Case Studies – RWMP

Waipa Primary School

Untitled Document

This is an account from one of the schools, or clusters of schools, that have received funding from the Reading, Writing and Mathematics Proposals Pool (RWMP) to support programmes in reading, writing and mathematics for students years 1 to 6.

Waipa Primary School has been running literacy intervention programmes since May 1999 using money from the Reading, Writing and Mathematics Proposal Pool and its operations grant. It has also become involved in the Literacy Leadership programme.

The planning

The school started with a focus at the junior school level with a variety of support programmes – oral language support for year 0–2 students, a year 3 intervention programme, professional development for teachers and other programmes such as SARR (Supporting At-Risk Readers), parent tutoring, and Reading Recovery.

The actions

With the oral language support a lead teacher worked with speech language therapists and trained junior teachers to specifically diagnose language problems. The junior school then worked to identify and implement best teaching practice to address these needs within the classroom.

A year 3 intervention programme was introduced targeting the most at-risk readers for small group work with a specialist reading teacher. Year 3 was targeted because the school saw a gap between those students being picked up for Reading Recovery at six years and the SARR programme which children cannot enter until year 4. SARR (Supporting At-Risk Readers) is an intense one-to-one reading programme taken by a trained reading specialist. (Schools interested in this programme can contact Marilyn Macey, Manager, SARR Trust, Box 19, Matangi, ph 07 829 5833.)

A parent tutoring programme was also put into place whereby volunteer parents listen individually to a selected group of students three afternoons per week. Classroom teachers nominated students who need, but are not getting regular help with home reading.

In conjunction with these support programmes a vital teacher development programme was introduced. Reading and oral language specialists headed small groups, teachers worked with various outside agencies, and teachers worked with each other.

However, according to assistant principal Ann McGowan, the school's approach has changed from those early days.

We found that there was a growing dependence on the support programmes to fix problems. We now believe that the best teaching happens in the classroom. So instead of withdrawing large groups of students from class we have moved to establish best practice amongst our teachers and to have teaching specialists strategically placed throughout the school and providing support. The support programmes continue but in effect we have changed our focus from taking the children out to putting the teacher back in!

A school-wide literacy review in October 2000 and feedback from staff also resulted in a decision to involve not only junior levels, but all students and all staff across the school.

This year Waipa School has also formed a new class of up to 12 year 1 to 3 students who have high learning and social needs. A trained teacher aide works alongside a classroom teacher throughout the morning programme focusing on oral language programmes.

Ann says there is now school-wide ownership of the need to raise literacy skills.

We have a long way to go as many of our new entrant children are coming into the school with very low oral language skills and many older students need considerable support. We are well on our way to getting many of them to within a year or six months of their chronological age but we still have a lot of work to do.

As literacy leader Ann spends a lot of her time in classrooms, looking at classroom management, evaluating the literacy programmes and providing support. She has also facilitated workshops and development sessions using School Support Services staff.

Ann is supported by trained specialist reading teachers. One trained Reading Recovery and SARR trained teacher is in the reception class to ensure skilled screening of new entrants and excellence in early literacy teaching. Another Reading Recovery trained teacher has the lower level year 3 students and her class includes all students previously from Reading Recovery. Ann says it is vital that momentum gained in Reading Recovery is continued. This teacher is also trialing a more integrated programme with the emphasis on written vocabulary and reading and oral language. Data has yet to be analysed but results so far appear encouraging. Those year 3 students who are average to above are also with a trained SARR teacher.

With trained teachers strategically deployed throughout the school the role of the intervention teacher has changed. The number of students withdrawn for support has reduced with assistance being given on a one-to-one basis or in small groups, with the high needs class warranting most support.

Across the school teachers have been involved in the development and standardisation of taking running records with understanding, devising classroom programmes for students with specific needs, standardising school-wide assessment in reading, and collating and analysing data.

Currently year 4 teachers are trialing a phonics programme based on Jolly Phonics and senior teachers plan a trip to Don Buck School in Massey, Auckland to observe their implementation of the Jolly Phonics programme. Three year 0 to 2 teachers are examining team planning and skills-based programmes.

An important part of teacher development has included groups of teachers visiting other schools' classrooms.

The results

Ann believes closer scrutiny of current procedures and practices, existing resources, and teacher knowledge has led to a more clearly identified target of where the school wants to be and a more efficient use of current staff strengths.

She says improvements in teacher knowledge and management of literacy programmes need to be ongoing to enable the best teaching to occur in the classroom with intervention programmes providing support for those children at-risk or with special needs.

Principal Tom Rodden adds that the Literacy Leadership Enhancement programme was able to support the literacy initiatives already underway and provide the time for teachers to undertake relevant professional development.

The future

"We have grown from small beginnings. It has been hard work and will take a few more years to implement properly, but we are moving forward," Ann says.

2001

Case studies index | top

Interim exemption from complying with the New Zealand Government's Web Guidelines

This website is best viewed with a minimum of Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 7 or Safari 3.
While websites linked from TKI have been screened for unsuitable content, the user is responsible for their own actions if using search engines on these sites.