SMARTER SCHOOLS NATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS INITIATIVE

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SMARTER SCHOOLS NATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS INITIATIVE

• St Mary Magdalens
• Chadstone

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OUR CONTEXT

• We are a small school in the south-eastern
  suburbs with approximately180 students.
• We have previously won State Awards for
  Excellence in Literacy and Numeracy2006, 2007.

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Our Community--

• High ESL background
• Varying socio-economic background
• A significant proportion of our families receive
  welfare payments
• Refugees
• Children under the care of grandparents, DHS
  intervention
• High level of learning difficulties amongst our
  studentsSevere Language Disorder, Physical,
  Social / Emotional, Intellectual as well as a
  high proportion who are just under a diagnosis
  level.
• Over 50 /184 children access support from Speech
  Therapists, SCOPE, OnPsych psychologists or under
  the LNSLN umbrella.

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School Improvement Goals 2008--2012

• To develop confident, resilient life-long
  learners who are active participants in the
  changing global community.
• To promote the academic, emotional, social and
  spiritual growth of each student.

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WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
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The National Partnerships Initiative

• In Victoria, the Smarter Schools National
  Partnerships represent a partnership between the
  Australian Government, the State Government and
  the government, Catholic and Independent school
  sectors. 
• We were selected to participate in this
  initiative due to our disappointing Literacy
  NAPLAN results in 2008.

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GOALS

• Build leadership capacity through coaching and
  professional learning.
• Build teacher capacity through coaching and
  professional learning.
• Improved monitoring of literacy performance.
• Timely student intervention and support for
  students not achieving at expected levels.

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The intended targets from this strategy were

• To develop a shared vision for effective literacy
  learning and teaching.
• To raise the standards of all students in
  literacy particularly the lowest 25.
• That staff will embrace contemporary literacy
  pedagogy in classroom practice.
• That all staff will participate in professional
  development in specific Literacy Teaching and
  Learning.
• That all staff continue to collect and analyse
  data to provide strategic literacy activities
  that promote authentic learning tasks involving
  assessment of and assessment for literacy
  learning.

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The Coach!!!!!

• A major component of this initiative was the
  appointment of a Literacy Coach to work
  shoulder-to-shoulder in a school for oneday per
  week.
• This required some level of adjustment by most
  staffWe believed we were working as hard as we
  couldwe now know we can work smarter and achieve
  higher results!!!!!

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The VisionWhat we needed to do------

• We needed to create a shared Literacy VisionThis
  now drives every PLT.
• We created a list of non-negotiables.
• We needed to create an Annual Literacy Plan based
  on the Sacred Landscape Document.
• We needed to develop an impact statement where we
  could document, monitor and assess our progress.

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FOCI from the impact statement

• 2010
• All teachers will use explicit comprehension
  strategies to match to the individual needs of
  the students.
• (These strategies will sustain processing and
  expand thinking of all students)
• 2011 and 2012
• All teachers will use a wide range of DATA
  to inform their planning and teaching.
• (Use of evidenceWhat the child does, says,
  makes, writes.)

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Building the skills--

• The role of the coach
• model explicit teaching strategies
• discuss the learning that was occurring
• challenge the thinking that was happening
• ensure explicit documentation of planning
• raise the level of professional conversations
• work alongside literacy leader and staff.

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Professional DevelopmentOnsite--2010 and 2011

• As a school we needed to provide additional time
  to specific staff to participate in weekly onsite
  professional development30 minutes per weekthis
  has been invaluable to our learning and student
  success.
• These sessions provided feedback to teachers on
  strategies they were using and set goals for the
  next week.
• There was a sharing of the learning that was
  occurring.

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Offsite Professional Development

• Throughout 2010 and 2011 the Literacy Leader
  attended 12 days of professional developmentsome
  with team and some individually.
• We chose, as a staff, Prep4 to participate in
  Foundation days in 2010.
• Staff in years 2, 3, 4 and 5 were also involved
  in 4 days each of offsite professional
  development in the national partnership
  initiative.
• 5 Staff completed the TESL in 2011.
• The Literacy Leader is completing the Experienced
  Literacy Leaders course and Literacy Support
  Leader is completing New Literacy Leaders course,

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Structure for 2011

• We were fortunate that CEOM recognised the effort
  we were putting into the initiative but they were
  also aware of the heavy demands a small school
  experiences in delivering quality programs.
• Thus they provided us with extra financial
  support last year which enabled me to be fully
  released from the classroom .2 and a literacy
  support leader .1 to commence training.

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Implementation Structure--2010

• fociReading
• 1st SemesterYears 3 and 5 /6 on a weekly
  basisfast track
• 2nd SemesterYears 2 and 4 on a weekly basisslow
  track

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Implementation Structure--2011

• FociReading and Writing
• Whole year---Years 3 /4
• 1st Semester 5 / 6
• 2nd Semester 1 /2
• Term 4 we included the Preps in the program so
  that we had full coverage from Prep-6 over the
  two years.
• Coach worked fortnightly in each classroom but
  planned weekly with these teachers.

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Term 4 2011

• As we were aware that the program was coming to
  an end we implemented a slightly different format
  in Term 4.
• We implemented a team approach where the Coach
  modelled shared reading and writing strategies to
  whole groups-e.g. both prep classes or 1/2 or 3/4
  classes together so both teachers and all aides
  could see the same strategy.
• This was the start of team teaching and mentoring
  between teams and is the format we are hoping to
  implement in 2012.
• We were trying to allow the teachers to take
  control/ownership and share the teaching of the
  program and develop the professional dialogue
  between the teams.

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• This year we are continuing to focus on mentoring
  amongst staffmodelled on the role demonstrated
  by the coach
• Setting guidelines/timetable
• Specific structurewhat to focus on
• Feedback opportunities
• Powerful conversations are now occurring and this
  is leading to deeper knowledge and improved
  practicesstaff are actively seeking professional
  talk/development sessions.

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Professional Learning Team Meetings

• Weekly Professional Learning Team meetings are
  conducted for all staff, Prep6 and the Principal
  attends every sessionthus reinforcing her level
  of support for the program.
• A smarter way of conducting PLTs is to be
  investigated in 2012allowing strategies to
  determine focus, applying these strategies across
  all subjectsliteracy, numeracy, inquiry
• Data analysis
• Effective school planners
• Explicit strategies.

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Special NeedsCatering for All

• Our commitment to providing the best possible
  education for all and to match learning and
  teaching explicitly to needs has resulted in a
  higher level of identification of students with
  learning or social and emotional needsI am now
  able to assess at point of need as I am released
  from the classroom.
• LNSLN2009---16 students
• 201013 students
• 201120 students
• 201224 Students. (Possible)
• Another 25 students access Speech pathologist
• 15 students access services from on
  Psych--Psychologist

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Integration Aides (6) Possibly 7 in 2012

• AIDES----I have been able to provide the Aides
  with professional knowledge
• They were keen to develop their skills.
• They can now complete
• Running Records
• Speech Pathology programs
• Develop targeted small group activities
• Administer targeted programs to larger groups of
  children and document
• Make informed judgements about student progress.

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COMMUNITY

• In 2011 without my classroom commitments it
  enabled me to conduct Parent workshops on topics
  of importance in an informal environment which
  encouraged many parents to attend.
• I will offer this opportunity again in 2012.
• Here I am reaching out to our families to try and
  change the cycle.

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WHAT WE DID--

• The Action we took----

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The Action---NAPLAN Tests

• We analysed the NAPLAN data and test to document
  the skills that were being tested and the skills
  that our children were having difficulty with.
• This formed the basis of our teaching.
• The results were evident immediately through
  classroom programs.

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The Genre of Testing

• We began to explicitly teach our students the
  genre of testing
• To access texts in a variety of formscharts,
  diagrams, advertisements, factual excerpts
• To understand importance of print, bold, italics,
  headings, labels
• To identify distractors in questions
• To read different texts for longer periods of
  time.
• We used classroom resources to support this
  teachingnot tests!!

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TEACHING TO THE TEST!!!!

• AT NO TIME WERE WE TEACHING TO THE TESTWE WERE
  FOCUSING ON EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION OF COMPREHENSION
  STRATEGIES.
• It was pleasing to hear Anna Burke our local
  federal member congratulate our school on having
  the greatest value added in her electorate in
  2010!!!!

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• Students were encouraged to think, pair and
  share.
• This strategy became an integral part of our
  teachingwe were encouraging children to
  articulate the strategies.

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EXPLICIT STRATEGIES

• Making connections
• Finding the main idea
• Sequencing
• Paraphrasing
• Summarising
• Scanning
• Interpreting tables / diagrams
• Predictions
• Fact and Opinion
• Phrasing and Fluency
• Inferences
• Analysing

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Progress in 2011

• Last year we were able to consolidate the
  learning that had occurred in Reading and
  transfer it to Writing.
• We focused on
• Explicit strategiessuch as
• fact and opinion
• compare and contrast
• note-taking
• cause and effect
• skimming and scanning
• locating the main idea
• summarising.

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The Incentives / results

• Students began articulating the strategies they
  were using.
• There was continuity across all levels of the
  school Prep6.
• They began transferring the strategies across all
  areas of the curriculum.
• There was a real effort to match text to needs /
  matching specific strategies.

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• The professional dialogue was developingstaff
  realised that the coach was interested in the
  best teaching and learning that could occur.
• It was not about criticising staff efforts.
• It was about acknowledging their strengths and
  raising questions to probe where they might go

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• Accountable talk became a powerful teaching and
  learning strategy.
• Teachers can articulate what and why they are
  teaching and students can now articulate what,
  how and why they are learning.
• This focused explicit teaching combined with
  professional conversations was the catalyst for
  improvement.

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NAPLAN RESULTS!!!!!
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These are the cut scores from the CEO / Philip
Holmes Smithred one year behind, green one year
ahead YEAR 3 READING
2008 2009
2010
2011
State Mean 430
State Mean 419
State Mean 430
State Mean 434
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These are the cut scores from the CEO / Philip
Holmes Smithred one year behind, green one year
ahead YEAR 5 READING
2008 2009
2010
2011
State Mean 504
State Mean 496
State Mean 506
State Mean 502
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These charts look at the progress of the same
cohort of children in Reading.
20082010
2009--2011
ABOVE STATE MEAN 2008----5, 2010---- 12,
2009-----3, 2011---7
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Expected growth is 80 points per 2 years10
points per term
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Expected growth is 80 points per 2 years10
points per Term
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WHAT HAVE WE ACHIEVED?
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On reflection---What have we achieved?

• Everything is documenteddata drives the
  instruction.
• Decisions are being made based on data and
  evidence.
• Focus sheets are used from P-6.
• Our commitment to providing time and support to
  explicit planning and documentation has
  underpinned and ensured continual success.

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• Differentiated teaching and learning is
  evidentwhilst the strategy is the same the
  learning is appropriate.
• Students and staff can articulate what they are
  learning, what they are teaching and why.
• We have embraced the contemporary curriculum
  through explicit teaching of literacy.

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COACHING

• The role of the coach has been paramount to the
  success of the initiative.
• Her guidance, encouragement, mentoring, knowledge
  and support have underpinned the decisions we
  have made.
• She has been able to transfer off-site
  professional learning to our school context and
  build upon it to explicitly match our needs.
• She has been a mentor to myself as a Literacy
  Leader and this has then empowered me to lead
  staff.

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How do we embed this practice?

• 1. VISION
• We have a documented Literacy Vision
• We have documented expectations and
  non-negotiables.
• We have developed an Annual Literacy Plan.

• 2. INCENTIVES
• Classroom datawhat the child says, makes, writes
  and does, and NAPLAN data significantly support
  the improved outcomes that we have documented.

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3. SKILLS

• We have provided opportunities for professional
  development on-site and offsite. We are providing
  mentoring opportunities.
• We need to ensure school is committed to
  maintaining time commitment to Literacy Leader
  and Literacy Support Leader.
• The Literacy Leader has been able to attend all
  back to back planning sessions, conduct literacy
  learning walks and conduct informal workshops on
  specific strategies.
• The Literacy Leader is able to conduct informal
  Education workshops for parents to skill them in
  supporting their children at home with learning.
• The Literacy Leader will complete the coaching
  module of professional study next year (2012).

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• 4. RESOURCES
• We have provided targeted people resources to
  support the initiative.
• We have purchased new resources.
  
• We provided specific time for Literacy planning
  and this has been extremely beneficial and
  valuedpeople and time resource.

• 5. ACTION PLAN
• We now formulate a literacy plan for each term
  documenting the strategies and skills we wish to
  teach.
• We are beginning to transfer these explicit
  strategies across all areas of the
  curriculumthus ensuring true contemporary
  learning is occurring.

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INTO THE FUTURE
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CHANGEThrough National Partnerships and the
support of the coach we have had a positive
impact on the learning patterns of our students

• We have documented exceptional improvement in
  both classroom and NAPLAN data.
• We must continue with our focus on
• Professional support---for ALL
• Professional conversation
• Feedback.
• We must continue with our
• Explicit planning,
• Explicit instruction
• Accurate documentation.
• We must continue to analyse data effectively.

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DIRECTION FOR 2012

• We have been able to fund the Literacy Leader .5
  and Literacy Support Leader .1 from our own
  budget. This will ensure the focus for literacy
  is maintained and the progress achieved over the
  last two years will be built upon.
• We have been fortunate that the CEO has provided
  us with continued support of the Coach this year
  on a fortnightly basis.

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• As a staff we now value the coaching model and we
  have decided to implement this model in numeracy
  as well in 2012
• Thus we employed a Numeracy Coach from our own
  budget to work fortnightly alternating with the
  Literacy Coach.
• Every year level will participate in 1.5 hours of
  focused planning time for either Numeracy or
  Literacy on a fortnightly rotationthis is in
  addition to their weekly planning
  schedule/release time.

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Useful resources

• Strategies That WorkHarvey Goudvis
• Teaching for Comprehending and FluencyFountas
  and Pinnell
• Guiding Readers and WritersFountas and Pinnell
• When Readers StruggleFountas and Pinnell