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The National Standards
For more detailed information about the National Standards, go to the Ministry of Education Website . . .
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/National-Standards
To see the Information for Parents section go to . . .
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/Parents.aspx
To view a pamphlet ~ How well is my Child doing go to . . .
www.minedu.govt.nz/~/media/MinEdu/Files/Parents/YourChild/HowWellIsMyChildDoing.pdf
There are also our School Year by Year Levels Posters available as pdf Downloads
See the Sub page links above
A Statement from Clevedon School
Following the recent introduction of National Standards by the Ministry of Education, and the ensuing widespread public debate, we at Clevedon School would like to present our position and approach to this new development.
At Clevedon School we take pride in the fact that we have always reported student achievement against what we believe to be appropriate standards. With the introduction of these National Standards we are presently reviewing our reports to ensure they align with the National Standards.
For a number of years now, we have been pursuing a particular path in relation to reporting student achievement, along with a strong focus on teacher professional development that can best be summed as ‘student-centred learning.’
Some examples to illustrate this approach have been . . .
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encouraging students to set realistic goals in key subjects, to reflect on results and modify their next steps
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developing strong feedback and feed forward from peers, parents and teachers
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the shift in our mid-year parent interviews to be three-way conferences
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efforts to remove jargon from our end of year reports
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the use of levels-based assessment reporting tools with supporting charts and diagrams to show progress.
These practices will continue.
We have also been at the forefront of adopting the best of current research from here and abroad, taking and adapting what fits and makes sense, and being always mindful of the needs of our students, and the interest and concern of you the parents. While we may still have some way to go in achieving full agreement and support, we are sure we are on the right track and are making significant advances in assessing and reporting student progress and achievement. All this to ensure that our Vision that –
"our lifelong learners will develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes
and values necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st Century."
It is perhaps unfortunate that various opinion groups, the media, the unions and others have attempted to politicise this new innovation, because for us here it is just business as usual. We will not be making radical changes to anything we do here in terms of assessing and reporting. We already have “plenty of official standards to ‘lever’ student learning, and a range of reliable (NZ based and normed) tests to assess student literacy and numeracy.” (Dr. Warwick Elley – Emeritus Professor of Education, Auckland). We also know that NZ students already perform very well in literacy and numeracy. We are consistently near the top in PISA (OECD -Programme for International Student Assessment) international standards, and ministry reports show no decline in recent years. (Ibid)
We have also taken heed of the learned advice from another world renowned educationist and assessment guru - Dr John Hattie (Professor of Education here at Auckland University) who has analysed over 800 research papers worldwide and produced a “hot list” of factors most likely to influence student achievement. Some of the top 10 factors are listed at the foot of this newsletter. We have used his research to inform and modify our approaches to teaching and learning, and these have become integral and embedded now in our everyday classroom practice.
Along with the feedback we regularly get from you our parents, we are continuing to work at removing the ‘teacher jargon’ from both our oral and written vocabulary; to report progress over time more clearly, and to continue work at helping students take ownership of their learning – setting, evaluating and reflecting on their learning goals.
We are confident that this process will not be difficult; we are already complying to a great extent, and will keep you updated. We look forward to reporting student progress and achievement over the year, at our usual interview sessions or at any time when you may make an appointment with your child's teacher.
Key factors that influence Student Learning . . .
Students understand clearly where they are at and where they need to go next
High expectations of teachers and students regarding their learning
Positive teacher-student relationships
Providing feedback for students and teachers
Providing feed forward for students and teachers
oooOOOooo
Website Links
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/National-Standards
To see the Information for Parents section go to . . .
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/Parents.aspx
To view a pamphlet ~ How well is my Child doing go to . . .
www.minedu.govt.nz/~/media/MinEdu/Files/Parents/YourChild/HowWellIsMyChildDoing.pdf
There are also our School Year by Year Levels Posters available as pdf Downloads
See the Sub page links at top of this page
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