2018 Sabbatical Reports - Primary Teachers
The following is a list of Primary Teacher Sabbatical recipients for 2018.
The list is sorted by surname, and you can click on the index below to assist you. If a recipient has published their report online, a link will be added below, as it becomes available.
Click here to return to the main Sabbatical Reports page.
Other Primary Teacher Sabbatical Recipients and Reports:
2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
2018
Judith Acres
Kea Street Specialist School
To find our more about how special needs schools contribute to the physical and emotional well-being of very high needs students and thus their ability to gain knowledge of their environment and engage in learning through PE activities and physical therapy programmes. Particularly interested in furthering my knowledge about perceptual motor programmes, hydrotherapy and equine therapy programmes.
Sharron Adams
Te Akau ki Papamoa Primary School
I am to undertake a program of study into the concept of mindfulness as an aspect of child psychology and investigate the viability of teaching mindfulness at Te Akau ki Papamoa school. I intend to use this new learning to better meet the needs of learners, specifically diverse and at risk learners. Furthermore I will pilot this mindfulness programme alongside RTLB to strengthen the outcomes for children with diverse learning needs.
Kathryn Arbon
Glen Eden School
Investigate tools which assess the English oral language of beginning school students and develop a new tool that will better meet the needs of the school community.
Susan Atkinson
Poukawa School
To investigate the impact of using rich tasks within the Mathematics programme to raise achievement of target students, particularly Māori students. I intend to visit schools who are successfully incorporating rich tasks into their programmes, making observations in classrooms, discussing with teachers and students, doing professional readings and compiling a list of useful resources.
Lauren Beech-Nair
Campbells Bay School
To explore the practices used by Cluster 4 RTLB with schools which enhance the oral language of students with diverse needs referred to the RTLB service.
Deborah Carman
Masterton Primary School
Investigate the principles and practices of play-based learning. I plan to extend my pedagogical knowledge of PBL principles by further extending my professional reading, visiting and observing schools in which these principles are being used successfully. I hope to see first hand how PBL can benefit overall student development and behaviour in the first two years of primary schooling and how this impacts on their readiness and motivation to learn.
Joanna Chandler Bringins
Dipton School
I propose to investigate "How does culturally responsive and quality mathematical teaching promote a growth mindset to engage students?" This would draw on the work of Carol Dweck, Jo Boaler, Tony Burkin, Eric Jensen and Dr Jodie Hunter.
Lynette Corkran
Central Regional Health School
Inquiry into teaching strategies and practices that support students with mood disorder to focus on their hauora, the four dimensions of their well-being. Inquiry into student well-being in relation to diet and its impact on mood. Write teaching programmes based on hauora to increase opportunities for positive health behaviour change.
Alicia Craig
Ohaeawai School
Investigate ways that schools in our Kaikohekohe Cluster are working collaboratively with the support of digital tools to accelerate achievement, especially for priority learners in literacy.
Ursula Cunningham
Amesbury School
What the world taught me when I gave it the space to do so. My view of what education and teaching involve has grown and deepened, and I now have a little more insight into my own teaching and that of the colleagues I work with and lead. I have more questions to ask and answer, and more hope in my heart about the future of education and the futures of the students I work with.
Julie Dawick
Cambridge Middle School
Investigate the impact of PB4L initiatives with a special emphasis on children from Māori and Pasifika backgrounds in Intermediate/Middle School settings.
Suzanne Donovan-Skeens
Warkworth School
To investigate what explicit actions Warkworth Primary could execute that would positively influence genuine relationships with famalies and whānau of Māori and Pasifika boys, in order to support student acceleration in writing.
Lucinda Downham Cowie
Royal Oak School
Research for a Master's dissertation with a focus on parents' views and understanding of the National Standards in writing.
Craig Gault
Waltham School
Carry out an inquiry into the effective use of digital technologies, particularly in collaborative learning environments and the positive impacts they are having on priority learners including Māori and Pasifika students. How are digital technologies being used in collaborative learning environments to engage and accelerate the learning priority learners and how can I use this information to benefit these children at my school.
Sherryl Gomm
Awapuni School (Gisborne)
Investigate New Zealand based research in relation to supporting Māori learners in Mathematics and the role of the teacher's mathematical understandings in analysing their students mathematical practices to inform future learning steps. I plan to undertake both professional reading and on site observations in at least three schools with significant Māori student cohorts.
Averil Greig
Hamilton North School
Investigate how delayed student development and structured movement activities affect learning in students with intellectual disabilities.
Tracey Gunn
St James School (P North)
Focus upon the use of play-based learning to accelerate progress for priority learners will meet the learning needs of diverse students. Target the correlation between selected pedagogy and its direct impact on student learning.
Nicole Harland
Riverdale School (P North)
Investigate the critical success factors required for Māori and Pasifika students to successfully transition into a New Entrant, Modern Learning Environment, with collaborative teaching in a Primary School environment.
Andrea Harvey
Carterton School
Investigate innovative teaching and learning pedagogy to develop a clear vision of what a collaborative teaching model could look like in our school.
Jessica Holdaway
Springlands School
Investigate ways to increase student agency for Māori and Pasifika students through play based learning as they transition from ECE into school. Planned visits to kintergartens in Marlborough to observe their transition to school programmes, Te Whariki in action and whānau engagement. Visit 5 schools in the lower north island focussing on New Entrant and Year one classes and identify common trends. Observe how student agency is developed during this transition phase. Visit several schools in Samoa and observe their transition to school processes and expectations after one year.
Janet Hunter
Otaki School
To investigate successful pedagogical approaches to early literacy in low decile schools in Porirua and Levin areas. How do schools with high percentages of Māori and Pasifika students ensure that their students get off to a good start in their literacy development?
Georgia Jensen-Procter
Royal Oak School
Investigate factors affecting assessment and its impact on Māori and Pasifika student outcomes in low decile secondary schools.
Ian Johnson
Cobden School
Explore how RTLB clusters are adapting their services to engage with Communities of Learning Kahui Ako.
Stephanie Kitto
St Peter's School (Beckenham)
Investigate ways that students' curiosity and questioning might be used to develop student-centred learning pathways in junior school classrooms.
Wendy Lawson
Papatoetoe East School
To investigate the learning needs of students struggling with literacy acquisition.
Craig Logan
Stoke School
Complex Trauma is becoming more prevalent within our schools. Teachers and Management are seen to be less effective in addressing the complex needs and controlling the often dangerous and disturbing behaviours of these type of students. Investigation around policy and practice of Stoke school and schools within our CoL in dealing with these types of students aiming to identify and explore effective strategies and techniques that will help these students to thrive, achieve and belong.
Donna Madden
Motueka South School
Investigate procedures for transition, including the learning pathways for diverse learners transitioning between Year 8/Upper Primary into Secondary in the Nelson region.
Angeline Malae
West Spreydon School
Explore how we as teachers can strengthen collaborative learning practices in a culturally responsive way so that Pasifika learners can gain maximum benefit from these environments. My focus will be on the students' development and integrating their home, family and learning.
Diane McGimpsey
Trentham School
To investigate if a play based learning environment increases the development of oral language skills in Māori and Pasifika new entrants who have transitioned into a primary school environment.
Fiona McNeill
Havelock North Primary School
Investigate how collaborative teaching in the modern learning environment works best to raise achievement of target students, especially Māori and Pasifika.
Marie Morgan
Lytton Street School
Investigate how explicit, systematic teaching of phonological awareness and the alphabetic code can support Māori and Pasifika students to raise their achievement in reading and writing.
Yaron Overeem
Maungatapere School
Increase my own understanding and knowledge of the new Digital Technologies Curriculum, explore how other schools are developing their use of Digital Technologies and create teaching and learning resources and materials that can be used to provide professional learning development for my school.
Karen Paterson
Riverlands School
Research the relationship between the pedagogy around play based programmes in New Entrant classrooms and the impact it has on strengthening the transition process from ECE to school with clear links to improving students' learning. I will take time to deepen my understanding of the two curricula and how they can be linked and strengthened in the transition process by spending time in ECE settings and visiting schools that already use this approach.
Karen Peake
Makauri School
Implementation of the curriculum: Identification of best scientific teaching practices established by other NZ teachers (under flourishing immersive science or STEM programmes). Teaching and Learning under the Science curriculum: Enable me to discover how others implement the science curriculum with flexibility, to ensure the diverse needs of different students are met.
Annie Rehmann
Waimate Centennial School
The aim of this sabbatical is to link a professional inquiry into the benefits of outdoor education for my students. I intent to enable my students to make connections with our local environment by immersing them in authentic learning experiences and by engaging them in regular physical activity.
Allyson Ross
Greenmeadows School
To research and investigate innovative teaching and learning approaches that successfully accelerate the progress of our Māori and Pasifika students to help them achieve National Standard expectations in Writing.
Catherine Rowell
St Mary's Catholic School (Gisborne)
Analyse our 6-year observational survey data to identify trends in the learning outcomes of students from 2000 to present day.
Vicki Sanders
Clinton School
Investigate the relationship between the Te Whariki curriculum pedagogy and the New Zealand curriculum pedagogy to support the smooth transition of learners between early childhood settings and the new entrant classroom.
Glenda Simkin
Glen Taylor School
Investigate how play-based learning can enhance the oral language and social skills of new entrant and Year 1 students.
Leanne Stanton
George Street Normal School
To investigate innovations and deliberate acts of teaching that have been successful in strengthening home/school communication for priority learners that could be used in our school community to strengthen writing achievement. Innovations/deliberate acts of teaching that focus on assessment, strengths based learning and digital technologies will be of particular interest.
Ann Stevenson
St Clair School
Investigate the impact on learning, engagement and achievement of learners through learner agency and collaborative teaching and learning programmes, within innovative learning environments, through professional reading, discussion and school visits, in NZ and Australia, leading the way in this.
Jillian Symonds
Plimmerton School
Investigate how to accelerate achievement in mathematics for priority students, particularly Māori and Pasifika learners.
Jillian Thomas
Tahuna Normal Intermediate
To research the factors that underlie the successful development of early literacy skills, the barriers to acquiring these skills and possible programmes for accelerating and supporting learning at the early stages, especially with student groups identified as "at risk". The goal is to be able to maximise opportunities for early success in reading and writing, enabling students to achieve accelerated progress towards National Standards by the end of year 2.
Merepehi Waru
Central Normal School
To observe, research and improve my current teaching practice to help Māori students with high learning needs in literacy and numeracy (NZC and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa). Student development and behaviour (play-based learning) producing critical, creating and innovative learners.
Patricia Watt
Stella Maris Primary School
Qualify to help non-speaking students, specifically on the Autistic Spectrum.
Rachael Whalley
Upper Moutere School
To investigate successful transitioning practices between ECE and Primary schools to support the learning needs of boys; and to engage whānau to support their child's transition and ongoing learning journey.
Paula Wheeler
Salford School
Research and investigate ways of ensuring a seamless transition for our New Entrant children as they move from Early Childhood Centres to school, with a specific focus on researching play-based curriculum that enables us to provide a more age appropriate programme in the first year at school, whilst still meeting the demands of National Standards. This will be undertaken with the support of New Entrant room colleagues, as well as our Y1/2 teachers who have an interest in adapting our programmes to better meet the needs of all of our children, including our Māori, Pacific Island and ESOL students, priority leaners and children with special educational needs.
Stephanie Whiteman
Johnsonville School
Investigate effective communication avenues with students, colleagues and whānau to determine how this supports engagement, learning and achievement for all students.
Click here to return to the main Sabbatical Reports page.
Other Primary Teacher Sabbatical Recipients and Reports: