They are widely spaced in their curriculum levels, from below 6 months at school to being able to read as a 14 year old (and understand what they are reading!). Three have been diagnosed with an intellectual disability (mild) and one is virtually non-verbal with a diagnoses of autism. This child has a full time teacher aide to help manage their needs throughout the day until 1pm when they leave to go home. They get tired very quickly and cannot currently cope with a longer day yet.
Noticing
They are also the quietest class I have ever had! Most are focussed and keen to learn and can manage pretty independently with work targeted to their level. This has made it a lot easier to teach and to manage the classroom behaviour. A few have a tendency to be a little disruptive but come into line fairly quickly and easily with current behaviour management. Those same few sometimes have issues in the playground too.
Initial testing has shown the following:
MATHS:
- Half the year 6 students are stanine 4 or below.
- Just over year 5 students are stanine 4 or above. Two that are below have diagnosed intellectual disabilities and may not move far.
- ALL year 4 students are stanine 6 or above.
READING:
- 60% of year 6 students are stanine 4 or above
- Out of 6 year 5 students tested, two are stanine 5 or above, and two may not move far this year due to disability and are well below. 67% are stanine 4 or below.
- One year 4 student is stanine 4, and the other two are stanine 5 & 8.
WRITING:
- At the time of writing this, I have yet to complete marking the Asttle assessment for writing. A cursory look over their writing makes me believe I will be looking at similar figures as maths, not reading. Writing has a higher cognitive load and it can pose greater difficulties for learners.
I think that I will be focussing on Maths with the new curriculum bringing in far more requirements and more curriculum items to teach. But I also feel that writing needs a big push as well.
My next step is to develop my question from this information. What is the most important thing I need to focus on this year? It will be a busy year as we roll out the new Literacy and Maths curriculum, complete PD around this curriculum and wrap our heads around the requirements. We are doing a lot of it already, but it is imperative to ensure we on point with our delivery.
