Kāhui Ako ki Orewa

Rāmere,23 o Whiringa-ā-nuku

Literacy links

The Resource Cupboard offers an extensive range of New Zealand resources supporting your literacy programme: Junior Journal, School Journal and on-line resources for primary and intermediate children. There is a limited amount of free resources available or a yearly subscription fee for those wanting to utilise the full range of resources. Follow the link here to have a further look.

An earlier publication ( 2019 – ERO) of Keeping Children Engaged and Achieving in Writing was shared to our community in a 2019 update – link here . Revisiting this link is very useful for teachers to reflect on their practice or just looking for some good ideas to add to their writing programmes. The writing instructional approaches teachers identified were:

• Modelling
• Teacher think alouds
• Use of examples (literature within the class and school)
• Writing groups based on needs
• Oral language opportunities
• Shared writing
• Deliberate acts of teaching used wisely
• Making explicit links between reading and writing
• Different ways to provide feedback for children

An example of a writing pathway has also been included, outlining skills students needed to master. This could easily be adapted for curriculum year levels 1 to 5.

Tips for surviving NCEA exams with your teen

With just four weeks until NCEA exams begin, here is a little something to help get our teens get through. And to help keep our teens happy, healthy and our homes in harmony while they prepare for this pretty stressful time. See the link below for more detailed information.

Link here

Essay structure for NCEA students

As teachers we know that, regardless of the age of the writer, if you give students a solid structure, the outcome is often more favourable. The PEEL essay structure, while limiting in some ways, can be great to get students started and moving in the right direction. Once they feel confident, they can start to add their own flair. For a quick overview of the PEEL essay structure, here is a short video.

Being a teenager (and parenting one) is renowned for being challenging. This year has thrown our kids all sorts of challenges, adding even more stress.

Dr Sue Bagshaw, a primary care adolescent and sexual health doctor at 298 Youth Health, has enormous experience working alongside teenagers. Here are some of her tips:

• Know that as a parent ‘good enough’ is GREAT!
• Teens learn from what you do, not from what you tell them -Teens are learning how to be an adult – it’s their next stage. You’re their greatest role-model.
• Try to see things from your teen’s perspective – Be empathetic and respectful. Teens get a bad rap – try not to buy into this.
• Listen before you react!

For more tips, visit here.

Study Te Reo Māori in 2021

Now is the time to enrol in many courses that are available for 2021 so if you are pondering the idea, get in quick before it’s too late. These days there are a range of options out there that cater to different learning styles and commitment levels.

We all share the same reasons to delay jumping on this waka. I’m not good at languages or I’ll do it one day when I have more time, are the most common but we can guarantee that everyone who has ever studied te reo Māori has had, and still has these same reservations.

Go on, jump aboard this learning waka and meet some great people, gain a wider whānau, enrich your life with a new culture and become a better educator for the context of teaching in Aotearoa.

We have listed some popular courses below:

• • • Te Herenga Waka o Orewa Marae. The local marae runs a range of courses with differing commitment requirements. Some are 6 weeks and others are for the whole year. Contact: danyelle.nathan@yahoo.com

• • • • Plus: These courses are held at our local marae by our kaumatua, the courses are face to face, they are well funded so the cost is reasonable, they use the Te Ataarangi methodology of teaching for visual learners and the courses are full immersion so you will progress quickly.
      • Minus: I takes a while to get used to being in full immersion and can be frustrating to communicate at first (This is part of the process)

• Te Wananga o Aotearoa. Te Wananga o Aotearoa holds courses all over Tāmaki but not on the Hibiscus Coast. The good news is that some of the lower level courses are run at an Albany site.

• • Plus: They have great resources both online and in book form. They hire great kaiako and it’s on the North Shore if that’s where you live.
  • Minus: The online content can be frustrating.

• Toro mai – Massey University(Online, no costs involved, no assignments and no exams) A guided journey of learning to deepen your understanding and awareness of Māori knowledge.

• • Plus: Toro mai is a fantastic resource that is low pressure and explains tikanga Māori in a way that we can all grasp.
  • Minus: No human contact. Great for tikanga but it won’t progress your te reo as quickly as other options.

• Te Wānanga o Raukawahas a 20-week online course that is free for citizens and residents. You’ll learn through audio lessons and activities.

• 30 day BootcampIt is as the name suggests, a 30 day commitment for beginners to progress quickly on their reo journey.

• There are also a number of Zoom based courses popping up Facebook for those of us who enjoy face to face but from the comfort of home.

Celebrating success in Learner Support

Everyone can learn,

Everyone can join in,

Everyone can experience success

The New Zealand Curriculum supports learning for all, and here are some special examples of recent successes from Students at Orewa College

Orewa College’s Year 11 student Jackson Norwood has successfully made it through to the top 100 submissions of this year’s IHC Art Awards. It is the first time he has entered this competition and has beat out 200 other entries to make it into the top 100. He now goes on to the next round to see if his entry will make it into the top 30. If his artwork is chosen he will be flown down to Wellington as one of the finalists where the winner will receive their award.

We are delighted that Jackson has received such incredible support from one of our local businesses, Orewa Framing Studio in Hillary square. Vanessa, (pictured here with Jackson) is an ex student of Orewa College, generously offered to professionally mount and frame Jackson’s drawing. All of the top 100 artworks will be available at auction after the IHC Awards on Trade Me.

This incredible group of students from Orewa College’s Learner Support Centre created a winning waka for the school’s recent Wearable Art House competition. Following their classwork study of the Pacific, the students designed their ideal waka and voted on the final choice. They participated in the design and creation of every part and every step of the process from drawing, painting, sewing, cutting, to assembly and modelling. They enjoyed representing the Pacific in their Moana designed outfits and gained a 1st place award for their amazing achievement. You should have heard the whoops and cheers when they heard the great news!Kauhaurangi Tuihono / Online Webinars : Meetups in Auckland

If you are interested in up-skilling for the digital curriculum, have a look at the following list of online webinars: Link here

Kāhui Ako Meeting Dates for term 4

22 October: Meeting at Orewa College all ISLs

29 October: Maths/ Digital Curriculum Group PD Day

5 November: Meeting at Orewa College all ISLs

19 November: Meeting at Orewa College all ISLs

23 November: Writing Group PD Day

26 November: Final