Balmoral School Newsletter - 9 August 2024

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Principal

Kia ora e te whānau

Mathematics education is crucial for developing students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills. However, recent announcements regarding changes to the mathematics curriculum have sparked widespread debate.

This week, the Prime Minister announced a new mathematics curriculum, claiming that only 22 per cent of Year 8 students (based on a study of 853 children at 42 schools) were at the expected standard for maths. This is not the experience of achievement at Balmoral School.

Many commentators have questioned this claim. According to Professor Jodie Hunter, the statistic is misleading because it fails to account for changes in curriculum and benchmarking processes. Supporting this view, the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER), designers of the PAT Tests, stated, "What we are seeing in mathematics is a change in curriculum and a new benchmarking process rather than a change in achievement."

NMSSA from Otago University also states the data: “at Year 8, there has been no statistically significant change in mathematics achievement scores since at least 2013. On average, students scored about the same in 2013, 2018, 2022, and 2023..... We do have a new draft curriculum however, and the provisional benchmarking exercise we carried out indicates it requires a higher level of proficiency than the 2007 curriculum.”

Alongside the curriculum change, the government announced the introduction of new maths workbooks and a $20 million investment in professional development for teachers by 2025. However, research consistently shows that workbooks have not been successful in enhancing maths education. For example, a study conducted in the UK found no significant improvement in students using traditional workbooks compared to those engaged in interactive learning. Moreover, the proposed funding for professional development is insufficient. Our school alone should have budgeted $10,400 for professional mathematics development this year, and we have been involved with Massey University's comprehensive maths development programme for four years. High-quality professional development is an ongoing process requiring substantial investment and commitment.

It is disheartening when data is manipulated to cause disruption. This tactic, seen globally, undermines public trust and generates unnecessary anxiety. Firstly, they create anxiety among parents about their children's learning. Secondly, this anxiety is transferred to students, making them believe they are not good at maths. Lastly, this inevitably devalues the work of teachers, who work tirelessly to cater to the diverse needs of students across our nation.

It is crucial that we focus as a country on evidence-based solutions that genuinely enhance mathematics education. Emphasising collaborative learning environments, investing in meaningful professional development, and ensuring alignment between curriculum and assessment standards are key to nurturing a generation of confident and capable mathematicians.

Our tamariki deserve to have well-trained and well-supported teachers. Our educators deserve recognition for their hard work, not undue criticism based on misleading statistics. 

Let’s keep the conversation going and work towards solutions that uplift everyone involved in education. Our future mathematicians are counting on us!

Nga mihi

Malcolm

 Read this article about how maths achievement has been falling around the world.

Read this piece in Newsroom about Structured Mathematics

Press Release NZ Principals Federation

Attendance

Attendance continues to be a major focus for schools. Here is the latest data for Term 2 2024. Only seventy per cent of children attend school above 90%. This is equivalent to attendance in 2019.

Holidays are our largest category of unjustified absence. 

Safety at the School Gate

At least once a week, I receive an email or comment from a parent regarding the dangerous driving occurring outside our school during pick-up and drop-off times.

Parents must stop behaviours such as not using the crossing, parking in the school driveway, double parking, u-turns, and calling children across a busy road. These actions may cause one of our tamariki to be seriously injured.

School staff have also faced challenges while monitoring the crossing and driveways, including instances of rudeness from parents. We are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of children, but we find that our actions outside our school gates are constantly challenged.

We will continue to run road safety messages at school with our tamariki, AT, and the NZ Police. We hope that our community also educates itself on appropriate driving outside of school.

Eden Albert Sports Student Voice 

Last term, all schools from the Eden Albert Cluster completed a Student Voice Survey. This was a great opportunity for the Year 5-6 pupils to give their opinions about Eden Albert sporting events. The findings from Balmoral mirrored those across the cluster. 

The most popular sport that the pupils like to participate in is soccer, closely followed by Badminton, Athletics, Netball, Gymnastics and Tag Rugby. The findings also articulated the pupils' love for having their parents there and being part of the day. Pupils said they felt more supported and confident when their parents attended. However, pupils don’t like being pressured or shouted at during the event. Interestingly, 82% of the pupils said that trialling doesn't stop them from giving it a go. This demonstrates great manawaroa and perseverance from our pupils. 

The data is being used to influence zone sports for the Primary Schools across the cluster. Therefore, these findings are a great reminder to all about the importance of parental help and encouraging your children to stay active by trying out new sports.

Counsellors at Balmoral

We are fortunate to have two counsellors working at Balmoral School. Si Man and Mina are second year students in the AUT counselling programme. They are under full supervision through AUT and liaise with Jacqui Bailey (SENCo) while on site.

The school counsellor can help our students by providing a safe and confidential space for students to talk about their feelings, thoughts, and concerns. They may also offer guidance, support, and practical strategies to help ākonga overcome some challenges.

Parents, teachers and students themselves can refer to the school counsellor. Jacqui will support the counsellors to gather background information, arrange consents and book appointments. 

We have a dedicated space for counselling, which can be accessed via the corridor next to the science lab. It is a private space and students can make their way there themselves.

To refer your child for counselling, please complete the referral form. Students can also ask their teacher to make a referral for them or do a self-referral by submitting a request slip at the counselling room.

Ākonga & Whānau Learning Conversations

Ākonga (students) led conversations about learning at Balmoral School with Whānau (family) and their
teacher on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd August.  Information regarding bookings will be emailed out on Tuesday 13 September.

CHILDCARE NEEDED?

School Closes early on Thursday 22nd August at 12:30pm.
Click here to book in to The Village Square Trust from 12:30pm - 3pm   (Minimum of 15 children needed for this booking to go ahead)

Primary School News

Pānui from Whānau Mahira

Last week the Year 2 children visited Highwic House in Newmarket. This visit was to support our Inquiry study. In Term 2, we visited Maungawhau and looked for evidence of early Māori life on the Maunga. The visit to Highwic House was about how the area had changed with the arrival of the Europeans. Visiting Highwic gave the children a chance to step into the life of the Buckland family in the late 1880s. 

The children completed a garden trail and explored the grounds finding the stables, the orchard, the fernery and even a water reservoir. Some of the children enjoyed the colourful flowers around the gardens. They had fun trying to master the art of stilt walking, bowling and croquet - all pastimes from the early years of the house.

Inside they explored the rooms upstairs and downstairs looking for different objects around the house. In the kitchen they made butter. The laundry was hard work as they scrubbed cloths on a washboard, rinsed them in cold water, squeezed them out and then had to put them through an old wringer without jamming their fingers. This took three people - the feeder, the turner and the catcher of the cloth. Some children even got to play on the very old grand piano.

The children noticed that there were many clocks in the house, including beautiful grandfather clocks. They wondered what it was like to live in a family of 21 children. They also noticed that the children were allowed in some parts of the house but not in other areas.

 Maths

Last week we celebrated 100 Days at school. During our morning play we made bunting, carefully noticing the ‘ty’ numbers as we used crayon and dye to write the numbers. We baked biscuits with hundreds and thousands, read books with a 100s theme, made crowns and managed to write 100 words. The children are wondering when the 200 Days of school will be.

Cook Islands Language Week

This week we had visitors from the Intermediate School to tell us about tivaevae. They showed the children a beautiful quilt. We watched a video that explained how the quilts were made and the importance of the colourful vibrant Island flowers that featured on the quilts. Using collage and brightly coloured paper the children designed their own tivaevae.

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Intermediate School News

Central Zone Boys Netball

On Tuesday the 30th of July, the Central Zone Boys Netball teams braved the elements and competed against 9 other schools. After setting up the gazebo and warming up in the pouring rain, it was time to start the competition. The courts were slippery and so was the ball, the Year 7’s started strong by winning their first game 9-0. The Year 8’s also won their first game and the day ahead looked pretty good.

The sun decided to pop out briefly by lunchtime, and it was time for the semi-finals, both teams were second in their pool. After the finals, the Year 7’s placed 6th, and the Year 8’s second in their pool.

Both teams played exceptionally well throughout the day, under the wisdom and guidance of our coach, Meredith, and manager, Angela. A huge well done to both teams for showing great sportsmanship, positivity and teamwork leading up to and during the day, and a huge thank you to the parents who came to support us, with umbrellas in hand!

Hub 2 Inquiry

Protest and change are what is driving the Inquiry in Hub 2. The children have been deeply immersed in both the history of protest in New Zealand, and in discovering how individuals or societies make change in response to injustice. As well as developing knowledge, the children have gained new skills and developed others they already had. These include their ability to research, to ask questions and work out where to find the answers to these, and to question the sources they are using. They have written information reports, persuasive arguments and slogans that sum up messages in a way that catches people's attention. They have written emails to invite speakers in, and worked on their listening skills in order to then ask pertinent questions of these speakers. It is exciting to watch these essential literacy skills develop in an Inquiry that it is rich, relevant and engaging for the children. We look forward to seeing where it goes next!

Community News