Junior Department

We completed our second year in our new building which continues to delight us with its calm atmosphere and flexible learning spaces. It has been further enhanced by the Year 3 students as they have placed a variety of trees and ferns around the building, and native trees in the garden. These additions offered the students opportunities to nurture living plants in and around our department.

Professional Learning Staff continued to share their professional learning by journaling inquiries using Appraisal Connector. A key question in this process was, ‘How is this going to change your teaching practice?’ Exploration of this as a team, and as an individual, ensured reflective practice. Refinements were made such as our new lunch break routine. The sixty minutes lunch hour was broken into three sets of twenty minutes. The first twenty minutes for play followed by eating, then twenty more minutes of play. Our observations concluded that most of our children ate more of their lunch, were less likely to be overwhelmed by the lunch hour, and welcomed the change of direction during the play session. This will be an area of ongoing focus.

Selena Hitcho provided excellent professional learning that built on the previous year’s learning. Transfer from teacher to classroom was evident during appraisal visits throughout the year.

Te Reo Māori Regular professional learning has considerably lifted the use of classroom Te Reo Māori. Teachers and students displayed more confidence and embraced opportunities to engage with an audience. Junior Assemblies provided the venue for children to share karakia, waiata, and individuals shared their pepeha. Inclusive practice has become part of the classroom routines.

Celebrating Matariki with our students and their families is a Junior Department tradition, which has developed more depth with each passing year. Celebrations this year were enhanced by working alongside our colleagues and their children from the Pre-school. Tahu Loper from the Pre-school was integral in planning and educating all, sharing his deep understanding of Matariki. The culmination of our learning was a celebration in the Junior Department involving the Pre-school, our senior kapa haka students, our Library Manager, Tracey Hull, and finally all students and their families. Waiata, kapa haka performances, creative and cultural activities, Māori legends, making soup, and a shared lunch were all features of the wonderful day.

Oral Language Our young learners continued to display strength in presenting clearly and confidently. Many opportunities were provided, further developing their skills. Student-led Junior Assemblies provided an excellent venue for strategic focus on presenting and audience behaviours. This was a challenging environment due to high numbers of adults who attended each week. This opportunity was welcomed by students looking for an audience to share their extension activities such as poetry writing, and the Speech and Drama award winning children enjoyed presenting to their peers. Writing In-depth feedback regarding Sheena Cameron’s course was provided during syndicate meeting time. Valuable notes and resources were shared which resulted in a collection of ‘feedback’ related stamps and icons being purchased for classroom use.

Professional development around Visible Learning was reflected in the learning intentions and the success criteria used ensured the children understood the writing process. Feedback linked directly to these and next steps were shared.

Poetry appreciation and writing were given considerable focus. New vibrant resources were purchased which included quality teaching notes. Year 3 children working with our Writer-in-residence, Kerrin Davidson, experienced success by having their work published.

Mathematics A successful team focus for professional learning was developing a deeper understanding of the Prime Mathematics programme and its many resources. The year-long team inquiry was discussed during appraisal visits and regular meetings including specialist guests.

We met our goal of ensuring alignment with the New Zealand Curriculum, exploring more resources, and confirming

Inquiry Pathway Successful use of the St Andrew’s Inquiry Pathway started with the Year 1 children working through the immersion phase, developing sound questioning skills.

Year 2 completed an inquiry about celebrations. This involved many child-led activities and learning tasks related to the new Digital Technology curriculum. It included introducing the thinking tools such as the Venn diagram. The children were required to transfer their knowledge from one celebration to another describing similarities and differences.

consistency across the team regarding tracking and reporting procedures.

Reading Classroom reading programmes were supported by the addition of Cengage’s PM Collection. This subscription enabled each child access to a digital bookshelf at home and at school. Books were selected by the teacher at appropriate reading levels to meet the needs of the children. Cengage books provide highly valued teaching resources, so this new digital application is consistent with department resources.

The Junior Department teachers highlighted reading as a focus for professional learning in 2020. The Year 3 students were involved in an integrated learning unit called ‘Our Trees, Our Treasure’. They followed the St Andrew’s College Inquiry Pathway and worked through all four stages of the inquiry process. During the immersion phase of the inquiry, the children explored their immediate school environment and then moved further afield with visits to Riccarton Bush.

The children read about tree planting projects in which other schools had been involved and decided they could do the same. This posed several areas for investigation: where they could plant, what they should plant, who could help them, and where to access plants –a true inquiry with problems being posed and solved by the students.

The tree planting took place at the end of August. The two classes, plus many parents and friends helped on planting day. Over 100 native trees were planted. In November, the children returned to Mary Duncan Park to weed around their trees and look at some of the planting that has taken place in the past. By the end of the inquiry, we were all hopeful a Zealandia could be recreated on the Port Hills.

Transition Programme The ever-changing requirements of new entrant enrolments was met by our flexible child-centred Transition to School programme. We focused on how the programme aligned with the first few weeks in the new entrant classroom. Discussions with our colleagues in the Pre-school resulted in some valuable refinements. One significant change was new entrant children no longer going to specialist lessons in period one as it was an unsettling start to the day. Our continued close relationship with the Pre-school allowed us to make changes that considered all viewpoints.

Discovery Time The Discovery programme continued to flourish. The Year 1–2 students made a huge contribution by sharing their expertise with their peers. It was rewarding for all involved, and very special seeing parents working alongside their children to facilitate the completion of high interest activities, for example, superhero shields, spring pictures, puppets, and cupcake decorations. A new addition was offering the choice of working through Science investigations in the Discovery Room.

Science During the year, the Discovery Room was well utilised each Monday, as the children participated in weekly Science lessons with former team member, Helen King. The year started with a sun safety focus, which included experimenting with UV beads. Following on from this, a focus on solids, liquids, and gases involved some exciting experiments which included making ice cream in a bag, inflating balloons through a chemical reaction, and making gloop! The students learnt all about our digestive system and which foods would sustain us for longer periods of time. The Year 3 students experimented with the best conditions for growing plants and made their own light maze for seedlings to navigate. The Year 1–2 students had the opportunity to learn about a range of high interest topics during Discovery Time. The children were active participants in all lessons and loved the opportunity to ask questions and perform investigations to find the answers for themselves.