Working as a Team - Beginning School Assessments

I have to say, I have the most awesome team of colleagues in my New Entrant unit. We really work well as a team, supporting each other, sharing ideas and resources and challenging each other to be better teachers. We plan our overall week together, and yet we each have our own teaching style, strengths and weaknesses in our classrooms. 

One area in which I have appreciated the support of my colleagues is in the data collection for Beginning School Assessments. These take an extraordinarily long time to collect, all through 1:1 interview with the child. Of course, while working 1:1, I cannot be teaching groups or whole class lessons. Simultaneously tending to the management needs of the class slows down the whole process. At the beginning of the year, all 3 New Entrant classes had a large group of children needing to be assessed. 

I love the way my team supports each other through this time. Many of the school's Learning Assistants can help by administering some of the assessments, like alphabet names, sounds, color and shape checking. This lets us focus of running records and JAM assessments. In all though it is a team effort. We are constantly checking in on each other's progress. As one teacher finishes, they pick up assessments for their colleagues. 

PTC 1: In this way we work in an effective professional relationships focussed on the learning of our Akonga.