tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038627543714760162024-03-14T14:44:46.150+13:00ReTooling SchoolRussell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-69031761784485132882022-11-08T09:00:00.006+13:002022-11-08T11:07:32.087+13:00Manaiakalani Film Festival - Give It A Go!<iframe allow="autoplay" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f_eRal1zcLUVwLfYtuObr_ZvwnWXZCsl/preview" width="640"></iframe>During<span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">Term 3, 2022 I worked with 9 wonderful singers, songwriters, videographers, directors and editors.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I am very proud to tell you all, that with a little guidance and support from me, these gifted tauira created this song and music video and did the hard yards themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Our song is about the importance of stepping up, putting your self in an uncomfortable space and having a jolly good go.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm happy to tell you that that's exactly what these tauira did and they have jointly modelled exactly what their creativity speaks to.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Well done Team, I'm extremely proud of you all!</span></p>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-65320224405446542982020-01-30T08:51:00.002+13:002020-08-20T09:40:02.481+12:00Deep Dive into Reading 2020<p><span style="font-family: arial;">During 2019, Dr Aaron Wilson of Woolf Fisher Research Centre, challenged all the Manaiakalani Schools to have "a relentless focus on Reading". Pt England School is picking up that wero, though we all believe we still have to work very hard on Mathematics.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The screen record below is the introduction to my own inquiry for 2020, which is focused on how to help all our teacher to build capability in the area of teaching children to read.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='360' height='225' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzemsFQ1UjC3Yc6HPnQQpA7mJmI3UhmaDx-9eYhWXUlUhTjK5pEUikIeFhcfZDi_focxulvTJLOmCVOSkWkOw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-84014506276260149672020-01-29T11:56:00.000+13:002020-08-20T12:09:48.950+12:00The Fa'a Pt England & 2020 Focus<p> <span style="font-family: arial;">Our consultation and korero with our community at the end of 2019 and leading into 2020, sharpened our focus on what we need to achieve and how we need to achieve it. Having ERO review our performance in 2019 forced us to re-examine some of our beliefs and our kaupapa that we have brought forward from the past. This exercise made us realise that we needed to revisit these things with our staff and reinvigorate some of our highly valued beliefs and ways of doing things. This brief screen record presents the 'big ticket' items we expect to focus on in 2020 and places particular emphasis on our decision to reinvigorate the "Pt England Way" or the "Fa'a Pt England".</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='360' height='225' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzpXOTxndcr5pxssgFm3jdHs_YmvqsrDSb4O5bG9oe2biDi1wmv8xkFqDPO13toWVnAVcGdskbCCwBpMM9h0A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-45019710068295970402019-12-11T08:43:00.001+13:002019-12-11T08:43:03.182+13:00Finish if Off Properly<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Finish it Off Properly" is one of the Pt England "korero" or sayings that are part of the "Fa'a Pt England" or the Pt England Way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This final post for 2019, contains the presentation we bring to our parent body to bring them "early cut" end of year data and ask them what they would like us to include in their children's learning and education for the ensuing year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The information gathered at this hui goes to the December Board Meeting and is included in the Annual Plan for the next year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For me personally, this wonderful and warm occasion came at the culmination of a very successful year, when we had achieved a marvellous Education Review Office report, seen high performance across a number of domains and seen real growth of leadership across the school. This occasion also came (for me) after serious surgery, subsequent recovery and the joy of seeing our Pt England Team flourish and grow in my absence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Special thanks goes to Kent Somerville who steered the ship while I was away and did such a wonderful job of it. I'm exceedingly grateful to the whole team, our learners, their whanau, our fantastic Board of Trustees and as always to God, for a great year and for my own part, a strong recovery to health and work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Apologies that there are no blog posts for September, October, November. You now know what was going on in my life!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Merry Christmas and have a blessed holiday break with whanau!</span><br />
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-10294187757700344252019-08-19T10:52:00.000+12:002019-12-10T10:56:42.848+13:00Moving into Planning<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what does it look like as we move into planning?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What do our staff need to keep in mind as they integrate ideas and key moves we have been discussing, into a term long meaningful context?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's a highly complex business planning an effective integrated learning sequence that lasts for a whole school term.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In our school, we start out together considering the big ideas as a whole staff and then break into teams and collaboratively plan at more specific levels for more particular needs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This presentation is the introduction to planning for Term 3, 2019; "There's Something in the Water".</span><br />
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-62835635679398184172019-07-19T14:31:00.000+12:002019-12-10T10:39:54.657+13:00Pushing on toward a "Threefer"<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All very well to talk and think about getting a "Threefer"! We need to move from analysis through theory to implementation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Education implementation in New Zealand is often quite "shady", partly because there's often a "jump" from theorising/hypothesising to implementation, with not very much in between.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's an in between stage which I hope and trust will lead to the development of some solid implementation logic, with the right understandings and agreements socialised along the way.</span><br />
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-12161009179248475512019-05-13T13:25:00.001+12:002019-05-13T13:25:21.987+12:00Getting a "Threefer"<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Continuing the theme from my last post about "Sharpening the Focus", in this post I'm expanding the idea of getting significant acceleration of learner achievement outcomes in three core subjects simultaneously.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Manaiakalani Programme and its Outreach have been very successful by national and international standards, in that we have safely transitioned fragile schools and learning communities from an analogue to fully digital platform in a 3 year cycle. We have done this with very significant acceleration in one of three core subjects, without any of the three core subjects declining. This is highly unusual and is cause for celebration. In fact, the evidence of this success, is precisely why the Ministry of Education now wish to partner with us to take this Outreach kaupapa to more needy communities in Aotearoa.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What we have not yet achieved, and must be achieved, is to have all three core subjects accelerate significantly and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">simultaneously. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The life of a learner at primary school is 8 years long. If each subject improvement requires a three year cycle, this is longer than the life of the learner in that environment, and we will still have learners enrolling at secondary school unable to successfully access the whole of the curriculum.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the screencast below, I have investigated all the Manaiakalani Schools via their respective Woolf Fisher Research Centre Reports to identify cohorts that have '3 subject acceleration' and have asked some key questions and proposed some emerging hypotheses at the end of this.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I my next post, I hope to share the hypotheses of teachers and leaders as to what we ought to do about this.</span></div>
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-85844560135369867092019-03-22T17:38:00.000+13:002019-04-01T15:56:52.022+13:00Sharpening the Focus<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We're into the second month of the academic year. We've been able to hear and see every learner learn. We've been able to observe their learning behaviours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The management team has been able to see teachers implement their learning programmes and begin to design for increased differentiation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We're testing our theories and hypotheses about what might improve things and what might keep the joy alive as we do so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As we share these theories and hypotheses with one another and discuss our own and each other's views we can sharpen the focus as "iron sharpens iron".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm still very hopeful that there are skills, processes and understandings that sit behind and through the Core Subjects, which if attended to well, can assist us in bringing accelerated learning in 3 subjects simultaneously.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm suggesting to you in this blog and the embedded presentation that we pay close attention to:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "raleway" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Language acquisition, development, sustaining & transfer</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "raleway" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Formative practice</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "raleway" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Progressional understanding</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "raleway" , sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm also suggesting that if we develop successful pedagogy for our Māori and Pasifika learners that it works for most if not all of our learners and reduces disparity between genders and ethnicities whilst it does so.</span></span></div>
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-62074228487380636702019-02-22T17:42:00.000+13:002019-03-30T17:44:01.557+13:00February Inquiry<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kia ora Tātou</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The year is underway, the learners are in class, programmes are moving into top gear.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's time to have those Class Descriptions coming clear and to be sharpening our thoughts about Teaching as Inquiry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the principal, it's time, having looked at data over the summer, compared the Woolf Fisher Research Centre Data, that we received on 12 Feb at our Manaiakalani Staff Meeting, held at Tamaki College, and having compared those results with our own, to be coming clear about my own Inquiry, and some early stages hypotheses which might sit behind it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My Inquiry, in brief, is to be able to describe clearly how to get improved acceleration in the 3 Core Subjects, -Reading, Writing and Mathematics, simultaneously without harming learners, teachers or anybody else in the process and how to keep the joy of creative learning absolutely alive and kicking whilst we do it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some of us can recall clearly the days of School Improvement where we learned to accelerate one subject at a time over 3 years for each, took too long for the learner and killed much of the joy in the process. 9 years to improve 3 subjects systematically is longe than the life of a primary school learner at primary school. -Not acceptable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The short presentation below, is my attempt to link my Inquiry to those of the teaching staff in Pt England School and the Manaiakalani Kahui Ako and to explain what I hope we cna achieve if we focus together sharply and work together well.</span><br />
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-57933497771763818782019-01-31T10:02:00.000+13:002019-03-31T10:03:05.770+13:002019 Direction<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Happy</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Year to you all!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We've had some weeks to ponder on the result/s of 2018 and think about how we continue to improve in 2019.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm sure my staff will all be pleased to hear, "not by doing anything new!".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To the Pt England Staff and other members of my audience, I hope this screen record of my January korero to Pt England, will be a really useful rewindable resource of how I think, collectively, we're going to win this education, acceleration game in 2019.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because it's not a game!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's deadly serious. Lives are genuinely at stake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Somehow, we have to do this work well together without killing or depressing teachers, without making the quest for improvement simply miserable. We need to use the Learn, Create, Share pedagogy to keep this work a joyous, celebratory pursuit of equity and excellence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I do hope you enjoy and learn from my 2019 Inquiry, which is focused on how to get acceleration in the 3 core subjects simultaneously whilst keeping the joy alive and having powerfully interwoven themes and experiences of Wellbeing and Cultural Responsiveness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let me know what you think!</span><br />
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-62230414533745529452018-12-14T13:55:00.000+13:002019-03-30T13:56:52.353+13:00How did we do?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In November/December of each year, we take stock of all the thinking, discussing, inquiry and application of learning. We do our best to produce the final, honest summative discussion document for the year. Generally this takes the place of a presentation which we present to our whanau, our staff, our Board and anyone else who's interested and then seek feedback about what we need to plan and include for the subsequent year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of necessity, this presentation is a bit longer than those I usually post as it's attempting to sum up the year of activity and learning. As always, I'm very happy to receive any feedback or ideas, either for the school or for how we could manage this process more effectively.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In summary, we've had a really good year and we have much to celebrate. We need to work hard at getting better acceleration in Reading and Mathematics, and we need to keep concentrating on how to get effective acceleration in 3 core subjects simultaneously. The acceleration we can see in Writing, is something to be very happy about. Our sporting and cultural results are outstanding.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I trust you have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year.</span><br />
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-50408288314521795962018-08-20T12:47:00.000+12:002019-03-30T10:10:18.280+13:00Focusing In<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's August and there's not a whole heap left of the year!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is, however, still time to make a substantial difference if the focus is tight and we know exactly what needs to be done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You will have noticed that during 2018 my broad focus inside this big idea of partnering with whanau and their tamariki in moving from subsistence to capital building citizenship, has been on language.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After spending time wandering around the school the school and talking with learners and teachers, but mostly from working with learners whom I'm "spending time with", I've noticed some things we would all do well to pay attention to in having a sharp focus on a particular subset of language; namely Reading.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think the conversation we will have about this</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">will be at least as important as any ideas I bring you as the 'story starter'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">See what you think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-69607343257925634382018-07-23T12:34:00.000+12:002018-12-10T14:46:44.739+13:00Play, Eat, Learn<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Term 3 is a wonderful time in the school calendar. Because we had our Fiafia in Term 1, we have no big school wide events this term, -nothing to distract the teacher from going for gold in Term 3!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Term 3 focus in Pt England School is a Health/PE led one, called 'Move Ya Body'. Hence the title to this Post. 'Play, Eat, Learn'. Our kids <b>need </b>to play. They <b>need </b>to be creative, -they <b>need </b>to eat well in order to learn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We can help them do this by making it an intentional focus this term. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm suggesting, in fact, that in Term 3 the very best thing to do, is to do the basics very well. Deliver the New Zealand Curriculum <b>Really well!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As always, I have some suggestions for things we ought to consider as we pursue this idea of delivering the curriculum <b>really well </b>without distractions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-45580188312402902022018-05-14T12:22:00.000+12:002018-12-10T12:23:22.095+13:00Resilient Learn Ready Kids become Employment Ready Young People<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the last month I connected with the OECD Report on Resilience which uses the PISA tests over successive years to discover whether learners from the lowest socio-economic quartile across 70 countries, rise, fall or plateau in their test results.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aotearoa/NZ did not perform as strongly as we would have hoped and occupies a position rather central on the chart, instead of where one would hope, in the upper right quadrant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was very interested in the definition the OCED crew used as it seemed remarkable similar to what our learners would have to do to achieve merit or excellence in NCEA. This also links to the language deficit our learners have and why they find it hard to meet these performance characteristics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This led me to continue my inquiry with our staff and CoL teachers, using this report as very valuable point of reference to enable and empower us in our own context to consider what our practice imperatives are to deliver the kind of learners described in the title to this post, to the New Zealand Community.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-91395638400689593072018-03-15T10:44:00.000+13:002018-12-10T12:14:13.296+13:00Data with Purpose, Teaching as Intervention<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've decided I'm quite fed up with a much quoted false dichotomy: -" A teacher is a guide on the side not a sage on the stage".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've decided a teacher is neither. A teacher is a <b>teacher. </b>Teaching is an intervention. Its not just a business where we guide our learners through different stages of development.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If we want and need to get acceleration in learning to the tune of 1.5 years progress in 1 year, we need learning design to be understood as an intentional, focused, evidence based intervention. This is the guts of what teaching is: -understanding where a learner is at, what they already know, what they need to know next and in a highly engaging and relational way, nudging, chivvying, cajoling, demanding that they make <b>their </b>best effort to achieve it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is <b>not </b>a guide on the side, -neither is it a sage on the stage, (perish the thought), it's a <b>TEACHER!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-54157269599864412902018-01-30T08:45:00.000+13:002018-12-10T12:11:58.367+13:00Must Our Children Fail at School?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I finished the summer break and pondered the state of NZ Education as well that of our community and school, the words of this title rang in my head.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I needed a factual, 'no ducking' yet encouraging way to think about this with our staff to focus attention on where we've come from, where we are now and where we'd like to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I hope the the content of this post is a foundation for an ongoing inquiry, with a sharpening focus that lasts through all of 2018. This is a year of Review writ large in education in Aotearoa. What shape should ours take?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I thought about our past, including that of my own family, and all that we've learned along the way and as we wrestle with an over crowed curriculum and the ever increasing constraints of compliance, I decided to coin Vivianne Robinson's phrase as part of my conclusion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Do less to achieve more".</span></div>
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-47926779958104550202017-12-11T21:26:00.000+13:002018-12-10T12:10:18.483+13:002017 Review<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having worked at Pt England since 1991 and wound up the year "in this chair" in 1993, I do celebrate the work and effort, wins and needs to win, of each year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This has been a good one. We certainly have some stuff to work on, but we also have some stuff to celebrate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The embedded screen record below is my "partnership meeting" with our Pt England whanau where we talk about what has gone on during the year and how we might approach things in the New Year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks SO much for supporting us in 2017! We need all of you to make this the village we would all like it to be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-63142180708249666542017-12-04T14:24:00.001+13:002017-12-04T14:24:39.495+13:00<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December, and I really feel like putting the seesaw graphic in there again. -I won't because I'm sure you're all really bored with that one already!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our emerging end of year data shows the need to:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">focus on language acquisition</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">focus on mathematics</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">focus on learner and staff wellbeing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">focus on the environment</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any one of these would normally be at least year's work. As I commented in an earlier post this year, I think the only way ahead is <b>integration</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So.....we have to find a really smart way of putting all these things together so that teachers don't feel as though there are more and more "bolt ons" that nobody can do justice to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're fortunate to have scored 600 hrs of centrally funded PLD, which we can use to apply to the Manaiakalani and Language challenges and equally fortunate to have been offered the opportunity to participate in DMC Mathematics PLD.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we have the money, ...but do we have the time and capability?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately Jannie Van Hees has some exciting ideas about how we could use environmental themes to carry the language development and develop maths and science at the same time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lets see how this plays out!</span></div>
Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-61641561900453065212017-10-27T13:02:00.000+13:002017-12-04T13:16:16.832+13:00Weaving the Mat<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't believe its October already!</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We now have the culmination of our Welcome To School Research along with the combo of in and across schools Teacher Inquiries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Manaiakalani Hui is always an annual watershed of class observational data from WFRC and the Inquiries of our own gifted and dedicated teaching staff. Hard on the heels of this event comes the Manaiakalani Wananga where we get to hear back from the Manaiakalani Outreach clusters in the North, Auckland, Christchurch and the West Coast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This produces a compelling collection of information which has prompted my thinking beyond the last past back in June.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As is frequent for me, I've collected the ideas together into a presentation which I've discussed with staff, providers, Trustees and other audiences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This only serves to strengthen the determination to make Language Acquisition, Development, Sustaining and Transfer the main focus for Inquiry in 2018</span></div>
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-75957152490178310372017-06-30T12:49:00.000+12:002017-12-04T13:02:01.950+13:00Pulling the Threads Together<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">time of year, its always important to learn from one's staff. That's actually really important all the time, but at mid-year in a New Zealand Primary School the best data is formative data that comes from the people working directly with the learners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The source of information for me, along with kids' blogs are the Inquiry Blogs of Pt England teachers and those of the Manaiakalani Kahui Ako. The blogs create a really rich tapestry of threads that are beginning to show some really strong and colourful themes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The theme that I am finding the most urgent and that is commanding my attention more than any other, is that of the <b>acquisition of language </b>of our learners. Its abundantly clear from Teacher Inquiries across schools, levels and subjects that this single but large and complex factor is most significant impactor on whether our learners are doing well or not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem with "noticing and knowing" in education is that it immediately produces a moral imperative. -"So what are we going to do about it?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I'm going to do about it, is starting talking, asking and inquiring myself into:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who could help us with this problem</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">understanding the problem more fully</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">how we would design a strategy to deal with it (this will take all of the 2nd semester)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">appropriating resource to apply to it</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">having something "ready to roll" for Term 1, 2018</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Watch this space!</span></div>
Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-8084851993284614642017-04-03T14:41:00.004+12:002017-04-03T14:41:59.297+12:00Balance through Integration (sharpening the focus)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I've pursued and had repeatedly brought to my attention, this need for balance and a nationally expressed concern for teacher workload, I've been <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/91043057/teachers-opting-for-relief-work-over-fulltime-positions-due-to-heavy-workload" target="_blank">reading</a> and teasing some ideas out for myself.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavhi58bKMAHeQ_6zadEj69KXJ3_yMQFpZroKREZlQYmeVoYMOFgBVUsA2_knaOjpbzcb1zqew2v2hAE2W4s71DLc7a6WN-JG-DhMF0pZXNlxV0QZgJdzJBCtwsPe2-u5ljuyoFWYJItw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-04-03+at+2.39.33+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavhi58bKMAHeQ_6zadEj69KXJ3_yMQFpZroKREZlQYmeVoYMOFgBVUsA2_knaOjpbzcb1zqew2v2hAE2W4s71DLc7a6WN-JG-DhMF0pZXNlxV0QZgJdzJBCtwsPe2-u5ljuyoFWYJItw/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-04-03+at+2.39.33+PM.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you're working with the nation's more fragile families, it's not OK to stop questing for improvement. Equally, if quality, high performing staff are "the goose that lays the golden egg" we don't want to kill the goose by our continual quest for improvement or the improvement certainly will not happen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I notice that in lots of the conversation about these and related challenges the issues or elements rapidly become dichotomous, i.e. <b>this </b>or <b>that; </b>-or this versus that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I kept wondering if our teachers and team leaders as first researchers, were looking for the affordances of "this <b>with </b>that" and how we would balance, plan for and resource that, what that combo might look like and how achievable it might be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I began the year, thinking about how to do what we do really well and have it sustainable. What we are discussing here, emerges as a key sustainability issue and brought about a sharpening focus, from looking into the affordances and balance of digital learning and teaching, to how we might integrate well to enhance the balance and reduce the tension in the system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also continue to think about what we can safely get rid of in the environment of an ever expanding curriculum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-70402621729347596422017-01-24T12:07:00.000+13:002017-04-03T13:10:36.342+12:002017 Inquiry<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had a tremendously positive end to 2016.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been asked by many people, "what are you going to do next? -What's the next big thing?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My answer to all of them is the same. "We've done an <b>enormous </b>thing, -now we need to learn to do it as well as we can"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Doing it as well as we can includes these sorts of challenges:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">how do we balance creativity and joy with the need to push for improvement in the "3R's"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">how do we balance time and teacher work load with improvement in outcomes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">how do we manage high quality teaching as inquiry without overloading high quality teachers?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems entirely appropriate to me that as we continue to inquire into "the affordances of digital learning and teaching, that we focus on consolidating what we have and learning to do it really well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously we will not get the best bang for buck out of all this investment, if "teachers as first researchers" are not able to tease these questions out and be the frontline of discovery for how Learn, Create, Share works.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Below is my usual "start of the year summary" and "big ideas for 2017". Sadly this time there is no dog barking in the background, as at the time this was made our faithful friend (who added song in dog speak to many of my voice-overs), was buried in our back garden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here you go; -a dog free screen record.</span></div>
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Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-16807602317436007922016-12-12T13:03:00.000+13:002017-01-16T15:36:16.706+13:00Summarising 2016<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What an AMAZING year!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-A Woolf Fisher Travelling Fellowship, with so many highlights I can't recount them here, the birth of Felix George, our 2nd grandchild, and a really successful year of Pt England School, Manaiakalani and Manaiakalani Outreach.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With respect to Pt England School, it first should be noted that the Management Team did an absolutely outstanding job with me absent for 3 months, and Toni Nua, who acted as principal, was just magnificent. There was not one single deficit for me to address on return, but conversely the school had continued to pump ahead as well or better than always!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Congratulations Team!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With respect to Manaiakalani, Woolf Fisher, our Research Team from Auckland University, gave us the most concretely encouraging news we've ever had in this long journey of improving school. Their confirmation of the "Manaiakalani Dosage Effect", which you will hear more of in this report, was the most heartening thing we've heard in ages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We also received our first research reports on the Manaiakalani Outreach and they also, were more encouraging than I would have expected when we first sat down to plan the Outreach. Once again, most heartening indeed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am immensely grateful for the support and encouragement of so many people they can't be named. Just a few though, have to get a mention:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From Pt England, the Management and Support Team of Juanita, Garth, Toni, Donna, Leigh and Charlotte have just got to know that they are up there with any winning representative side this country has.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From Manaiakalani, the "Business End" of Pat, Jenny, Dorothy, Fiona, Anne, Lenva and Dave are also right there with all of the country's finest and best.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Results like these, across a very broad front of activity do not happen by chance, are the results of really hard work, but also require the blessing of Providence to be achieved and sustained. As always, we humbly express our sincere and deep gratitude to Someone much higher than us. God, who makes all this work possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As usual, I've provided a "voiced over" version of my 2016 report to our community and Board of Trustees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-85452628961922397362016-11-21T22:01:00.000+13:002016-11-21T22:01:01.010+13:00Changing Teacher Practice to get Kids Employed<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again I'm bringing you a summarised version of something I've had to present to others in this school term. On this occasion I was speaking to a group of Deputy Secretaries from the NZ Ministry of Education. Afterward they asked for a copy of my presentation, so I thought I would keep the record straight by posting it on my blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The short story is: -If we want our lowest SES Maori and Pasifika kids employed, we need to change the way we do school. Improved practice = Kids @ Work!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603862754371476016.post-11644659556353105882016-11-19T21:18:00.000+13:002016-11-19T21:18:50.725+13:00Harmonising the Curriculum to bring Enlightenment<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This month I had the great privilege to speak to a mixed audience of the OECD and the New Zealand Ministry of Education about Equity, Access and Inclusion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was an honour to speak to people who are working on these wicked problems and genuinely trying to do something about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My screen record of this presentation didn't come our quite a well as I'd hoped, but I think it still conveys adequately what I was hoping to share.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I trust you find this valuable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Russell Burthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050295111911813257noreply@blogger.com0