Localised Curriculum:

This term we have been exploring how our localised curriculum meets the needs of our akonga. The knowledge of our kura’s cultural narrative is also growing thanks to various hui. We have also been looking at how it reflects the past, present and future of TGC’s lifelong learners. We have been fortunate in being able to connect with other kaiako (via Zoom) from across the Tauranga Peninsula regarding their localised curriculum approach. We have also worked on our audit of Learning Areas and their current offerings in localised curriculum and Matauranga Māori.

Cultural narrative:

Kei te āta wanaga mātou e pā ana ki tō mātou kōrero ō tēnei whenua. Kua timata mai ai ēnei whiriwhiri kōrero. Ki te taha ō ngā kaumatua ō Ngati Ranginui nā te mea kei ā rātou te mana whenua. Kātahi āno mātou ka timata te kōrerorero.

Te Āo Māori and Tikanga - building knowledge and capability:

Ngā whakatau - Te tīmatanga o te tau. I whakatau ai te kura i ngā ākonga hou, i ngā kaiako hou hoki i te tīmatanga o te tau. Nā Matua Hori Ahomiro i whakakanohi ai te kura hei kaikōrero. I kaha tautoko ai te tumuaki rātou ko ngā tumuaki tuarua, ko ngā kaiarataki o te kura hoki i ēnei whakatau.

Whakamānawa i a ‘Te Manawa’ - I te rā 22 ō Poutūterangi i whakamānawa ai te kura i a Te Manawa. Nā Āpotoro Rēhita William Robinson i tīmata ngā karakia i te taha o Koro Tū rāua ko Koro Pop. I tae mai a Whaea Toni Heke-Ririnui, i tae mai ētahi kaiako hoki ki te tautoko i tēnei kaupapa whakahirahira.

Wā waiata - Kua tīmata ngā kaiako i te taha o ētahi o ngā ākonga ki te parakatihi i te waiata o ‘E Hika’. He tino rawe ki te rongo i ngā reo e karawhiua ana ki mua i Te Whare o Mereaira.

Tauira Hauora:

 This term, we have been looking at the Hauora for both our Kaiako (staff) and our ākonga (students). We believe that building the Kaiako (staff) knowledge of what Hauora is and making sure the Kaikao has a balanced Hauroa themselves will help our ākonga here at TGC. We have been working on a presentation that the Whānau Kaiako can use weekly in Term 2 to work through with their ākonga in recognising what Hauora is and strategies they can use to help them regain balance when one of their dimensions are out.

The students understanding their own Hauora is the first step in helping themselves. An example of Taha Tinana - Physical Wellbeing and helping them at home would be making sure:

Is your young person getting enough sleep?eating well? drinking enough water? moving their body? Just simply getting sleep and not being on their device for hours on end at night can help significantly with how they cope with day to day life. Try these few strategies with your young person for a week and see the change.

Literacy in Learning Area

“The State of Literacy in NZ at the moment”

LINK TO PODCAST

Only 60% of 15-year-olds in New Zealand are achieving above the most basic level of reading, meaning a staggering 40% are struggling to read and write.

Why does this matter? Literacy is essential for achievement across the curriculum. Ensuring that all young people are able to read and write will ultimately have flow on effects for achievement across all school subjects, enabling students to engage more deeply with the full breadth of the curriculum.

What can you do at home to help improve literacy:

● Encourage your young person to attend school EVERY DAY they are feeling well.

● Encourage face to face conversations around family events or books I am reading.

● Help to see that words can be organised in different ways on a page by helping to read bus timetables, maps and recipes.

● Complete the “Stuff” quiz every day together. Here is the kid's version

● Tell stories about events that are important to your whānau, hapu and or iwi and help to think about how and why they are important today.

Leaving notes of encouragement for your whānau and get them to do the same. You could put them under a pillow, in a lunch box, on the kitchen ● bench or on the bathroom mirror.

● Talk about words in te reo Māori or your first language and talk about what they mean.

EVERY kaiako at TGC is a teacher of literacy and we are currently working with our colleagues to build our capacity to teach literacy in a much more explicit way in each and every subject across our kura. This also includes taking a “snapshot” of the literacy taught in out junior curriculum and filling any gaps there might be.