The Communications and Resources Team was established at the beginning of Ko Taku Reo, in July 2020. As a team and as a school, we have now been in operation for one year!

Our purpose in the Communications and Resources division is to provide high-quality learning experiences for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. This includes creating and providing accessible learning resources related to the curriculum, language development (in NZSL, English, Māori), and social skills development.

Our second purpose is to empower Ko Taku Reo staff to succeed in their roles. We provide accessible communication services, professional development resources, IT training, IT resources, and infrastructure and we facilitate information and communication across the school.

The first year has been one of growth. Some of the ways we have grown our services to students and whānau as well as to Ko Taku Reo staff include:

Growing the confidence and use of Zoom for all staff so that staff is able to facilitate learning for students online and communicate with each other across the country. Becoming a national organisation has meant learning new ways of connecting, teaching, and sharing information about effective teaching and learning.

Growing our digital library resources with more ebooks and digital content for students and teachers now available. This is continuing to grow, the benefits are that the resources are available for download immediately when needed. We continue to provide a physical library service. Physical books are still very much part of the resources available to students.

Growing the range and number of video translations of stories in NZSL available to students and whānau. We have also begun the process of updating Turi TV, our online video platform. Be on the lookout for a more streamlined and user-friendly experience when accessing our video content.

We have established a new website for Ko Taku Reo, this is growing and evolving and we are reviewing pages to make sure that the information is relevant to parents, partner schools, and stakeholders.

We are still in the early stages of new growth but are excited to be one year in on the journey to help raise student academic achievement and wellbeing.

Ngā mihinui

Andrew Townshend

Director of Communications and Resources