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PERIA – PATH FORWARD Peria School’s aim is to develop
self regulated learners. This is about exposing our students to strategies that
will allow them to take ownership of the direction of their learning. That they
are able to regulate and make decisions about their learning with support from
their teacher. Learning Community
At Peria School everyone is
a learner. Teachers are constantly challenged to reflect on classroom practices
and implement those practices that will engage students and lift student achievement.
‘Change’ is a common factor in our school, as a staff we have learnt
to cope with change, we acknowledge that change at first, is challenging, but
with effort and determination, incredibly rewarding.
Discussion about learning
is a common feature of staff conversation, we have learnt to be honest, open our
classrooms up, accept we do not have all the answers, share ideas and support
each other and seek ‘Best Practices’ to support our students’ learning. Assessment
To Learn Practices
These are teaching practices that develop a teacher’s
ability to communicate clearly what students are learning and the steps that need
to be taken in order to master the learning. This process is achieved through
the partnership of teacher and student. Students develop ‘Success Criteria’
and monitor their own and their peers success through ongoing self and peer assessment.
There is also a huge emphasis on ‘Learning Conservations’ where high
level conservations are held, based around, ‘Feed Back and Feed Forward’.
Students use ‘Exemplars’ (examples of work) to be able to determine
what they need to do to achieve success. They use these exemplars to develop their
own and peers next learning steps. These strategies support our students to take
ownership of their learning. Literacy Development
The use of
ATOL strategies and intensive Professional Development in using Evidence Based
Practices to support classroom programmes and meeting individual needs has contributed
to excellent results.
Every six months formal ‘Writing Samples’
are taken that are assessed by both student and teacher to determine ‘Next
Steps’. These writing samples are moderated by Team Solutions (Professional
Development Support Team) to make sure that we are providing an accurate picture.
Recount Writing 2005
‘Feb 2005 – 27% of students writing
‘At’ or ‘Above’ expected writing level.
Nov 2005 –
74% of students writing ‘At’ or ‘Above’ with significant shifts
from all students.’ Argument Writing 2006
‘Feb 2006
– 9% of students writing ‘At’ or ‘Above’ expected writing
level.
Nov 2006 – 65% of students writing ‘At’ or ‘Above’
expected writing level.
All students made significant shifts in achievement.
Numeracy Development
As with all progressive schools in New Zealand
Peria School has adopted the ‘Numeracy Project’ as our main tool for
teaching maths. This projects focus is on developing Number Knowledge and Number
Strategies. This supports the NZ Mathematics curriculum.
Evidence based teaching
supports the success of this project as regular assessment tools are used to determine
where students are at and where their next step is.
All staff attend Professional
Development opportunities to support and review classroom practices. We also have
very supportive professional development personnel from Team Solutions who work
alongside teachers in the classroom. Te Rito Project
Peria School
has been involved with the Te Rito Project for three years. The Te Rito projects
focus is on supporting quality teaching of Te Reo Maori in all classrooms. ‘Units’
of Te Reo and Tikanga Maori have been developed by a whole range of people within
the Te Rito management team that support the Draft New Zealand Te Reo Maori Curriculum.
This project is guided by dedicated facilitators who provide additional classroom
support.
Inquiry Learning
Peria School has been involved with
a Far North ICTPD cluster since 2006. This is a four year project. The major thrust
of Professional Development in 2006 was supporting the development of Inquiry
Learning. This initiative is also based around upskilling teachers and students
in the use of ICT skills for learning purposes.
This year students have investigated
Te Ao Maori, Healthy Eating, Careers, School Culture and Climate.
The objective
of Inquiry is to develop self regulated learners by teaching and modelling Mind
Tool Skills to be able to access knowledge, communicate knowledge and use knowledge
to make our world a better place.
Peria School has developed their own Inquiry
model. This model was developed by investigating other Inquiry models used by
leading Inquiry Schools in New Zealand and refining the model that we were using. Peria
School Based Curriculum
During 2006 Peria School developed their own curriculum
that implements the 2006 New Zealand Draft curriculum. This documents ties in
all the current best practices (ATOL, Te Rito, Inquiry, Literacy, Numeracy, Health
Promoting Schools etc) that the school uses into a living document. This document
supports our Mission Statement of ‘To include all, to involve all and to
inspire a love of learning’. It provides vision of where we are heading and
how we intend to get there. | 
