6 - Reflect & Next Steps

So how did I go? I can't say this inquiry was a success in the way I wanted it to be. I started with one goal and ended up achieving something I didn't realise I needed to do. At University, I learned the previous curriculum, but it wasn't until I started teaching it in my first year (2018) that I realised that until you do it, you have no real idea! This year has been like being a BT again with maths, reading, writing and oral language being new curriculums. Why didn't I treat it as if I was teaching as a newbie again? If I had have, my inquiry question would have been different.

The tamariki are writing a bit better, was it because I changed things? I'd like to think so, but mostly it is from filling the holes left by the new curriculum coming in. What I learned most, and what I had already learned but forgotten about, was that teaching a new curriculum requires more than just reading it, it needs to be actioned in order to get it embedded and right. Apparently I'm a slow learner.

I have changed my writing programme and introduced the following:

• fast feedback
• new activities to do independently
• "Think, Write, Check, Every Sentence". Does it make sense?
• Daily sentence combining
• Nothing is considered a draft, always must use good handwriting (is this my best?)
• Sentence structure explicit teaching
• Parts of speech explicit teaching (previously done but not to a huge degree)

I have continued and enhanced:

• daily morpheme work
• daily spelling rule work
• daily handwriting work (working towards automaticity)

This has taken three terms to settle in and get to a point that I can deliver it and the tamariki are a) enjoying and b) doing it properly. It is still a long way from where I wanted to be, but it is getting there and I will be reviewing again at the end of term 4 ready to start up term 1, 2026.

A big result has been using more handwritten work, but also that their work is presented a lot better. I can understand their handwriting, books are laid out nicely and they take pride in their work. They are enjoying writing in groups (once a week) especially. The outcomes are hilarious at times.

My next steps are to continue to refine my programme and continue to add to it where I think it is appropriate. I am keeping an eye on all the resources becoming available that align with the curriculum and now I am more familiar with the delivery of the curriculum, I will judiciously acquire those I believe support my teaching. 

5 - Evaluate the Impact and Re-evaluate the Plan

So how did the plan go?

The biggest thing I didn't plan well enough for was how big the difference in curriculum was from the previous one. I suppose that comes from not having a good grip on the curriculum earlier in the year. Now I can say I have learned a lot about it during this journey. One way I suppose!

It seemed simple just reading the curriculum, but to deploy it was another matter. I have only ever worked under one curriculum so this change is my first. But once you start deploying different "clauses" of the curriculum you start to uncover a lot of prior learning is missing. This isn't due to any fault of previous teachers, it entirely rests on the fact that the changes are larger than they first appear and that no one was required, in so much detail, to teach what they are now expected to know at each year level.

Scratching the surface of each requirement I managed to uncover the knowledge the tamariki didn't have and then started to teach it.

It made me revisit a lot of the plan. I had to revisit parts of speech, we had to revisit what a sentence was in some cases too. Some things involving what a clause is, what a run on sentence is etc and types of sentences seem to be foreign for them. Some of my slides from the previous page have since been changed! They may not make much sense now as they appear to be at the beginning and not where I originally started. I didn't think to save a set of slides for my PGC. That's a learning point. 

So I did have to change things to meet the needs of the tamariki I had before me. 

Things I think have worked is having the tamariki focus on one small goal at a time. Having them focus on checking as they go has been hard, but they are getting there. It would be good if this was done at every level though so they start day one writing checking. I can't wait though until everyone has the new curriculum deployed and the tamariki come through to the seniors near where the new requirements are. 

They really enjoyed using hand movements with their writing when doing planning orally (Walls & Braid) and it was fun for all of us to do. They still struggle with planning though and it seems they have no care for it whatsoever. Very frustrating.