Mowbray Heights Primary School Our Journey (so far) ‘Raising the Bar & Closing the Gap’ Doc ID: TASED

Background 2007 audit of Literacy practice EC goal to develop a K-6 approach to Literacy improvement - whole staff participation in First Steps Training- Reading /Writing - PL begun to unpack First Steps Reading - structures put in place for regular collection and analysis of external/internal data Term 3, 2008-Inclusion as a Group 3 school for RTB&CTG funding. A planning process was initiated with staff K-6.

School Improvement Plan 2009 Priority 1 To deliver the key goals of the Literacy Plan increased leadership capacity increased teacher capacity increased learning outcomes for students extend the home /school partnership. Focus- Reading The RTB&CTG Core Beliefs and the MHPS Literacy Plan are stated within the Hill & Crevola framework, Design Elements for a Whole School Approach: Leadership, Professional Learning Teams, Standards and Targets, Classroom Teaching Programs, School and Classroom Organization, Intervention, Monitoring and Assessment, Home, School & Community Partnerships

Research base Breakthrough-Fullan, Hill, Crevola Learning Centred Leadership Model-National College for School Leadership Closing the Achievement Gap-Fogarty Guiding Readers and Writers- Fountas, Pinnell When Kids Can’t Read-What teachers do!-Beers Best Practice in Literacy Instruction- Gabrielle, Morrow, Pressley First Steps Reading-Addressing Current Literacy Challenges

SO how did we know where the staff was at? Conducted a series of PL sessions: - Students learn best when… - During a reading program students need opportunities to… - Important elements of a reading program are… Developed focus questions: - How can literacy resource teachers best support/enhance your team’s reading programs? - What possibilities are there? - How best can you use resources and timetabling structures to support implementation of these ideas? - On what does your team need to further investigate/seek further clarification? Made links with our work on unpacking First Steps –Reading Achieved whole school agreement on a set of non-negotiables

Our Non -negotiables There are three things that will happen in every Reading lesson, Prep to Year 6, in our school. (In Kinder the focus is on oral Literacy through imaginative play.) 1. Thorough teaching of the Focus Reading Strategies ( Reading Strategies Sequence for year levels) 2. Guided Reading will be used in every classroom 3. Home Reading Program for all students below Level 30

Setting up teams Leadership Team Principal- Lead the project AP -critical friend/ICT link/Data support AP -EC leader/ 1/2 team/ Kinder/Prep team AP/AST -Primary leader/ 5/6 team Literacy teacher/ AST- 3/ 4 team

Setting up teams Literacy Team APx2 RTB&CTG Literacy teacher Resource teacher ESL teachers x2 Prep literacy teacher Library resource teacher Li L teacher Year group teams Kinder/Prep Year 1/2 Year 3/4 Year 5/ 6

Structure Literacy Leadership Team meets regularly Teams: K/Prep, Year 1/2,Year 3/4, Year 5/6 All literacy/ support staff directed to RTB&CTG Literacy Initiative A Literacy leader works with each team Quarantined reading hour in school timetabling Literacy rich physical environment Team planning meetings weekly Focussed but different journey for each team Whole school PL Sequence comprising weekly staff meeting/SF Days/Award days etc Attendance at RTB&CTG Network Meetings and relevant PL opportunities provided by LS North Preparation of regular Parent/Carer Information Sheets to assist parents/carers to support their children at home Regular sharing with School Association and P&C

K-6 NUTS and BOLTS Explicit teaching of reading strategies Commitment to focussed reading time 4/5 times weekly Emphasis on explicit teaching and whole, small, whole instruction Systematic collection and analysis of data (internal & external) Whole school assessment schedule Consistent and daily celebration of reading progress Increasing teacher capacity by Literacy teacher modelling best practice and through provision of resource and planning support Gradual release of responsibility by slowly increasing teachers’ responsibility for teaching newly acquired skills Individual coaching sessions and Literacy teacher planning one-on- one with colleagues Attendance at all RTB&CTG Network Meetings and PL

Waves of support / intervention WAVE 1 =All students are included in a daily high quality literacy block WAVE 2 = WAVE 1 + additional, time limited, tailored intervention provided for small targetted groups to increase progress both within/outside the reading hour WAVE 3 = WAVE 1 + individualized programs for students needing intensive support (e.g. significantly below NMS or with high and additional needs.) Interventions are highly personalized to meet the individual needs of small numbers of students experiencing literacy difficulties

What is the crucial role of leadership? Modelling Monitoring Dialogue

Modelling Demonstrating the new skill (whole) Building credibility-what you say is what you can do Finding texts-interesting and engaging to get teachers and learners underway Gradual release of responsibility to teach new skills Co-planning waves of support for students Responsibility for small group teaching Modelling of practice to be used in classrooms through PL Coaching individuals

Monitoring Regular team meetings for planning Colleagues observing each other at work and providing feedback Knowing staff needs/PL needs Sustaining the focus over time Setting timeframes to collect data Collegially reviewing the data together and asking the ‘Why’ questions Preparing students to be able to be able to confidently describe their learning and their learning goals Feedback/Walkthroughs

Dialogue Focussed conversations about learning Posing questions about data and other evidence collectively gathered Listening carefully to determine where individual support is needed Demonstrating interest and modelling that teaching matters Building knowledge and skills across a series of people Building leaders Teams critically reflecting on daily practice and planning Talking confidently to parents about successes and areas for improvement

Where to for MHPS in 2010? Keep faith in the plan, revisit, review, refine, refocus Maintain high quality Reading instruction Focus on Writing- PL and modelling in classrooms Continued emphasis on data collection and analysis Emphasis on feedback. Introduce more formal walkthroughs Our challenge Ensure that our students play an active part in what has been learned, what needs to be learned, and in monitoring their own progress Ensure that good communication and a sense of partnership grows between all involved in the child’s learning, especially with parents and carers

In conclusion So have we increased leadership capacity? increased teacher capacity? increased student learning outcomes? extended the home/school partnership? Our journey continues…