at how we can build more of the fundamental reading skills into our junior programme. As a result, Alex Robertson, Kate Morris and Lesley Anderson-McKenna took the opportunity to attend a Structured Literacy course in Term 2, run by Jo Jessop, an expert in this field. Structured Literacy is an ‘umbrella term’ to describe an explicit and sequential literacy approach that teaches all children to read, write and spell with confidence using phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary knowledge, fluency and comprehension created from evidence-based research. The training we received through this course was invaluable and Kate and Alex have both built this approach into their junior programmes. As a department, we will continue to develop Structured Literacy within our work. We look forward to working within the parameters of the Christ’s College Diploma next year and are pleased this will allow us more flexibility in timetabling our boys. Without the focus of a full assessment load in Year 11, we look forward to being able to develop our students’ literacy skills, without assessment being the final goal. I believe a shift away from counting credits will enable the boys to work on strengthening those areas of literacy which currently hold them back. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Nicole Billante and William Bell for working alongside us to secure the best outcomes for the boys who require an alternative pathway. It is wonderful to work with such solutions-focused colleagues. As mentioned above, Shelly Jackson, our numeracy teacher, has supported more than 100 students with diverse learning needs over the course of this year. Her focus with all students is to strengthen foundational numeracy by scaffolding the understanding of number concepts and encouraging logic, reasoning and problem solving strategies. Building vocabulary that accompanies mathematical concepts and providing strategies and techniques to help with unpacking
questions and tasks are also key objectives in numeracy support. Foundational numeracy refers to the knowledge and capabilities that enable learners to access further learning and develop important life skills. Whilst international student numbers have remained stable within College, this is due to students moving from other schools. As it stands, the borders are still closed, so with no new international student arrivals to New Zealand the number of students currently requiring ESOL tuition has declined moving into 2022. Alex and Lesley continue to offer the Level 4 EAP 22751 and 22750 standards to Year 13 students as an alternative for acquiring University Entrance/ literacy credits; four students this year successfully completed that this year. ESOL students still make the most of the small group and one-to-one tuition offered within the department to develop their written expression, improve grammar and deepen their understanding of reading texts. Ours is a very busy department full of dedicated staff, and as always, I thank them for the passion with which they do their job, and for the care and respect they show our students. We are also fortunate to have the expertise of others from outside the school who come in to assess or work with students needing more specialised assistance. This contact is valuable for us as there is always something more we can learn. And finally to the boys: it is your energy, laughter and appreciation which makes our work so rewarding. Lesley Anderson-McKenna HoD Learning Centre & ESOL LIBRARY 2021 has been a year of change in the library and it has been exciting and rewarding to be part of it all. With Lisa Trundley-Banks on a year of refreshment leave, the library was left in the capable hands of our fabulous library assistant, Lyn Feterika and myself to lead us through the year. Having previously
been the Manager of the Library and e-Learning Centre at St Margaret’s College, it was wonderful to have the opportunity to step back into this space for 2021. With relief classes continuing in the library, it was important to establish focused study/relief spaces as well as balancing these with reading and teaching spaces for the boys and staff. The upstairs library classroom and a designated area downstairs facing out on the Charles Upham Quad became our study/relief spaces in 2021, while upstairs remained a reading space and the downstairs wooden table area the teaching space. This worked incredibly well throughout the year and, with an online booking system in place, was seamless for the library staff as well as Darrell Thatcher who coordinated the daily relief classes. The library was also used for a number of competitions throughout the year as well as showcasing a range of causes. One that stands out was the Senior Round Square International Week. A highlight for me was Claude Tellick’s story-telling session where a group of us got together to read and listened to childhood stories reflecting our own cultures. It was fantastic seeing so many boys coming to the library and they were very quick to adapt to the new organisation in place. It was also great to see the full capacity of the library being used. Online there were also changes afoot. Previously, the library had been run through an external website; however, 2021 saw the library develop a designated space on Schoolbox. It was really exciting to be part of this and work with our fantastic IT/Digital Services team to design and create this online space for our boys and staff which provided 24-hour access to the Christ’s College Library catalogue, databases, teaching and learning resources as well as competitions, book suggestions and booking systems. The new library blog, “Bookends” was established and provided an opportunity for the boys to write book reviews and have them published. It was great to see the Junior classes getting involved
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