Introduction
A.T.O.L 2009
Wairarapa College is committed to appointing qualified teachers. Beyond this, there is an equal commitment to aid in the further full professional development of all staff, both teachers and support staff. With this in mind, the College has a three tier programme in place to help you enhance your teaching skills.
The current school focus for professional development is on AToL (Assessment for Learning) with a set program in place. More...
Tier One
Newly appointed teachers, most obviously provisionally registered, take part in a two year introduction programme. This involves a planned series of meetings each term to discuss issues of concern to the developing teacher. One or two teachers are enlisted as 'supervisors' for the new staff member and provide informal support as well as making formal report visits.
At the end of this two year induction period we expect to be able to recommend teachers for full registration.
Tier Two
All staff can benefit from the work of the Staff Development Committee which each term allocates funding to allow both teaching and non-teaching staff to attend in-service courses or to run courses within their own department or area of the school to assist their own professional development.
Visits to other schools out of the district are also arranged, 'experts' are brought in to the College and attendance at national conferences in subject areas is also encouraged.
If you identify a need for your professional development the staff committee will do its best to ensure that the need is met.
Tier Three
A system of teacher appraisal for all teaching staff is in place so that on an annual basis all teachers are able, in a non-threatening manner, to identify their strengths, weaknesses, special interests and abilities so that they as teachers and the school in general can benefit.
Wairarapa College is committed to the ongoing professional development of its staff. The philosophy underpinning this is simple - a teacher given the chances to attain his or her potential in the school can, in turn assist students to strive towards their potential, and this is fundamental to the College's Mission Statement.
AToL (Assessment for Learning)
AToL is a school wide learning focus for all teachers and students at Wairarapa College. The principle of AToL is to make the learning objectives of a lesson or unit of work very clear and explicit to students. This is done by sharing the Learning Intentions with them at the beginning of the lesson and leaving them in a visible place for students to check. Teachers and students then co-construct the Success Criteria (the things that have to be done to succeed in this piece of learning). In this way, students have a clear understanding of what they’re learning, why they’re learning it and what it will look like when they get it right. This leads to more self-regulated students who have strategies for learning. It fits in very well with the principles and values of the Revised New Zealand Curriculum with its emphasis on enquiry learning and being a life long learner.
In 2009 teachers were split into ten groups in term one, each group led by a Wairarapa College teacher who facilitated our learning on AToL principles and strategies. Staff met at 8am most Wednesday mornings to share their learning and practice around this. Some students were surprised when they got to school on those mornings to find their teachers in the classroom doing the learning. The school values this Learning Community as we recognise that teachers teaching each other works well and we are all still learning.
In terms two and three the teacher groups broke into other areas of interest that promoted the concepts of formative assessment. These included: Co-operative Learning; Giving Effective Feedback; Differentiated Teaching Strategies; Educating Boys; Using Success Criteria. These groups were facilitated by teachers for teachers and further reinforced collegiality and professional discussion.