Learning Acceleration

During 2020, we have had a total of 12 Learning Assistants working in our school. This team supports our mainstream classroom programs across the school. We have two dedicated Learning Assistants working in Years 11-13 and the others working within the Year 7-10 classes. There are three teaching staff in Learning Acceleration in the roles of SENCO, Head of Department - Tracey Jongens; Learning Support Coordinator - Meredith Cassidy and our Specialist Teacher - Sharon Te Ngaru. Sharon has since offered her resignation. In 2021, we will be welcoming a second Learning Support Coordinator and a new Specialist Teacher and we will have four in our teaching team.

We have two programs operating out of Learning Acceleration. This year we introduced Te Pae Tawhiti (TPT), which is a small group program we offer to ākonga who find the mainstream classrooms extra challenging. We have had nine ākonga in this program this year. These ākonga spend part of each day in TPT.

Taku Ara Pono (TAP) is the other program we have offered to ākonga. This year we have had a total of 41 students, ranging from Year 7 to Year 10, working in our TAP program. Our Year 7/8’s have spent two hours each week in this program and our Year 9’s and Year 10’s have spent four hours each week.

All the classes have been working through the South Pacific Educational Courses (SPEC) program. The Year 7/8’s focused on group hands-on activities, such as cooking, working on social skills as part of this program. The Year 9 and Year 10 classes worked on a program named Skills for Living. They worked through themed module books, choosing their own goals, gathering information and creating evidence to show their learning. Each module required the ākonga to complete eight tasks. The work was collected in folders and each module is required to be ‘verified’ by teachers of other schools, also offering the program.

We are delighted to say that 15 of our Year 9 and Year 10 ākonga have earned a certificate for successfully completing a module during the second half of this year. One student, Herold Pillay in Year 9, completed two modules during this time.

In 2021 we are looking forward to extending this program to a group of Year 11 students.

A huge thank you to Victoria Francis, our amazing Learning Assistant for TAP.

Taku Ara Pono Success

We have four groups of ākonga from Year 7 through to Year 10 working in our TAP (Taku Ara Pono) programme. The Year 9 and 10 TAP ākonga spent four periods a week in TAP, the Year 7 and 8 ākonga spent two periods a week doing the programme. The TAP programme is a supported learning programme in which the ākonga work within a module, but have choice over their learning focus. They have to complete eight tasks to complete each module. The ākonga are working towards a national qualification.

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At the end of Term 2, a group of our Year 10 TAP ākonga were involved in a Zoom hui with students from 18 schools throughout NZ. The purpose of the hui was to share their work with others in order to meet the requirements of the verification

process which is a requirement of the national qualification. Meeting by Zoom was ‘a first’ for the programme. Our students were totally energised by the opportunity to share their work with others from around NZ and they also learnt some great ideas about things we could be doing at LCŌ.

Catlin Ross said “It’s good to know what other schools have been up to,” and Paige Martin said “There were lots of students with different personalities who were confident and I enjoyed meeting them on Zoom.”

As a result of this hui, we now have a group of ākonga who have received their first certificate on completion of a module. Congratulations to Tehoia Kohi-Wikiriwhi, Paige Martin, DJ Harris, Noah Vincent, Tyler Williams-Shorter and Catlin Ross.

Year 11 Accelerated Learning Mentoring

Richmond community gardens

This year, this group of fabulous ākonga have been actively assisting the amazing crew that works tirelessly across at the Richmond Community gardens. We spent 2 hours a week with Cathy and her team and contributed greatly to the sustainable development of the gardens and spaces surrounding the gardens. The skills these ākonga developed from participating and contributing each week went above and beyond my expectations. They have walked away from this experience with a developing horticultural knowledge, an awareness of sustainable practices within this and a great sense of pride. Their deliberate actions will have a wide and lasting impact for our wider community for many years to come.

Tāhuhu sport - Year 7/8

The same group assisted a group of Year 13 PE ākonga and the Health and PE staff to awhi our younger ākonga to actively participate in a range of different sports. Not only did this have a positive impact on our

Year 7/8 community, again our Year 11 ākonga continued to develop leadership skills, interpersonal skills, the ability to use their initiative, show personal growth, positive team building skills and self-confidence.

Several teachers of this class have said how much positive growth, both personal and with their work ethic, they have seen in these ākonga since the beginning of the year and have attributed this to the authentic experiences they have been exposed to by participating in this ALM class.

I would like to personally thank each of these ākonga for their great contribution to our kura community and wider community and congratulate them on their persistence, maturity and dedication to both of these fabulous opportunities. Personally, I have also learnt a lot from the work I have done with this class and I thank them for that also. I wish them all the best for 2021 and look forward to watching them grow and be successful as they continue on their learning journey.

Ms Toomey