We are off to a flying start for the year, with lots of buzzy learning happening across all groups. This article will explain a little more about how our hubs are operating and what our learning spaces look like in action.

This year we have changed our hub organisation to operate as two hubs: our year 1-3 Koru Hub and our year 4-6 Pōhutukawa Hub. We did this based on conversations and noticings across the past few years with parents and whānau, teachers, and ākonga (students). We felt that a year 3 and 4 grouping system was not always meeting the needs of our year 3 students in particular, and we felt that they needed a slightly different programme from our older year 4 students. We felt that going back to the two hub structure we started our school with would allow for this to happen. 

Both hubs operate as one large team, with several shared groups within it. 

Koru Hub 

Koru operates with three shared groups. The team works and plans collaboratively across all groups, and comes together for some activities and learning. At other times it operates in its three separate groups, while still all following the same overall learning programme, adjusted slightly in each area depending on the age and needs of ākonga in the group. 

• Māwhero is the learning space for our new five year olds. The group is based in the pink carpet learning space. There are two whānau groups in this space - Angela's and Wee Ai's - and both groups have the students who have all recently turned five. Navy is the teacher aide supporting in this space, and Amelia also teaches in there several days a week, releasing Angela and Wee Ai. 
• Kākāriki shared group is based in the learning space with green carpet. Aleesha, Hannah and Lily are the three kaiako based in this space, and their whānau groups have older year 1 and year 2 ākonga.
• Kōwhai shared group is based in the learning space with yellow carpet, and Sophia's, Kate's and Lauren's whānau groups are based there. Their whānau groups have year 2 and year 3 ākonga in them. 

Although Kōwhai and Kākāriki are separate shared groups, they still operate together as a larger main group within Koru. They run some of their learning activities separately with the two shared groups, and for other learning they operate across both groups. There is a third learning space called Karaka (orange carpet) in the middle of the hub that both shared groups use flexibly in a range of different ways. 

Pōhutukawa Hub

Pōhutukawa is made up of six whānau groups. Two year 4 whānau groups are based upstairs with Rupert and Sarah, and four whānau groups - with a mix of year 5 and 6 students in each group - are based downstairs with Brydon, Emma, Charlotte and Gar Kee. 

The hub team operates as one team, in much the same way that Koru Hub does. They all plan together and follow the same general learning programme, but the year 4 team upstairs may adjust the programme and run it slightly differently to meet the needs of their younger students, where needed. 

To start the year, the two larger shared groups (one upstairs and one downstairs) have stayed fairly separate. The year 4 whānau groups have operated as one shared group, and the four whānau groups for year 5/6 operate as another shared group. This separation has enabled the two shared groups to have a very settled start to the year, setting up clear routines and expectations, and being very consistent about how things are done. As the year goes on and those routines and expectations become embedded and 'business as usual', the groups will begin to 'flex' more, with ākonga moving more fluidly between the two floors at times.  

The photos below show the learning in action over the first couple of weeks across the two hubs.