When the decision came in March that schools were to close, and that learning from home needed to be the norm for an unknown period of time, schools that are a part of the Manaiakalani Programme were better prepared than almost any schools in the country.

You see, the Manaiakalani pedagogy suits distance learning, and prepares learners to be independent. It includes the following:

• All learning material and activities are visible, presented on every teacher’s website

• Learning that is presented in this way is ‘rewindable'. That means that learners could look at the same material as often as they needed to in order to understand it

• Blogging means that learners have a means of sharing their learning with a real audience of people who can make useful comment, encourage, and support, the learner, often bringing other real world thinking and expertise to the learner

• The opportunity for the learner to complete work when and where they like, without being dependent on being in a specific physical place like a classroom

Now we are not saying that all learning can happen that way. Face to face contact is important, especially for younger learners, although I believe that it is important for all of us. However the benefits of visibility and rewindability, the opportunities for connection with a real audience, produce amazing benefits. We know from over ten years of research that The Manaiakalani Programme accelerates progress significantly. In education the word accelerate means to progress faster than the population as a whole. So writing progress is typically around TWO TIMES the progress for learners across the whole country. Of course none of this helps if students won’t/don’t engage with the material. Your support is vital if this is to happen. Conversations with your children about the importance of learning are important.

A really important part of all of this is the impact of Chromebooks, and internet access, for learners. This technology is what we call an ‘enabler’. That is, it allows all of this to actually happen. In making sure that all learners who do not have a device actually get one, the Ministry of Education has possibly done more for equity in schools than in almost anything else it has done.

How can you help? There are two ways in particular that you can help.

1. Please make sure that your young person comes to school with her/his Chromebook, and that the device is fully charged

2. Ask your young person to show you her/his blog, take the time to read it, and make a comment. If your first language is not English, that is fine. Please comment in your first language. ALL comments help.

Because the Ministry devices are loan devices only, you may still want to buy your own. This is a fantastic investment in your child’s learning, second only to investing your time in talking about learning. We have a number of ways of helping you to purchase devices. Please call Andrea at school reception if you would like to explore a purchase option.

Kia tau te mauri
R Sutton
Tumuaki