Child Study

Shelly Park School

Jodel Kerr
 Introduction: Shelly Park
School
· Decile: 10
· Number of students: 473.
· School type: contributing school
(year 1 to year 6).
· Principle: Brian Rolfe.
· Education medium: all students in English
medium.
· Website: http://www.shellypark.school.nz/
School Ethnicity

Ethnicity

Māori
Pacific
Asian
European
Other
 Class: Room 6
· Year level: 2
· Number of students: 22
· Curriculum areas:
· English (Writing)
· Art
· Physical Education
(Swimming)
Class Ethnicity

Ethnicity

Maori
Chinese
NZ European
British/Irish
Middle East
 Introduction - T

· Gender: female.
· Age: 6.
· Ethnicity: Māori.
· Siblings: none.
· Favourite subject: swimming.
· Interests: sports, she enjoys collecting
her favourite things such as gem
rocks.
 Background Information

· T’s mother and father are in the middle

of a divorce, and both of them often
work in Australia, so she goes and
visits them sometimes.
· She spends a lot of time with her
Grandma, is usually the one to drop her
off and pick her up from school.
 Academic Levels - T

· Reading
level: 7/8
· Writing
level: 1i
· Numeracy
level: 3/4
 English (Writing) - T
· T is in the lowest group for writing.
· She seems to know the alphabet, but often
writes in capitals so she is learning to write in
lower case.
· During mat time/discussion time, she is
distracted. She looks around at others or
down at the floor instead of at the teacher or
at the board. During my observation, she
had to be moved to a place where
she could see at the front, but she still
didn’t participate.
 English (Writing) - T
· She often partners with another girl in the class
who is at a similar level to her.
· Teacher makes sure to praise her when she
contributes or does good work to encourage her
to participate more.
· She is not independent, she often works with the
teacher aide when she is available. She cannot
finish her work because she can’t
write properly so the teacher often
writes for her.
Example Work - T
 Art - T
· She seems to enjoy art a lot,
she was smiling and giggling
during my observations.
· She talks to others a lot, but
still colours or cuts at the
same time.
· She takes a long time, but in
the end she does a really
good job and has a
lovely piece of work.
Example Work - T
Physical Ed (Swimming) -T
· T is in the lowest group for swimming.
· During my observation, she safely entered the
pool in the shallow end, and got in very slowly.
She said it was cold and that she wanted to get
out.
· Biggest achievement to date is putting her head
fully underwater. Important to note that she has
improved a lot already
since the beginning of
the year.
Physical Ed (Swimming) -T
· When I asked her if she liked swimming she said
yes.
· Sometimes the associate teacher gets in the
water to support the lower group and goes
things in stages.
· She mainly walks around the pool and splashes,
but she does practice her breaststroke arm
movements when she
is in the shallow end
(not her legs
yet though).
 Findings - T

· What assists learning?

· Working with the Teacher, Teacher Aide or
Student Teacher, preferably one-on-one.
· Using a clipboard to sit in front of the
whiteboard on the mat, instead of at the
table so she can clearly focus and read
words she may not be able to spell.
· She often needs things explaining more
than once because she doesn’t
understand the first time.
 Findings - T
Before
(distracted,
talking to
others,
· What assists learning? blank page)

· For example, during a writing

class I assisted her by teaching
During
her to sound out words so she (sounding
can learn to write independently. out words,
forming
· At the end, she was very proud sentences)
of her work. She said “this is the
first time a teacher hasn’t written
After
it for me” and showed her (completed
teacher from last year work, best
writing so
and got a sticker. far this
year)
 Findings - T

· What hinders learning?

· Being left on her own to do her work.
· She is easily distracted and influenced by
others, so being around peers (who she is
particularly good friends with) will result in
no work been done.
· Being given worksheets that she can’t
read or understand, she will just sit and do
nothing.
 Where to next?
· Ensure that she receives one-on-one support
during tasks otherwise she will not do any work
and will not learn.
· She needs to learn how to do tasks
independently, such as sounding out words so
she can attempt writing.
· Reward good work and give praise.
· Strong communication between teacher and her
parents, so they know what they can do at home
to help her develop (Fraser & Hill, 2016).
· Consider a programme for low level
subjects, e.g. reading recovery.
 Introduction - M
· Gender: male.
· Age: 6.
· Ethnicity: Chinese.
· Siblings: 3 year old brother.
· Favourite subject: maths.
· Interests: playing board games, especially
chess.
Background Information

· M was born in China and moved here

when he was 3 years old.
· He speaks Chinese as well as English.
· His parents are not interested in what
academic levels he is in, they care
about whether he is happy and what he
likes doing.
 Academic Levels - M

· Reading
level: 20
· Writing
level: 1iii
· Numerac
y level:
5/6
 English (Writing) - M

· M is in the highest level for

writing.
· During mat time/discussion
time he sits near the front,
smiles at the teacher. He
participates by doing sounds
with the teacher, and puts his
hand up the answer the
questions.
 English (Writing) - M

· M works very independently.

· He sits at a table to do his
work. He prefers to sit alone
because others distract him
which he doesn’t like. He
likes to get on with his work.
· He is usually the first in the
class to finish his work.
Example Work - M
 Art - M
· I observed him making a poster
in a small group whilst another
group was on the mat doing
phonics. Instead of focusing on
his drawing, he was watching
the teacher and sounding out
the letters to himself.
· He tends to rush his work
rather than take his time, and
is usually the first to finish.
Example Work - M
Physical Ed (Swimming) - M
· Is in the highest group for swimming.
· He swims in the deep end, and can dive
properly into the pool.
· He is enthusiastic and said he likes
swimming.
· M can do many different strokes (breast
stroke, front stroke
back stroke, and
the dolphin).
Physical Ed (Swimming) - M

· He can also float on his back without

support.
· He looks for teachers approval, likes to
impress.
· When its play time, he plays with
sinking hoops
and goes
underwater
to find them.
 Findings - M

· What assists learning?

· Being able to work independently so he
can focus on his work without being
distracted by others.
· Having extra activities or reading books for
him to use when he finishes his work early,
so that he is still doing something
productive.
 Findings - M

· What hinders learning?

· Others around him who are talking and
being disruptive – he tries to ignore them
but can become distracted.
· If others are not on task, then he
sometimes tells them what to do, and likes
to help them, (for example, spell a word),
but this can put him off his own work.
 Where to next?

· Make sure he is challenged enough in

class so that he is still learning
progressively, and does not lose his
passion for learning.
· Negotiate curriculum to meet his needs
and interests (Ministry of Education,
2007).
· Set SMART learning goals that are
achievable in the near and far
future (Marzano & Marzano, 2003).
Implications and Interventions
for Future Practice
· Challenges for teaching a class with
varied student levels: could have different
level tasks or activities within the same
topic, for example place value – tens and
ones for lower groups and hundreds, tens
and ones for higher groups. Benefits all
students (Fraser & Hill, 2016).
· Consider programmes for lower achieving
students.
Implications and Interventions
for Future Practice
· Ensure strong communication with
parents/caregivers to develop students’
knowledge beyond the classroom and
enhance well-being (Fraser & Hill, 2016).
· Give relevant feedback to children’s work,
not just “great work!” – verbally tell them
so that they hear it, and in case they
cannot read.
· Negotiate curriculum to meet
students’ needs and interests
(Ministry of Education, 2007).
Implications and Interventions
for Future Practice
· Reinforce reward system and praise to
support learning.
· Regularly assess students to benefit
students progress and confidence
(Ministry of Education, 2007).
· Set clear learning goals and
expectations with guidance and support
to ensure appropriate achievement
(Marzano & Marzano, 2003).
 References

· Fraser, D., & Hill, M. (Eds.). (2016).

The professional practice of teaching in
New Zealand (5th edition). South
Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning.
· Ministry of Education, (2007). The New
Zealand Curriculum. Wellington:
Ministry of Education.
 References

· Marzano & Marzano. (2003). The key

to classroom management. Educational
Leadership, 6–13. Retrieved from
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Thank you for listening!