Have something to share? Get in contact with one of our Across School Leaders – we would love to hear from you!
[email protected] Te Ao Māori
[email protected] Hauora
[email protected] Future Ready
[email protected] 21st Century Learning
[email protected] Structured Literacy
Māori Leaders Hui 2025
Tēnā tātou e ngā kaiurungī o te Kāhui nei,
Ka nui te mihi ki koutou i tēnei wā.
This is an important pānui about our annual Kāhui Ako ki Orewa Māori Leaders Hui 2025 at Te Herenga Waka o Orewa on Thursday 23 October. We hope that all tumuaki and Māori leads from all of our Kāhui Ako ki Orewa kura can attend so that we can continue to rise together.
This year, we are wanting to wānanga on how we sustain te ao Māori at a leadership level in our various kura and strategise how we continue to grow and support te ao Māori in 2026 and beyond. We will also spend time looking at our Rautaki Reo and assessing our progress over the past year before making goals for the future.
We will begin with a whakatau so please arrive earlier than 9am. To RSVP, please respond with the numbers/names of attendees from your kura for catering as soon as you are able.
We look forward to seeing attendees kanohi ki te kanohi on Thursday 23 October at 2a Blue Gum Ave from 9am to 12pm.
If you have any questions, contact [email protected]
Māori Leaders Hui 2025 Invite at Te Herenga Waka o Orewa Marae.pdf
How awesome was it to get a day to do PD all together on Maths during term time, and not after school or in our holidays!!!
Even if you knew some of the content on the day, research suggests a range of 3 to 7 (or more) exposures are often necessary for a message to stick, as it takes multiple repetitions to break through the “Forgetting Curve” and allow for processing, recognition, and decision-making.
For me, some of the key messages were:
Unpacking the differences between conceptual understanding and procedural fluency and how they both fit within the understand/know/do overview.
Every child needs to be exposed to and taught every teaching statement at their year level. Rather than jumping to next year’s content, extend the current topic with added complexity and abstraction.
Example:
The class is learning about place value of larger numbers and representing them using base 10 structure. A student has a strong understanding of these concepts and is able to record any number up to 1,000,000 using base 10. The teacher could plan for this student to:
- Explore other number systems such as binary or Roman
- Design an algorithm to convert base-10 to binary
- Create a digital animation (e.g. in Scratch) to demonstrate their thinking
- Analyse worked examples that show both correct and incorrect methods or solutions
You still have flexibility in how you teach. You can teach whole class, you can have groups, you can shoulder tap, as long as all students are taught every teaching statement at their level. Use enablers and extenders when giving rich tasks to enable all students to access them. Each phase of the sequence has a section that describes how to use rich tasks in maths.
Integrate wherever you can. There are so many teaching statements. How can you integrate them into your curriculum using STEM, topic?
- Plan a maths-themed escape room – Students design puzzles using fractions, coordinates, measurement, etc.
- Maths in architecture – Explore ratios, scale, and design; model your own building. Investigate real buildings (e.g., Burj Khalifa, Beehive). Estimate materials, surface area, and cost.
- Maths & the environment – Investigate water usage, food waste, or travel emissions with maths
- Which One Doesn’t Belong? (WODB) – Students must justify why any item could be the odd one out
- Design projects – Plan a treehouse using a budget, area, scale drawing
- Event planning projects – Plan an event for an occasion by creating a budget, calculating materials needed, working out the schedule and timing.
- Fermi problems – are where there is no definitive answer, but students use estimation and reasoning to justify their ideas. E.g. how many times do you blink in a day? How many books are in the library? How much water do you use in a year? Counting on Frank by Rod Clement uses Fermi problems.
Vocabulary is so important. In the curriculum, at the end of each phase, there are pages with the language that students are expected to know at the end of each Year level.
It’s certainly not a perfect system yet, we are still waiting on assessments and further guidance, but do your best!
The Cultivating the Literacy Landscape Symposium 2025
Educators from across New Zealand and a variety of sectors came together for two full days of international keynote speakers and opportunities to upskill with a choice of breakout workshops run by experienced experts currently leading change in their field.
The symposium opened with Dr Kymyona Burk sharing the journey of Mississippi’s literacy transformation, highlighting the implementation of policy and the leadership that drove system-wide change.
Dr Daryl Michel followed with a focus on coaching, exploring its role in helping teachers implement and sustain quality literacy practices.
Natalie Wexler connected literacy instruction to the science of learning, showing how understanding cognitive processes strengthens practice and improves outcomes.
Finally, Dr Lorraine Hammond shared practical, classroom-focused strategies rooted in explicit instruction, equipping teachers with tools to apply research-based approaches.
The Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, also addressed us, reinforcing that the government are committed to supporting these changes in education.
My key takeaways from the two days were:
- Everybody matters in this journey, from classroom teachers through to leaders at schools and at government level.
- Effective coaching, ongoing support, and constant professional development are key.
- Structured Literacy is bigger than we ever thought, as we see how it is intricately entwined with all learning and areas of the curriculum.
- A knowledge-rich curriculum combined with teaching practices grounded in the Science of Learning is essential.
Look these amazing people up if you want to hear or read more about what they have to say, or check out these 45 minute chats with Carla from Learning Matters.
Dr Kymyona Burk Chit Chat with Carla McNeil
Dr Daryl Michel Chit Chat with Carla McNeil
Dr Lorraine Hammond Chit Chat with Carla McNeil
Absolute must have books by Natalie Wexler for anyone passionate about literacy and education right now:
International Literacy Day 8 September
Since 1967, the annual celebrations of International Literacy Day (ILD) have taken place on 8 September around the world to remind policy-makers, practitioners, and the public of the critical importance of literacy for creating more literate, just, peaceful, and sustainable society.
UNESCO International Literacy Day
What can you do in your classroom or kura to celebrate and promote literacy?
Please share any great ideas or celebrations either to me for our newsletter or to our Kāhui Ako ki Orewa Facebook page.
How Robots Can Enhance the Curriculum
Educational robots can be used to enhance the acquisition of the key competencies and values of the New Zealand Curriculum. They also create an awesome opportunity for the observation and development of a myriad of ‘soft skills’ such as collaboration, inclusivity, engagement and critical thinking.
Consider structuring your initial lessons around:
*Basic movement commands (forward, backward, turn)
*Simple sequences of 3-5 steps
*Loops for repeating actions
Here are a few ways that robots and coding can be integrated into different curriculum areas…
Mathematics
*Program robots to move to answers on a mat, count objects, or solve equations.
*Construct paper robots for learning geometric shapes.
*Use robots to create shapes or navigate mazes, applying geometry and measurement concepts in a hands-on way.
English
*Use robots for story sequencing, having students program the robot to help retell a story using picture or word cues.
*Help a story character solve a problem, coding the robot to move through the steps of the solution.
*Program a robot to spell out sight words, build CVC words or contractions.
Social Studies
*Use robots to program a journey across a floor map.
*Create a timeline, plugged or unplugged, using arrows and directions
*Use Scratch to code an animation that presents information from your topic.
Art
*Design robot features, create robot-themed art, or program robots to draw or create patterns.
*Have students build a robot for a specific purpose, then design and draw its features, promoting creative expression.
Eric Curts Unpacks Gemini Privacy and Data Policy vs Standard AI
Check out his short webinar on Gemini’s policies, and he has broken everything down into the key pieces of information that you need to know on his website – link
Gemini Privacy and Data Policy
Term 3 Week 10 is MHAW!
Mental Health Awareness Week is around the corner
Click here to enter this year’s website for resources and stories.
From the Mental Health Foundation: Top up together.
This year, Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) has been aligned with the nationwide wellbeing campaign Top Up. The theme for Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 is Top Up Together, encouraging you to connect with others as you bring the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your daily life. This year, we’re shining a light on the collective aspect of the Top Up campaign, as recent research shows that a shared, community-based approach to wellbeing delivers the most sustained, long-term benefits.
Social connection is crucial for our wellbeing. It brings purpose and a sense of belonging to our lives, helps us feel valued, and makes us happier and more secure. Evidence shows that activities involving social interaction matter — actions like volunteering, shared learning, physical activity, cultural practices, and community events consistently have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing.
Look after your oranga by topping up together with the Five Ways to Wellbeing this Mental Health Awareness Week.
Me aro tonu/ Take Notice. Tukua / Give. Me kori tonu / Be Active. Me whakawhanaunga / Connect. Me ako tonu / Keep Learning.
Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi.
With your food basket and mine, the people will flourish.
Hui Dates
Friday 29th August – Tū Māia Festival @ Orewa College
Thursday 4th August – Beyond the Screen – Technology @ Nukumea School
Thursday 4th September -ASL @ Orewa Primary – WSL @ Orewa College
Thursday 23rd October – Kāhui Ako Māori Leaders Hui @ Marae – 9am
