As we head into the home straight for Christmas, could I take the opportunity to thank the board and all the wonderful staff at Bombay School and our many supporters for another successful year.
We strove to surround our children with a loving and supportive learning environment. Everyone kept their focus on this goal and on our motto - Ake Runga, Our Best Always.
Our National Standards data, which is one measure of our success, is impressive. This year, in reading 82%, in writing 80% and in maths 86.3% of our students were at or above the standard.
One of our goals is to equip our school leavers with the best chance to achieve academic success at High School. Again this year, our Year 8 data shows that Bombay School is delivering to an exceptional standard. In reading 91%, in writing 97% and in Maths 97% of our year 8 students are at or above National Standard. If you compare this to 66%, 58% and 60% achieved for other year 8's in our district, you can see the benefits of a 'small rural' school, that focuses on personalised learning.
Apart from National Standard data, our internal surveys, show that Bombay children love their school and that they view themselves as successful learners.
Further, former Bombay students are over-represented as prize winners at Pukekohe High School Prize Givings.
I commend ALL the teachers & support staff who contributed to shaping these students successes over the past 8 years. I encourage you to watch the video of the year 8 dinner which is embedded in this newsletter. You will hear them reflect, with pride, on the many rich experiences they've enjoyed at this school.
Innovative Learning Spaces (ILE) and classes for 2017
You can see in the above paragraph why we moved to create innovative learning spaces, why we changed our pedagogy to personalised learning and why we used digital tools to support it.
The year 8's have been through 2 years in an Innovative Learning Space. I am well aware that some parents were anxious about this great move into the 'unknown'. Many were and perhaps still are sceptical that ILE's work. Hopefully, the proof is in the pudding and you can take heart from the fact that your children are in collectively capable hands. You will be aware that Tuhono's Room 9 & 10 classes were working in an ILE this year. Kotuitui's year 5 & 6's will also be working in an ILE next year, if all summer building work goes to plan. Changes to the year 4 rooms will come in 2018 and changes to the junior rooms will come in 2019.
How does an ILE work?
At the moment the school has 3 ILE spaces : Tuhono (Year 3 and eventually Year 4) ; Kotuitui ( Year 5 & 6) and Kakahu (Year 7 & 8)
Children in an ILE are assigned to a base teacher who will look after admin matters and their pastoral care needs. The base teacher is also the first point of contact for a parent.
All teachers in an ILE plan together, teach together, assess together and report together. This means that a child in an ILE gets the benefit of 3 teachers over the course of a year, as opposed to one.
Find out more about the power of collaborative teaching by watching this video [
https://youtu.be/qKd01vCo_qI ] More here [
https://youtu.be/YQG638o97Ko ] and here [
https://youtu.be/HP14A2gOsm8 ].
Because students stay in one ILE area for two years, they build strong bonds with all the teachers in that ILE. Thus there is no down time needed at the start of a year when teachers of single cell classrooms take the time to get to know their children. During a child's second year in an ILE, their teachers already know them well and can hit the ground running on day one. So there is no 'drop off' in the learning at the start of the year.
ILE teachers continually assess student's needs and then plan lessons to meet those needs. Students are then grouped based on their needs for writing, reading and maths. They rotate to teachers or vice versa. Groups are continually changing - because they are based on needs. Accelerant children work in groups on work that is pitched at their higher level. No waiting around for others to catch up - they go as fast as they are capable of going.
So you can see that in an ILE all children get to work with all teachers over the course of year. The added benefit of this is that children are not only with one teacher for the entire year. There is variety. Teachers have different strengths and interests. All ILE children get the benefit of experiencing this diversity. When teachers hit a difficult teaching challenge, they can rely on their collective experience and wisdom to address it. So, again , an ILE student gets the benefit of 3 teachers, who are able to build a collective understanding of that student's needs.
Teachers take collective responsibility for their ILE. Behaviour management is handled in a team approach. Students are kept on task and order is maintained through collective planning and through working with the same systems. Our Kakahu Team ( Year 7 & 8 ) have been working collaboratively in an ILE team for 2 years now. We know it works. Just look at their results this year.
Mrs Brown
Mrs Brown will be leaving us at the end of this year. As previously announced she wants to change gears, spend time with her grandchildren and take on new challenges. For twenty years the school has had the benefit of her talents and skills. Mrs Brown's stories are legendary at Bombay School but in my view, they are best summed up by a little student who told me, "she is always smiling."
Pauline you will be missed. Your positive mindset, your humour and your calm demeanour set the tone for the school. Your professional knowledge and skills have contributed toward making the school the success that it is. After announcing that you were leaving, you set about ensuring that those of us who take over the reigns know what we are doing. You've created documents and lists for lists of documents. Instructions. How to guides. What not to do memos and the like. We cannot thank you enough. Enjoy your change of gears. As you travel on new journeys - remember that you will always have a home at Bombay School.
Year 3 Chromebooks
We are asking parents of 2017 Year 3 students to please provide a chromebook for your child. Having a device that is their own works really well for them. The school would dearly love to provide every child with a chromebook but the economic reality is that we simply cannot. We will provide a pod of 2 computers per room for students, who do not have their own, to share. This way we will ensure that no child is denied access to the curriculum. The 'old chromebooks' that were in Tuhono are replacing the stand-alone PCs in Years 1-2. There is no 1:1 chromebook programme for years 1 to 2.
Head to our website for details on where to order chromebooks.
Miss Poole
Miss Poole is relocating to Wellington. She has been a wonderful teacher to have on staff. Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for being willing to share your talents with us. We know that Amesbury School is lucky to have you join their team. Our best wishes accompany you.
Suspicious and Unsafe Thursday Night Activity
We've been noticing a pattern of acceptable behaviour on the school site on Thursday evenings. It appears that most of the behaviour happens near the tunnel house and the garden shed at the back of the school. Tools go missing and people are crawling under the school buildings. Things are thrown into the pool etc. Last week matters were ramped up several notches when an attempt was made to light a fire in that area. We've ordered the installation of security lighting and we are looking into placing a camera there and near the pool. If you see any suspicious behaviour on site, please report it to the police 111 and to the office the next day. We've also alerted the police to the incidents. This is deeply troubling.
Newsletter Updates
The newsletter will be updated one week before school starts. Check back here for 2017 information. We would like the newsletter to be one stop shop for all important information.
Best wishes
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Take the time to recharge your batteries and to spend quality time with loved ones. Be safe. School closes 16 December @ 12.30pm and starts on Tuesday 31 January 2017.
