Going against the grain

Early in the term, we were advised to work from home as our community was hard hit by Omicron. My principal went against the grain and made the call for our campus to remain open for business as he felt our learners do better when teaching and learning is done onsite. Despite our attendance being low due to staff and students either isolating as close contacts or as a result of testing positive or for other reasons, we have managed to justify going against the grain and remaining open. I have done an analysis of term 1 attendance and data and we still have 2 more weeks to go.

11MAT Lowest attendance is 26% and highest attendance 85%

7 of the 9 students have sat at least one assessment (78%)

12MAT Lowest attendance is 44% and highest attendance 97%

6 of the 11 students have sat at least one assessment (55%)

11ELE - Physics Lowest attendance is 38% and highest attendance 46%

All 3 students have sat their assessment (100%) 1 has already completed an additional maths standard which was not part of the programme, the other 2 are still working on an additional standard. Attendance in this class defies success.

Success depends on the second letter

Due to students self-isolating, we have had small rolls this week. On Friday morning, two of my learners walked in and verbalised that they were not in the best frame of mind to commit to their learning. One of my learners had been upset in their previous class and the other said he was too dumb to do maths. After a general chat to both, I realised that a motivational talk would not cut it, so I wrote the word SUCCESS on my board and said "Success depends on the second letter" One of my learners got it immediatley while the other needed more time to digest it. It seemed to work a treat as both produced work to a high standard. My take away is that transferring responsibility onto learners usually ends with the desired outcome as smart students make smart choices - have a fabulous Friday