Middle Syndicate

During 2021, the Middle Syndicate focused on introducing, establishing, and embedding the elements of StAC-UP: Be Safe – inside, outside, and online; Be Ready – to learn in all situations; and Be Respectful – towards others and yourself.

Manaakitanga To welcome the seventeen new students to our school and the Year 4 students to our team, our beginning of the year focus was ‘Identity’ (self, family, class, team, school, community, national, and international). Students shared their family culture and identity through a range of discussions, writing tasks, multimedia platforms, learning experiences, and presentations. All students contributed to developing the class and team identity through team assemblies and singing, weekly Growth Mindset Persistence Awards, Key Competency Awards, sustainability projects, shared inquiries, team fitness, kapa haka, developing a shared understanding of StAC-UP, and our weekly Preparatory School chapel services.

StAC-UP StAC-UP was introduced to the students at the beginning of 2021 and was a strong focus throughout the year. The elements of StAC-UP were integrated daily into our classroom programmes and team interactions. StAC-UP lessons were explicitly taught each week. In these lessons a variety of resources including the Bounce Back! programme, Navigating the Journey, and other supporting resources engaged our students to promote a clear understanding and shared language of StAC-UP. In addition to the integration of StAC-UP several wellbeing programmes to further support our students and families were established. These programmes were a Years 4–5 ‘Wise Up’ programme, a Year 5 Lego group, a Year 5 Friendship group, Year 6 Travellers groups, a Year 6 Buddy group, and a Years 4–6 Tuning in to Kids’ programme for parents.

Appraisal Connector Teachers used Appraisal Connector to record and share their professional learning and appraisals throughout the year. Images, documents, and reflections were uploaded to AC for self-appraisal, leadership appraisal, and student voice to inform inquiry and reflection.

Mathematics All Years 4–6 teachers used the Prime resource, alongside several other mathematics resources. Mathematics classes were streamed at each year level with mathematics being taught every day in all classrooms. Groupings were fluid and reviewed regularly to ensure individual needs were attended to throughout the year. Shared assessment practices enabled teachers to communicate learning progress for all students. Students used the Prime Mathematics practise book, a mathematics exercise book, printed booklets to target an identified mathematical concept, and online links for consolidating and extending learning. The online tool MathsBuddy was introduced at Year 4 and 5.

MathsBuddy is a New Zealand mathematics curriculum resource which complements what students learn in their mathematics group or class lessons. Step-by-step lessons in MathsBuddy allowed students to pause or rewind part of any lesson until they fully understood the mathematical concept being taught. It was also used as a diagnostic assessment tool to identify next step learning. In 2022 the Year 6 classes will be introducing MathsBuddy. This will ensure all Years 4–6 students have a shared platform to design.

Targeted lessons for individuals or groups and provide a consistent assessment tool to identify next step learning. Reading: Core 5 (Years 4–5) and Reading+ (Year 6) Integration of Core 5 (Years 4–5) and Reading Plus (Year 6) into the classroom reading programme contributed to excellent progress in vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension for Years 4–6 students. All students made a minimum of 12 months progress using Core 5 or Reading Plus, with some students making 2+ years progress. ReadTheory was introduced for Year 4 students who had completed Core 5. ReadTheory is an engaging and adaptive tool that determines a student’s level and assigns them passages that are perfectly tailored to their abilities. ‘Catching on to Comprehension’ textbooks were used in all Years 4–6 classrooms. This resource

provided a broad and varied range of text types to engage students, facilitate reading skills and strategies, and targeted comprehension at the student’s level.

Writing – Spelling The assessment practices in our spelling programmes were robust, extensive, and provided effective direction for the spelling focus for each student. With the discontinuation of homework our spelling programmes had to adapt to new routines. Year 4 introduced ‘Action English’ textbooks and Years 5 and 6 classroom programmes continued to use the ‘Spelling Matters’ resource. The decision to differentiate the Year 4 spelling programme was based on the Year 4 students requiring a complete written language programme with stronger links to their writing lessons in class, rather than just being spelling focused.

Te Reo Māori Our Years 4–6 Kapa Haka Group of 138 students met every Wednesday afternoon. Matua Steve, expertly taught students who were new to kapa haka to students who had several years’ experience. Unfortunately, the decision was made to not attend the Tūhono Kapa Haka Festival, due to being in COVID-19 Level 2 restrictions. All teachers took part in Te Reo Māori professional learning throughout the year. This was provided by an outside facilitator and promoted the integration of practical ideas to use in classrooms. Seesaw Seesaw was an integral part of the connection with our families. It was used as a platform to share learning, experiences, and to give feedback at a class, group, and individual level and was extensively used during the Term 3 lockdown in the two Year 4 classrooms. During this time, students uploaded learning tasks and completed their learning in Seesaw to receive timely feedback.

Megan Feller

Years 4-6 Team Leader