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Zac Harding Community Learning Librarian Shirley Library Christchurch City Libraries Thanks to the generous support of New Zealand Post a Freepost address has been set up to enable schools from around the country to support Beckenham School by donating library books. You will remember that the Library was destroyed in a fire earlier this year. If you or your school wishes to donate books, send them to the address below and New Zealand Post will deliver them free of charge: Freepost Books For Beckenham Private Bag 55044 Orchard Road Christchurch 8154 New Zealand Post's kind offer applies for packages of books weighing 10kg or less,which must be sent on or before 1st April 2013. Please only use this free special offer to send books which are either new or in very good condition. Simply wrap the books, add the address and drop the package in at your nearest PostShop or PostCentre - with no postage required.. Our thanks also go to Christchurch MP Ruth Dyson, who set the ball rolling by making the initial approach to New Zealand Post. Thanks, Zac
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SLANZA wishes to join with the school library community in expressing sympathy and dismay at the loss of the library at Beckenham School in Christchurch to a fire.
It has been wonderful to see the support that other school librarians are offering to the school and the community spirit is heartening. We hope that the school can rebuild the library and any other facilities which were damaged and enable the students access to the resources, books and research materials that quality school libraries such as the one which was lost offer to students. It would be great to follow Gerri Judkins's suggestion of donating to the school at an appropriate time. If that is what the school would like, perhaps someone in Christchurch could be a liaison person for a collection. ''My biggest concern is we've now lost two buildings that may be deemed by the Ministry of Education not to be a priority because they aren't classrooms. A library is vital to children's learning, as are other learning spaces. We'll wait and see.'' said Principal Sandy Hastings. For further details see: http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8162914/Beckenham-School-on-fire The School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa comments on NZ Herald article Why children are failing at writing.
The article Why children are failing at writing in the Monday 24 September edition of the New Zealand Herald points to the relation between reading and achievement levels of New Zealand students. It highlights the importance of free access to books, thus highlighting the school library’s significance to students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Studies show that children who have better reading experiences become successful lifelong learners. School library staff have a critical role to play. Their expertise in providing engaging reading material and targeted resources are vital to the challenges of falling achievement levels. Those schools in NZ whose libraries are not adequately staffed become the additional responsibility of a busy teacher or are run by untrained volunteers. Students who are able to process text in a meaningful way consistently have better school results than those for whom reading is challenging. School librarians at all levels of education are dedicated to sharing the love of reading, working with teaching staff to help children acquire the skills to learn to read, and fostering an interest in reading which can be a lifelong pleasure. A school librarian also supports inquiry learning. The digital future our students face require new and ever growing list of skills including searching the internet, referencing sources, curating information and using social networking safely. These are skills that school librarians support students in using effectively. A well-resourced school library that is staffed with a qualified, passionate librarian or teacher librarian becomes the learning centre of a school. This is the place where all students can find what they need to develop as confident and capable readers and users of information. A dedicated team working in a school library makes a significant difference to the overall achievement of a school. For further information contact: Fiona Mackie President SLANZA [email protected] Or Lisa Salter Communication Leader SLANZA [email protected]  I'm getting very excited that soon I will be attending Dr Ross Todd's seminar about School Libraries Making a Difference: Evidence Based Practice in Action.
I know that there are measures we can take to identify how we are making a difference, but so far what we've done at St Cuthbert's has been very subjective, so am looking forward to finding out more. Have you registered, as registrations are closing... There has been a Facebook group set up by Dr Todd and Lyn Hay, to link those who are looking at EBP, so I hope that I'll see you there We will be tweeting during each day using #EBPNZ, so search for that exact tag to find out more too. Fiona Mackie SLANZA President On Wednesday June 20th, Michele Whiting and I were at the Beehive to speak to the submission that SLANZA made to the Inquiry into 21st Century Learning Environments.
We were able to listen to three other presentations - Microsoft International, LIANZA and Alan Cooper who was representing a cluster of schools. It was great to hear the other presentations, especially as the key messages from LIANZA complemented ours. Our key messages were as follows:
It was a very brief block of time, but we made the most of it. We were asked about ancillary staffing, and Michele answered the question as she is the Principal at Corinna School and has first hand experience in managing her school's budget. We were also informed that we may be contacted again, if they have additional questions. We'll let you know if we hear anything further. Kia ora Koutou,
Recently we posted an update to the blog on the SLANZA submission to the Select Committee inquiry into 21st Century Learning Environments and Digital Literacy. You can read that post here, and find links to information about the inquiry itself, and to the SLANZA submission document. Today, Michele Whiting, who presented the submission on behalf of SLANZA, has been invited to appear at the hearing on the morning of Wednesday 20 June. She will be accompanied by Fiona Mackie, our President, and they will have a 20 minute opportunity to give an overview of the content of our submission and raise any additional points. There is an allowance of ten minutes for the Committee to ask questions. We may also submit additional papers at this time. We will provide further updates as information comes to hand, although it is unlikely that we will have anything to report after this session, unless the questions posed by the Select Committee are interesting in themselves. Please contact your local NE representative if, after reading the documentation you believe there are glaring omissions in the points we have raised. The SLANZA National Executive has just put out a press release in response to the recent decision to increase class sizes. Full content follows:
The Government’s policy to increase class sizes to release funds for teacher development demonstrates a lack of awareness of the needs of 21st Century learners, according to the School Library Association of New Zealand/ Aotearoa. “Things have changed since the Minister of Education was in school”, said Fiona Mackie, President of SLANZA. “ It is well recognized that we cannot meet the diverse needs of students now and in the future with classes of 41, such as she experienced 40 years ago”. “School librarians understand this as they are working at the cutting edge, where information technology and E-learning meets the classroom”, said Ms. Mackie. “Schools also have to meet diverse needs and these factors combined mean that teaching from the front of the classroom to large numbers of students just won’t make the grade any more”. “The Minister is also mistaken when she relies so heavily on research that says class sizes don’t matter. While the quality of the teacher has the most impact, the work of Russell Bishop and others demonstrates that relationships between teacher and student make the most difference – particularly for Maori. It clearly easier to develop those relationships when the class sizes are smaller,” said Ms. Mackie. “With the changes announced by the government, schools will have to make difficult staffing choices and some may unwisely decide to cut school librarians rather than lose a teacher”, said Ms. Mackie. “If this happens it undermines the goal of raising student achievement in literacy, as well staffed school libraries have a pivotal role to play in this. The National Standards emphasise the need to teach literacy across the curriculum, including information and digital literacy, where experienced librarians are the experts”. “The government needs to rethink its policy”, said Ms. Mackie. SLANZA has made a submission to the Parliamentary Select Committee "Inquiry into 21st century learning environments and digital literacy". You can find the Terms of Reference for the inquiry online here, and SLANZA's submission is available here (pdf). We have asked to appear before the committee to speak to this submission, and will keep you informed of progress.
In an interview recorded by Radio Rhema on Wednesday, SLANZA President Fiona Mackie spoke passionately about libraries, both in our schools and in our communities.
Entitled, School Libraries a waste? the thrust of this interview relates to the fact that across the ditch in Australia, the government has spent 4 billion dollars building new school libraries across the country and that this now appears to be going to waste. According to reports, many Australian schools are now saying they're phasing out their entire catalogue of books and all their shelving because pupils are researching on line and reading e-books instead. (For more on the Australian school library situation, visit The Hub.) Fiona was asked to share her persective, which she did very succinctly, from how librarians are in the best position to help students navigate their way through the research mire to how e-books aren't quite the same as their print versions when it comes to cuddling up with your favourite youngster for story time. To hear Fiona talk about this and more in just 5 minutes click on this link. |
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