Meadow Fair North

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Meadow Fair North Primary School Using IDEAS
To Guide Powerful And Inspirational Change.
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The Meadow Fair North Community
Meadow Fair North Primary School was situated in
Broadmeadows, a Northern suburb of Melbourne.
Approximately 60 of the schools enrolment,
165 students, came from non-English speaking
backgrounds. The student population was highly
transient with many students transferring into
and out of the school each year. Many students
come from single parent families and 80 of
families were recipients of the Educational
Maintenance Allowance.
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In the beginning..
Our initial Inventory Data painted a picture that
was no match for the Mona Lisa, in fact it was
more like
there was little evidence of alignment and we
had some way to go towards building a positive
and supportive learning and teaching environment.
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• A snap shot of our report card in 2005 looked
  like this..
• Staff felt..
• that Meadow Fair North was a school that lacked
  an inspirational vision
• that whilst they were striving hard to meet the
  needs of all students through our teaching and
  learning programs it was not reflected in the
  data.
• that the students and the community lacked pride
  in the school.
• that communication between school and the
  community needed improvement
• that while leadership roles were defined there
  was serious concern for the level of staff
  morale.

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• The students painted a different picture.
• There was a large degree of polarisation in the
  responses in most areas but the clear indicators
  of concern were
• most students felt that they were not achieving
  as well as they should in literacy and numeracy.
• a group of students felt that they were not
  achieving in any of the Key Learning Areas.
• a number of students felt that none of their
  needs were being meet within the school
  environment.

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• However .the parents felt
• comfortable with the school
• they trusted the teachers to meet the students
  needs
• that is was not their place to tell teachers how
  to do their job
• reluctant to become involved in the school
  because of language and cultural difficulties and
  a lack of confidence.

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Our first challenge was to work together to
dream a positive future for our school. What
would we see at our school in 5 years if was an
effective, positive and dynamic learning
environment? HOWEVER - a new challenge arose
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We were informed that Meadow Fair North... was
to be a part of the Broadmeadows Schools
Regeneration Project. was to merge with three
other schools and our school would, in effect,
cease to exist within 4 to 5 years. This was
possibly our first BIG STEP along the journey. As
a staff we made a commitment to go out with a
BANG not a whimper and to give our students every
opportunity for a bright future.
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After much discussion, throwing around of ideas
and passionate debate we arrived at Our Values
Respect Support Quality Teamwork
Commitment
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and our Vision..
Learning Together

To Build A Bright Future

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This vision encompassed teamwork, supported
learning, strong foundations, structure,
exploration, creating of opportunity, hope,
success, future orientation, All had been
elements of our conversations
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There was 100 support in our community for our
new Values and Vision. Our Vision Launch was
held on a special family day where we celebrated
100 Days of Learning. It was a huge success.
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We began to share our stories about our personal
pedagogy those moments that make you remember
why you come to work each day and also those
moments when you felt like a check out counter at
the local supermarket would be a better
option. We shared them all. From these have came
our common understandings. Our School Wide
Pedagogy that told the world This is what a
learning community looks like, sounds like and
feels like at our school.
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AS A T E A C H E R
C E L E B R A T E INCLUDE What do we know about these children? How does this embrace our diversity?
C E L E B R A T E COLLABORATE How are we collectively making use of our individual strengths, knowledge and ideas? How does this experience enable us to learn from each other?
C E L E B R A T E CONNECT How does this connect to real life? How does this connect to the future?
C E L E B R A T E BUILD How does this build on what the students already know? What supports and strategies will be used to aid new learning? How does this new learning encourage us to think in new ways?
C E L E B R A T E REFLECT What opportunities have been provided for reflection? What have I learnt? How can I apply this learning? Where to from here?
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C E L E B R A T E INCLUDE What do I know about myself? What do I know about others?
C E L E B R A T E COLLABORATE How am I making use of my strengths, knowledge and ideas? How does this experience enable me to learn from others?
C E L E B R A T E CONNECT How does this connect to what I already know? How does this connect to real life and into the future?
C E L E B R A T E BUILD What do I need to continue my learning? How does this new learning help me to think in different ways?
C E L E B R A T E REFLECT When and how do I reflect on my learning? What have I learnt? How can I apply this learning? Where to from here?
A S A L E A R N E R
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We travelled many pathways...
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and what did we achieve? We believe our
data has a story to tell.
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In summary.... Attitudes to School
Survey Student Well Being up from 1st
Quartile to 4th Teaching Learning - up from
1st Quartile to 4th. Student Relationships up
from 2nd Quartile to 3rd bordering on 4th
. These were comprehensively above state mean in
2007 2008 after being below state mean in 2006.
Behaviour Management data Student suspension
data from 2006 to 2008 improved significantly
2006 -10 incidents of full suspension for 1 or
2 days -87 after school detentions 2008 - 0
incidents of full suspension -12 after school
detentions
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• Staff Opinion Data
• Improved student engagement to above state mean.
• All areas of the Staff Opinion Survey rose from
  well below state mean in 2005 to within or above
  state mean in 2007 and remained relatively stable
  with minor downward fluctuations only from
  2007-2008 possibly due to uncertainty about the
  effects of the imminent merger
• Parent Opinion Data
• Parent School Opinion Survey response rates
  improved and satisfaction moved from below to
  above state mean in the areas of student
  behaviour stimulating learning and school
  improvement from 2005 to 2008

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IDEAS PROGRESS RUBRIC
Strategic Foundations
Promotion in the community
Decision Making
Success celebrated
Parallel leadership
Clear vision
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3D Pedagogy/ Teaching, Learning Assessment
Shared understanding of successful pedagogy
Pedagogy linked to vision
Teaching based on authoritative pedagogy
Student achievement measures
Home / school Communication
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Infrastructural Design
Physical / Human Resources
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Professional Learning Reflects Vision
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What about the core business of learning and
teaching? In 2007 our Year Five AIM data showed
that our students scored above the Like School
Group in every area and near or above the State
average in some. Our Year Three data was equal
to Like School in almost all areas. The online
Literacy data showed that the year three
students had improved by one years growth in the
last five months of 2007. The 2008 Literacy
online testing for years 3 to 6 showed many
students had continued to show improved outcomes
increasing by at least 1 progression point and
some students by two or three.
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2004 - 2007 the data trended upward for Year 5
in Reading, Spelling Writing until in 2007
spelling results were notably positioned above
like and state schools. These results continued
to improve in 2008. Year 3 data showed an
upward trend in all areas ( with some minor
fluctuations) Reading Levels improved from
Years 3-5 and in 2007, more than 3 of year 5
students were reading at level 5. This occurred
at a time when the of ESL students increased
from 39 -53
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• What were the reasons for this improved
  achievement?
• there was a new common understanding about what
  effective teaching and learning was at Meadow
  Fair North born from our School Wide Pedagogy
• a positive school learning environment created by
  a new sense of support and a willingness to open
  the doors ( walls) and change teaching practice
  and the external supports to do so
• a strong sense of commitment to and a pride in
  our achievements, big and small.
• a strong focus on professional learning not only
  from external sources but also importantly using
  collegiate expertise and support
• the opportunity and a structure to have
  meaningful conversations about things that
  matter
• parallel leadership was emerging collective
  responsibility, changed leadership team structure

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We were also working to find new ways to involve
parents within the learning community and to
create real opportunities for them to give
feedback The development of the Meadow Fair
North Learning Community was clearly visible
through our success at bringing our community
inside the school. Each week we offered adult
English language classes, parenting sessions,
multicultural childcare and play group
activities. These happened in classrooms side by
side with student learning areas and were made
possible through our strong links with outside
agencies and the support of our multi-cultural
aide. This was a powerful way of demonstrating
our vision in action to our students and the
wider community.
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• Wouldnt it be a powerful thing if data could
  also be collected and acknowledged on the other
  changes that had taken place between 2005 and
  2008 at our school..
• the embracing by students of the ethos that what
  is important in life is to be a participant not
  a passenger
• their ability to articulate our school vision
  and enact upon it
• the changes that saw students engaged in
  learning together and supporting each other to
  achieve goals
• the strong sense of pride demonstrated by
  students and the way this extended beyond what
  happened inside a classroom
• the way students embraced the concept of
  leadership and showed it in large and small
  ways.

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• the willingness of staff to try new things
• the support given to each other to get the job
  done
• the desire to find the window of opportunity to
  connect with every child
• a stronger focus on across school moderation to
  ensure that we managed across school transitions
  well and to acknowledge that we all played a part
  in the life and learning of every child who
  attended our school.
• the request from staff that in 2008 we develop a
  teaching learning space where professional
  learning can take place, displays can be put up,
  professional conversations can be initiated. This
  is different to the staffroom which is often not
  conducive to these types of activities.

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In three years we grew from
this!!
this
to
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A Personal Reflection
It has been amazing to see how much capacity has
been built in staff and students over such a
relatively short time. Throughout the three years
we experienced many of these moments
New IDEA? What do I do with it?


Still all a bit of a fog
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Ah ha
The art of skilfull discussion. No knots!
The enemy
Perseverance and stamina
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Finding alignment
The power of teamwork
Celebrate the milestones
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So what?? Meadow Fair North in reality has ceased
to exist. The building has been sold, resources
packed into boxes, given away or disposed
of. However the people have become a part of a
new school Broadmeadows Valley Primary School.
The capacity that was built in all members of the
school community still exists and cannot be
contained in cardboard boxes.....
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As I listen to conversations about pedagogy in
the new learning neighbourhoods between new
groups of teachers, as I hear people
challenging each other and working to build
shared beliefs and understandings, as I engage
in discussions with students about our shared
responsibilities to build a sensational new
school .... I know that the staff and students
who were there for the long march forward at
Meadow Fair North, will NEVER return to a place
where pedagogy is a dirty word and teaching and
learning was a one way exchange behind closed
doors.