Reading Together...whanau engagement.

Manaiakalani Achievement Challenge 3

 Lift the achievement in Reading for all students, 

with a particular focus on boys and Māori students 

(both genders) years 1-13

Hypothesise... 

Does the involvement of whanau under instruction of up to date pedagogical, 
with empathy to the local socio-economic demographics,  
improve and/or accelerate reading progress within 
Years 0, 1, 2 and 3 over a measured period of time?

In alignment with the Glen Innes School Goals for 2017, specifically in the context of Reading, the goal of my inquiry is to... 

analyse the effectiveness the involvement which whanau have 

via the Reading Together programme (T1 2017) 

and the progress and acceleration made thereafter 

of the tamariki who completed the course 

in years 0, 1, 2 and 3 throughout 2017 and 2018.

..................................................................................................................................

Of the 35 invitations which were sent out after numerous discussions with the class-teachers of rooms 1 (C.R), 2 (P.W) and 3 (S.G) (Years 0/1/2) analysis of 2016 reading data and in collaboration with the Reading Recovery teacher (N.M), 17 care-givers attended the initial Reading Together workshop on 22nd February at 3.15 pm; 60%.   Child-care was provided free of charge by teachers in a separate classroom, with a variety of activities and afternoon tea for all children who needed to be accommodated and their siblings regardless of age.

We (P.W) as facilitators had already asked for an indication as to the time commitment (number of weeks + duration of workshop) available from whanau and care-givers we had seen before/after school when they had collected their tamariki in the previous 14 school days since the new academic year had begun.   Majority consensus was of only 3-4 weeks commitment in total with a workshop duration of approx 1 - 1.5 hours each session.  I then planned an adaptation of the original programme over 3 consecutive weeks to be delivered after school to suit our demographics, and address the identified needs within the 3 classrooms targeted at Glen Innes School.  We concluded the programme with a "celebration graduation" at the local library with the 6 children and their caregivers who had completed the entire course; 29% of the original attendees, 14% of those invited. 

N.B   If the percentage of those who completed the "Reading Together" programme was a comparative reflection of the total Glen Innes School roll (222 11/7/17), then 31 tamariki would have graduated alongside their caregiver/whanau.

Twins A.G & N.G graduating with Mum

J.T graduating with Mum

S.K graduating with Mum

F.H graduating with Dad

T.A graduating with Nana