Learning in School

Seesaw

Seesaw gives students a place to document their learning, be creative and learn how to use technology.

Each student has their own journal and will add things to it such as photos, videos, drawings, and notes.

Regular reporting posts will also be added to Seesaw showing student’s progress against the curriculum.

When there are new posts, families can be notified via app notification, email, or text message.

Parents are only notified about their own child’s work, and all data is safe and secure.

Check out this link to find out more about Seesaw.

Get Seesaw for your device. Seesaw requires an invitation from your teacher. Please contact your child’s teacher here.

Pause, Breath, Smile

Aligns with the New Zealand education curriculum (NZC) in the following ways:

Key Competencies: Mindfulness brings an experiential element to learning which foster the key competencies of the NZC as outlined below.

Learning Areas: The Health and Physical Education, Social Sciences and Science learning areas are clearly linked with each lesson of Pause, Breathe, Smile.

Te Whare Tapa Whā: An eloquent model of hauora (holistic wellbeing) from a Māori perspective is incorporated within Pause, Breathe, Smile.

Teaching Teams (Hubs)

Kapa Haka

All our students have the opportunity to participate in Kapa Haka. We have two Roopu that practice regularly and attend the Tuwharetoa Kapa Haka festival annually.

Learning Through Play

The Koru Hub (Timata, Rooms 1, 2 and 3) teachers are focusing on children’s engagement in their learning. To do this we are investigating learning through play, and this learning is child focused and uses their interests to promote engagement. Literacy and numeracy skills are still taught in small groups as well as through play based activities.

STEAM

STEAM is an approach to teaching and learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics. It has four guiding principles; it is challenge based, has subject integration, teaches 21st Century skills and involves real world connections. Within STEAM we use a range of tools that help to reinforce the knowledge and skills that we teach, such as Sphero, micro:bit, Osmo and building materials.

Enviro Group

Enviro students meet every Friday lunchtime. Parents and a grandparent take turns working with the students. The children weed, plant and harvest in the vegetable gardens. They mulch around the fruit trees and in the bush walk. We have a worm farm that needs to be fed and the worm wee is used as fertiliser. Food scraps are collected to feed pigs and they are responsible for ensuring classes have a recycling system. We have flower and pumpkin growing competitions and have even been on an overnight camp.

Kids Greening Taupo

We have 10 students who represent our school in Kid’s Greening Taupo. These students meet every Friday with Rachel (the education coordinator) as we begin our restoration project. The students are leading our school in developing our bush walk so it becomes a green corridor that will attract birds.