NZATE

Regional reports

March 2013

Canterbury Report

CETA's year got off to a fine start, with it's AGM held at St Margaret's College. After the election of officers the plan for 2013 events was developed..

This was followed by a presentation/seminar from Dylan Horrocks (comic author and artist) on the history of and value of teaching graphic novels. This was well recieved from English teachers from a dozen schools.

Future events include - the continuing development of links with the U of Canterbury; looking towards scholarship and workshops around Level 3 standards.

Auckland Report

The AATEL Big Day Out was attended by over 100 teachers in November. Held at Auckland Girls’ Grammar School it focussed on the alignment at Level 3. Particularly new standards and course design. Feedback was very positive and there was strong support for making it an annual feature. The challenge will be to keep offering relevant workshops – we suspect there was a lot of support because of the uncertainty around some aspects of alignment at this level.

A number of schools which have not attended AATEL events before were present and several have become members.

AATEL is in a sound financial position and funds have recovered after 2011 when a number of initiatives for the IFTE conference were funded.

There are 10 committee members and the 2013 programme has been worked out with the first event being twilight workshops on the 21^st March. These will be looking at Scholarship, media and writing.

NARATE are having their first event next week which is a session on essay writing with Dr Ian Hunter.

The AATEL Committee has requested that NZATE consider an approach to the Ministry to ask them to revisit the decision to remove 2.2, 3.2 and 2.7 from the list of standards that count towards U.E. reading literacy.

Wellington Regional Association of Teachers of English (WRATE)

At the end of 2012, WRATE welcomed a new leadership team. I thank Kathy Ryan, Julia Weir and Julie Baigent for taking on the roles of President, Treasurer and Secretary respectively. This awesome team have been planning some excellent PD opportunities for Lower North Island English teachers – details are to follow. WRATE would certainly be keen to hear from you if you have any suggestions.

On the subject of PD, marking external examinations for NZQA over the Christmas break is an excellent way for teachers to familiarise themselves with the ins and outs of externally assessed standards. Keep an eye on the NZQA website as expressions of interest for panel leaders will be asked for in the near future. I really recommend that you give this a go!

It sounds as though the team from Hawkes Bay has been doing a marvellous job of preparing for the NZATE

Bay of Plenty Association of Teachers (BETA) and Eastern Bay of Plenty Association of Teachers of English (EBOPATE)

Term 1 of 2013 has been a very busy and exciting one with regard to regional meetings. The term started with a BETA AGM at Mt. Maunganui College on Wednesday 27 February, where teachers discussed prospective plans of work for the year, and reasons for inclusion or exclusion of various standards at Levels 2 and 3. There was also a new committee chosen, with Pip Tinning as Chairperson. There was a lot of discussion around hosting a mini-conference day for a date yet to be decided in term 4, and Yvette Krohn-Isherwood and Pip Tinning will be organising this event. Yvette Krohn-Isherwood also reported on the planning progress for the 2014 NZATE Conference, which will be held in Rotorua.

Teachers in the Eastern Bay of Plenty were fortunate enough to host Dr Ian Hunter on Wednesday 6 March, who ran a very successful essay writing workshop at Trident High School. This was very well attended and it is hoped that this level of quality professional development will continue in this region.

On Thursday 7 March, Mary Libby ran a very informative day on the new Level 3 standards at Bethlehem. As an association, we appreciate the on-going support provided to us by Team Solutions.

In the near future, there will be an EBOPATE moderation/ resource sharing meeting in Week 9 of term 1 at a venue still to be discussed. There will also be a BETA meeting at Aquinas College in week 2 of Term 2. All teachers who would like to attend, or would like information on either meeting, please contact Yvette at isherwoody@trident.school.nz.

SAATE (South Auckland Association of Teachers of English)

At the end of 2012, SAATE held their usual Big Day Out, professional day of development for teachers of English. The day was held at Ormiston Senior College, in Flat Bush, and was attended by approximately 80 teachers.

The day started with a welcome from Jo Morris, president of NZATE, and a presentation by Cynthia Orr on Level 3 NCEA changes. Then there was two sessions of workshops for teachers. These workshops were varied in their nature and covered topics as varied as Dr. Ian Hunter’s essay writing skills, to digital classrooms.

The venue was fantastic and we felt very welcome by Ormiston Senior College.

The first meeting of SAATE, in 2013, will be on Wednesday, 27^th of March, at Edgewater College. The focus will be on Level 3 alignment.

We are very lucky to have a committed bunch of teachers who are on the organising committee and who work very hard on behalf of SAATE.

TTATE (Tai Tokerau)

Wednesday 21^st of November 2012, TTATE had their first meeting (for some time) at Kamo High School, Whangarei.

The focus of the meeting was digital classrooms, which was a good focus due to the Ultra fast broadband roll out in Northland. 24 teachers attended and spirits were high to establish a regular meeting structure, in 2013.

TTATE will have a meeting in Term 1 2013, date and topic to be confirmed.

HBETA (hawkes Bay)

It is great that there is a small group of visionaries (from Huanui School, Kamo High, and Pompallier College) who are keen to see TTATE restart, and who also see the value of a regional association.

HBETA rounded off 2012 with the John McKenzie writing competition. The top three winners were invited to read their pieces and presented with their awards. This was well received with a good attendance and a press presence, which led to the overall winner being published in the local paper. We have yet to have our first meeting of the year but have been kept busy with preparing for what will be an awesome conference in July. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Check out the conference website - http://www.nzateconference.co.nz

OATE (Otago)

In a partnership with Dr Mal Thompson from the advisory service OATE was involved in two PD opportunities at the end of 2012. One was aimed at beginning teachers and the other focused on Level 3.

For 2013 we have had our first meeting at which Bridget Schaumann (librarian at King's High School) presented some very inspiring thoughts on adolescents and reading. she then shared a great list of books that are hot now.

Coming up next month we have the Otago Jumbo Day at which we are focussing on teaching to the new curriculum, our students' future directions and the aligned standards.

There is an exciting opportunity for teachers in the area to make an impact on English teaching as part of the OATE committee. Please get in touch if you are interested.

2012 Reports

Central Region: Karen Beaumont
As a new representative for the Central Region, my focus since July has been centred on the activities of the Hawke’s Bay Association.

On September 20th Dr Gerrad O’Connor from Palmerston Boys came to talk to us about applying critical theories to literature. This followed on nicely for those of us who had been at conference and/or had been introduced to Sian’s book, Through the Literacy Looking Glass. One particular point of interest was the use of Greek and Roman mythology at the junior level as a way of establishing a background knowledge in preparation for critical thinking.

In August, as per last year, the Hawke’s Bay Principals Association held a jumbo day for teachers across the region to meet and plan for the alignment. This incorporated best practise workshops and HBETA organised for Cynthia Orr to run a day on the Y13 alignment and ways of incorporating a thematic approach at Level 2 for the Writing and Oral standards.

The branch recently ran the John McKenzie poetic writing competition. Originally a poetry competition, this has been broadened to encourage greater participation. The winning piece was, ‘Dollar on the Footpath,’ by Beth Rust (Karamu High School).

As a regional representative it would be great to hear about and share what our other associations are doing. You can contact me via school: karenbeaumont@karamu.school.nz

WRATE - Wellington Region : Laura Le Page

I am really pleased to be the Wellington-Southern North Island representative. There are so many talented teachers in our area and I believe that we have the potential to become an even stronger, better-connected region.

Personal development opportunities have been regular and the majority of these have been well-attended, particularly those regarding the new Level Two standards. WRATE recently held an after-school workshop in which teachers shared the approaches their departments have taken to portfolio writing and ways to provide valuable feedback and feedforward opportunities for students.

The English teachers in Upper Hutt have established a strong cluster group and meet regularly. I would be really keen to find out if other areas are doing anything similar. More opportunities to network with other teachers of English would be to the benefit of everyone.

I am looking forward to seeing our region develop further. Please contact me if you have any suggestions or queries.

AATEL - Auckland Region: David Taylor

The 2011 IFTE Conference took a great deal of energy and left the committee rather worn out. This coupled with the departure of some long standing members (Ngaire Hoben, Leanne Webb and Ros Ali) meant that AATEL was in need of some rejuvenation. There was a recruitment drive for new members and the committee now consists of 10 members – only two who were on it prior to IFTE. While there has been an obvious loss of institutional knowledge the new faces and wider reach of the committee are very positive. There are currently around 40 institutional members.

We have had three evening workshops sessions so far this year. Term 1 focussed on Level 2 writing, Term 2 on Level 2 reading and Term 3 on 2012 Conference Greatest Hits. Attendance has been 70 – 85 for each event. There is a full day mini-conference or Big Day Out planned for November 14 which will focus on Level 3 2013.

SAATE - South Auckland: Matt Griffiths

Since taking over as SAATE representative in July, the time has been busy for SAATE. In Term Three, SAATE held a workshop on the aligned Level Two standards hosted by Keir Whipp at Aorere College. In the workshop, Tania Linley-Richardson led us in discussion and planning for new and different tasks to address the new standards.

SAATE are also hosting their 2012 Big Day Out PD Day, at Ormiston Senior High School, on the 16th of November. This will be a day of PD, workshops and discussion.

We are fortunate to have a committed and able board, who give their time happily to SAATE.

TTATE - Tai Tokerau: Matt Griffiths

After several inactive years, TTATE will be holding their first after school meeting, at Kamo High School, on Wednesday, 21st November. I will be the speaker (on paper-less classrooms and Google environment schools). After the meeting, there will be a discussion about the future of TTATE and (hopefully) the establishment of a governance committee. We are supported by some good and keen teachers, especially at Whangarei Boys’ High, Pompallier College and Kamo High School.

CETA - Canterbury: Alison Cleary

CETA has a new committee full of fresh ideas. Tanya Phillips and Brendan Faa’vae organised a Canterbury schools’ Poetry Slam - you can read the winning entries in the October issue of ‘English in Aotearoa’. Towards the end of Term 3 Hagley Community College hosted a half day writing workshop. Over 60 teachers heard Jane Dewar discuss HIC’s approach to writing across the whole school. They then had to opportunity to take part in a series of workshops focussing on different aspects of the writing process. The University of Canterbury is very keen to develop links between CETA and the English/Film/Linguistics Faculty. Part of this process saw a group of lecturers delivering a workshop focussing on ‘Approaches to the Scholarship English paper’. 50 students attended the Friday afternoon session. We are looking forward to further developing this connection.

All in all - a busy couple of terms.

Central North Island Regional Report : Yvette Krohn-Ishwerwood

NZATE conference was a great experience for the teachers from our region who attended and it was pleasing to see so many Bay of Plenty participants. The plan for Conferences was announced, with Karamu High school hosting the 2013 Conference, and Trident High School/ John Paul College hosting the 2014 Conference, so it will certainly be an exciting two years for the central North Island region. Any teachers who are keen to be on the committee for the 2014 Conference, please contact Yvette Krohn-Isherwood at isherwoody@trident.school.nz

There have been a number of regional meetings over the last few months in Tauranga and Whakatane. It is good to see that English teachers are making a concerted effort to stay connected through mutual discussion and showing of exemplars.

On Wednesday 15 August, The Eastern Bay of Plenty association (EBOPATE) met at Whakatane High School to discuss the new Level 2 visual text standards, with an emphasis on 2.6- approaches to teaching 2.6, exemplars of student work and moderation thereof. It was a very constructive meeting and there is another day planned for later in Term 4.

On Tuesday 11 September, Mary Libby from Team Solutions ran a workshop for all teachers of the region and concentrated on the re-alignment of level 3 standards. This was extremely well supported, with teachers from as far afield as Taupo and Opotiki attending. This was followed up by a BETA meeting on Tuesday 18 September at Mount Maunganui College, where the following topics were discussed: highlights of 2012 Conference, new resources for Scholarship and L2 oral presentation, Scholarship cluster idea, Level 3 workshop feedback, Level 2 Best Practice Workshop feedback and meeting the new Advisor Mary Libby. It was pleasing to see so many people attending, and it is hoped that this level of involvement will continue.

Upcoming events in our region include:

Tuesday, 27 November 2012, 9:00am - 3:00pm at the Bethlehem Motor Inn: BETA cluster meeting.

This cluster is designed for schools to collaborate around course design (years 9-13) for 2013. Specifically we will create/revise course outlines and unit plans and we will consider the curricular resources that will be needed for individual schools. In so doing we will consider ways to use PAT, asttle and other forms of data effectively. We will have breakout sessions on: task writing, pathways and the EAP standards. Schools should consider having the middle leader(s) responsible for creating and implementing English curriculum attend. It is intended that this will be a spring board for these middle leader(s) to collaborate with and support each other on an ongoing basis.

Date to be confirmed: EBOPATE cluster meeting: Trident High School. This meeting will concentrate on an overview of the year- what has worked at each level, suggestions for approaching new standards, exemplars and moderation of student work.

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