Wednesday 13 July 2016

Church Strand Assessment- Final results of three year comparative assessment.


Church Strand-Community of Disciples - Te Whānau a Te Karaiti Ko e afo ‘o e Siasi


In 2014 and 2015 we worked through the theology and key concepts for each RE strand.  Bearing these in mind the staff came up with key ideas which we could keep constant and develop through each child’s journey at St Joseph’s school.  The need for this was based on the high number of children who enter our school at different levels, many missing out on junior and middle teaching in RE.  The concepts had to be ones which would be accessible to both 5 and 13 year olds, at different stages of RE knowledge and at different stages in their faith journeys.

We proposed to “test” these concepts over three years, 2016 being our final year.  We hoped that keeping these concepts at the forefront supported by the strand teaching at each level, we would see a deepening of understanding of these concepts as children move through the school.  2016 is our fourth year of using the SOLO thinking taxonomy in RE to promote and assess depth of thinking and we are using this to guide our assessment.

1. The Church is the people united. 
We want the children to know they ARE the church. Becoming part of the church- ceremonies, initiations, Baptism. That we are Disciples- following the way of Jesus. Belonging and Participating. The Church shows us how we need to act in our lives- we are the Church. Church as the bride of Christ. We are a community of disciples, our parish is a sign of God in the world- Jesus founded the Church and it is a sign which brings about God's presence and love in the world.
2. We all have a role in the Church. 
To take some responsibility like presenting the Gospel or saying prayers or reading or children's ministries such as altar serving etc... What are we called to do because we are part of the Church (vocations) Roles in the Church.
3. Formal roles within the Church
The work of the priest in the Church. Teaching role of Bishops and the role of the Pope.
4. The Mission of the Church
To understand that the Church is the continuation of Jesus' mission to live God's Kingdom on Earth.


These four concepts will be the context of the Church strand teaching throughout the school. We continue to teach the learning outcomes for the Religious Education curriculum at each year level in the context of these four concepts.


At the end of term 2 our first comparative results for the Church strand across all three years is available.  As we are tracking over three years we are tracking the year 1-6 cohorts of 2014:



In most year groups the 2016 total is above the 2014 and 2015 total which shows that groups of children have improved their understanding over time.  The baseline data is the results of the year group that were two years ahead of the year group in 2014.  Without intervention, this would be the expected achievement level for that group in two years time.  Our results show that most groups exceeded their two year projection.  

CHURCH
2014 cohortbaseline 2 years ahead 2014 total2014 total2015 total2016 total
year 167.50%66.00%64%75.73%
year 284.25%59.50%63.13%89.00%
year 371.75%67.50%62%73.00%
year 467.25%84.25%69%86.00%
year 565.00%71.75%63%89.00%
year 655.25%67.25%71%83%
Our second comparison shows many things:
1)That it looks as if children’s understanding of the key ideas have increased over two years of teaching the key ideas, when compared with the class which was two years ahead of them in 2014.  Over two years they have already exceeded the achievement we would be hoping to have seen in three years.  It would seem that returning and reinforcing the key ideas has helped children to deepen their understanding.

2) We discovered that many of the children who have just joined our school this year or are English language learners need extra support in articulating their learning particularly at assessment time. Taking this into account an overall teacher judgement is made between hubs and children may have received extra support throughout the strand. Our Pasifika teacher Tua Misiloi has also supported children by reinforcing the main concepts taught in her weekly Tongan Language class. We have Mrs Misiloi and another community member from the Filipino community translating the main concepts into Tongan and Tagalog to display in our classrooms- This is in line with our RE targets for 2016.
Main concepts translated into Tongan

3) Whanau groupings across the school happen at the end of each strand and help to reinforce the main concepts taught with children learning off each other and sharing their learning in many different ways
 
 


 4) In 2016 we have had four new members of staff start and for all of them this is the first time they have taught and assessed using both the Religious Education curriculum, Church strand and St Josephs main concepts as decided by staff in 2014. To combat this we have made sure that when we came to forming OTJs we did this in hubs and that teachers new to Catholic Schools were given a tagged teacher as a mentor. 

5) Overall we are steadily improving and maintaining the teaching of the main concepts in the Church strand throughout the school. Term 2 was an incredibly busy term at St Joseph's with Senior School Production, Junior School swimming and farewelling our inspiring Principal Jenny Jackson. Despite all this we are a special character school and keep this at the centre of everything we do. Christ is Central.

6) We can be very proud of these achievements and it all comes down to effective teaching and learning strategies, we have great support in place and an amazing Parish priest in Father Wayne Healey. We are very lucky to celebrate Mass every Thursday with the whole school and Father Wayne is able to answer any questions the children may have at anytime. He also took a number of classes around our beautiful St Patrick's Basilica to further their understanding.


FOR TEACHERS:
Specific assessment information is available at:
Assessment Overview for 2016 Open here
Church Assessment 2016 Teachers can access link here
Three Year comparative results/data Teachers can access data here
Targeted Children Teachers can access here


The Church Strand- Ko e afo ‘o e Siasi
  1. The Church is the People United (working together.)- Ko e Siasi ‘a e kakai ‘oku nau ngaue fakataha’.
  • We are the church.- Ko kitautolu ‘a e siasi
  • We become part of the church through baptism, confirmation and Eucharist.- ‘Oku tau hoko koe memipa ‘o e siasi’ hili ‘etau tali e Papitaiso, Kofilimasio mo e Tali’eiki
  • We are disciples – we follow the way of Jesus. We belong to the church and participate. –Ko e kau Tisaipale ‘a kitautolu ‘i he’etau muimui ofi ki he mo’ui ‘a Sesu. ‘I he’etau hoko ko e kakai ‘o e Siasi mo kau kakato ‘i hono ngaue’i e Siasi.
  • We are a community of disciples – our parish is a sign of God in the world. Ko kitautolu koe Komunio Faka-Tisaipale- Ko hotau Palokia ko e faka’ilonga ha mai ia ‘o e ‘Otua ki mamani’.
  • Jesus founded the church and it is a sign which brings about God’s presence and love in the world.- Ko Sesu ‘a e makatuliki ‘o e Siasi pe a koe faka’ilonga  hāmai ia ‘a e ‘afio ‘a e ‘Otua ‘i hotau lotolotonga’ mo ‘ene ‘ofa ki māmani’
  • The church is the Bride of Christ. Ko e siasi ‘a e hoa ‘o Kilisito.
  • The church shows us how we need to act in our lives. Ko e Siasi ‘oku ne fakaha mai e to’onga taau ke tau mo’ui’aki.
  1. We all Have a Role in the Church- Ko hotau fatongia ki he Siasi.
  • We take responsibility by presenting the Gospel, saying prayers, giving a reading from the Bible, altar serving and other ways we help out at church. Ko hotau ngaahi fatongia he siasi oku kau ai e fakaha’ele e ongoongo lelei, lau e ngaahi kole hufaki, lau kongatohi, tauhi misa mo e ngaahi tokoni kehe ki he siasi.
  • People are called to serve the church in many ways such as vocations, lay ministries etc. because we are part of the church. ‘Oku ui kitautolu ‘a e kakai ke tau ngaue’i e siasi o kau ai e kau mo’ui fuakava, kakai angamaheni ‘i he siasi ‘oku nau ngaue faka-e-faifekau ‘o hange ko e kau tufa, koe’uhi ko kitautolu ‘a e siasi.
  • We have roles to fill within the church. ‘Oku ‘i ai hotau fatongia ke fakakakato ‘i he loto’i siasi.
  1. Formal Roles Within the Church- Fatongia mamalu mo angamaheni ‘i he Siasi.
  • Understand the work of the priest in the church. Ke mahino ki he kakai e ngaue ‘a e patele ‘i he Siasi.
  • The church teaches God’s truth through the bishops, united with the Pope.- ‘Oku  ako’i ‘i he Siasi e tefito’i mo’oni faka-‘Otua ‘o fakafou mai ia ‘i he ngaue ‘a e kau ‘Epikopo fakataha mo e fakahinohino ‘a e Tuitapu.
  1. The mission of the Church- Ko e misiona ‘o e Siasi

  • Understand that the church is the continuation of Jesus’ mission to live God’s Kingdom on Earth.-  Ke mahino ko e Siasi ko e hokohoko atu ia e ngaue fakamisiona ‘a Sesu,  ke tau ma’u e Pule’anga ‘o e ‘Otua pea hoko ia ‘o kakano ‘i he’etau mo’ui.