Principal's Catch Up
Shirley Bailey
Welcome to Term 2!
This week has zoomed by and it has been fantastic to catch up with our tamariki to hear about the adventures they got up to over the holidays.
On Wednesday, 12 students from Karearea enjoyed a great morning in Taupō playing T-Ball against other local schools. It sounds like they had a blast. Thank you to Mrs Hunt for leading this sporting opportunity.
From next week all classes will begin integrating regular te reo Māori lessons into their classroom programme. Based on feedback we received last year, during our community consultation, the explicit teaching of te reo Māori was something that our whānau wanted us to improve upon ... and we are listening. Additionally, teaching te reo, aspects of Te Ao Māori and Aotearoa New Zealand Histories is a required part of the Curriculum, the Teachers Standards (NZ Teaching Council - Our Code: Our Standards) and is a legislated requirement under the Education and Training Act 2020. In particular we want to also ensure what we teach aligns with the Tūwharetoa Cultural Competencies kete. As a school we are committed to honouring Te Tiriti O Waitangi and ensuring our ākonga | learners have a sound understanding of Aotearoa New Zealands rich cultural histories.
After looking at the Curriculum Guidelines for Teaching and Learning Te Reo Māori in English Medium Schools | Te Aho Arataki Marau mō te Ako i Te Reo Māori, we have made the decision for our whole school to begin this journey together from Level 1. For many of our students we will be teaching content they already know, and for others it will be new learning. We are excited about the introduction of a school wide plan for teaching and learning te reo and look forward to more reo being spoken everyday at Kuratau School.
As mentioned in our last newsletter ...
On Wednesday, 12 students from Karearea enjoyed a great morning in Taupō playing T-Ball against other local schools. It sounds like they had a blast. Thank you to Mrs Hunt for leading this sporting opportunity.
From next week all classes will begin integrating regular te reo Māori lessons into their classroom programme. Based on feedback we received last year, during our community consultation, the explicit teaching of te reo Māori was something that our whānau wanted us to improve upon ... and we are listening. Additionally, teaching te reo, aspects of Te Ao Māori and Aotearoa New Zealand Histories is a required part of the Curriculum, the Teachers Standards (NZ Teaching Council - Our Code: Our Standards) and is a legislated requirement under the Education and Training Act 2020. In particular we want to also ensure what we teach aligns with the Tūwharetoa Cultural Competencies kete. As a school we are committed to honouring Te Tiriti O Waitangi and ensuring our ākonga | learners have a sound understanding of Aotearoa New Zealands rich cultural histories.
After looking at the Curriculum Guidelines for Teaching and Learning Te Reo Māori in English Medium Schools | Te Aho Arataki Marau mō te Ako i Te Reo Māori, we have made the decision for our whole school to begin this journey together from Level 1. For many of our students we will be teaching content they already know, and for others it will be new learning. We are excited about the introduction of a school wide plan for teaching and learning te reo and look forward to more reo being spoken everyday at Kuratau School.
As mentioned in our last newsletter ...
Our 'Big Idea', or Concept for learning, in Term 2 will be to further grow our understanding of Matariki, and explore some of our local pūrākau | legends. We will also be working on integrating more te reo Māori into our weekly classroom programmes. If you are able to volunteer any help, time, guidance, advice or support in these areas we would love to hear from you - shirleyb@kuratau.school.nz & louw@kuratau.school.nz . Two of our school's strategic actions that specifically link to these areas of learning are:
- Working towards strengthening the identity, culture, language and sense of belonging of Māori.
- Creating and sharing a local curriculum that reflects the aspirations of our school community, Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Mātaiaho (New Zealand Curriculum).
Heads Up. On Friday 31st May we will be holding a Teacher Only Day - School will NOT be open for instruction. On this day our staff will be working with other Taupō schools from within our Kāhui Ako group to develop our understanding of Trauma Informed Practices. Note: This is the Friday before Kings Birthday weekend, so yahoo - you all get an extra LONG long weekend.
Please remember check out IMPORTANT DATES section below.
Have a fabulous weekend. Good luck to all those tamariki that are starting their winter sports this weekend.
Mā te wa
Shirley Bailey and the Kuratau School Team
