Sir Ken Robinson

Whats the problem?!

Inter-School Mathematics Problem Solving Day

On the 19th of May nine teams of students went to Te Aroha Primary to represent the School at the annual Interschool Maths Challenge.All teams were given 40 minutes to answer 25 problems. The teams were given one problem at a time and could answer of pass it. Stanley Avenue teams performed to a very high level. In the year 7/8 competition Stanley Ave One came first (with 24 out of 25)and Stanley Ave Two came second (with 23 out of 25). In the year 5/6 competition Stanley Ave One came second.Congratulations to all that participated. It was tremendous to see how much fun and enthusasim problem solving brings!

Parent Evening 19th May- From Vision to Action

Parent evening may 2010

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Skype connecting School's

I walked into a class today to see a group of student's conversing with a group of students at Rototuna Primary in Hamilton over a video call using Skype.  This was an excellent example of technology enhancing the Stanley Avenue Learner.  It was interesting to hear the students talking about their learning and experiences. 

We will remember them....

Todays ANZAC Day assembly was an amazing experience.  To see children from 5 to 13 listening intently to Chief Officer Martin and their House Captains showed the level of respect we have at this School.  The minute silence was still and reflective and the House Captains read their poems with poise and true leadership.  I look forward to seeing students at the Te Aroha ceremony on Sunday.

Learning @ School Presentation

Last week I took ten students to Rotorua to share our School's ultranet website.  The students were amazing!  Check out the presentation.

http://www.slideshare.net/stuarm/learning-school

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NZ Education

I’m not going to enter into the standards debate..... However this data is something to be proud of

PISA 2006 (at age 15 - 57 countries)

Mathematics literacy:
New Zealand score unchanged from the 2003 and 2000 assessments
Five countries higher than NZ (Chinese Taipei, Finland, Hong Kong-China, Korea, Netherlands)
NZ indistinguishable from Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Australia (and others)
NZ well ahead of UK and USA
NZ had 14% at Level 1 proficiency or lower, compared to OECD average of 21%
Reading literacy:
New Zealand score unchanged from the 2003 and 2000 assessments
Three countries higher than NZ (Korea, Finland, Hong Kong-China)
NZ indistinguishable from Canada, Ireland (and others)
NZ ahead of Australia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, UK, Austria, Germany, France, Norway…
NZ had 15% at Level 1 proficiency or lower, similar to Australia at 13%, compared to OECD average of 20%
Scientific literacy:
New Zealand score unchanged from the 2003 and 2000 assessments
Two countries higher than NZ (Finland & Hong Kong-China)
NZ indistinguishable from Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Australia, Netherlands, Korea (and others)
NZ ahead of 46 countries, including UK and USA
NZ had 14% at Level 1 proficiency or lower, similar to Australia at 13%, compared to OECD average of 19%
TIMMS 2006 (for Year 5 students)
NZ mathematics score unchanged from 2002, improved from 1994
NZ science score decreased from 2002 but unchanged from 1994

PIRLS 2006
NZ reading literacy score unchanged from 2001 (no earlier comparison on same metric)
NEMP 1995 to 2008 (Years 4 and 8 in 15 curriculum areas)
Remarkable consistency in performance. No clear trends, with occasional fluctuations.