St+Peter+Chanel+Milestone+6

PO Box 13100, Green Island, Dunedin, 9052 Main South Road, Green Island Telephone : 0-3-4 88 1519 Facsimile : 0-3-4 88 1517 E-mail: school@stpeterchanel.school.nz ||
 * [[image:file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/SARAHD%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.gif width="117" height="113"]] || ** ST. PETER CHANEL SCHOOL **

School: St Peter Chanel Lead Teacher: Bridget Russell Principal: Debbie Waldron Date: November 2008 In Term Two we began our first Inquiry topic ‘The Brain - How can we use our Brains more efficiently?’ This was a school wide topic and one which we planned together at a Inquiry planning morning. Our Tuning In was innovative and very exciting and caused the children to become involved very quickly in learning and questioning about the brain. We acquired a number of sheep brains and these were used at this time. Later they were dissected by the children. We found that this inquiry was very much a learning unit for the staff and we very quickly realized we needed regular meetings to share our experiences and discuss where we should be going next. These meetings were held weekly on a Friday and lasted no more than 20 minutes. We found this getting together was invaluable for sharing and discussion. Term Three we studied the world through the Olympics. This inquiry unit we were able to use what we had learnt prior and change what didn’t work well and try other things. All teachers felt more comfortable and familiar with this second inquiry and report back that they went further and the children were able to become more involved in their own learning. We held staff professional development meetings where each member of staff took a stage of the Inquiry Process and presented their knowledge to us along with valuable resources and ideas. These presentations were well worthwhile and helped us consolidate our knowledge and next learning and teaching. Our professional development throughout this term revolved around visiting other schools, attending presentations to hear other teacher’s experiences – both successes and failures. We particularly found visiting schools that were further ahead of us especially helpful such as Pine Hill who were finished with their ICTPD and were well into inquiry learning. The children’s ICT days held in week three of this term was a huge success. A different member of staff went to each block with the children and by doing this were able to learn with the children. By using all the staff we were able to each experience a part of the workshop. We particularly enjoyed Word/Text Box, Photostory, Super Dooper Music Looper and imovie. As a result of this we are planning to have staff meetings where the staff and children who attended workshops will share what they have learned. Our website continues to be added to and the staff have become more confident in adding photos, links and information to this site. Our families, extended families and communities are visiting this website and the feedback continues to be supportive and positive. We have made a more concentrated effort to utilize School Master and our intranet.
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