Child Study

Melissa Heng

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Oranga Primary
❖ Decile 3
❖ 368 Students
➢ 175 females, 193 males
❖ 16 classes
❖ Contributing school, Years 1 – 6
❖ All Students in English Medium
❖ Zoned
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Demographics

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 om 6
Ro

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Room 6 Year 5/6

❖ 27 students
❖ 15 males, 12 females
❖ Curriculum areas chosen:
➢ Maths
➢ English
➢ Maori

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Room 6 Year 5/6

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Child L Female; 9 years, 6 months

❖ NZ European
❖ Only child
❖ Enjoys reading, playing with friends
❖ Reading level: Above
❖ Writing level: Above
❖ Numeracy level: Above

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 Child L MATHS

❖ Highest group for numeracy

❖ Does work quietly and is always on task
❖ Generally works on her own but doesn’t hesitate to
ask peers or teachers for help when needed
❖ Listens well to instructions and does what she’s told
❖ Sometimes she will ask the teacher for if there are
other things to do after she’s completed the
previous one

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Child L MATHS

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Child L ENGLISH
❖ Highest group for literacy
❖ Sits quietly on the mat while teacher is reading
aloud
❖ Often sits with peers from the same group when
doing novel study
❖ Always on task and is often an early finisher
❖ With writing, she tends to seek approval from the
teacher about her independent writing topic
❖ Seldom contribute to whole class discussions but
fairly involved when in small groups
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Child L ENGLISH

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Child L ART

❖ Tries her best even if she doesn’t excel in it

❖ Generally on task and will ask for help when
needed
❖ Occasionally looks to peers for ideas to
ensure that she’s on the right track
❖ Often works quietly on her own unless group
discussion is needed

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 Child L FINDINGS
❖ Academically strong student
❖ Soft spoken child, but has a very determined and
focused attitude when it comes to studies
❖ Spends time with the same group of female friends,
doesn’t really hang out with the boys
❖ Where to next?
➢ Encourage her to make own decisions without
constantly seeking approval from teachers or
peers
➢ Encourage her to speak up more and possibly
pair with a weaker peer so she can guide them
while at the same time giving herself a challenge 13
Child W Male; 10 years, 6 months

❖ Tongan
❖ Only child
❖ Enjoys rugby, playing video games,
playing outside
❖ Reading level: At standard
❖ Writing level: Below
❖ Numeracy level: Below
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Child W MATHS
❖ In the lowest numeracy group
❖ Gets distracted and restless if the task is too
simple or difficult
❖ More focused when he is on the mat with the
teacher
❖ Always sits with his friends who distracts him
❖ His short attention span results in him often
being off task
❖ Doesn’t really challenge himself in Mathletics
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Child W MATHS

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Child W ENGLISH
❖ In the middle group for literacy
❖ Tends to zone out halfway through reading
aloud
❖ Always sit with peers and seem to be always
chatting and distracted
❖ He engages better when there are more visuals,
rather than a page of words
❖ Has trouble with spelling but doesn’t ask
teacher for correct spelling
❖ Often off task
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Child W ENGLISH

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Child W ART

❖ Engaged in activities that were related to

himself eg. creating a collage about himself
❖ Gets bored easily, which results in him being
a distraction to others
❖ Not afraid to make himself heard
❖ Depending on the activity, he might put in a
lot of effort or just scribble so that he can be
done with it

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Child W ART

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 Child W FINDINGS
❖ He is not academically strong and particularly in
writing and Maths.
❖ He has a very short attention span and gets
distracted very easily by peers. He also tends to
distract his peers.
❖ He is a very active child and likes to walk around the
class. He needs to be constantly engaged or will get
bored.
❖ He is a friendly and generally polite child to both
teachers and peers.
❖ He is always keen to help the teacher when she
needs errands to be run.
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 Child W FINDINGS
❖ Where to next?
➢ He needs to be slightly challenged so that it
doesn’t bore him but pushes him enough to
keep him engaged.
➢ As he seems to be more focused on activities
that are about him, writing tasks could have
topics related to his life so that he’ll be more
inclined to write.
➢ He seems to be more of a visual and
kinesthetic learner, so including resources
that are more visually appealing and
hands-on could possibly help him learn
better. 22
Data recorded On task/off task

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 Implications for my practice
❖ Curriculum content has to be relevant to the
students in order to engage them, which
encourages them to take ownership and
responsibility of their learning (Fraser & Hill, 2016).
❖ Establishing good relationships and expectations
with students is key at the start of the year so
that students know the routine.
❖ Include activities that cater to a variety of
learning styles so that students can learn more
effectively as every child learns differently.
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 Implications for my practice
❖ I would encourage more peer-assisted learning
in my classroom, paring stronger students with
weaker ones to provide them with opportunities
to share ideas and support each other’s
learning. This allows students to learn from and
help each other as well as deepen their
understanding through teaching of their peers
(Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner, & Krause, 2013).

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 References
❖ Duchesne, S., McMaugh, A., Bochner, S., & Krause, K.
(2013). Educational Psychology for Learning and
Teaching. (4th ed.). Victoria, Australia: Cengage
Learning.

❖ Fraser, D., & Hill, M. (2016). The Professional Practice

of Teaching in New Zealand. (5th ed.). Victoria,
Australia: Cengage Learning.

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