Kāhui Ako ki Orewa

Rāmere, te 19 o Noema 2021

Hauora/Learner Support

As we physically go back to school, of course there will be excitement but also anxiety.  Anxiety is our natural preparation response to facing situations we don’t feel confident or comfortable about – often for a very valid reason.  When Anxiety becomes heightened or prolonged, it becomes a concern.  Making students comfortable, reassured and  back into routine really goes a long way to reducing anxiety and rebuilding positive connections again.

Here is a reminder of recommendations from last year’s return to school ) from MoE Secondment workshops with psychologists, 2020).

It is important to:

• Accept and acknowledge everyone’s experiences of Covid-19 are different
• Understand and accept that impacts on staff and students can include anxiety, trauma. Economic fall out, family situations, fear
• Understand and accept that impacts may not have occurred yet e.g. economic fallout due to job loss could be in the coming months or year.
• Understand that behaviours may spike as stress levels waver
• Acknowledge that there may be longer lasting impacts over the next 12-18 months.
• HAVE FUN together!

The 4 Rs help us to know how we can help students and our colleagues:

21st Century Learning/Ako Ināianei Tonu

Developing a Local Curriculum

The New Zealand Curriculum describes the learning all young people should experience no matter what school or kura they go to and the progress and expectations associated with this learning. It provides the framework for schools and kura to use in their local curriculum design.

Key to developing a local curriculum is the Coherence Principle. 

Strengthening the understanding of Connection as one of the Coherent Principle can be done through exploring capabilities.

Capabilities remix aspects of all the key competencies and weave them together with the important knowledge and skills. They also help teachers to focus on ākonga dispositions to act in ways that support them to achieve success in their learning and be critical, informed and responsible citizens. 

Typically, capabilities bring together: 

• concepts or big ideas (from one or more learning areas) 

• appropriate aspects of all the key competencies (including the specific language,     symbols and texts of the learning area) 

• values and learning dispositions.

Developing a Local Curriculum through Coherent Pathways

Future Ready/Digital Curriculum/Anga Whakamua

New Hour of Code activities for 2021

In today’s digital world, computer science is everywhere. From the smartphone you use every day, to the software used by scientists to help fight diseases, to the DJ who makes music on a laptop; computer science has uses and applications in even the most surprising of fields. To help students make meaningful connections between CS and other disciplines, Code.org is introducing two — yes, two! — new Hour of Code activities.

​Our Poem Art Hour of Code activity allows students to see two subjects—computer science and poetry—in a new way. In Poem Art, you can explore a key element of poetry — mood — by using code to add visuals and movement to classic poems.

In Computer Science 101, the first program many students create outputs an iconic line of text: “Hello World!” Hello World equips students with the basic coding skills and confidence to create apps.  

WEBINAR: Build Digital Fluency with Google Applied Digital Skills

In this webinar, you’ll learn how about Google Applied Digital Skills and how to use it to build digital fluency in yourself and your students. Along with some tips, tricks and best practice for using it with your students!

WHEN:  Thursday 25th November, 4:30pm

HOW: Live Google Meet – you will be emailed the link when you sign up. A recording will be available after the session.

WHO: Free to all educators across Aotearoa. This webinar suits teachers of years 5-9.

Book your place here 

Te Ao Māori – Māori Atua/Gods AR Experience

Facebook/Meta has joined forces with Aotearoa developers to create an AR experience that brings Māori Atua and the Māori creation legends to life for users. It runs through Facebook and Instagram so it has limited use in the classroom but a fun tool for teacher development for use at home and potentially for showing small groups in class.

It’s well worth checking out. You will need a smart phone with either the Facebook or Instagram app and a flat surface such as a table for the characters to come to life. The characters and story will, like magic, play out in front of you through your phone on your chosen surface.

“This AR experience is one of the ways in which we hope you will connect with our culture and stories while you are here in Aotearoa, New Zealand.”

Follow this link to get to the site that runs you how to use it or alternatively, go straight to it using the QR codes below.

There is also a second programme that puts you into the world of Māori Atua/Gods (See below)