embrace the teaching and learning about solar energy and energy efficiency which will have a long term benefit to their local community.

It will be another exciting year ahead as the Schoolgen programme continues to be at the cutting edge. Look out for the new developments in the digital education programme on the Schoolgen website.

Term 1 - 2016

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Property | Solar Energy

Using solar power to wipe out electricity bills It’s happened. The long summer holidays are over and a new school year has begun – and not just for teachers and pupils. School board members around the country are meeting to review budgets, and a sizeable chunk of the annual spend will be going on the power bill.

Keeping the electricity running in a school is not cheap, and the pressure is on to stick to budgets.

In previous years, schools received ministry help if they went over budget on electricity, but now they have to find any surplus themselves. They are given a flat rate, and if they exceed it, they have to dig into their own pockets.

In the meantime, electricity prices continue to rise.

Some schools are facing this head on by making the move to solar power, some even wiping out their entire power bill. At Henley Primary School in Nelson, 60 photovoltaic panels were installed in January, 2014, and the school became the first in New Zealand to sell power back to the grid. The school is making an annual saving of around $5000 as the 15 kilowatt (kW) system generates around 20, 000 kW per year. The panels are expected to last 25 years.

Considering how far $5000 goes towards library books, science kits and sports equipment, it’s a no brainer; schools need to get solar savvy.

Henley School principal John Armstrong says that while the Ministry of Education (MOE) doesn't promote the idea of solar, he thinks every north or westfacing school in New Zealand should invest in it. “We have a lot of sunshine - 2.400 hours of sunlight that we can capture for nothing.

We are committed to energyefficient solutions and incorporate double glazing, energy-efficient lighting, heating and insulation.

Our students are well aware and conversant of our efforts in this area.”

The price for grid connect solar

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power system is now less than a quarter of what it was seven years ago, says Kristy Hoare of My Solar Quotes. “Because of the drop in solar power prices, systems are more affordable for New Zealanders and it can be thought of as a really good investment. A standard 3kW system size seven years ago cost $40,000, now it averages at around $10,000 to $13,000, completely installed. This means that schools can move straight to bigger arrays of 4kW and upwards where in the past they were limited by cost to around 2kW. As an example of average performance of a solar power system a 2Kw system will generate 2 Kw hours of power for every full hour of sunlight.

Statistics from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) show that in summer, in Auckland, the average full hours of sunshine a day is 6.5

(October to March) and the average daily winter sunshine hours is 4.6.

Taking an average of five hours per day on a 4kW system would equate to 7300 kWh per year or $1824 value of power.

Vector Power supplier Vector says solar energy in schools is as much about learning as saving money.

“Some schools are installing the Tesla Energy Powerwall battery systems their science blocks where the students can observe them for hands-on learning,” says spokesperson Sandy Hodge.

“Kids can see how many kilowatts are being produced on sunny days, and how much electricity the school has used that day, that month or that year.

“They can look at the battery and see how much power is left, and run experiments such as turning

on all the lights on to see what happens to the battery levels.”

Students learn about the environmental benefits and reducing the carbon footprint.

“Even on a really grey day, a school can be running on energy saved from a sunny day.”

Vector’s solar programme launched one year ago to support its customers wanting to move into solar power, and schools have shown a lot of interest. “Schools are well placed to make good use of this system. Many schools have comprehensive sustainability education programmes and having the Powerwall installed at the school means there’s some great hands on learning opportunities,” says Ms Hodge. “Vector is in discussion with the school winners to look at an outreach programme looking at this leading edge technology.”

Solar Energy | Property Supplier Profile | Power Technology

Interacting with school children POWER TECHNOLOGY has been entrusted by Genesis Energy to install solar in 61 schools around New Zealand, as part of their Schoolgen program, since 2008.

Schoolgen is a programme developed

by Genesis Energy to bring solar energy and energy efficiency to life for children across New Zealand. Why? Because young people are our future leaders and decision makers, and it’s important that they understand the role renewable energy will play in their future.

Talking and interacting with school children provides a real chance to cultivate environmentally-aware thinking and behaviour; not just theirs, but that of the people around them - their teachers, parents, parent’s colleagues, friends and the whole community.

Since Schoolgen began in 2006 Genesis Energy has created a comprehensive programme that includes free, New Zealand curriculum-linked,

Newly-opened Rawhiti School in east Christchurch had solar panels installed from the outset teaching resources that any Primary, Intermediate or Secondary school in New Zealand can use to explore electricity generation, energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate change, a particular focus on solar energy and photovoltaic (PV) systems and a dedicated programme website on which the real-time generation data from the solar panels at these schools is displayed for anyone to see.

Last year in June Power Technology installed a 12kW solar system at Russell School, New Zealand’s oldest school which was established in 1839. The school had to fund 2/3 (8kW) of the system, and Genesis Energy contributed

the remaining 1/3 (4kW). The power that is generated by the solar will help to significantly reduce the amount of power that the school needs to use from the national grid.

The Schoolgen website www. schoolgen.co.nz/schoolgen-schools/ russell-school displays the amount of power that the system has generated (in the last day, week, month and year).

Photovoltaic technology was chosen for Schoolgen as solar energy is a very accessible form of renewable energy for all of New Zealand. As well as this, PV panels are ideally suited for a school environment as they are virtually maintenance free, fairly unobtrusive;

they work silently and produce no pollution; and the fact that sunlight can be converted into electricity is intriguing!

Power Technology has been operating in the solar sector for 15 years, with almost 2MW of panels supplied to residential, industrial and OEM consumers. Over the past decade there has been a rapid uptake of solar technology in the international community and this boom has led to huge advances in technology and manufacturing techniques.

For more information on Power Technology please go to www.powertech.co.nz.

NEED CUSTOM SOLAR POWER FOR YOUR SCHOOL? Be assured of Power Security with reliable, high quality equipment and very careful design. Call Power Technology, the custom Solar Power specialists for Professional Grade Commercial Solar PV Systems.

Term 1 - 2016

school news

57

Property | Solar Energy

West Rolleston School in Christchurch has a 20kW array Late last year, with the support of their majority owner, the Auckland Energy Consumer Trust, the company ran a $2 million competition, the Future of Energy, giving away 130 solar and Tesla Energy Powerwall battery systems to residents of Auckland, Manukau and northern parts of Papakura.

The only requirement was that applicants’ homes or buildings needed to have a roof facing east to north-west with a slop of between 10 and 45 degrees. Those who passed the eligibility clause were then subject to a public vote.

More than 80 schools joined the hordes of hopeful applicants and 30 as yet unannounced winners were lucky enough to secure the package.

The winning schools received free supply and installation of 3kW solar and Tesla Energy Powerwall system with Vector retaining ownership for 10 years. After the 10 years have passed, the ownership will be passed to the school.

Power Technology Power Technology is the company that has installed the most solar panels on schools across New Zealand with Genesis Energy’s

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Schoolgen programme as its preferred supplier. During the past ten years, the process for selecting schools has changed.

Initially the Schoolgen team went into different regions and offered schools an opportunity to become a Schoolgen school with a package of free solar panels. Schools were selected and given a free 2kW array installed on the roof. The special Schoolgen teaching and learning programme is part of the Schoolgen solar package.

Solar power arrays have reduced dramatically in price since those early days and now schools that are selected tend to add money of their own to fund bigger solar arrays. In this way, the school can benefit for many years with a lower electricity bill.

The graph of the electricity generated from the solar array on every Schoolgen school is on the Schoolgen website.

Power Technology has installed a range of different-sized solar arrays on the Schoolgen schools - 2kW, 3kW, 4kW, 10kW, 12kW, 20kW and is just completing a 30kW solar array. As part of the government’s post-earthquake rebuild, two new Christchurch schools, Rawhiti

and West Rolleston, are being supplied with 20kW solar arrays share-funded with the MOE; Power Technology has completed these installations.

Schoolgen Schoolgen is the lead solar programme to educate children in New Zealand about solar energy which was developed by Genesis Energy. During the past ten years, more than 90 schools across New Zealand have had a photovoltaic (PV) system installed through the Schoolgen programme. They receive a free 2kW package which they can choose to add to. The PV system allows these schools to generate a portion of their electricity from the sun, and teach their students about solar energy, energy efficiency and electricity generation.

Maggie Twaddle leads the programme. “The aim of the Schoolgen programme is to bring solar energy to life in a fun, exciting way. Schools are supported to integrate the learning about solar energy and energy efficiency into the curriculum with the best live solar data up on the Schoolgen website from all of the Schoolgen schools which every school can

see. Students are encouraged to check online to compare the solar data from schools across the country. The website also provides teachers with a variety of educational resources.”

How does solar power work?

Sunlight or solar radiation changes direct current into alternating current and that is the power that we use – we call it electricity.

Photovoltaic panels are typically guaranteed to generate power for 25 years although in general they last 30 to 40 years. After that they can be recycled. There is a gradual decline in the panel output over time but most are guaranteed not to decline by more than 20 per cent of their original value after 25 years.

Every year there is a huge amount of research and development to try and improve the efficiency and affordability of PV cells. Since early 2000s, the quantity of solar PV panels being manufactured has doubled every two years, and every time production doubles, the price falls by approximately one fifth.

Most installations are grid-tied and do not have battery storage. This will change in the future as the cost of batteries is falling rapidly.

Solar Energy | Property

How to sell power back to energy companies If your solar power system is generating more than you are using, it goes back down the power lines through the “import/ export” meter that your power supplier has installed and this is registered by your meter as an export of power.

If you need more power than you are generating at the time, the reduced amount that you need comes down the lines from the power company and is registered by your meter as an import of power.

Your power company will credit you

for exported power and debit you for imported power.

At night, when the solar panels are not producing electricity, the electricity comes to you from the grid.

If you export enough power during the day, it could balance or exceed the amount you draw from the grid at night.

Benefits:

•

Solar PV systems generate

free electricity.

•

• •

•

Solar electricity is generated without emitting greenhouse gases.

Solar panels are silent, without any moving parts.

Solar panels are generally unobtrusively mounted on an existing roof.

Panels can be integrated into the existing building, mounted on the roof, garage, or where

space allows, a ground-based system.

•

The solar electricity produced can supplement or provide all your electrical consumption.

•

Solar electricity can be fed back into the grid.

•

Additional panels can be added later as demand or budget grows.

By Anna Clements, Industry Reporter

Term 1 - 2016

school news

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Property | Case Study – Richmond Road Primary

Futuristic paging system improves student engagement For principal Jonathan Ramsay and his staff at Richmond Road Primary School, the main motivation for deploying a paging system was to improve student engagement.

“We needed an intercom system that would let us talk to the whole school internally and externally, parts of the school or just individual spaces to remind them of events.”

Jonathan had used paging systems at his previous schools and sorely missed them. He found they empowered students and wanted them to learn to manage the system themselves. His former paging systems had been traditional with announcements broadcast over audio cables, but he was aware that this had become obsolete and was keen to install a future-proofed solution.

or whole school,” he explains.

School staff are very excited about the potential the system offers for student empowerment. Senior leaders who organise activities at break times will be trained to take responsibility for making their own announcements.

It also had to be easy to relocate as he explains, “Unfortunately we had an arson attack in 2014 and some of our students are in prefabs. We needed to be absolutely sure that whatever we spent our money could be moved into our new buildings.”

Neighbours were taken into account, too. A system that could be turned off during holidays and weekends was required to prevent noise pollution. Jonathan was keen on a pager that used the sounds of bird song.

Granting the wish list

•

A future-proofed solution that was a good investment

•

Every component to be easily relocatable

•

A system which allowed announcements to be zoned

An audio over IP public address system was the answer. These run over local area networks (LANs) rather than using audio cabling, taking advantage of a building’s wifi or network cabling. This meant that any speakers installed in prefabs could be relocated. Zoning is done via easy-to-use software, and the system can also be linked to VOIP telephone systems so announcers can use their phones in place of a microphone. The system even included bird song, and all sounds could be turned off whenever required.

•

A school bell that could be personalised and “wouldn’t ring in the holidays!”

Edwards went away and designed a system to meet the school’s needs and the proposal was

The school had links with audiovisual company, Edwards Sound, who are gold sponsors of the Auckland Primary Principals’ Association.

Jonathan and the Edwards’ team met to clarify priorities:

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Audio over IP public address systems

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Term 1 - 2016

submitted for Ministry approval.

Once the go-ahead was given, installation was swift – with no disruption to classes during set up and any teething problems were quickly resolved.

How it’s working “I have no idea how we survived without a paging system,” says Jonathan. “It is hard to believe but we largely avoided sending messages to classrooms and when we did we used a student runner, which meant finding a student and then writing out the message.”

Jonathan’s office staff have found it extremely easy to use. “You click on an icon on the desktop, push a button to speak and a button to stop. There is a panel down the side to select the classroom, block

A student-initiated survey is already underway across the school to identify what the student population want for a “bell” sound, with Jonathan and his staff supporting the sense of ownership and self-management demonstrated by the students.

Jonathan is excited to once again have a school-wide paging system, this time with far more options.

For the staff, having a modern, IP-based system really is a whole new world. And Richmond Road isn’t finished yet. “We intend to use it to full capacity and are still exploring the possibilities such as running a radio station across the school, using the telephones for paging and connecting it to our alarm system to play automated messages in the event of a lockdown. And we are definitely excited about experimenting with our bell system!”

By Jamie Cashmore, Edwards Sound Systems Ltd

Can you contact all staff, students and visitors in an emergency?

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Image kindly supplied by Richmond Road Primary

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Because our 2N speaker system connects over your LAN, installation is quick and cost effective. If you need to move speakers or add more it is almost as VLPSOH RI ÀQGLQJ D VSDUH /$1 RXWOHW

These future proof paging and emergency systems can be added to your schools 5YA.

One of our audio specLalists can come to your school and custom design a system that will best suit you.

Call us today - (09) 571 1166 or email jamie@edwardsnz.co.nz

EDWARDS SOUND SYSTEMS LTD

68 Walls Road, Penrose I (09) 5711166 I E-mail: jamie@edwardsnz.co.nz I Web: www.edwardsnz.co.nz

Property | Sports Field Maintenance

Getting maximum use out of school playing fields

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

Saturday mornings still remind me of waking up, turning on the radio and waiting to hear if sports had been cancelled. As winter progressed, it became more likely that it would be, and more often than not because of the ground conditions.

Like most Kiwi kids, I didn't mind the weather and felt frustrated by cancellations.

With autumn just around the corner, it’s a good time to review your sports fields for the coming winter season.

Work that is put in now can help reduce the announcement of the dreaded cancellation.

A review of last winter and how your fields performed includes asking: was there a lot of surface water? Surface mud? What percentage of grass cover did we have? These are all good questions to begin the process of renovation before winter.

A good place to start is to arrange for a soil test to be taken. This provides invaluable

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Diagram 1. shows mole ploughing information about the status of the soil and its elements, and can be cost saving as it takes the guess work out of any ‘fixes’ that may be required. Other areas to review are drainage and grass cover which are the main reasons for poor playing surfaces.

Poor drainage may be caused by compaction, soil type and worm activity (excrement can block pore spaces that the ground

uses to drain). Worms have become a significant issue on sports grounds in New Zealand.

Mechanical methods are the best and most cost effective way to improve drainage.

Certain control methods of the past have been disestablished with new, natural methods available which can be applied to reduce worm activity. One such product available is Early Bird liquid fertiliser containing tea seed meal, which worms don’t like.

Many areas have turf contractors that have machines to do the job.

Diagram 2. showing Verti draining

school news

Term 1 - 2016

Verti draining (below) Holes are punched into the ground at certain depths, allowing oxygen into the root system. These also provide a conduit for surface water

Sports Field Maintenance | Property

TIME & ATTENDANCE SYSTEM

to drain and are excellent for decompacting hard ground.

Mole ploughing (left) Effective but has a short time line of effectiveness and the cuts must be aligned to either a ditch or a drain of some sort. Autumn or spring are the best times of year for this intervention.Once drainage has been evaluated, we need to look at the surface and the amount of grass cover we have. As a general principle, I advise for a maintained seeding practice of 80-100kg of turf ryegrass per rugby or soccer field annually.

We are fortunate that New Zealand breeds and produces world class turf perennial ryegrasses such as the cultivars Colosseum, Arena and Tambour

which are used domestically and around the world in major stadiums and sporting grounds.

They are robust and are bred for their ability to recover from winter wear and sport activity. The seed blend I would recommend would be Duraturf Sports Oval (Colosseum, Tambour and Arena).

This blend gives you the best results through combined winter germination, improved wear and recovery with the ability to handle drought conditions.

I hope you have enjoyed this article from PGG Wrightson Turf. Our team would be happy to hear from you with any questions, feedback or to arrange a visit. We are readily available by phone or email.

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

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