⭐ Student Impact

Standards 4 & 6

Literacy achievement — a measurable shift

In 2024, in my first year taking responsibility for a Year 8 class at Mangakōtukutuku College, my ākonga lifted their literacy achievement by more than a stanine in approximately half a year — evidenced by their asTTle reading data, held on file and available for moderation.

I got there by pairing structured literacy with a genuine, shared love of reading. Reading and writing were taught daily; we ran sustained silent reading after lunch; and I built the classroom library around my own childhood books, kept topped up from op shops, so every ākonga always had something to take home. Alongside asTTle-style comprehension I set a termly novel and a book report where students wrote about their thinking — the bigger ideas, the purpose, how a book made them feel — scaffolded with explicit PEEL paragraph teaching. Learners who needed extra support got it, with resources I designed for them specifically.

One morning a Year 8 student burst in to tell her friends that her brother had barged into her room while she was reading and mocked her for it — and that she had kicked him out and told him she reads books now, and she loves it. A learner who had not seen herself as a reader was now defending her reading fiercely. That is the shift I teach for. — a Year 8 ākonga, 2024 (name withheld)

When a more experienced colleague questioned my marking because I was "only" on a Limited Authority to Teach, I marked the class's asTTles and asked her to moderate them. The data spoke for itself.

Where to see the full picture

Student work samples, assessment evidence, and classroom practice are detailed in my Evidence Collection and my CIA Part 1 & 2 assignments, which show the pedagogical thinking and design behind this outcome.

This stanine gain is evidence of Standards 4 & 6: a learning-focused culture where ākonga thrive, and teaching responsive to individual learner needs.

Teaching practice you can review now