The amount in the budget for this year is $400. With this, the annual WASSA subscription of $40 has been paid. Purchases include resource books for ANZAC Day and Waitangi Day to support classroom teachers who cover these topics in their English time. A DVD, ‘New Beginnings’, which was recently screened on television, has been purchased to support the Immigration Unit. Many students’ books to support Social Studies have been purchased through the Library budget and the Reading budget. Heavy duty hole- punchers were needed by teachers as this year students are using ring binders.
Home room classes had the opportunity to begin the year with establishing class and school rules, and the study of the Treaty of Waitangi. In specialised Social Studies classes two major topics included New Zealand Natural Disasters and History of Wellington, which emphasised the study of the southern suburbs. To support the ongoing Current Events programme, all students have bought into the Newspapers in Education programme at the beginning of the year which includes a monthly copy of the DomPost and News:Links.
Topics
Topics for second half of year are Immigration and Australian Aborigines. Most homeroom teachers will also be teaching a World Cup Rugby unit and this will cover some aspects of geography and culture. Teachers will be encouraged to take their class to Te Papa where there is an excellent section on New Zealand as an immigrant nation. A recent student survey identified other topics that were popular. These (World Wars, International Sports, Child Labour, Medieval Times, Famous People) will be investigated as possible units for next year.
Interpretation of the data
The graphs results indicate that the majority of students are currently working at Level 3 and 4. There are more females in both these categories which may indicate that females are more skilled with inquiry type assignments and investigations.
There is an even spread of ethnicities at Level 3 and a significant group of Maori students at Level 2.
Areas of improvement
The goal for the end of year is to increase the level of understanding of the topics through greater cross-curricular activities, especially through English, IT and perhaps Art. Music and Performing Arts have already been involved, with the school production theme requiring a deeper understanding of other cultures through myths and legends. Newspapers in Education will continue for the rest of the year.
Intended action
An area of improvement would be to raise the level of achievement of all students and especially those that are working at Level 1 and 2. Classroom programmes may include co-operative group work where group members are selected at multi-levels. Teacher aide support for Level 1 and 2 students would be continued.
Many of our resources are now well worn and need replacing. More visual resources in the forms of DVDs, photos and charts to support the units would be purchased as they are found. Topics are frequently studied across curriculum areas and as the internet is one of our main sources for current information, the ICT area is integrated with Social Studies to a significant degree. Some books purchased through literacy support the Social Studies topics and teachers have incorporated Social Studies through guided reading lessons. It is thought that some of the issues that affect the ability of students to move up from Level 1 and 2 are closely linked to the achievement in literacy.
Reporting
Social Studies teachers meet formally at least twice a term and have informal discussions on a regular basis. The analysis of this data has been discussed and learning objectives and areas of focus have been established for the rest of the year. Topics for next year will be decided in Term 4, and student requests will be taken into consideration.
