Launching S.T.R.I.V.E.

We launched our trial school inquiry model today - S.T.R.I.V.E. (Spark, Task, Research, Information, Voice, Evaluation). Over 2007 and 2008 we have looked at a range of inquiry models and seen some in action in schools. We wanted to create a model for us that would be easy for everyone to understand, especially the students and easy to remember (hence the acronym). Although we have a culture of kotahitanga and consultation at North, we felt the urgency of getting something up and running that people can get their teeth into soon, so we decided to draft a model for trial over the coming year, rather than have a full on process of school wide development. All of the staff will have a voice as we travel the journey together - planning together, discussing progress and of course having fun and showing enthusiasm together as we launch our first shared and directed inquiry - Are We There Yet? with the essential question "What Would Make a Great N.Z. holiday?

Our Model -the launch

Tuesday 2nd September  -we launched our Inquiry model! 

STRIVE  -Spark, Task, Research, Information, Voice, Evaluation

Yummy fairy cakes to get us into the zone and a polished presentation from the ICT team.

Some interesting discussion around the pictorial to support the model. I am pleased that the ICT lead teachers are going to organise posters etc for every room. I think this is important. As one staff member said we need to get it out there to our wider community.

We filmed our launch so that staff who were away today able to be "virtually" here!

We are being pretty formal to start with ...our first one will be 6-7.  I believe that how we launch this first Inquiry will be very important - we need to show that this is going to be fun and that we are all in this together! By injecting real enthusiasm and energy in to the launch we will get off to the perfect start!

The six thinking hats are going to be used schoolwide. We have resources within our school. We are also going to be  using the website to access resources to support us in this work.  This is  our first stage of integrating thinking skills into our Inquiry. Other models will be used as teachers see fit.

Watch this space!

Our Model -the launch

How are you going?

Back in February somebody wrote about changing the way things are done - am keen to hear how that person has got - have they been radical as suggested -how did it go? 

Inquiry - Keeping a Learning log? Tracking the Inquiry

This is an area that needs lots of thinking...how do  you keep track of what is achieved? I have seen schools particularly in the Junior/middle school collate all the work into an Inquiry Book...these have been kept and just browsing through them you can quickly see how the children have "grow" within the Inquiry process... a quite effective way of keeping a record.

muritai

Th thing that struck me was the way in which they have embedded a school-wide Inquiry model. The students were confidently able to articulate what they were doing. A lot of time was spent gaining this consistency -this will be the challenge for us.

To be the best we can  -came across load and clear in how they implemented their model

Muritai

The thing that struck me about this school is their strong belief /desire to strive for excellence;so whatever they do they aim to be the best they can and I believe that it came through.

Posing the question "what does success look like for us" . They had really unpacked this  -so you saw consistency throughout the school. That is going to be a challenge that we need to meet . We have to as a team agree - what will success look like at North - and so in terms of our Inquiry model  -what does this mean? 

Hey I wrote this ages ago  - have just figured how to get it back and post it!!!!!Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Muritai School/Inquiry

The journey of an Inquiry needs to be documented.

A number of children from Muritai School presented to an audience of teachers from the Horowhenua ICT cluster. The skills gained for these children were: interviewing and talking to people; creating questions, gathering information and researching and sifting information; more confident in approaching people; better able to research.

Teachers play a HUGE part in Inquiry, it is the teacher that needs to START the Inquiry-PROMPT and SET the QUESTIONS and IGNITE the SPART in the kids. Being able to set the scene, so to speak, will greatly help the children to engage and remain focused on the task in hand. The children need to be IMMERSED in the process and while we may be at the beginning of this journey for our school, most of it will possibly need to be teacher directed, using the 6 thinking hats or whatever thinking tool a teacher is comfortable with. At whatever level your class is at, the more that Inquiry is promoted the easier it will become for teachers and students.

In setting up our model, we keep some things at the top of our mind:

-length of inquiry?

-curriculum coverage?

-assessment? (what is the long term picture we want/require?)

I would highly recommend anyone looking at pursuing Inquiry to take a look at what Muritai School has to offer. Also check out their website.

Muritai School

"To be the best you can be" is what Muritai School believe for their students.

As a school, they self review and their achievements reflect high standards. The children demonstrate a love of learning, children are engaged, they build self-belief, they encourage children to take risks, the children are resilient-they are able to learn and move on from and through challenges.

Since 2001 Inquiry Learning has mostly been done at syndicate levels. They ask the question, does action research make a difference to the learning of the children?

The school has devised their own model called The Howie Learn model (The how we learn).

The head stands for VALUES, the heart stands for THINKING and the tools stand for SKILLS.

I really liked what I saw happening, you saw "Howie Learn" in every classroom and so it has become what they stand for and believe in, from the juniors through to the seniors.

They believe, the driver is the big idea, with integration and ecology, as ecology is a big part of their school. They are wanting to micro analysis Inquiry to study the impact at child level.

The school used to do 8 Inquiry a year, a few years ago, but what they shared was, keep it simple and be realistic! Time is always an issue, but I understand the need for keeping a model simple, user friendly, with step by step instructions, so that it becomes easy for all to use and so that its hopefully easier to get all on board. All need to be heading in the same direction, allowing for a variety of pace, until the confidence grows and then the realization hits, that they are not on the bottom rung of the ladder, but already 2-3 steps up.

Our Lady of Loudes

What a great day we had @ Our lady of Loudes in Palmerston North on the 19 June, 08. They shared their journey with the cluster about pre 2000, where the school was involved with info-link - Action Learning papers that were undertaken by the whole staff at the time. This gave them a solid foundation with which to build on later. The shift continued to happen with ICT related strategic tours, so that the school was aware of cutting edge technology. This encouraged a conscious effort by all staff to learn and acquire knowledge in the areas of kidpix, inspiration/hyper studio so that now in 2008, ICT is still a huge tool for student learning. Their approach to Inquiry Based Learning is a Hook in - tuning in - finding out - sorting out - designing and making - making connections/making and connecting - in the future. Digital photos are the key element with students taking the majority of photo's, as children often view things in a different way and can capture the moment very successfully. Part of the success criteria for this school is that ALL classes participate and Inquiry is timetables into the school day. Their ICT strategic plan 2008-2010 includes Inquiry and Loudes Learners use their paving stones as a header, just like stepping stones for a student's lifelong journey. Wonderful school, I would highly recommend it for those that are looking to implement Inquiry Based Learning into their school.