Because we continue to take many more in-zone enrolments between now and the first day of school 2024, we delay working out class/teacher placements until much nearer the start of the 2024 school year. In January alone, we sometimes enrol close to 50 students with a surge of new enrolments (across all year levels), as well as factoring in any school leavers.

We will of course communicate this to you before the first day of 2024, and just wanted to make families aware now.

Here are our projected timeframes for communication (please note the dates):

Tuesday 23rd January: Classroom placements confirmed and parents/students advised via email. This will also include information about stationery orders (through OfficeMax online) and optional BYOD (bring your own device) info for Tūī Rua/Kāhu students.
Thursday 25th January 1.00pm-3.00pm: Optional Meet the Teacher drop-in session. This will be held at school and our teachers will be on site to enable you and your child to call in and say "hi".
Tuesday 30th January: First day of school 2024.

So…. How do we work out our classes?

Since opening we have enrolled over 750 students. You will appreciate that it is a complex process to ensure that we stay within our staffing budgets (set by the Ministry of Education), yet also have the ability to cope with growth at all year levels.

During 2020-2023 we have been really pleased with how we have managed this, with all classes having teacher:student ratios below to well below the norm, and we have also avoided the need to shift any students from class to class to free up space. In a growing school, there is a lot to factor in. Firstly we have to look at how many students per year level from a logistical perspective.

E.g. if there are 70 year 6 students, that is too many for 2 teachers but not enough for 3 (At years 4-6, we are provided one teacher per 29 students from the Ministry of Education)

The schoolwide overview is initially created with teacher team sizes and year level overviews (of how many students per year level are where)

Then on an individual student level, our teachers will draft classes considering a wide range of factors below:

Social maturity
Physical maturity
Academic ability
Age and number of years at school
Peer groups and friends
Strengths and interests of teaching staff
Balance of children in classes - special needs, behaviour, learning support etc.

Other frequently asked questions:

Do we stream classes based on ability?
No, our classes are not streamed based on ability. The programme is determined by the needs, interests and abilities of the students in the class. There are no separate programmes for each year level in the school, we use curriculum levels, based on individual student ability. Teachers run a wide range of groups based on abilities, and this is enhanced greatly with 2-3 or more teachers, where they can differentiate more widely.

Why does the school have some composite (i.e. Year 2 & 3) Learning Communities?
This allows the school to manage class sizes accordingly. Simply because of the varying numbers of students per year level, the composite nature of our teams will change from year to year.

My child is in a class with classmates a year level behind (e.g. Year 4 in a Year 3/4 class), does that mean they are being “held back" and should I be worried?
No, the level of learning is based on the curriculum levels and not the Year level. We don’t stream the classes. Individual achievement/assessment information is crucial for each of our students and this is used to help determine individual, group and school programmes. Teachers use this information to help our students with their learning.
A year 4 student in a year 3/4 Learning Community will complete the same level of work as a year 4 would in a year 4/5 class, assuming their individual abilities are similar.

How does the school support the students with the transition?
On Thursday 25th January there is an Optional Meet the Teacher drop-in session. This will be held at school and our teachers will be on site to enable you and your child to call in and say "hi". When school resumes on Tuesday 30th January, our team places a huge focus on developing relationships at the start of the year.

What do I do if my child is upset about next year?
Hopefully this will not be the case but during our lives we all have times of change and what is valuable is the ability to adapt and move forward. Changes in friendship/social groups are an expected and essential part of developing as a child.

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