The confirmation of our gut feeling about the lack of student progress in the early years to meet the norm in reading was not a surprise. Glen Innes School had earlier identified the need to shift the academic results of our junior students as they were just not comparing well with their cohort across NZ. The Tamaki cluster of principals resolved to determine why we were constantly behind the achievement norm for students in the early years 1 - 3. We already knew that we had high rates of absences, both explained and condoned. Many times this absence was being caused by an underlying medical condition such as school sores and sore throats. Through our work with the ADHB (Auckland District Health Board) we were able to contribute both data and have families avail themselves of direct at-school medical interventions to try and create sense of the under-performance. One astounding finding of the shared data resulted in a new research programme by the ADHB called the Welcome 2 School Programme which included an action plan of teaching called ENGAGE. This research is ongoing and will soon evolve into LEAP (Language, Engage And Play), but alarmingly enrolments are still showing a similar trend; i.e. children starting school at the age of 5 but with a developmental age on average of 3 years old. Breakfast Club and Glen Innes School have since the inception of its partnership worked to remove any obstacle that restricts the students from fully participating in the school curriculum. The inability to read with understanding severely restricts students in all learning areas. To this end we are looking to put our considered acceleration plan into action.
The main pillars would include: Teachers - we already have staff working alongside professional development providers including Dr J van Hees a language acquisition specialist as well as workshops with a speech therapist, occupational therapist, experienced teachers, cultural advisors from the community, ENGAGE trainers, and a developmental neuropsychologist all from the ADHB. Environment - the classroom: here we are looking at introducing colour - on floors and walls - a bold move away from the traditional approach taken in older schools such as ours. This should attract parents to linger just that longer in the space enabling teachers another opportunity to engage them and talk about the things we do as professionals that could be simplified for use at home - always ensuring that the child enjoys reading and so learns to value books.
Jono Henricks Principal Glen Innes School
The support GTS has received from generous Sponsors with our New Entrant classes has been a huge success in several areas. The support we have been able to offer young families with preschool children by giving them books to take home has meant that when they arrive they are better prepared for learning from day one as they have acquired the basic skills meaning the teachers can start teaching at a higher level from day 1. We have already seen an increase in our data. Both the New Entrant Assessment that they do in their first month of school and the 6 Year Net they do after one year at school has shown acceleration in their learning. Also benefiting this has been the purchase of Big Books and Big Book Storage. Our learners are visual learners and love nothing more than bright, new, up to date books that they can access easily. This initiative has meant teachers and learners can use these books with enjoyment while also achieving their learning outcomes. Now while our kids are visual learners they love nothing more than going out and getting real life experiences through trips. These opportunities can be taken back into the classrooms where learning can take place and trust me authentic learning beats a more traditional form of learning every time. Finally thanks to the support of our Sponsors we have been able to have speakers such as Pio and Dave Letele come and speak to our parents about the importance of school and the relationships between teacher, learner and whanau. This has increased our community engagement immensely. Overall your support to Glen Taylor School has made a significant difference in student achievement, student engagement, student wellbeing, attendance, whanau relationships and the overall culture of the school. We would not have achieved the results we have had without the generous support of the sponsors.
Chris Herlihy Principal Glen Taylor School
Letter ID Mean Score 15
45 Word Reading Score
40 35
Letter ID Score
30 25
20 15
10
5
Glen Taylor School Norm
0
Glen Taylor School Norm
2020
0
2019
5
2020
10
2019
These graphs show the impact the books in homes are having on our learners.
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Word Reading Mean Score
Sponsors Scholastic NZ Barfoot & Thompson Meadowbank Rotary Auckland East Potter Trust Adrienne Joyce & Stephanie Milne