Week 4 - Term 1 - 2025

 Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora a mua 

Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead 

This whakatauki also speaks to the importance of working together. It acknowledges and values the importance of both the leader and the followers for both are essential and co-dependent.

Week 4 19 Haratua - 23 Haratua TOU301 FT to Queenstown/Wanaka Mon 19 - Wed 21 Aiga FT - Wayfinding for Life - Mon 19 Open Day - Tues 20 NCEA Evening - Tues 20 Reading CAA (selected students) - Wed 21 LEF's Due - Thurs 22 Pūhoro wānanga - Fri 23 Rockfest Heats - Fri 23 Writing CAA (selected students) - Fri 23	Week 5 26 Haratua -  30 Haratua BIO301 FT to Wainui - different classes throughout the week RNZ Ballet workshops - Wed 28 Cross Country - Canterbury - Thurs 29 Numeracy CAA - Thurs 29 PHY201 p4 - 5 practical - Thurs 29 DRA201 and 301 FT to Court Theatre Life Education p1 year 9 - Fri 30 Life Education p2 year 10 - Fri 30
Assembly -  Mon - Year 11 (PAC) Wed - Aroha - Youth Week	Assembly -  Mon - Year 9 ((PAC) Wed - House Assemblies
Meeting  Mon: Junior HOD Tues: Learning Area Thurs: PCT's	Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: Staff Meeting (EAP and Wellbeing) Thurs: Nil

Information for Staff

1. Thank you for all of you who had the ERO team join your classes for a 'snapshot' of learning. We had a follow up discussion that summarises what was observed against the 'Teacher Observation Framework' (TOF). The discussion was incredibly positive and there are aspects of the snapshot that were seen to be at the excelling end!

We did have a discussion around when entering a classroom - how do you know that you are in a classroom in New Zealand and not Australia for example. So it might be time to have a look at the rooms that you are predominantly teaching in with that lens. A good discussion for everyone - and perhaps could extend to our common spaces.

2. If you are looking for a tool to help develop differentiation in a lesson, you may be interested in trying out 'Diffit' - hhttps://web.diffit.me/

It allows you to produce scaffolded learning tasks and worksheets from a number of teacher-friendly templates.

When you login, create a teacher profile. Then start creating.

Enter a topic, theme, question, book title or chapter, article or YouTube link, text or PDF, or vocabulary list, and select the grade level and language, and Diffit will generate structured resources and learning aids of your choice. Diffit is a US site, so you cannot align with NZ standards using their presets, but you can enter content from your existing resourcing to ensure the artifacts remain tailored to your curriculum.

I have created an example, using resources and a video on Thermoregulation, a Year 13 topic as part of Homeostasis.

You are then offered a number of worksheet options that can be used to help students collate, apply knowledge, predict, infer, collaborate etc.

A very easy tool to use, links to existing resources you may have and videos that you might show in class.