Reflections of how the model is working in Rocking Rua

How is the model working?
It has been working really well but my main concern is the amount of time spent
on Immersion/Organise. We spend two weeks on Immersion and then move to Organise but there seems to be a large overlap and organising our learning takes over half our time. Am I spending too long on this?
I don’t think this reflects the need for change but I need to have colleague discussions on this to see if others are finding the same.

Within each stage, are there any issues arising?
Each stage is easy to follow and we have clear guidelines on the expectations of each stage. It is more of the time factor that is an issue for me.

Do we need to make any changes to our Assessment rubric?
In the Communication of Results: The jump from stage 2 to 3 is large and on stage 2 the child can share the answer to one question but on stage 3 they are clearly and confidently reporting and providing supporting evidence. Could this be broken down further? It seems that students are confidently answering their questions but need a lot more guidance to go further and provide supporting evidence.

Can you suggest any ways to further our understanding of Inquiry?
I think that PD into other schools may help our understanding but I wonder if collegial discussions might provide further understanding. We seem to go off and complete the tasks but bring very little back to each other. Our facilitator checks in with all of us and we can ask questions etc but we don’t seem to have these discussions with each other. An understanding of how Inquiry is working in younger/older classes could be beneficial for us.

Discuss the use of ICT in Inquiry?
Where would Rocking Rua be without it!!!
The integration of ICT tools in Inquiry seems natural and provides further stimulating learning. The students are keen to use the tools for research and enjoy adding photographic evidence if able. They are becoming more confident users and the tools are used daily during our Inquiry.

How is supporting documentation going?
I think that the documentation is enough. It provides clear links on what is going to happen and how it is going to happen. I find our documentation thorough and easy to use.

What PD would you find useful for 2010?
I was thinking that visiting other schools could be useful but only if they are following a similar path of Inquiry.
Could PD on a particular stage be more useful? Do we use the same tools as others to get to the next stage?