The last couple of weeks have flown by - make sure you are keeping up with the dates for upcoming events.

Manaiakalani Wananga 2023

On October 26 and 27 Rebecca Methven and I attended the Manaiakalani Wananga help in Auckland. This was a chance for leaders from the 120 Manaiakalani schools in New Zealand to get together  in one place and having quality evidence based conversations about where we are and where we need to go next.

We had 3 keynote presentations from Dr Rebecca Jesson. 

Dr Rebecca Jesson is an Associate Professor in literacy education at the Faculty of Education and Social Work. Rebecca's research is situated in schools and their communities in New Zealand and the Pacific. Her focus is on designing, with teachers, teaching and learning innovations that will improve the literacy learning experiences of students.

We were challenged to reflect on our achievement data at school level, cluster level and across the Manaiakalani network and then set a focus for 2024. The 2024 focus is Reading.

Our cluster (Te Ara Tūhura) school leaders will meet with the research team each term next year ensuring that our focus is strong and that we use our data to inform our practice.

Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers

Each year teachers can apply to be in the Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers Programme. This year there were 6 teachers in the programme and one of them was our very own Essie Agnew. 

Essie worked all year on creating a website called Think Wise, Thrive. The purpose of this website is to provide teachers with Critical Thinking resources that can be seamlessly incorporated into their classroom programmes.

Essie presented her work at the Wananga - we were very proud of ther! Well done Essie!