Our Learning Programmes for Term 1

Inquiry/Literacy as Integrated Learning - Te Reo matatini: This term we are going to be looking at Connectedness as our concept of inquiry, through diverse cultural lenses including Mātauranga Māori. We are going to be integrating our inquiry through the other learning areas of our curriculum (including the Technology at Hobsonville programme), and learning foci will be based around the NZ curriculum, the students’ needs and interests, and local curriculum contexts. Our reading and writing will be connected to our inquiry learning. A range of different text types, such as personal and traditional storytelling, journal articles and stories, poetry and online resources, will be used to further develop our reading skills and act as information sources or inspiration for our own writing.

Mathematics - Pāngarau: Teachers will resume our work with professional learning and development facilitator, Lucie Cheeseman, this term. We continue to see positive shifts in the mindsets and attitudes towards maths from both our teachers and students as a result of this professional learning, and are excited to continue on the journey to encourage all students to see themselves as mathematicians in 2024. We endeavour to set our students up for success by providing frontloading workshops prior to their collaborative problem solving sessions, which will provide evidence of their understanding on the relevant maths objectives. Our aim is to expose our students to a range of rich mathematical tasks to challenge their thinking with an accelerated model. At Year 7/8, the different strands of the mathematics curriculum are woven together into practical and abstract problem-solving contexts, and Term 1 will have a focus on patterns and algebra.

Te Reo Māori - We are continuing to integrate Te Reo Māori more holistically within the learning spaces. Using the New Zealand Histories Curriculum, students will gain a greater understanding of new words, sayings/instructions, sentence structure, stories, waiata, and history, so they can be a more informed member of Aotearoa. We utilise our expert teachers to guide us deepen our te reo Māori knowledge, and to strengthen our Kapa Haka and Māori Student Voice.

Physical Education - Whakaako tinana: As a team, we focus on fitness and movement skills as well as TGFU (Teaching Games For Understanding). This term our PE sessions will incorporate small ball striking and fielding skills, which can be used in summer sports like cricket, softball and tennis. We will also be swimming and conducting fitness sessions regularly throughout the week. All Year 7/8 students will be attending swimming sessions in the mornings, starting Week 2, and will be informed which day(s) they need to be resourced with swimming gear in Week 1. We expect students to participate in all physical education to the best of their ability as it is a very important part of the curriculum. It is an expectation that your child has a spare change of clothes (shorts and school P.E. shirt), and a school bucket hat every day for Physical Education activities. Our school P.E. shirt is available to purchase for $48.00 Argyleonline. This shirt can also be used when participating in Norwest sports opportunities. If your child is unable to participate in any activities, please contact your child’s teacher/s with a reason.

Technology at Hobsonville School - Hangarau i Onekiritea: We are very excited to continue our very own Tech Department in 2024. Every Friday we will have Technology and Arts education in the Year 7/8 Campus. During the year, students will complete eight rotations - Multi Materials (Wood/Metal) Technology, Food Technology, Visual Arts, Music, Creative Technology, Science, Dance/Drama and Sports Science. To meet the safety policies and to participate in technology classes, students need to wear closed-in shoes. Long hair that sits on or below the collar must be tied back and long fringes must also be clipped or held back from the eyes with a hair tie, clip or headband. On this day we encourage our Year 7/8 students to wear either their PE shirt, or their house shirt.

Introducing our Tech Teachers:

Multi Materials (Wood/Metal) - Dewald Immink
dewald.immink@hobsonville.school.nz

Visual Arts - Stacey Osborne
stacey.osborne@hobsonville.school.nz

Food - Rachael Blair
rachael.blair@hobsonville.school.nz

Science - Sujatha Mahalingam
sujatha.mahalingam@hobsonville.school.nz

Music - Mary Laing
mary.laing@hobsonville.school.nz

Dance/Drama - Lauren Ambags
lauren.ambags@hobsonville.school.nz

Creative Technology - Kayla Kenmuir
kayla.kenmuir@hobsonville.school.nz

Sports Science - Dylan Williams
dylan.williams@hobsonville.school.nz

Garden to Table: All groups of students will have the opportunity to learn different kitchen skills by participating in cooking and baking in the kitchen. They will also get the opportunity to further develop their gardening skills and help take care of our school garden. Students will be planting, learning about what is in season, and using these produce as part of their kitchen recipes.

Kaitiakitanga (Guardianship/Protection practices and values) and Maramataka (Traditional Maori Lunar Calendar) are an important focus within all our GTT sessions.

In our Garden to Table sessions, all students will be learning about how we can take care of our environment by reducing our waste. We at Hobsonville School want to reduce our waste. We will be promoting Waste Free lunches every day of the week. This encourages all students to bring no waste to school and to empty their food out of their individual packets. This will help our school reduce its overall amount of rubbish in our bins, and rubbish that is left outside during break times.

In Term 1 for Garden to Table, there is a donation of $5.00 per child, to help cover the costs of the materials, garden supplies, and pantry items.