Year 7 Team

In 2022, the Year 7 Syndicate welcomed Annabelle Kerr. Annabelle was in her first year of teaching and taught a variety of subject areas across Years 6, 7 and 8, as well as coach several sports teams. She went from strength to strength in all areas of her teaching and was a collaborative member of the team. We look forward to having Annabelle working as part of the Year 7 team for 2023.

With COVID-19 affecting us from the beginning of the year the staff did a great job of welcoming 50 new students to the College this year. Luckily, we were able to complete the transition programme and it worked effectively to integrate the year group. In the first few weeks there were a range of activities planned to help students get to know each other and to settle in. Students were involved in a learn to surf day at Sumner, a day at Adrenalin Forest and a problem-solving morning with Sport Canterbury.

In Year 7 we continued to build on the Preparatory School pastoral care and values system. In Term 3 we added an online tool called Komodo for our Year 4–8 students. Komodo is a well-being platform for students where they complete a survey once a week on specific areas of well-being. Through carefully developed questions we are then able to identify individuals or groups who may require pastoral support. Komodo also helps us to identify year group, or school wide trends that we can address with wider strategies. We also continued to work with students around engaging core values of being safe, being respectful and being ready. StAC-UP, combined with the

St Andrew’s College school wide values of Truth, Excellence, Faith, Creativity, and Inclusivity which helped to ensure positive relationships amongst students.

In 2022 Seesaw became an integral part of the connection with our families in Year 7. It was used as a platform to share learning, experiences, and to give feedback at a class, group, and individual level. It was also used extensively to share photos of various events with parents. During this time, students uploaded and completed learning tasks in Seesaw and received timely feedback. The app was used widely by our Year 7 parents.

Alongside literacy and numeracy, integrated inquiry was a major focus in the Year 7 programme. With a very busy curriculum, integration is a valuable tool to ensure that all learning areas are covered. Integrated inquiry also incorporates a variety of thinking skills, information literacy skills and integrates well with information technology. The Year 7 staff have worked collaboratively with specialist teachers to include a variety of skills and knowledge across numerous subject areas. Some of the topics covered in 2022 have been St Andrew’s College Histories, Aotearoa New Zealand histories – Something Happened Here, Jean Batten – Flight, and in Term 4 students completed a Genius Hour inquiry.

Te Reo has been another focus in the Year 7 team. In previous years students have learnt Spanish for the whole year. In 2022 a change was made, and students learnt Spanish for one semester and Te Reo for the other. Te Reo was taken by the specialist teacher who delivered engaging lessons to the students weekly.

In 2022 the Year 7 students participated in a number of education outside the classroom activities. During Term 2, students attended six weeks of gymnastics sessions at the QE2 School of Gymnastics. In Term 3, the Year 7 students attended weekly swimming lessons at the Wharenui Pool. The aim was to increase swimming levels in preparation for summer. We saw a huge improvement in the children’s skills during this time.

In Term 4 we returned to Castle Hill for the Year 7 camps. The purpose of the camps was to develop whanaungatanga, build relationships, establish a positive group culture, experience challenge, encourage resilience, build empathy, provide opportunities for students to participate and contribute, identify leadership skills, and learn to interact with their peers and teachers in a different context.

Kelly McBride Year 7 Team Leader