Information+about+this+Year's+Organisation

This year in a Nutshell  There will be five types of learning experiences on offer to all teachers involved in the Otepoti Cluster this year. 
 * In School Support
 * Best Practice Bus Trips (held over two years)
 *  Virtual Syndicate Meetings
 *  Hands-on Workshops
 * Otepoti Mini-Conference

There will be four Bus Trips over the next two years. Two bus trips will be offered this year and two in 2010. Each teacher chooses when and which bus trip they would like to go on, you may only attend one bus trip. In the morning during the bus trip we will visit schools who have already completed an ICTPD Contract. After lunch we will complete a workshop to reflect on the practice we have seen. An invitation for interest and booking these bus trips will be sent all schools in a future e-newsletter.
 * Best Practice Bus Trip 2009 and 2010**

These will be virtual in a sense that they will not be an official syndicate, you will meet physically in a place. Schools out of town can be skyped in, email Disa to organise this. We will hold these at the Mornington Community Centre so that everyone wanting to attend, can have access to the internet without complications. There will be a VSM in terms 1, 2 and 3. They will be a chance to discuss ideas and practice with other teachers from other schools about a specific focus/topic. The number of syndicates will depend on the demand from you. You can choose to participate in the virtual syndicates, they will be an opportunity to meet other teachers and discuss what they are doing in their classrooms. VSM will be held from 4pm-5pm and afternoon tea will be provided.
 * Virtual Syndicate Meetings (VSM)**

These will be held from 1pm-4pm so will require afternoon release from your school. The topics will be generated by teacher request and workshops can be repeated if they are popular. Let us know what you or better yet a group of teachers are interested in covering.  **In School Support** This is when the facilitators will visit the schools. This time may be used for one-on-one visits or something else your school has decided to use the facilitator time for to support ongoing ICT/e-learning development in your school. This time should support your Teaching Inquiries (Action Research Projects) 
 * Hands-on Workshop**

During the year each teacher will work on a Teaching Inquiry (Action Research Project) just like the Lead Teachers did in 2008. Your Lead Teachers will support you in this and can explain more about this process. At the Mini-Conference in Term 4 those teachers who feel comfortable to share these projects to small groups in the cluster will have an opportunity to do so and everyone in the cluster will have a chance to see what some people have been doing. This will be similar to the Virtual Syndicate Meetings but there will be a lot more people presenting their work so you will be able to choose what you listen and learn about.
 * Otepoti Mini Conference**