Charlotte Verity Professional Learning (School Based)

Staff and student mental health and wellbeing has been a goal in the strategic plan for my current school (Beckenham).  I lead the Wellbeing Team again in 2017, and loved scaffolding our student wellbeing leaders.  My goal was to liaise with school leaders, and then lead a team (staff and students) to develop & promote the MH curriculum, at Beckenham, to help meet the increasingly diverse needs of students  (Strategic Plan 2017).  Over 2017, our Wellbeing team meet during lunchtimes and after school. Here are just some of our achievements:  outcomes included:  * Beckenham mental health & wellbeing overview revisited, developed and shared with staff. This is a living document we can add to in future.  * Daily wellbeing notices for all students, using values-linked youtube clips, or student created role plays and movies * Input from staff and community sort and a whole school Wellbeing definition was created   (based on...

I found some excellent ideas for improving my use of Circle Time, which we use weekly as part of our Wellbeing focus at Beckenham School...through Jenny Mosley's text: Quality Circle Time in the Primary Classroom: Your Essential Guide to Enhancing Self-esteem, Self-discipline and Positive Relationships (1996) My hub colleague and I have been focusing on kindness and resolving conflict lately, given the needs of our students. Fun Circle Time starters from this text: * All change - call out descriptives, w.g. stand up and move if you have a brother; have visited another country; speak another language etc * Show an emotion - peers guess what it is; peers copy * Word association - e.g. say a word related to friendship, fun, calm etc * Eek and zoom - go around the circle, each child saying 'eek,'. Swap directions when one child says 'zoom' Resolving Conflict * Split class into small groups. Give each group a puzzle, missing 1-2 pieces. How will...

As part of my management unit this year, I have established a Wellbeing Action Team and am over-seeing a review into wellbeing using the MOE Wellbeing@School tool. See: ww. wellbeingatschool .org.nz Establishing The Team Schools are made up of various teams and groups. It is critical that each group is represented on our Wellbeing Action Team, so that all groups' needs are considered . Together, we can develop shared strategies to address our common needs, and work to help those strategies happen. Our team includes Year 7-8 student reps, and support staff, parent, leadership and level representatives. Gathering Survey Data The Wellbeing@School tools place a large focus on positive peer relationships. Aspects like bullying, sense of inclusion, and respect are covered. Key findings from Year 5-8 students and staff surveys shows that we need to address the following issues. The strategies so far discussed are detailed. Key areas identified Strat...

14 March 2016 The best moment of our day was after lunch.  My NE class and I headed outside for a short PE session.  three children got waylaid on route, having stopped to collect acorns. So we all stopped. And we went back. And we spent 10 full minutes collecting and then discussing  what we know or what questions we have about acorns. Our thoughts: * they sometimes have a hat * they turn brown with the sun * the drop from the trees * there is something inside * they can grow into trees * we have to look after them because they are part of nature * if we squash one then it won't become a tree and our questions... * how long have they been there? * why do they fall? * where do seeds come from? You will pretty quickly see that most of the children's questions were answered by other children. Tuakana-teina and peer-led learning in action! Everyone was equal - all had a chance  to share while all others listened. Everyone had something to say,...

28 January 2015 What is Restorative Practice? Useful Prompts: I really enjoyed the frequent 'stop and share' time provided in this session.  I learnt a lot about and from my colleagues as a result e.g. Nicky's suggestion on how to encourage children to accept and own their behaviours. * Histori cal examples: Aboriginal and  Māori groups in traditional society * Can only occur where there is an existing relationship * Dissolves the 'bad' label - promotes that mistakes can be overcome * Consequence matches/suits the challenge/problem * Restorative practise is a conference between child, person effected and teacher. * Children should be given the option of having a support person * Record (write) the whole incident and use this to encourage acceptance/ownership  e.g. 'Yes she took your pencil and that is not ok. Then you hit her. That isn't ok either.'   or 'Was that the best choice?  4 Responses to Behaviour:...

Reading articles and attending workshops on change management, community engagement, collective leadership, student self-regulation, 21st Century learning and student agency has kept my eye on the 'big picture' ideas of education, and reflect on what skills our students need for the future. I focused on student self management and agency for this final report and presentation. I  conducted interviews with staff, did extensive professional reading and interviewed students for this. I found that student self management requires two key skill areas:  I then completed a Design Proposal on how my own school might build student agency. I really enjoyed watching others' present and look forward to hearing the outcome of their own design proposals. Several focused on developing student self-regulation, student agency, and developing cultural inclusion.  I was informed by these critical readings: *Kohn, A (2001) Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!" DOI...

I was interested to focus my observation on Te Waka Una on: * How  do teachers collaborate - in terms of space, student groups, planning? * What opportunities are provided for student self-management, agency and voice? * What digital devices are used and how these are managed? I saw a very  calm ,  focused  working environment with all students doing, making, writing, reading together or independently… inspiring ! Teacher collaboration Each term, teams review data and group students, with a focus on target students. Target students receive additional teacher sessions (short, sharp sessions during other whole class work e.g. handwriting) Students are grouped (assessment) and matched to teachers' skills and interests e.g. one teacher may teach multiple art classes, across levels. Students develop relationships with more teachers, and get the best teaching skills available for their needs. Staff teach to their strengths Frequent data review and fle...

Something that has really challenged me this week is student motivation.   Do students believe they can achieve (i.e. that their effort can impact on outcome; intelligence/ability is not something that is fixed from birth - see Dwek etc) Do they feel what they are learning matters? Is it related to them and to the real world? How can they share what they are learning?  Do they have opportunities to experience success?  What can I/others do/say to help them feel/enjoy this success? How can I provide for and listen to students' voices? How can I give them a REAL  say in what and how they learn? What can I do as a teacher to engage them? What tools do I have? e.g. build relationships; bring in humour; use a variety of stimulus which connects to the real world; encourage positive connections with others; set up tasks which allow students to connect with others; knowing students' interests and planning learning accordingly; help students direct their ...

12 May 2015   I was very lucky to visit Clarkeville and Heathcote Valley Primary today. I was inspired by the motivation and focus of the students in both schools, and blown away by the knowledge some of the Clarkeville students had about their own learning. Student agency was alive! My big take-aways to share with my team and possibly try at Beckenham Primary: * Students set Key Competency goals in their own words, and reflect on these every Mon and Fri at Clarkeville. The two KCs focused on this term are Using Language, Symbols & Texts and Relating to Others.  All levels had clear visuals created by students like these: Senior Key Competency Goals                                             New Entrant Key Competency Goals                                 ...