Learning Support

The Learning Support Department had a very successful year. Over 75 students benefited from support in a variety of individual and class-based support programmes with a team of professionals supporting the programmes. The specialist services were beneficial to the students, and their input very much valued. Communication between Learning Support staff, private tutors, specialists, and parents was well co-ordinated enabling the effective delivery of all programmes.

The team worked closely with class teachers to ensure all students in the programmes obtained the necessary skills and knowledge to close deficits and to reach their potential. Intervention programmes were implemented to meet the specific needs of students on the register and address: academic remediation, self-management, social skills, and strategies to cope with anxiety and stress.

Students with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, neuro diversity, ADHD, behavioural needs, and emotional and social communication difficulties deserve to be understood and have their needs catered for. Students were placed in programmes to support their specific needs. Programmes selected are researched evidence based and were selected because of their success in engaging students.

Learning Support worked collaboratively during the year with Educational Psychologists, Special Education Services, Department of Health, Hearing Impaired Association, Speech Language Therapists, Specific Learning Difference Teachers, Ferndale Outreach Team, Van Ash, parents, and the College psychologists to identify individual student needs to ensure learning goals and outcomes were the most appropriate. We valued working closely together and appreciated the professional support provided to our staff and students.

The services of Socially Speaking and specialist, Dawn Wilson, and Head of Learning Support provided support programmes for students with social communication requirements and students were assisted in developing self-regulation and self-management skills. These life skills are increasingly in demand.

IEPs were developed and implemented in conjunction with class teachers and professionals for students unable to work within the scope of the class programme. Seven students had IEPs to enable them to successfully access the curriculum.

The Department introduced ‘the code’ by Liz Kane to add to existing resources and further support the Structured Literacy approach that has been used for many years. Students in the programme made exceptional progress, some advancing their skills and understanding by three years.

Te Reo Māori was promoted through displays, and the correct pronunciation of English and Te Reo vowels were taught where there was confusion.

2022 was a challenging year. The summary comments from students regarding the value of the support and the sharing of life’s challenges, continued to support Travellers as a worthwhile and valued programme.

Particularly pleasing was the lunch time Creative Stitch group of 16 students who meet twice a week, developed friendships and had successful and meaningful interactions.

Head of Learning Support regularly attended the Pastoral Care meetings with the aim of strengthening and promoting the emotional well-being of the students. Observations of students were carried out and resulting interventions put in place where applicable.

Learning Support Department embraced the StAC-UP values by displaying posters and speaking with students about the values. The team also assisted in building the children’s self-esteem and confidence through positive relationships and a caring environment.

The Learning Support Department valued the sessions provided by specialist teacher Anneke Kamo. This helped to upskill the staff on the Seesaw program, to enable sharing of students learning with families, and to revise online learning tools. We look forward to further exploring technology to assist our students learning in 2023.

2022 began with Art Specialist Pip Dinsenbacher delivering her varied and comprehensive Visual Arts programme to all year groups. During Term 2, Kathryn Meyers was appointed ahead of Pip Dinsenbacher’s retirement from the position at the end of the term. To help with a seamless transition for the students, Pip worked with Kathryn and completed a thorough handover including, kiln operation, ordering of supplies, and Art room routines.

Term 3 started with the key focus of maintaining the smooth delivery of Visual Art with the least disruption possible. Timetables remained unchanged, routines continued and art-smock-wearing, smiling students continued to file into their Art room as before.

In 2022 the StAC-UP programme for all Preparatory School students was easily applied in the Art room. Specific ways to Be Ready, Be Safe, and Be Respectful were readily identified and accepted by the students.

This year, key resources were again more readily available (after the lull of supply during the pandemic). Key materials such as pottery clay, underglaze, water-based ink for printmaking, etching plates, paint and wet strength cartridges were easily sourced.

A wide offering of media and materials allowed students to experience many different means of expressing themselves visually. All year levels completed printmaking and ceramics and Years 1–6 enjoyed a drawing unit. At the end of the

Term 4, seniors tried outdoor photography and stop motion production.

Visual Arts linked to school wide themes and celebrations during the year, such as Book Week, which further connected the art programme to class learning. An assortment of the students completed artworks were displayed throughout the Preparatory School.

In August, the senior classes maximised their double period lessons by entering the renowned Re:Activate Aspiring Artist SCAPE Public Artwork Competition. This year’s theme was ‘Sweat Equity’. Learners also had the freedom to design either a mural or a sculpture. Their ideas were fresh, clever, and innovative.

In mid-September the school was advised that Year 8 student Adele Sherborne had been selected for her mural ‘Ccino & Ash’ (out of over 150 quality mural entries). Adele reproduced her mural to billboard size and was officially opened and installed on 5 November at the Armagh Street entrance to Hagley Park for the summer period.

Four other students were also shortlisted for their designs – Carrie O’Donnell (Year 8), Lucy Pugh (Year 7), Tianna Chen (Year 7) and Sophie Schouten (Year 7). These students were offered the opportunity to complete a fully funded 3D printing workshop. Unfortunately, this clashed with our Grandparents Day celebrations, but Lucy Pugh represented St Andrew’s Preparatory School at this event and created a 3D printed version of her design which was exhibited at Auahatanga South – Creative Space.

The continuation of COVID-19 restrictions meant that 2022 was another year without many of the regular performance opportunities for the students. Sadly, in Term 1 the performance by Opera New Zealand was cancelled; likewise weekly services in the Centennial Chapel and all choir and orchestra rehearsals were put on pause. Half of 2022 involved adapting performance groups and the classroom music programmes to fit within the COVID-19 restrictions. Classroom programmes could not involve singing. However, recorder playing was allowed but had to be outside and children socially distanced. When the weather was fine, this was doable, but had to compete in the same outdoor space with other outside the classroom activities, roadworks on Normans Road, and cold easterly winds. There was a much bigger focus on rhythm activities and music reading during this time of restrictions. During Term 1, a Year 5 marimba group was set up to make use of the rehearsal time while choirs were not able to rehearse. This was very much appreciated by both students and teachers, and gave us a tangible performance goal to work towards. At the end of the first term the marimba group performed three ensemble pieces in the learning hallway to Year 5 classes.

Modified singing activities and groups resumed halfway through Term 2 but involved masking and distancing. It was a relief to start up the Years 6–8 Cantare Choir and the Junior Years 3–5 Choir. By this stage the students had adapted to the ‘new normal’ of COVID-19 restrictions, which meant singing inside was permitted but still required a mask to be worn and social distancing was implemented.

Once underway, the Cantare Choir was a strong and capable group with the addition of a very musical group of new Year 7 students joining the choir. The Cantare Choir worked on learning Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat songs which were performed later in Term 3 at a Tuesday morning chapel service. Likewise, the Preparatory School Orchestra was able to start rehearsing, while the woodwind and brass instruments joined the group a little later.

Once the COVID-19 restrictions eased, the Preparatory School orchestra was invited to perform at the St Andrew’s College

Classical Concert in our school Centennial Chapel. This year the orchestra was assisted by the three Year 7 music scholars, which greatly enhanced the group. A musical strength of our school is to provide more capable musicians the opportunity to perform in the College Orchestra and Jazz band. Eight Year 7–8 students played in the Secondary School Orchestra. This orchestra is conducted by Mark Hodgkinson. Mark also tutored two chamber groups in the Preparatory School. These two groups performed in the Grandparents’ Day concert at the start of the fourth term. Mark is an outstanding orchestral conductor, tutor and musician who produces musical performances of a very high standard. I am most grateful to Mark for providing quality extension musical opportunities for our more musically capable students.

Once singing could again take place inside, I transitioned back to teaching a Kodaly pedagogical based curriculum for all classes from New Entrant to Year 6. The Kodaly pedagogy is a Hungarian music education method of teaching that focuses on teaching musicianship skills and musical concepts using singing based activities. This approach provides the framework through which recorder and mallet instruments (marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, and resonator bells) are also learnt.

A highlight for me this year was gaining my Australian Kodaly Certificate in Music Education from the Kodaly Music Education Institute of Australia. This has been the culmination of five years of part-time study. This programme of study is aligned and recognised internationally. The teacher training is challenging, liberating, musical and transformative. Teachers trained in the Kodaly approach are challenged to continually improve their own musicianship and teaching practise. This reinvigorated my teaching and refreshed my class music programmes.

In August the two Year 6 classes participated in the Strum Strike Blow Festival in the Christchurch Arena, alongside over 1000 children from other Christchurch schools. This is an annual one-day festival with rehearsals during the day and culminating in an evening concert. Children were taught pieces on either the ukulele, recorder, or a mallet instrument. The classes learnt five recorder pieces for the event, including a massed item piece In Colour by the band Shapeshifter that combined the three instruments. A feature of the repertoire chosen for the festival was the provision of multi-level music parts, thus catering to the range of music abilities and extending children who are more musically able. This is always a popular event, and a positive way for children to perform to a live audience.

The Seesaw program continued to provide a very useful and valuable way of recording the children’s learning in music and sharing this with the parent community. The video recordings are not necessarily a polished musical performance, but rather show learning in progress. The children were very interested to view the recordings and found this useful in reflecting and evaluating their learning.

A musical highlight of the year was the opportunity for the Cantare Choir (Years 6– 8) to participate in the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival. This had been cancelled for the two previous years due to COVID-19 restrictions. The children worked hard learning the challenging choral repertoire. Early in November the Cantare Choir performed in the Christchurch Town Hall in a massed choir of 500 school children from schools throughout Christchurch. This was a great thrill to be part of live music making at a very high level of performance. The Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival is of an outstanding level of performance and provided our children with the opportunity to sing accompanied by a symphony orchestra, a concert band, and work with a team of highly skilled conductors. Seven of our students were selected to play in the Symphony Orchestra in the Music Festival, one in the Concert Band and one in the Senior Representative Choir. Year 8 music scholar Lucas Zhang was the Concert Master for the Symphony Orchestra in the Music Festival.

I am hopeful that in 2023 we will be able to welcome back New Zealand Opera to perform to our Preparatory School students, re-establish the afternoon performance concerts, and reinstate our annual Preparatory School Music Concert.

The Preparatory School provided the opportunity for students to develop literacies in Dance and Drama during 2022. Students in Years 1–6 attended sessions once a week for two terms. Students in Years 7–8 had a double period for eight weeks.

The focus of dance education is for students to use dance as a creative form of expression. Student-led choreography is the primary focus of the programme at St Andrew’s College.

Students in Years 1–6 continued to develop their skill in dance with a focus on the elements of movement. They shared their in-class work informally with each other and used the language of dance to reflect on the work of others. In the primary years, the Dance curriculum is deeply rooted in dance literacies and creative processes rather than technique-based dance. This allowed for a wider range of creativity as students developed their own ideas.

Students in Years 7–8 focused on the Charleston and used this as the basis for developing further work strongly focused on the communicating and interpreting strand of the curriculum.

All students from Years 1–8 experienced learning in and about drama this year. The focus was developing literacy in the Arts through practical application, reflection and building understanding.

Junior students created imagined worlds and worked in a range of roles using picture books as a springboard to develop character, plot and narrative. Students worked in role outside the confines of a book and applied thinking skills to solve problems rather than rely on being told what to do. This challenged them, but most relished the chance to develop their own ideas.

Middle and senior students used a variety of stimulus to create drama including set, short stories, costume, props and common experiences. Year 7 and 8 students participated in double period classes which benefitted the learning and allowed deeper understanding and exploration.

A strong committed core group attended this lunchtime activity again this year. This group caters for students who have a strong interest in drama. Students worked with scripts in the early part of the year. In Term 3 the group explored how to make and use masks and created vignettes which led to time in the Junior Department interacting with the children.

During Term 4 we were delighted to have two secondary students introduce Theatresports. This was a great opportunity to develop some techniques to use in improvisation and there was much laughter in the room as this area of drama was explored.

This year there was the opportunity for Preparatory School students to be included in the Years 9–10 annual production of Antoinette’s Showstoppers, which was held at the Ngaio Marsh theatre. Students auditioned and fourteen students from Years 4–8 were selected in the cast. The students worked on Sundays and in the school holidays. They gained a lot of skill and confidence. The group were well supported by a team of parents. The show was seen by the Year 7–8 students which provided an opportunity to see live musical theatre.

• continue to have the double period for Years 7–8 students to deepen understanding, confidence, and skill;

• D-squared returns to being during the school day to avoid lunchtime clashes;

• classroom teachers take greater advantage of the way in which drama and dance can enhance classroom inquiry;

• more consideration is given to the performance opportunities for the Year 7 and 8 students;

• explore possibility of performance opportunities for Year 4–6 students.

In the Preparatory School, students received an inclusive and dynamic Physical Education Programme. This programme involved using a variety of contexts as a platform and catered for all needs and abilities whilst making links to general classroom content, world sporting events, and school-wide sport.

A dynamic Physical Education Programme provided the students with a safe but challenging environment to practice, develop and demonstrate a range of skills, techniques, and cognitive thinking processes.

Physical Education is learning in, through, and about movement. The core of a successful Physical Education Programme is to nurture and build the self-worth of our tamariki. Through learning, students build resilience and self-belief in themselves.

The aim of the programme is to inspire, motivate, and educate students in the physical environment to be healthy in all aspects of hauora. Positive feedback from students emphasises the power of providing positive role models for our students and acknowledges that students are reflecting on what they are learning in Physical Education lessons. Through educating our students to learn new skills and sports, we implicitly develop their confidence and enhance their well-being.

June this year marked the working transition between PE Specialists

Kate Taylor and Aimee Phillips. Kate’s systems and willingness to share what has occurred previously provided a solid foundation towards the continuation of the Physical Education Programme and the running of school-wide sports events.

In past years the difficulties of finding a Physical Education space involved negotiating with the Secondary School PE staff. This was sometimes difficult. Fortunately, the situation has improved dramatically with the new Preparatory School canopy. There is now an excellent option for PE when the weather is unsafe due to sun or rain.

Physical Education lessons consisted of a warm-up, skill practice/development and games where students used skills they had developed. This scaffold builds the students’ confidence, provides effective and clear visible learning and builds understanding before the children are placed in game situations where skill understanding is needed to participate effectively.

The use of technology was embedded into the Physical Education Programme. This mode of learning was used to inspire students and provide an emphasis on professional athletes who excel in their fields. It was also used to complement the use of visible learning and core skill development. Such as, how to throw a rugby ball with a spin pass. These videos broke down the skill and modelled the correct technique.

The Physical Education Notice Board was used during the year to inspire students and to keep them up to date with planned learning throughout the year. Posted results of how students performed acknowledged their efforts. Physical Education can hook in all students, especially those with behavioural needs.

PE can sometime be their only platform for success. It is also used as a form of communication and to double check event confirmations, and what is planned for the week.

Literacy was integrated into the Physical Education Programme. A collection of sports books in all contexts was added to the PE Room and was often used to calm groups through transition.

The Junior Department focus was to discover movement through non-sport specific activities. Activities for this stage enabled the children to explore and discover for themselves what is involved in performing a movement or skill. Students also developed the skills to work successfully in a small group or team.

Towards the end of the year, students worked on striking the ball and big ball skills. The main component of this learning was to use eyes to track the movement of the ball.

The Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP) continued to successfully transition New Entrant to Year 1 students. A small ball aspect was added to the rotation this year. This included jumping to improve hand-to eye co-ordination. This is a school wide focus.

A development phase was used for the Middle Syndicate team (Years 4–6). The students became more efficient and refined in movement through repetition in a variety of contexts. Students started to develop an awareness of team strategies and game tactics.

In the Senior Syndicate (Years 7–8), the students consolidated the skills developed in earlier years. They applied movement skills in a variety of ways and combined other movements in more complex games and activities. Skills became more automatic, and the focus was on being able to naturally transfer skills from one context to another. There was also a greater focus on tactical and strategic game play. Students were confident in taking on the role as a leader and have the respect of their peers to do this.

Physical Education does not only focus on movement, it also focuses on interpersonal skills such as teamwork, co-operation, listening, managing self, and relating to others. These are the skills that have been identified in the New Zealand Curriculum as Key Competencies. The Physical Education programme gives students the opportunity to learn, develop, and fine-tune these skills in an energetic and motivating environment which they can then apply to all facets of life.

There are small groups within each class in the Preparatory who are still developing the sense of fairness and inclusivity in their teams. Constant modelling of being a ‘fair team player’ and emphasising desired behaviours is praised. Clear communication has been provided through feedback to classroom teachers regarding students who are struggling to be a fair team player in Physical Education.

• students need more time on their Athletics Component, especially at the Year 4–5 level. One session on throwing and catching a discus does not suffice. Year 4 students are unable to hold the discus correctly and with the correct technique. We need to start athletics early in Term 3 and provide teachers with a rotation to use all the equipment effectively. Effectively transition the Junior school into more throwing and jumping activities which mimic shotput, discus, and long jump;

• some basic skill development and tactical awareness of certain modes of sport through to Year 8 is variable, e.g. touch rugby. Many students were unable to catch a rugby ball in a game setting. Continue to expose all students to a range of contexts and modes. Include nukenball, volleyball, and make links to cultural games and what is integrated from Team Leaders at the start of the year. Use these sports as a rotation in a two-year cycle;

• add new artwork to the Physical Education Department to fill the walls with art displays to connect students with learning in and out of the classroom;

• connect the Women’s World Cup to the Long-Term Plan next year;

• observe outside providers such as Canterbury cricket and football and their programmes.