Qualitative Data - Strengthening ECE–Primary Partnerships & Building Teacher and Student Capability through BSLA

1. Strengthening ECE–Primary Partnerships

Over the past year, we’ve seen a real shift in the way our school and local ECEs work together. What started as a few transition meetings has grown into genuine partnerships built on trust, shared goals, and regular communication. Everyone, from ECE kaiako to new entrant teachers, now feels part of one connected team, working towards smoother and more successful transitions for our tamariki.

The transition checklist has been a game changer. It’s given both sectors a shared understanding of what “school readiness” actually looks like in today’s context. ECE teachers say it’s helped them plan with more purpose,
they now know what primary schools value, what children will be expected to do, and how they can prepare them for that next step. Many kaiako have said things like, “It’s helped us align with the new English and Maths curriculum — we can see how what we do links to what comes next.”

Because of this, teacher practice within the ECE centres has grown significantly. Kaiako now have a clearer sense of the expectations for literacy, oral language, and early maths that children will meet at school. They’ve been able to strengthen their own programmes to reflect these expectations while still keeping play and relationships at the heart of learning. One kaiako commented that “the checklist made us more intentional — we’re teaching with the next step in mind.”

The checklist has also meant that our new entrant teachers get to know children before they even arrive. They have a clear picture of each child’s strengths, learning needs, and any challenges that might need early support. Teachers have commented that “we now know our new students before they walk through the door — their learning, behaviour, and personalities are already familiar to us.”

What’s been really powerful is the difference teachers can now see between children who have been part of the ECE intervention and those who haven’t. The children coming from our partner centres are arriving with stronger oral language, early literacy and numeracy knowledge, and greater confidence in routines. They’re ready to learn, they settle quickly, and they see school as a place where they belong.

This shared work has strengthened relationships between ECE and school teachers too. There’s a growing sense that transition isn’t just a handover — it’s a shared responsibility. We’re learning from each other, visiting each other’s settings, and talking the same language around learning.

Overall, the collaboration has created a real sense of continuity for our children and whānau. They’re moving between settings that understand and value them. For our teachers and kaiako, it’s been about growing together — building capability, connection, and a shared purpose so that every child starts school feeling confident and known.

2. Building Teacher Capability and Student Engagement through BSLA

Our focus on Structured Literacy through BSLA has really changed the way teachers and students think about reading across the junior school. Teachers are feeling much more confident and clear about how literacy develops, and they’re seeing real progress in their classrooms. Lessons are more explicit, systematic, and responsive to where each learner is at — and that consistency is making a big difference.

Through shared professional learning, teachers have built a common understanding of phonological awareness, phonics, and word-level instruction. The flow-on effect has been smoother transitions between year levels and stronger collaboration within teams. Teachers are also starting to see how BSLA connects naturally with the refreshed English curriculum, especially the Phonological and Orthographic Knowledge (PhOM) strand.

There’s a real buzz about teaching the PhOM content. Teachers are excited to bring these ideas into their Term 4 novel studies — particularly in Years 4–8 — using BSLA strategies to explore decoding, morphology, and vocabulary in a deeper, more meaningful way. One teacher summed it up perfectly:

“It finally feels like we have the missing link — BSLA gives us the tools to teach the ‘why’ behind reading, not just the ‘how.’ My students are noticing patterns and making connections that weren’t there before.”

And the students are just as enthusiastic. They’re curious about how words work — where they come from, how they’re built, and why they look the way they do. They’re starting to spot the chunks and roots that make up words and use that knowledge to figure out new ones.

“I like learning about where words come from — it makes tricky words easier to read.”
“We know how to break the words into parts now, like little chunks. It makes reading feel like solving a puzzle.”

Students are proud of their progress. They’re seeing reading not as something to memorise, but as something to explore and understand. Across the school, there’s a shared sense of excitement — teachers are seeing how BSLA fits perfectly with the new curriculum, and students are gaining a deeper understanding of how language works. It’s clear that when teacher practice grows, student engagement and confidence grow right alongside it.

Achievement Report for BSLA Data (Year 0-3)

This report reviews the progress and achievement of Year 0-3 students at Glen Taylor School in the Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA). Focusing on literacy areas like phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, reading comprehension, oral language, and writing skills, the data tracks Year 0-3 students' development throughout Term 4. The assessment data shows significant progress in these core literacy skills, highlighting both strengths and areas where further support can help. The graphs included reflect the progress of students who completed both the baseline and 10-week assessments, focusing on skills they were not yet proficient in at the start.

BSLA Tier 2 Students: Initial Phoneme Identity 

I'm so excited about the progress our Tier 2 students are making in picking up those initial phonemes! A bunch of them have hit or are super close to the target level, which is awesome to see. The jump from baseline to progress check shows that our current approach is really clicking for most of the group.

A few students have made some smaller gains, so I'm keen to keep supporting them with another 10 weeks of Tier 2 instruction in a small group. With just a bit more time, I think they’ll get there.

For the few students whose scores haven’t budged much, I’m looking forward to trying a more one-on-one Tier 3 intervention. I’m hopeful this will give them the extra boost they need with phonemic awareness.

And lastly, for the students who didn’t have a progress check, it’s because they already nailed it at baseline—they were hitting the target from the start! It’s been so rewarding to watch this progress unfold, and I can’t wait to see where we go from here!

BSLA Tier 2 Students: Letter-Sound Recognition

The data on Tier 2 letter-sound recognition shows great overall improvement with both Set 1 and Set 2 sounds. A lot of students made awesome gains from baseline to the progress check, which really shows that our current Tier 2 support is helping them build those letter-sound skills.

Some students made smaller steps forward, so I think an extra 10 weeks of targeted Tier 2 group work will help solidify the progress they’ve made so far.

Students Meeting Proficiency: Most students hit the proficiency target of 6 out of 8 on the progress check, showing they’re ready to move on to Set 2!

Students Not Yet Proficient: A few students have made progress from their baseline scores but haven’t quite reached the goal of 6 yet. With some extra practice and focused support in letter sound recognition, they’ll be in a great spot to meet the standard soon!

The Set 2 Letter Sound Recognition report shows that most students started with varied baseline scores below the target, indicating a need for continued support even though they had mastered Set 1. After receiving Tier 2 interventions, however, most students demonstrated strong improvement, with many now close to or meeting the target of 17 sounds. This progress suggests that Tier 2 support is effectively boosting their recognition skills. A number of students have now achieved proficiency and appear ready to move on to more advanced phonics skills. For those who haven’t yet reached the target, continued Tier 2 support should help them meet their goal before advancing further.

The baseline assessment revealed that only a few students met the proficiency target in phoneme blending, showing that most initially struggled. After Tier 2 intervention, however, there was substantial improvement, with many students making significant gains and reaching or nearing proficiency. The progress check results highlight a large increase in phoneme blending scores across the group, indicating that the intervention effectively boosted students’ skills. While most students progressed well, a few still require additional support to meet proficiency. Next steps include focusing proficient students on advanced phonics and reading skills, while providing continued Tier 2 or individualized support for those still working toward the target.

Embracing the Power of Qualitative Data

Reflecting on Writing Progress with the Syntax Project and Targeted Instruction

As an educator, one of the most rewarding aspects of my job is witnessing the growth and progress of my students, particularly in their writing abilities. Over the past eight weeks, I have implemented several targeted teaching strategies, including the Syntax Project, BSLA (Best Start Literacy Approach) Tier 1 whole-class instruction focused on phonological awareness, and Tier 2 small group reading instruction. These strategies have yielded impressive results, demonstrating the profound impact of qualitative data in understanding and enhancing student learning.

The Role of Whole-Class Instruction

The whole-class phonological awareness lessons gave my students a solid foundation in literacy. By focusing on key phonics skills and using the Syntax Project, I saw big improvements in their writing, especially when it came to writing dictated sentences. The structured Taumata 2 lessons really helped many students progress faster than I expected.

I noticed that the clear instructions, along with fun activities, helped students pick up phonics concepts more easily. This better understanding showed up in their writing, as they started using their phonics knowledge to build sentences. With improved spelling, my students are now more confident expressing their ideas and showing their creativity in their writing.

Intensive Tier 2 Small Group Instruction

While the whole-class lessons built a good foundation, the small group Tier 2 reading sessions gave extra support to students who needed it. My small group, working at the same Taumata 2 level, made faster progress because we focused on phonics and phonological awareness before starting new books.

This focused instruction let us break down reading and writing into smaller steps. By working on specific skills like decoding, blending, and segmenting, the students felt more prepared to tackle new texts. Not only did their reading fluency improve, but their comprehension and writing got better too. From what I saw in class and heard from the students, their engagement and confidence really grew.

The Power of Component Breakdown

Breaking down literacy lessons into smaller, manageable parts has made a big difference for my students. This focused approach helped them master 12 phonics readers in just eight weeks. From their feedback, it's clear they feel more confident and excited about both reading and writing.

Students have said they feel more sure about writing accurate and expressive sentences, and they’ve been eager to share their work and talk about how they’re improving. The insights I gathered from class discussions and individual reflections really showed how this focused teaching has boosted their skills and confidence.

Conclusion

Looking back on the last eight weeks, I’m so proud of how far my students have come. The progress they’ve made, backed by the feedback I’ve seen in class, has been amazing. Using a mix of the Syntax Project, BSLA whole-class lessons, and small group reading sessions has worked really well to boost their literacy skills. By focusing on phonological awareness and giving them targeted support, my students have not only become better at reading and writing but also gained the confidence to express their ideas.

As I keep reflecting on what’s working in the classroom, I’m reminded of how important it is to adapt my teaching to where the students are in their learning. This experience shows me that with the right support, every student can thrive as a confident reader and writer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            In week 2, I'll be diving into my assessments for the 10-week BSLA program. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the data reveals about my students' progress!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

My focus group selection

Focus Group Selection

The selection of my target group in Room 7 has evolved throughout Terms 1 and 2. Initially, I aimed to focus on students from two different reading groups. However, after reviewing recent BSLA assessments, I have decided to shift my attention to those who are significantly below the expected levels and require Tier 2 targeted group work.

BSLA Assessment Data and Authentic Learning

The recent assessment data indicates the need for a focused approach for these students. I will incorporate authentic learning strategies to engage them effectively. This may include real-world applications of literacy skills, allowing students to see the relevance of their learning.

Follow-Up Activities and Monitoring

To ensure continued progress, I will implement follow-up activities tailored to the specific needs of each learner. Regular monitoring will allow me to adjust the instruction based on ongoing assessments.

Targeted Tier 2 Literacy Approach

Implementing a more targeted and specific literacy approach based on structured literacy offers several advantages for Tier 2 students:

1. Explicit Instruction: Structured literacy provides clear, direct, and systematic instruction in phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. This explicit teaching is crucial for Tier 2 students, who often struggle with implicit learning, enabling them to grasp foundational literacy skills more effectively.

2. Systematic and Sequential Learning: Lessons are organized logically to build on previously learned concepts, ensuring mastery of each component before moving on to more complex skills and reducing gaps in knowledge.

3. Multi-Sensory Techniques: Structured literacy incorporates visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile methods, engaging multiple senses to enhance memory and learning for students needing additional support.

4. Differentiated Instruction: This approach allows for tailored instruction based on the specific needs of Tier 2 students, providing targeted interventions informed by ongoing assessment data to address individual strengths and weaknesses.

5. Reinforcement and Practice: Regular, systematic practice and review of skills help reinforce learning and improve retention.

Implementation Overview

Teaching Intensity: I will provide 20 hours of supplementary small group teaching. Tier 2 instruction will complement, rather than replace, Tier 1 lessons. Students identified for Tier 2 support require more intensive teaching to master foundational skills, as evidenced by research on phoneme awareness and word decoding. BSLA Tier 2 will consist of small group instruction (up to 4 children per group) in approximately 30-minute sessions, four times weekly over a 10-week period, totaling around 20 hours of additional teaching. Students will also participate in daily Tier 1 BSLA lessons and small group reading instruction.

Explicit Teaching and Quality Scaffolding: Explicit instruction and effective scaffolding are critical in BSLA Tier 2 teaching. Teachers will provide structured support to facilitate successful learning attempts and meet each learner's needs within the group. Recognizing and praising students for their decoding attempts is an essential part of this approach.

Building Speed and Accuracy: Each lesson will include a phoneme manipulation section designed to enhance students' phonological processing speed and accuracy, which is vital for effective reading and spelling strategies, especially for those who struggle with phonological processing.

Timely Support: Research supports the benefits of early intervention. If a child’s data after 10 weeks of Tier 1 BSLA instruction indicates difficulties in acquiring essential phonics and phoneme awareness skills, Tier 2 support will be implemented promptly. For children starting school at age 5, this support may begin in their second or third term, rather than waiting until their second year.

Instruction Components

1. Segmenting and Blending (5 minutes):

   • Activities focusing on complex phoneme awareness skills will help children sound through entire words in reading and spelling.
   • Activities may include a Bingo segmentation and blending game and a "Speed Demons" game to improve speed and accuracy.
   • Scaffolding will support identifying middle sounds and beyond, with repeated practice and quality feedback aimed at enhancing reading and spelling skills.

2. Phoneme Manipulation with Graphemes (15 minutes):

   • Instruction will maintain consistency with Tier 1 phrasing and teaching patterns.
   • Activities will include completing two 10-word phoneme manipulation chains per lesson using materials like Gillon Letter Blocks or mini whiteboards.
   • Goals include building speed and accuracy in phoneme manipulation and reinforcing reading development.
   • The method involves modeling the first word, manipulating a phoneme, and reading the new word together, followed by the PRRR method for error correction.
   • Progression will move from blocks/folders to whiteboards as skills develop, ensuring students can hear, identify, and accurately represent phoneme changes.

By focusing on these strategies, I aim to address the specific needs of my learners effectively and enhance their literacy skills.

How to make reading instruction much much more efficient

How to make reading instruction much much more efficient

Edweek - By Mike Schmoker — November 19, 2019

Synopsis

Data shows that our students are still not performing according to their year level. Many factors are recognised to have an impact on this, including lack of foundational skills, attendance, and minimal or no input from home. This is an ongoing battle but I want to change my practice to ensure the gap does get smaller.

According to literacy researcher Richard Allington, studies show that “virtually every student could be reading on grade level by the end of 1st grade.” Although this is based on American data I strongly feel that I have similar issues.Learning to read and speak well requires focused phonics lessons and plenty of practice in reading, talking, and writing across different subjects. The typical way we teach reading, including many commercial programs, often falls short. This is because they rely too much on small groups based on kids' abilities.

The real problem lies in how we structure reading time and the exaggerated promises of commercial reading programs. Teachers often feel disappointed because they use these ability-based groups too often. Instead, they should focus more on teaching the whole class together using methods that have been proven to work. These methods ensure that all students are paying attention, continuously assess the class's progress, and adjust teaching as needed.

According to an article in Education Week, teaching the whole class together is usually more effective than using small ability-based groups.

Motivation

With more whole class well executed instruction with approximately 20min, literacy time will be doubled. This would allow for huge infusions of instructional time into the essential components of literacy. I could use this additional time to incorporate more:

• "Intensive, sustained, systematic phonics. We could substantially accelerate students’ mastery of the phonetic code and still have time for kids to read and listen to far more fiction and nonfiction texts.
• Reading/general knowledge. If most students have mastered decoding, they could spend more amounts of time in higher years reading literature, history, and science texts to build their knowledge base and vocabulary, which are critical to effective comprehension.
• Vocabulary instruction. Most of a rich vocabulary is acquired through abundant reading. But research also shows that we can reliably supplement this with targeted, embedded vocabulary instruction.
• Discussion. To become confident, articulate speakers, students must engage in frequent, purposeful discussions about what they read. We could multiply the length and frequency of such discussions, which animate an appreciation of reading and are excellent preparation for writing.
• Writing and writing instruction. Writing has an unsurpassed capacity to help us think logically, express ourselves clearly, and understand, analyse, and retain content. It often promotes dramatic, measurable improvements across the curriculum and is crucial to success in innumerable careers."

How will it help me?

With our new plan to incorporate more explicit explore play learning time with provocations, it is the teacher's responsibility to ensure that learning continues to happen and is not solely characterised by free roaming and unstructured choice activities. Specifically in mathematics and literacy, essential activities must be carefully planned and effectively executed within this environment, while other teachers lead smaller groups. By teaching mathematics, reading, and writing with well-planned provocations and direct instruction, students will experience significantly more instructional learning time. We already included more Reading to opportunities, Shared Big Book reading and Poems. We are exposing our learners to a variety of literature.

So What?

With this new approach, our team wants to ensure that all students will have the opportunity to meet their needs through a variety of learning activities.

Reading for enjoyment - Learning with Jill Eggleton and Heather Haylock

Reading for enjoyment - Learning with Jill Eggleton and Heather Haylock

Attending professional development with Jill Eggleton and Heather Haylock,  renowned experts in literacy education, can indeed be transformative for educators, especially in New Zealand. Here are some reasons why you might feel inspired to teach literacy after such an experience:

Deepened Understanding of Literacy Development: 

• provide insights into the stages of literacy development, including phonemic awareness, vocabulary acquisition, comprehension strategies, and fluency development.

Effective Instructional Strategies: 

• introduce innovative and research-based instructional strategies that engage students and foster a love for reading and writing. These strategies can range from interactive read-aloud techniques to guided reading practices tailored to individual student needs.

Emphasis on Cultural Relevance: 

• In a diverse educational landscape like New Zealand, understanding the importance of culturally responsive literacy instruction is crucial. Professional development with Jill Eggleton may highlight the significance of selecting texts that reflect the cultural backgrounds and experiences of students, thus promoting inclusivity and equity in the classroom.

Regarding the impact of incorporating poetry into your practice can lead to several changes:

• Language Enrichment: Teaching poetry allows students to explore the richness of language through rhythm, rhyme, imagery, and figurative language.
• Critical Thinking and Analysis: Studying poetry encourages students to think critically and analytically.
• Expressive Writing: Writing poetry offers students an outlet for self-expression and reflection. Through composing poems, students can articulate their thoughts, emotions, and experiences in creative and meaningful ways, promoting both literacy development and emotional intelligence.
• Integration of Arts and Literacy: Poetry often integrates with other art forms such as music, visual arts, and drama. Teaching poetry provides opportunities for students to explore connections between language and other forms of expression.

 

Here are some of my big take aways from the professional Development.

Discussion Points & Learning

“Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” - Malala Yousafzai

How Heather Haylock's writing process is done:

• Don't shy away from using big words
• If they can say tyrannosaurus rex they can say anything, words like, curlicued, militant, billowing
• Always within context and with illustrations to support understanding, helps to extend vocabulary, talking to kids, not rocket science, hypothesis, learning by osmosis
• Sharing stories with children develop a sense of a story - beginning, middle and end
• Hard to get through some children because they are just focussed on survival
• Characters need to be interesting
• Finding books that are good to read aloud
• Sense of a story - a lot of kids come to school not having been exposed to books(CAP), where others arrive with well developed sense of story
• Those without much exposure have hardly any soil to plant imagination
• We need to develop the love of language and stories
• One way to do it is read aloud
• Characters with problems to solve
• Characters kids can relate to, e.g. animals, nana
• Relate to school ,family, sports or feelings

Developmental Priorities

Tips and tricks

• Establish a routine read aloud time
• Finding ‘reading snack’ slots in the school day
• Reluctant readers - when they are read aloud to they become more involved and engaged
• Read aloud in small groups

Jill Eggleton

Teaching matters and it matters everyday - teachers make more minute by minute decisions than brain surgeons. What could be more important than moulding children?

What is your BELIEF - Sound research and something felt deep in the soul, mostly coming from a heartfelt response.

Shared reading Large Poetry cards benefits:

• Improves literacy skills
• Enrich vocabulary - crucial
• Familarised words
• A child's vocabulary tells us how they will be at 11
• Encourages thinking
• Replicate the way we learn and think
• Short pieces
• Exposes to images
• Boost fluency
• Rhyming, musical and rhythm
• Phonemic awareness
• Builds listening skills
• Helps train the memory
• Memorising poems give your brain the power to enhance the power to retain

Next Steps & Commitments

Shared big books and Poetry - every week I will introduce a new shared poem(review the previous learned ones) and a shared big book. Students will be able to access the previous books and poems during morning exploration learning as well as during writing time.

Finding a good book

• Picture books
• Sophisticated picture books
• Chapter books
• Short stories
• Biography collections
• Seasonal books(ANZAC, Matariki,Easter)
• Wordless picture books - if kids don’t know how to read - barrier, they can make up their own story
• Fun ones
• Rhyming ones - repeated refrains

Meet Room 7's Reading buddies

During our Literacy time we met our new reading buddies for 2024.

We all sat together and discussed how their different personalities might be and each got a special name.

The students were so excited to build a relationship with their reading buddies. 

Let's meet them:

Frankie - the pepper frankenstein: he loves to listen to stories and can be a bit playful sometimes.

Love Heart - the pink elephant: she has a heart full of love and think her reading buddy is the best reader and writer in the world.

Sparkles is our kind-hearted dog: he will make sure nobody disturbs you when you are reading.

Simba - strong willed lion: he will read along with you to make sure you are on the right track.

Isabella - our trying turtle: she will motivate and encourage you until you are confident.

Last but definitely not the least - Mr Crabs, the lobster: he can see everything anywhere in the class, he will make sure you show integrity.

                                                           Sparkles is reading with Susana.

Avee and Simba has a strong connection.

                                             Love Heart is teaching Carter, Mr Crabs and Isabella the digraph /sh/.

Can't wait how our buddies will assist our learners in their learning.