Kelvin Smythe on National Standards
Important information for your parents
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Paul's Blog Post
I've been thinking a bit more about National Standards lately and talking to colleagues as the time the time of their release in early November draws closer.
The latest Gazette (Principal view) gives the detail about what we are to receive in November
An A3 foldout (The NZ Curriculum Implementing the Standards)
A literacy book.
A numeracy book.
Information about how many copies teachers in particular year groups are to receive.
NZEI has expressed concern in a recent article, "Bulldozer Approach To National Standards Won't Work."
"Schools know that they have to make the Standards work but the government has not recognised that principals and teachers have a responsibility to implement them properly and professionally and ensure they do not compromise nor take the focus off the new curriculum." (Frances Nelson)
It does seem that this whole initiative is being introduced with some haste. The degree of effort and additional work involved in a 2010 implementation will become apparent to us in November once the resource arrives and we have time to work out in practical sense what we need to do.
We need to keep in the forefront of our minds that National Standards as and of themselves are a device to measure and report. For the majority of schools whose focus is on quality teaching and learning interactions, National Standards simply provide a generic way of capturing data and passing on meaningful and concise information to parents in a way that will conform with political expectations. In that sense there's nothing new or revolutionary about them.
The latest Gazette (Principal view) gives the detail about what we are to receive in November
An A3 foldout (The NZ Curriculum Implementing the Standards)
A literacy book.
A numeracy book.
Information about how many copies teachers in particular year groups are to receive.
NZEI has expressed concern in a recent article, "Bulldozer Approach To National Standards Won't Work."
"Schools know that they have to make the Standards work but the government has not recognised that principals and teachers have a responsibility to implement them properly and professionally and ensure they do not compromise nor take the focus off the new curriculum." (Frances Nelson)
It does seem that this whole initiative is being introduced with some haste. The degree of effort and additional work involved in a 2010 implementation will become apparent to us in November once the resource arrives and we have time to work out in practical sense what we need to do.
We need to keep in the forefront of our minds that National Standards as and of themselves are a device to measure and report. For the majority of schools whose focus is on quality teaching and learning interactions, National Standards simply provide a generic way of capturing data and passing on meaningful and concise information to parents in a way that will conform with political expectations. In that sense there's nothing new or revolutionary about them.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Great Progress
Thanks to Disa for another wonderful hands on day at Ravensbourne last week. Her visits inspire us to try all sorts of new things. I'm thrilled with the progress both staff and children are making. ICT is becoming more part of the day, than an isolated activity. I did wonder if we would ever get to this stage! Working with the National Library facilitators, Sacred Heart and St Leonards have been very useful. We looked at e-resourcing the classroom and Encyclopedia Britannica on line. Two very useful workshops. We're looking forward to our next hands on day with Disa.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Hi Everyone
I am ‘Blog Monitor’ for the remainder of this month and thought I would share with you some of my recent dilemma around ICT hardware.
We have been quite pleased with our progress here at LCS (albeit slower that we planned) regarding updating our server and school ICT hardware. The timing of the ICT contract was very good for us and we can easily see the benefits for teachers and students at our school.
The difficulty for people (and leaders) like myself is that I appreciate ICT for making my life easier etc but my passion does not go so far as tinkering with the latest gadget or idea for fun. Hence I can easily get left behind with what is new, how it works, its purpose and tangible use and have trouble deciding what we should be aiming to purchase next with the always limited budget. It is so important to make the right decisions for everyone concerned. Of course I ask for plenty of advice from far more learned souls but that does not always help with decision-making in ICT. It seems to me that no sooner have we made a decision to go with a product that it is updated or another product that does a similar job is considered the better option!
On discussing this with my Board Chairperson recently he gave me some excellent advice. He said that ICT was an area to follow in rather than lead as then you can let others make the mistakes (this from a man who is in the gadget know-all category!) Well I am going with that idea (at the moment!) and at a recent staff meeting we discussed the ‘ICT wish list’ and ideas for using the Community Trust funding. Along with a visit from Disa that was helpful I feel that we will be able to keep moving forward and provide more new and exciting ways of learning for our students.
I am ‘Blog Monitor’ for the remainder of this month and thought I would share with you some of my recent dilemma around ICT hardware.
We have been quite pleased with our progress here at LCS (albeit slower that we planned) regarding updating our server and school ICT hardware. The timing of the ICT contract was very good for us and we can easily see the benefits for teachers and students at our school.
The difficulty for people (and leaders) like myself is that I appreciate ICT for making my life easier etc but my passion does not go so far as tinkering with the latest gadget or idea for fun. Hence I can easily get left behind with what is new, how it works, its purpose and tangible use and have trouble deciding what we should be aiming to purchase next with the always limited budget. It is so important to make the right decisions for everyone concerned. Of course I ask for plenty of advice from far more learned souls but that does not always help with decision-making in ICT. It seems to me that no sooner have we made a decision to go with a product that it is updated or another product that does a similar job is considered the better option!
On discussing this with my Board Chairperson recently he gave me some excellent advice. He said that ICT was an area to follow in rather than lead as then you can let others make the mistakes (this from a man who is in the gadget know-all category!) Well I am going with that idea (at the moment!) and at a recent staff meeting we discussed the ‘ICT wish list’ and ideas for using the Community Trust funding. Along with a visit from Disa that was helpful I feel that we will be able to keep moving forward and provide more new and exciting ways of learning for our students.
Monday, June 15, 2009
A different take on the recession
Hi all. Visit my blog to read about how generosity can be a healthy way of addressing the global downturn. Aroha nui ki a tatou! http://nevnsprincipal.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Data & evidence from learning intentions
Hi to the cluster. Thanks for a good day yesterday - some great video clips that stimulated good sharing. I have blogged about aspects of our discussion yesterday about data and evidence - I can't remember if I had the initial discussion trigger quite right, but for a summary of key points yesterday check my blog out at http://jillhammondsedblog.blog.co.nz/5030588/
Looking forward to access to some of those video clips that were shared - would be great if you could upload these to the wiki or add the link in there or here as to where they can be located on the internet.
Cheers, Jill
Looking forward to access to some of those video clips that were shared - would be great if you could upload these to the wiki or add the link in there or here as to where they can be located on the internet.
Cheers, Jill
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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