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Maungatapere School
Newsletter 27 June 2024
Kia ora koutou
It has been a busy term with illness plaguing staff, students and myself. We appreciate all the parents who have been proactive in keeping children at home when they have been sick.
For myself battling getting back to health, my priority tasks have been reading student mid-year
reports for the whole school, and catching up with the normal running of the school. The deputy
principals have picked up the student report editing and curriculum level checking, to allow me to
read for content only. Reading student reports is a highlight, as it gives me a story about each child and how school works for them. I have loved reading student reports and seeing their success stories in student learning journeys. Student reports go out today for parents. We will finalise our parent teacher interview dates, during a holiday management meeting, to be ready to send the booking process out to parents early week one of next term.
New student assessment tool
This term our staff have worked on implementing a ‘new to us’ assessment tool called easTTle. The two curriculum areas that we have focused on are reading and maths.
e-asTTle and assessment for learning
The e-asTTle assessment tool was designed to provide reliable and valid assessment information for you and your students to enhance teaching and learning. It supports the shift in best educational practice from an emphasis on assessment of learning to assessment for learning.
The purpose of every e-asTTle assessment is to determine what a student knows now and what they can learn next. e-asTTle helps by providing scores and information that can be used by teachers, students, whānau and school managers to better understand the students progress and make decisions on how to support their learning.
The data we collect throughout the student’s time at Maungatapere School will be able to be
accessed by any school they transfer/transition to in the future. We have feedback from secondary
schools, that e-asTTle data is highly valued and enables them to accurately support and place them
within their school.
We have begun using this tool for both reading and maths with Y3-Y8 students. The short tests can
be designed for the specific areas of focus within the curriculum i.e. Maths (statistic/measurement/number). Tests are done on ‘Chrome Books’ and are marked automatically, which takes out any variance in teacher judgement or knowledge. The results allow teachers to do many things. It creates reports on individuals and groups, showing strengths/achieved/to be achieved/gaps, at specific levels and reports if the child is below/achieving/or exceeding their age level (concepts to that effect). What has stood out with maths in particular, is that it is giving accurate achievement levels with the ‘other strands’ of maths other than number knowledge/strategy. This term has been the first term of implementation. It has gone very well. We still have more to learn as teachers and a school, but feel it is a very positive move for the school with reading and maths assessment and learning. This tool importantly identifies the areas students need to learn next. It lists resources and links to planning to support teachers targeting their teaching. Teachers use a number of means to assess. This is just one of them.
During this process of implementation, staff have worked to adjust the school reports to show
achievement levels, to match the words used to describe those levels. We have not changed the report format structure, but you will see a ‘tweak’ in the way levels are shown. The whole staff worked on this process, we hope it remains clear to parents when you read the midyear reports going home. This staff process has certainly moderated the teacher process for making achievement level judgements accurately across the school. This should mean consistency in reporting at all curriculum levels.
Jonathan Van Campen had his last day with us today. We had a staff dinner last night, as part of our ‘wishing him the best’ process and a few secret squirrel things in the planning as I write this on
Wednesday afternoon. On behalf of his class, our staff and community we thank him for his
contribution to Maungatapere School. He will be missed.
Mrs Nicky Taylor and Rachael Murray take over the teaching of Room 6 for next term, with Whaea
Rachael teaching the last week of this term.
Regards
Terry
Ruben MacDonald Rm2 For being a super role model and having a 'can do' attitude towards his learning.
Jake Morine Rm13 For being a hardworking and diligent student, especially during writing time. Keep it up!
Zeke Nathan Rm9 For his hard work and positive attitude towards maths.
Tama Riley Rm4 Tama just gets the job done! A busy worker who helps others and is always supportive.
Harley Dwyer-Chaplin Rm4 Really stepping up as a role-model and believing in herself - so proud of you!
Jack Avison Rm7 Pushing his boundaries and doing it with a smile.
Devon Neumann Rm7 For your cross country running - stepping up and pushing past that comfort zone.
Charlie Noakes Rm1 Going above and beyond for your learning. You are making your learning happen.
School Term Dates
28th June Matariki
5th July Last Day Term 2
22nd July First Day Term 3
24th July WGHS & WBHS visits to Year 8 students
8th August Mathex
8th August Tauraroa Area School Open Day (Year 8 Students)
8th August WBHS Open Evening (Year 8 students)
14th August WBHS Enrolment Interviews
19th August WGHS Enrolment Interviews
Temporary access to the office
Aquabots by Kaylin Ruawhare and Ella Watts
On Thursday 20th June Room 9 learnt about and made aquabots. We were all so excited as we had heard about what they were from Mr Kini. Once we got to the hall we sat down and the two instructors (Matua Gareth and Matua TK) explained how we would build the aqua bots. Instead of Mr Kini making six new groups we worked in our original table groups to build our own aquabots. We set off!
First, we chose what kind of boats we were going to make. Most of the groups chose the same boat because it looked more stable. Luckily, they were easy to make. Aquabots are made up of PVC pipe, small motors, pool noodles and then attached to a controller. The first job we had to do was organise all the parts so that we could make the aquabot of our choice. We all worked as a team to create our chosen aquabot.
Once we had made them we connected the motors (that were already made). We had to check that the batteries had enough charge so we hooked them up to a battery tester. Everyones worked. We set these up and then tested our motors. Five out of six groups motors successfully worked.
The day was going smoothly until the power went out so we were unable to make and solder new motors that we needed. Luckily, Matua Gareth and Matua TK had their own aqua bots to test in the pool. When we got to the pool we placed the aquabots in the pool and made sure the battery was connected. We controlled the aqua bots with the controller. They could go up and down and forwards and backwards. We all gave it a go and had heaps of fun.
Matua Gareth then said we would have a race from one side of the pool to the other. Sadly, the winner of the race was not our group but we had the best day. The best part of the day was that everyone got to learn new skills like drilling, making testing and connecting. Also, another good thing was that nobody was left out and everyone had a chance to have a go. We hope to use the aquabots again soon!
By Kaylin Ruawhare & Ella Watts (Room 9)
Tui by Liam Hawkins Room 3
Linewize Update
As the winter season is upon us and the time spent inside increases, we thought it would be a good idea to share some slang that may be being used online. Have a look through some of the slang words that are listed in alphabetical order with drop down menus. Some of these words seem innocent but are not so.
https://maungatapere.onlinesafetyhub.nz/parent/blogs-articles/parents-guide-to-teen-slang#!
School Hours
Communication
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Sore Throats Matter
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About us
Email: office@maungatapere.school.nz
Principal: principal@maungatapere.school.nz
BOT Chair: botchair@manugatapere.school.nz
Website: https://www.maungatapere.school.nz/
Location: Mangakahia Road, Maungatapere, Whangarei, New Zealand
Phone: 09 4346743
Facebook: facebook.com/maungatapereschool