We’ve had a great start to the year in Koru Hub.

This year, we introduced a new layout, with Te Rito rōpū (Year 0–1 ākonga) and Koru rōpū (Year 1–3 ākonga). While we are in two rōpū, we are still one hub, and it has been important to us to create opportunities for our ākonga to connect and learn together.

One way we’ve done this is through our Inquiry learning. Over three afternoons, a mixed group of ākonga from both Te Rito and Koru worked together, building relationships and learning alongside each other.

We’ve also brought our tamariki together through our tuakana/teina time on Friday afternoons, where one whānau group from Te Rito pairs up with one from Koru. This has been a special time for our older and younger ākonga to connect and support one another.

It has also been lovely to see ākonga choosing to spend time together across the hub during break times (especially on those wet days!), making the most of our shared spaces.

Another focus for us this term has been our personal goals.

The Koru rōpū revisited our hub treaty from last year and felt really strongly that it still reflects who we are, so no changes were needed.

From there, we encouraged our ākonga to look a little deeper at themselves and think about what they personally wanted to work on. This connected beautifully with our Journey of Growth and Development goals, especially those related to connectedness. Our ākonga spent time reflecting on their own behaviours and identifying ways they could grow. We saw a range of thoughtful goals, including:

• Protect: for example, taking care of our environment by picking up rubbish outside.

• Participate: such as working with different people and finding a good learning buddy.

• Partnership: including taking responsibility for actions, saying sorry, and giving others space when needed.

It has been really special to see the ākonga taking ownership of their goals and beginning to put these into action in their everyday learning and play.

Finally, Module 1 of inquiry has been an absolute hit with our ākonga this term! They have loved exploring the scientific process, especially making predictions and forming hypotheses.

Some of our favourite investigations included watching what happens when food colouring is dropped into milk and then touched with dish soap, as well as the always exciting Mentos and Coke experiment!

Along the way, we have also been introduced to Newton’s three laws of motion and are now starting to explore one of these more deeply. We can’t wait to see where our ākonga take their learning next term!

We’re really proud of the way our tamariki are growing as learners and as part of our Koru Hub whānau.