Posts by Peter Martin

  • Up Front: Another Brick in the Wall,

    Timely post Emma. We visit the nice Lady from the Ministry tomorrow for our first meeting on transition from primary to intermediate school. No doubt it will be the usual labyrinth . ;)

    While I confess to having little or no understanding of how your daughter's disability affects her cognitively, there is more than one way to get her through those literacy credits to achieve Level 1 NCEA.


    The Literacy Unit Standards do indeed require some kind of interaction or conversation but students only need to use these if they can't get 10 Literacy credits through the Achievement Standard pathway. The standards you are referring to are part of the second Literacy pathway for youngsters to get NCEA Level 1. Kids can get Level 1 Literacy through Achievement standards from across the curriculum now and not just in English. If they're doing an Achievement Standard course they need ten credits in Achievement Standards that are tagged for literacy - so that might be a Geography AS or a Science one.


    The bulk of our kids in NZ secondary schools will be getting Literacy through the Achievement Standards. So if a youngster has has some learning difficulties or cannot get up in front of a class or hold a conversation, it doesn't necessarily end there for them. If a student is still able to write a report or study a short story and discuss it in writing in an external exam or do an Earth Science topic as an internal in their science class they can still clock up the required literacy standards throughout the year.


    The subject of English is no longer the gatekeeper of literacy and you'd be hoping that her teachers across the curriculum could be looking at standards she could do that get her the required literacy credits without the stress of speaking or conversing.

    I am not an expert on this and am grateful for the help I received in posting this and I hope it helps allay some of the stress for a while.

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Ed Muzik,

    Woah, hold up. You know how you could avoid playing in 3 degrees? Play games in the afternoon.

    When it's five degrees? Sitting facing a southerly is never fun...any time of the day or night. *l*
    I have no problem with day time games. No problem with Sky or the NZRFU helping with the costs for the ratepayer.
    I note in that respect, a comment I came across elsewhere along the lines that the Chch CBD was well in retreat prior to the quakes and that the new green areas reflect that...and also serve to maintain if not increase the value of the rest of the land. Which is nice of the ratepayers of Chch to help the developers maintain their equity whilst increasing the cost of new building. :)

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to James W,

    You are spot on with the advantages of an enclosed stadium down this way. One down side is that cricket can’t be played in a stadium with a roof. I understand that there are plans for a separate cricket ground, which might yet auger well for a roofed venue happening.

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Briefing, blaming, backing down,

    Problem is, we have no reliable method of assessing teacher competency in our public schools.

    I understand the most recent PISA results are out and indicate that NZ school children are in the top five country's across the board. And NZ schools are in the bottom five of funding.
    Perhaps the gap between funding and results might be the teacher competency?

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • OnPoint: Peek-a-boo, I can't recall…,

    blithering wing-man

    That almost should be in capitals, like Speaker of the House.

    *laff*

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: A storm in any port,

    I still think Auckland should have a working port, especially if the alternative is yet more luxury apartments.

    A recent article in Salon...'That dock would make a great park. The water view is perfect for a new loft. Will gentrification kill shipping?'

    http://www.salon.com/2012/03/10/on_the_waterfront_the_battle_rages_on/singleton/

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • Muse: The Good Word, Bad Numbers and The…,

    when well-established english words are sommersaulted into a non-sense meaning of what they are universally understood to mean , you have to wonder what is going on…

    The normal wax and wane that is the idiom. It's neither good nor bad. Permanent or transitory. It is just what ya use now. :)

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: This Is Not A Complicated Issue,

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: This Is Not A Complicated Issue,

    anyone tried finding a teacher or community classes to learn signing ?

    My son has lessons from The Robbie White Trust in Dunedin . The signer takes a lesson at school so that the whole class and teacher gets to learn it as well. If Parliamentary Services have any loot left over , I know of a Trust it could go to...

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: This Is Not A Complicated Issue,

    This is not a partisan issue, it’s a parliamentary services issue – it just so happens that the speaker is a Nat.

    I have to wonder if a deal of the 'she/the Greens knew about the deafness before she was elected thus it's up to her' is because she is a Green...

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 181 posts Report Reply

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