Tools/Measures/Approaches

To gain a more detailed and accurate profile of Year 8 students’ learning during their transition from Primary to Secondary, particularly in relation to the refreshed New Zealand Maths Curriculum, I will use a combination of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments. These tools will help identify gaps in understanding, track progress, and ensure that students develop the necessary skills and confidence for secondary-level mathematics.

Firstly, diagnostic assessments at the start of the year will establish a baseline understanding of students’ mathematical knowledge and skills. These assessments will focus on key areas of the refreshed curriculum, such as number sense, algebraic thinking, and problem-solving strategies. By analyzing the results, I can identify common misconceptions and tailor my teaching to address specific learning needs. This approach is crucial because it ensures that instruction is responsive and personalized, reducing the risk of students feeling overwhelmed in the transition.

Throughout the year, I will implement formative assessment strategies, including regular low-stakes quizzes, open-ended problem-solving tasks, and student self-assessments. These tools will provide ongoing insights into students' understanding and allow for timely interventions. Peer assessments and collaborative learning tasks will also be used to encourage discussion and reinforce conceptual understanding. Formative assessment is essential because it promotes a growth mindset, allowing students to see learning as an evolving process rather than a fixed outcome.

Additionally, I will incorporate student reflections and learning journals to track students’ attitudes and confidence levels in mathematics. Transitioning to secondary school can be daunting, and it is important to consider students’ emotional and psychological engagement with the subject. By analyzing their reflections, I can identify patterns in motivation and address any anxieties that may hinder their progress. This qualitative data is valuable in complementing numerical assessment results, providing a more holistic view of student learning.

Finally, summative assessments at key points in the year will evaluate students' overall progress and readiness for secondary-level mathematics. These may include project-based tasks, standardized tests, or cumulative assessments aligned with the refreshed curriculum. Summative assessments will help measure long-term retention and application of mathematical concepts, ensuring students have a solid foundation moving forward.

By using this diverse set of approaches, I can develop a well-rounded and accurate profile of students’ learning, ensuring that their transition from Primary to Secondary is supported both academically and emotionally. 

CoL 2025!

Malo e lelei everyone :)

Another year and yes I'm still here. From joining CoL back in 2018, I have always been an advocate for the learning area of Literacy. This year, I am taking a leap of faith and choosing Maths as my area of choice.

Inquiry question? Still pending.

For the last couple of years I have been looking into the transition of students from Primary level to Secondary. Being an Across School CoL teacher last year, I worked closely with our local high school - Tamaki College. I was able to create a mentoring/coaching group that consisted of Y9 students, to work with some of our Y8 students. The purpose of the group was to 'prepare our Y8 learners for the realities of High School'.

The content of what we covered was at High School level and was co-constructed by myself and one of the deans at Tamaki. Critical Thinking was a focus for us, so the activities, reading texts, pieces of writing that students worked with, stemmed from Critical Thinking.

I was confident that I was going to continue with the role so that I could branch out to the other schools in the cluster and initiate mentoring groups for their students too. Unfortunately, I missed out on that and thought that I would leave things where it's at, because I felt like I wasn't heard.

But this year, even with a Within School role, I would probably continue with my own Y8 students. It will be hard to work with the High School students due to time restrictions and timetable clashes and because I don't have access to the release days I had last year.

Anyhow, that is the plan for now. Things do change. But I remain hopeful I can continue with this phenomenon of helping my Y8 learners as best as I can with transitioning from Primary to Secondary.

Bursts and Bubbles 2024

Malo e lelei

Christine Tupou-Fonua

Y7&8 Team Leader and Teacher

Across school CoL

Inquiry: 

• My inquiry this year focused on two things: 

Critical Thinking and transition into High school.

What was happening? 

• The Year 9 drop-off was often a ‘topic of discussion’ in our PLG meetings

• Drop in student attendance 

• Several pastoral incidents

• Students continue to navigate the onset of adolescence

What evidence do I have to support this?

• 91% of Y9 students scored a stanine 4 or below in their beginning of year PAT assessment

• There is also evidence that the likelihood of students staying in school can be heavily

• dependent on the success of their transition into secondary school. 

• Some studies have shown that secondary school drop-out rates are lower when

• students’ contributing primary/intermediate schools have clear secondary school transition

• programmes to help students prepare socially and academically for the upcoming changes.

What changes did I make?

-Collection of assessment data was used to inform what to focus on in reading
-My intervention this year was to create a mentoring group involving six Y9 students and six Y8
students. 
-We started in Term 2 with a “get to know you”’ session where the mentor/mentee created learner
profiles. 
-Subsequent sessions became more educational based and varied - including a Critical Thinking
session, a Q&A session where Y8 learners interviewed their mentors about High School, and a
debate session - mentor vs mentee, about propositions Y8 learners came up with.
-Students also got to share their reflections on a professional reading assigned to them.
-The most recent session, “Shadowing your Y9 mentor for the day”, saw the Y8 students spend
the day at Tamaki College - to experience a “day in High School”. 
-The above selections are just a sampling of what was offered.
-The purpose of the intervention was for the Y9 students to act as Mentors/advisors/coaches for
the Y8 learners.
-The Y9 learners were my ex-students from last year and their dean agreed they were suitably on
track with their own learning to participate. 
-I worked closely with Albert Tu'uga Stevenson to make this happen so huge shout-out to Albie,
and to Amber George and Dorothy Apelu. 
-Special thanks too to Scott Mansell, whom I’ve met to talanoa with about how best we could
implement a similar programme next year.
-I am keen to strengthen the relationship between Secondary and Intermediate, to work together
and identify further needs to be addressed to enhance a smooth transition.
-The sessions were not solely planned by me.

-Student voice from the mentors highlighted what
they thought was important to focus on, and what they wished they had available to them when
they were in Y8.
-Termly e-asttle tests were also assigned to the Y8 learners.

Some literature that helped me along the way?

-RPI resources on critical thinking
-Ted Talk videos and scholarly articles on Critical Thinking 
-Articles on primary & secondary transitions found on the education hub

Hardest thing for me to change?

-Adapting to different educational settings and changing my practice to cater for older cohort of kids
-Understanding the importance of showing empathy, dealing with divergence and the challenges of
early adolescence 
-Figuring out a way of how I could implement Critical thinking learning into the intervention.
-Thanks to conversations with colleagues and SLT, including this in the mentoring sessions
became the solution
-Working with the scheduling and timetabling of High School. It was so hard to find the
time/availability to schedule the sessions but thanks to Albert Stevenson for his time and actually
helping me make this work

My Wonderings

-What known and unexplored elements of a mentoring programme would best support Y8s
transition into Y9 at High School?
-How might a collaborative approach for High School and Intermediate support this cause?
-Perhaps teacher exchanges and/or a badge system at intermediate that relates to the NCEA
structure

For explicit detail on this intervention and student achievement data - please check

out my professional blog 🙂

Malo ‘aupito

A Ted Talk I found quite effective...

 

I came across this Ted Talk video where Brian Oshiro talks about the importance of questioning when it comes to Critical Thinking.

Brian Oshiro's breakdown of the 'what, why, and how' of questioning is brilliant! It's a powerful reminder of how crucial it is to challenge students' minds for meaning learning. What questions gives content, Why questions gives the idea about origin of content and how questions talks about the ways we can use that content.

This ted talk gives insight to why teaching our learners to be critical thinkers helps encourage creative thinking. Schools need to teach students more than just the 'What', but the 'How' and 'Whys'. Let's ask questions about the consequences of a topic, ask questions with more than one correct answer to engage creativity. 

This was an encouraging video because it emphasised the importance of questioning and the importance of teaching Critical Thinking to our young leaners. It also mentioned how this is beneficial for the learners in terms of cognitive development and confidence in creativity.

Shadow our Y9 mentor day

 One of our final sessions for our Kau Taki intervention was the 'shadow your Y9 mentor' day. The purpose of it was to give the Y8 learners a day to experience what a typical day in High School felt like. 

The year 8 learners followed their mentors to class, did the work they were doing and engaged in conversation about it.

When I picked up the Y8 learners at the end of the day, they were so excited to share how their day went. Student A: "Miss I am so excited for College"

Student Sp: "Miss to be honest, I was a little anxious this morning but now that I've been through it, I think i'll be allgood come Day 1 next year"

Student B: It was fun Miss, a whole lot of independence. I guess who just have to make sure you're doing the work and you'll be fine in college

All x6 students shared the experience was positive and were grateful for it.