Lytton Street School

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCHOOL?

Is it the teachers? The number of books and the amount of specialist equipment?

I believe it is the PEOPLE. Those who care about the students; those who always want to get the best from themselves and the young people in their care.

Our caretaker cares about the people in the school, and you can see that in the way he and his cleaning staff keep the property well presented, attractive and safe.

Our new young teachers have come to Lytton Street School because they know we take our job seriously, we will help them become the best teachers they can possibly be, and that they want to make a difference for our children.

Our team of teachers and teacher aides are there for the children. They want them to become good citizens, making a useful contribution to their own families, their communities and their planet. They care deeply about this - it is their reason for being here each day.

The school has a long tradition of treating every child as special. All students have needs and talents, and we want to tap into their talents, identify their needs, and do the best we can to help them achieve their goals.

At Lytton Street School, you can expect:
- to be told how your child is progressing
- to be involved in their learning
- to be heard when you have a question or a concern

We also believe the school can expect:
- that you will work with us in a spirit of partnership
- that you will support us in our work
- that the learning needs, well-being and safety of every child is the focus of our work together.

Regards

Geoff Lovegrove , Principal,

FROM YOUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES: At its May 2011 meeting, the Board decided to defer implementing the National Standards because of concerns around their workability.

BACKGROUND: This matter has been the subject of much debate and discussion for a long time. Our Trustees have read a great deal of background information about the national standards, and have attended public meetings and board training seminars. This is a serious decision, and it has been made because the Board believes that in their present form, the standards will bring more harm than benefit to our children. The Board’s decision was unanimous, and took into account the following matters:

The National Standards Data lacks integrity (Still untried and untested)
The high quality of the school’s Testing and Assessment already in place (recently praised by ERO as a rigorous process, using proven assessment tools)
The difficulty in aligning the data with the NZ Curriculum
The “off-beam and fuzzy” wording leaves too many areas of doubt
The vast range of reliable and proven assessment tools already in place
The National Standards do not allow for variation in children’s development
There is no additional support for children “below” the standard (the school already has a range of intervention programmes in place for these children)
The time it would take to make the proposed standards “fit” would take teachers away from their valuable work of teaching and implementing the Curriculum
The labeling of children as “failures” at an early age
The proposed standards make no allowance for the “added value” a school makes in raising a child’s performance from a low achievement level.
The Board is not willing to take part in an experiment that may adversely affect young children’s futures.

The Board had three choices:

To IMPLEMENT the proposed National Standards, or
To REFUSE to implement them, or
To DEFER implementing them

The Board has chosen to DEFER implementing the national Standards, until they are safe, consistent, reliable and proven.
The Board of Trustees welcomes your feedback and opinions on this matter. It has been a difficult decision to make, but we have made it in the best interests of our children. We will signal our decision to the Ministry of Education, and will keep you posted on further developments.
Chris Atherton, Chairperson, Lytton Street School Board of Trustees
(Please send your comments to: office@lyttonstreet.school.nz)

PRINCIPAL’S NOTE: WHAT DOES THIS DECISION MEAN?:   The school will continue to teach, test, assess and report on pupils’ work just as rigorously as we’ve been doing in the past.   Parents can be assured that the high standards we have come to expect will be maintained. ERO commented very favourably on the quality of our teaching and learning programmes at Lytton Street, and we want to maintain this.
At the student-led three-way interviews in Week Eleven (11-14 July) we will be reporting to you on Reading, Writing and Maths Achievement Levels, and each pupil’s next learning steps.
School Leadership Staff have also been very concerned at the unreliable data we have received, under the guise of “National Standards”.   You would not want your doctor to try a new medication without it being properly tested and proven.   We will continue to use the assessment tools that are already known as reliable and workable.   We want to continue to implement the New Zealand Curriculum across all subjects, and not just focus on Literacy and Numeracy.   We believe the Arts and Sport & PE, and the Sciences are too important to be overlooked.
One of our school’s Belief Statements is “We Believe That Excellence Is A Desirable Goal For Our Learning Community”. We welcome the board’s decision, as we are not prepared to compromise on that.   Like the Board of Trustees, I welcome any feedback from you on this issue.   I can be contacted at principal@lyttonstreet.school.nz