St Peters Catholic Primary School (Caboolture)
Pat has worked in our school as a consultant in the area of reading and writing over the last 5 years. We have employed her for seminars for whole staff PD Sessions as well as in a mentoring capacity for whole of year levels or single teachers. Pat is very well received by teachers who see her as a practising teacher rather than a visiting educational theorist. Her experience in the classroom and as a reading recovery teacher means all of her ideas are practical and manageable in real classrooms. She has the ability to work with teachers of all levels of experience and enthusiasm. Pat’s passion for effective literacy teaching in schools is evident and the organizational and pedagogical methods she espouses have proven to be effective in our school.
Any improvement in educational outcomes is at the mercy of what teachers decide to think and do in their own classrooms. Much money is wasted because so much PD ends up having no effect on what is actually happening in the room regardless of the validity of the theory or who is giving the direction. In the dynamics of the real classroom teachers respond to consultants who are at the coalface, modeling, observing and providing feedback. Pat Edgar is an educator of the highest caliber who engages her students completely. Teachers connect with her and seem eager to try her ideas.
- Jim Midgley, Principal
Crescent Lagoon State School (Rockhampton)
Thank you Pat!
We have loved having you here this week. It has been rewarding to spend time learning and talking about Reading. We have all gained new knowledge, confirmed our good practices and re-gained energy and enthusiasm to put new ideas into place.
We look forward to working with you again.
- The Cresso Team
Nanango State School
Nanango State School doesn’t often get the opportunity to work with experts or to access professional development without the hassle of distance being a constraint. Pat Edgar came to our school for two one week blocks, to assist the whole staff with the teaching of reading. She was able to tailor a professional development program to meet the needs of Nanango State School staff and students.
During the time Pat was here she presented workshops and class demonstrations. She facilitated planning sessions and worked with management teams on implementation strategies. She worked with us to analyse student data and what we needed to do to improve our literacy levels. By the time she left here we had the outline necessary to implement a reading block throughout the school with all staff members talking the same lingo. I considered it a privilege and a pleasure to work with her. Pat continually went the extra mile and I would highly recommend her to any school that wants to improve its literacy levels and programs.
- Kylie Heiner, Head of Curriculum.
As Deputy Principal of our school, I highly valued the work that Pat Edgar did with our staff in helping to improve the teaching of literacy. Pat’s knowledge of literacy teaching and learning, combined with her skills at communicating with professionals, has meant that our teachers and teacher aides were well equipped and enthusiastic to begin a new approach to the teaching of literacy. That our staff was willing and able to commit to such a big change in their teaching practice is a credit to Pat’s abilities as a consultant.
- Merewyn Wright, Deputy Principal.
Healy State School (Mt Isa District)
Earlier this year Healy State School accessed the services of Pat Edgar Education Consultancy through a suggestion from our teacher aides who had attended a Pat Edgar workshop late in 2005. Deb Tyson was the visiting consultant to our school and I can personally say that I have never learnt so much about my beliefs and mindsets with regards to reading. During our four hour workshop Deb covered every aspect that I had discussed prior to her arrival and my teachers were engaged for the entire time. Deb covered all aspects of reading from administering and analysing running records to the behavioural aspects of student reading including guided reading.
The best part about our relationship with Deb and Pat is the follow up assistance and communication we are receiving. Deb is assisting our school literacy coordinator in redesigning our school reading resources and will be returning to Healy in the not too distant future to take a closer look at guided reading in the classroom and to work on the redesign process. From where I sit reading at Healy has a positive future thanks to our partnership with the Pat Edgar Education Consultancy.
- Mr Luke Baills, Principal
Norris Road State School (Brisbane North)
During 2004 and 2005 Norris Road State School engaged the services of Pat Edgar Education Consultancy to help develop:
- a whole school literacy block approach
- improved literacy teaching pedagogy
- devise appropriate assessment and monitoring procedures for literacy.
Debbie Tyson became our school's resident literacy consultant and was a wonderful support and mentor for me in my role as literacy coordinator. Debbie provided our staff with numerous professional development sessions and classroom workshops in which she actively demonstrated practical teaching techniques and resourcing for reading and writing.
Debbie is a joy to work with. She is professional and reliable. Debbie takes a genuine interest in our school's literacy needs and our opinions. She has helped us to achieve better literacy standards within the school.
- Robyne Harris, Literacy Coordinator
Birkdale South State School (South Brisbane)
This is the second time our school has engaged Pat Edgar’s Consultancy Team. Initially the team worked on reading strategies with our Early Phase Teachers, involving comprehensive investigation and implementation of Guided Reading.
In 2005, during the process of analyzing our Testing Data it became obvious that we needed to dig down into the Teaching of Comprehension with our Middle Phase teachers and students. We initially did some Workshops revolving around The Four Resource Model, Organisational Frameworks, Comprehension – Explicit, Inferential and Evaluative and the TORCH Tests; which were identified elements of the CALM program that participating members of staff saw as the most desirable for further discussion.
In 2006, Deb Tyson has begun the process of mentoring and coaching each of our Year level teams in a Class Literacy Analysis; Unpacking, implementing and analyzing the results of the Torch Test and other widely available sources of data; Effective Grouping from the Torch Diagnostic component and determining the appropriate strategies to increase student sustained performance; Modeling and individual coaching on the implementation of a Literacy Block in the style that bet suits the class teacher’s personal class management preferences, with a focus on Shared and Guided Reading. Our participants feedback has been very positive, with teachers planning and demonstrating a Guided Reading lesson for Deb identified as the most personally challenging, but most beneficial element of the process as it promoted professional dialogue among colleagues and created a purpose for reflecting on practice and trying new / modeled behaviours in a supported partnership.
Part of our brief has been to audit our Literacy Resources and determine the best way to have maximum accessibility across all year levels to quality material in a centralization process. Advice and recommended examples have been invaluable.
Professional conduct and expert knowledge combined with the ability to customize and tailor this program to our identified needs makes me feel assured that we are impacting on classroom practice for staff and students, enhancing teaching repertoire and confidence.
Loreyse Agnew-Green, Deputy Principal
Newtown State School (Toowoomba)
Pat has recently spent two days in our school. The first day was a pupil-free day and Pat worked with the staff on the teaching of reading, including guided and shared reading and also classroom management ideas. Throughout the second day, Pat demonstrated guided and shared reading lessons in lower, middle and upper classes. This gave teachers the opportunity to see lessons at their year levels. All staff involved thought the two days were very valuable and appreciated Pat’s practical approaches to the teaching of reading. The workshop handouts and material have also been invaluable for teachers to use to follow up on ideas from the sessions. All teachers seem to have a renewed drive to modify and improve their literacy blocks to best meet the needs of students using the ideas Pat has presented. There have been many requests already to organise further visits from Pat in the future.
Sue Vidler - Literacy Coordinator
Wilston State School (North Brisbane)
Deb is very well respected and regarded by all staff members, including administration, teaching staff and teacher aides. Workshops for whole staff and smaller group scenarios are always professionally presented. The teachers and teacher aides appreciate the concise and hands on approach Deb uses and can easily make connections to their own classroom practice.
Over time Deb has become a member of our team. We have seen huge changes in the pedagogy of teaching literacy at our school. Personally as the Head of Curriculum I have found the support Deb has given me to be invaluable. Having a positive and supportive consultant who has such an in depth knowledge of literacy has meant that our school has been carry out a long term plan of implementation.
All schools prioritize literacy: for our school having Deb run whole staff workshops model for the teachers, act as a critical friend and to support me in my role has been one of the most significant and successful initiatives Wilston State School has undertaken in my time at this school (16 years)
Fiona Clark - Head of Curriculum
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