It builds on sector feedback about the Secondary-Tertiary Programme (STP) Pilot, a smaller pilot that finishes in December 2016. From 2017, the DualPathways Pilot will help students achieve qualifications at Levels 2 and 3 and help them move into employment or further education. About 1200 places will be available nationally next year, and 1500 places in 2018.
DualPathways programmes will be developed through partnerships between schools and tertiary education providers. Industry training organisations can also be involved by linking with a tertiary provider.
Some schools have already been participating in similar programmes offered by tertiary providers and/or industry training organisations through the STP Pilot and ‘3+2’ programmes nationwide.
Schools who want to take part in the DualPathways Pilot in 2017 should contact local tertiary providers to discuss programme opportunities. If a school doesn’t have existing relationships with tertiary providers, Ministry of Education Secondary-Tertiary Leads (click on the region you require to gain their name and contact details) can provide contact details and facilitate discussions and engagement.
Flaxmere College and Kimi Ora Community School will both undergo major redevelopments, which will support each school’s vision for delivering education and improved outcomes for students.
Around $14 million will be spent on Flaxmere College, to replace the existing classrooms with new, flexible learning spaces.
The school’s hall and gym will also be repaired.
Another $5m will be spent on Kimi Ora Community School, where the existing classrooms will be replaced with 6 new, flexible learning spaces. The school’s hall will also be refurbished.
Kimi Ora Community School principal Matt O’Dowda says the Board of Trustees and school community are very excited about the school’s redevelopment.
We will work with the architects to design a school that gives us learning environments with a huge amount of flexibility,” he says.
Matt says the next 6 to 9 months will be spent in a design phase, including looking at curriculum design, the future needs of tamariki and community and where education is heading on a global scale.
It will be amazing to have buildings that match the potential of our kids.”
Both schools are currently in poor condition and have weathertightness issues.
These projects will see the creation of innovative learning environments, which support teachers and students to work together in different ways to enhance student’s learning.
Design and planning works on the 2 projects will be completed throughout 2017, with construction expected to start in 2018.
Te Puna Reo o Puhi Kaiti was named the winner of the Excellence in Teaching and Learning – Atatū Award in the June ceremony.
Curriculum manager Erana Haerewa, who accepted the award on behalf of the puna reo and its community, says winning was very exciting for the whole Puna Reo o Puhi Kaiti whānau.
"Winning was a huge honour; it’s been an amazing journey," she says. "Entering the awards, having the judges visit, becoming finalists and then winning was a lot of hard work, but it was definitely worth it.
"When we won it was huge and it was a really proud moment for our puna reo. As a team we’ve been working very hard with a focus on high quality."
Before the teaching team headed to Auckland for the ceremony they went for a special walk with the children from the puna reo. "We took the children up our maunga, the one that we all walk up every day, and told them that we may win a very special taonga. They were all very excited."
Upon the teaching team’s return to Gisborne they celebrated the win with the tamariki, who did a haka pōhiri to celebrate.
Te Puna Reo o Puhi Kaiti won the Excellence in Teaching and Learning – Atatū Award at the 2016 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards.
The mana of each child and their whānau is respected and enhanced. Children take charge of their own learning in a way that respects the Māori and Pakeha world view.
Erana says that Te Puna Reo o Puhi Kaiti has been open for 6 years, however the centre’s approach to collaborative iwi-based learning has developed over time.
"This is something new for us," she says. "We’ve created a curriculum based on tikanga Māori."
Erana says a major focus for Te Puna Reo o Puhi Kaiti is on iwi-based learning so that tamariki learn about their own culture and history.
"Our tamariki have a strong cultural identity. We encourage connections to their marae through tikanga, we learn pōhiri, we teach the meaning behind different waiata, and much more.
"We want the centre to be like a marae for our tamariki and their whānau. While they are with us they learn manaakitanga, so everything that they do here they will go away and do at their home marae."
Erana says taking part in the 2016 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards was an amazing experience and she would do it all again if she could.
"Presenting our curriculum was a great experience and so was having the judges visit," she says. "For our teachers and our whānau it was a very special experience.
"I told the teachers not to do anything differently so that the judges would see exactly what we normally do. They saw a day in the life of our puna reo. That’s what we’re really proud of."
When asked what is next for Te Puna Reo o Puhi Kaiti, Erana says the goal of the centre is to keep improving its practice for its tamariki.
Further information
The 2017 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards will open for entries later this year. We’ll keep you posted on the opening date. To find out more about the Awards, go to www.pmawards.education.govt.nz
The bus, built by volunteers from the Piopio College Trust, is a replica of a Ford Model T, which were used for New Zealand’s first ever school bus service.
Volunteers from the trust travelled from Piopio to Wellington with the bus for the event.
A replica of one of New Zealand’s first ever school buses paid a visit to Parliament’s forecourt yesterday.
Former Piopio College principal Brian Tegg led the restoration project, with Max Laver and Mark Carter overseeing the conversion of the replica itself, with support from the Piopio College Trust and the local Historic Society.
Brian found an original 1921 vehicle, complete with chassis and working motor. He then got together with Max and Mark and set about converting it into a school bus.
Beginning in 1924, the Piopio school bus service was the start of school buses in New Zealand. It used 3 Ford Model T buses, which cost a total of £63 to build at the time.
The 3 original Ford Model T buses would transport about 30 students each to and from school every day.
Today, we spend around $186 million a year in getting kids to school where distance or access is a barrier - around 100,000 students every day.
This project recognises the important role the school transport service has played in our rural communities since it started.
The Piopio College Trust raised finds to complete the project. The Ministry of Education, Waitomo District Council, Trust Waikato, and members of the local community also made contributions.
Construction has started on the $23.5 million second stage of the redevelopment of Southern Cross Campus, a Year 1 to 13 school in Mangere.
Construction has started on the $23.5 million second stage of the redevelopment of Southern Cross Campus.
This stage of the redevelopment will see 24 new teaching spaces built, along with a new multi-purpose centre, library and administration facilities.
The first stage saw the creation of a new $3.5 million trades academy.
Ministry Head of Education Infrastructure Jerome Sheppard says the redevelopment will provide students with a learning environment that will support them to achieve.
“The start of construction is an exciting milestone for Southern Cross Campus and its community.
“Once complete, the redeveloped school will have modern infrastructure to support new and innovative styles of teaching and learning into the future.”
As well as the trades academy, Southern Cross Campus shares its site with a kura, a daycare, a special school satellite unit and early childhood centres.
Mr Sheppard says the rebuild of Southern Cross Campus is one of a number of school redevelopment projects currently underway in Auckland.
“In the past few months work has started on over $150 million worth of upgrades and redevelopments to Auckland schools,” he says.
Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards open for 2017.
The annual awards celebrate and recognise the outstanding work taking place in schools, kura and among early learning providers throughout New Zealand.
Entries are open now and close in March 2017. You can enter and find more information on the PM Awards website.
This year’s award categories are:
Excellence in engaging
Excellence in leading
Excellence in teaching and learning
Excellence in governing.
The winning entry in each category receives $20,000 and a professional development opportunity. Category winners are also eligible for the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award, which goes to the group that has had the most impact on raising student achievement. The winner of the Supreme Award receives an additional $30,000.
A further prize, the Education Focus Prize, is awarded each year focusing on a different part of the education system. The 2017 Education Focus Prize celebrates excellence in digital technology and local curriculum.
Over the past 3 years, winning entries have demonstrated the fundamental difference excellent teaching practice can make for children and young people at all stages of the education journey.
A national awards ceremony will be held in June 2017.
Game of Awesome is a fun card game designed to inspire Year 5-8 students (particularly boys) to develop their writing skills.
Designed for up to 6 players, the cards can be used to quickly generate and explore ideas, then expand them into stories. There are many ways to play the game, to suit students’ different interests and learning styles.
The game was co-created with students from Wellington’s Te Aro School and St. Patrick’s College as well as teachers from Newtown, Houghton Valley, Korokoro and Kilbirnie Schools.
Game of Awesome is the latest addition to the Success for Boys collection, which also includes Story Starters a video story resource co-designed with Year 5-8 students in collaboration with Kiwi authors and entertainers such as Bret McKenzie, Dai Henwood and Mike McRoberts.
Watch the video to see what teachers and students like about Game of Awesome.
Around $750,000 will go towards building 2 new classrooms at Fernside School, which first opened its doors in 1886.
Principal David Taylor says the school’s students were excited to hear the news at a full school assembly today.
“Parents are equally as pleased,” Mr Taylor says. “This gives our rural school an opportunity to modernise.
“The parents see this as an opportunity for their children to get the best learning facilities available, in a positive learning environment.”
Mr Taylor says the additional spaces will ensure all children will have access to appropriate classroom facilities.
“We will be able to welcome all new entrants into new classrooms rather than adapting spaces such as the school library.”
The new classrooms at Fernside School are part of the second round of investments in new classrooms under Budget 2016.
Budget 2016 provides $882.5 million for school property, including 480 new classrooms to meet roll growth.
The first round of investments was announced in May and June this year. That saw 21 new roll growth classrooms announced for Canterbury schools.
More announcements as part the second round of investments in roll growth classrooms will be made over the coming weeks, and a third round of investments is expected to be announced in February next year.
Mr Taylor says the Fernside School Board of Trustees hopes to confirm the placement of the new classrooms and their floor plan by mid-November.
“All things going to plan we would hope to have students in their new classrooms for Term 3 2017.”
Principal Billie-Jean Potaka Ayton says the new block was built to resemble the wharenui on a marae.
She says the Year 1 – 6 school has gone from 160 kids to 340 over the last 5 years.
They had gone from having unused classrooms to using everything they had and still needing more.
“It’s built in a whare style so there can be collaboration between larger groups of children inside and out,” she says. “We weren’t after a flash new building – we wanted to create a learning space which reflects the kids and supports their learning preferences.”
Billie-Jean said they worked with Architects 44, who have expertise both in heritage buildings and Māori design. It was built by D Stevens Ltd.
“We just love it.”
Students can find a variety of places where they can comfortably focus on learning, in Kaiti School’s new Wharekura building..
On the outside, the building blends in with the others around the school in size and tone, but on the inside everything is quite different.
Teacher Sonya Stephens-Ruru is based in the new building and says it’s “beautiful”.
“There’s a freshness to it that you want to make the best of,” she says.
“The kids take pride in their environment. I do think that the new building gives you that sense.”
Student Te Akauroa said their previous classroom “got a little squishy”, and student Twelvey agrees.
“It’s comfortable to sit down, not like other seats in other classes,” he says. “We love it. I like our learning on the wall.”
The school’s board of trustees contributed additional funding, and it was named after local kuia Rawinia Te Kani. The building is named Wharekauri, which means “strong house”.
Billie-Jean says the school has plans to replace more old classrooms as funding becomes available, and would like to replicate the same design.
It’s the other existing classrooms she wants to change, from cellular to more flexible spaces.
She says the school visited many other new schools such as Stonefields and Sylvia Park schools in Auckland, Endeavour School in Hamilton, and Papamoa College in the Bay of Plenty.
“We went everywhere but we were still stuck on our idea for the design,” she says. “It reflects our people and our area. We’re very happy with the outcome.”
The Annual Report shows that, in 2015/16, we were responsible for a budget of over $13.7 billion. This investment helped over 1.5 million New Zealanders to learn, to train, and to achieve educational success in the last financial year. We also manage a significant property portfolio worth almost $14.6 billion.
Overall, we are making good progress towards the targets set for us by our Minister and ourselves, in our Four Year Plan for 2015-19. In 2015/16, for example:
96.6% of children participated in quality early childhood education (ECE) before starting primary school
83.3% of 18 year olds achieve an NCEA Level 2 qualification, and
56.6% of young people achieved a Level 4 qualification.
The report also shows that disparities in educational achievement are reducing. It also shows that, despite this, we have a way to go before the achievement of our Māori and Pasifika children and young people is the same as that for other groups.
One of the centre-piece of our work in 2015/16 was the effort put into ongoing development of our Communities of Learning|Kāhui Ako.
This is the most significant change in education since ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ was introduced in 1989. Communities of Learning|Kāhui Ako bring schools, Kura, ECE services and kōhanga together to find, between them, the best ways to raise the quality of teaching and learning in order to raise achievement for all our children and young people.
Other major initiatives we progressed during 2015/16 included the updating of the Education Act, the funding review, our refocusing of professional learning and development for teachers on core subjects, and our review of learning support services for children with special needs.
We also made good progress on supporting the Canterbury schools rebuild programme, with the implementation of a series of initiatives to boost Maori and Pasifika achievement and in getting more at-risk students back into education or training.
All of these changes are designed to provide an education system that is more focused on the needs of our children and young people and their parents, on the further development of our teachers and education leaders and on ensuring our education system better supports the achievement and progression of all students.
Our goal is to ‘lift aspiration and to raise educational achievement for every New Zealander.’ Our annual report shows the progress we are making towards that goal and what we have to do to get there.
Acting Secretary of Education Katrina Casey is apologising to parents for the Ministry’s handling of the complaint about the use of seclusion at Miramar Central School.
“It is clear that the Ministry didn’t act with the urgency it should have to stop the use of seclusion. Children’s wellbeing must be at the forefront of everything we do and we will work with schools and their communities to ensure we all get this right.
“We have also apologised to Minister Parata for the handling of the complaint and for a delay in informing her that the investigation had been completed, ” Ms Casey says.
The Ministry’s investigation into Miramar Central School has shown the use of seclusion went well beyond the management of extreme situations – in some cases it was used as a more routine behaviour management practice.
“With that in mind we have implemented a series of actions to improve Miramar Central’s performance in all future dealings with challenging behaviour”.
Action Plan highlights: ·
Seclusion at the school has ended. ·
The Ministry has installed staff onsite to review all behaviour management plans. ·
Parents will now be asked to sign off on their children’s behaviour management plans.
New Zealand Schools Trustees Association is also working with the Board to provide guidance.
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) will now also be implemented into the school. ·
A Project Manager will oversee the action plan and be accountable to ensure change.
This Action Plan is of the same level as a statutory intervention, but because of the Miramar Central’s level of co-operation it has been decided that a more formal statutory intervention will not be required.
Elsewhere the Ministry is currently prioritising the identification of all other schools that have used seclusion rooms in the last 12 months. It is making it clear that they must stop using the rooms immediately and we will work with them to ensure they have other techniques to manage extreme behaviour.
While this process is underway we won't be releasing the names of the individual schools identified. These schools will need to talk to their parents and communities and will be encouraged to do this as soon as possible.
All schools need to understand seclusion is unacceptable. This case highlights that we should have acted much more decisively when we first received the complaint about the use of seclusion at Miramar.
We know that there are health and safety risks around putting a child in a locked room. When a child is exhibiting extreme behaviour there are sometimes also health and safety risks to the child and other people. We are investigating the regulatory and legislative implications of all this, as well as other potential legal matters this issue may surface and we will be reporting to Minister Parata on this.
The Education Review Office advises that it always ask schools about their strategies to address the needs of children with special needs, and observe teachers and children in special needs units as part of their evaluation process. ERO has now sharpened its focus on how schools manage individual children with extreme behaviour issues.
Detailed guidance to schools about alternatives to seclusion and how to manage challenging behaviour will be issued in the next few weeks. The Special Education Principals’ Association (SEPANZ) is working with the Ministry to support special schools to adopt the guidelines.
Timeline for handling complaint on Miramar Central School
25 July 2016 - Copy of parent complaint to the Board of Miramar Central School received by the Ministry.
26 July 2016 - Ministry speaks with the Principal agreed with the school to commission an independent investigation of the complaint. We advised the school to stop using the seclusion room. The principal agreed to stop using the room for the complainant’s child, but said it would need more support to stop using it completely. We agreed to revisit the issue once the investigation was complete.
27 July 2016 - Ministry appoints independent investigator
28th of July 2016 - Minister Parata is informed of the complaint received by the Ministry of Education and told that there will be an independent review of the ‘time out’ room.
26 August 2016 - Draft investigation report received by the Ministry on and shared with the school and the parent who complained; both were given two weeks to comment.
13 September 2016 - Final report was received by the Ministry.
22 September 2016 - Ministry meets with the school and advises the school to stop using the seclusion room. School agreed to stop using the room completely, which included removing the door to the room. Ministry agreed to provide an educational psychologist to work with the school to implement new behaviour strategies for students and is ensuring all students have current behaviour support plans which have involved their parents. Ministry staff member is also on-site at all times. School has also agreed to adopt the Positive Behaviour 4 Learning School-wide programme, starting in the new 2017 school year.
7 October 2016 – Minister Parata advised of a media query about the investigation. The Ministry then supplied the Minister with the report the following Thursday.
Last Friday staff, students and the school community gathered to celebrate the official opening of a new 24 learning space block.
Ellerslie School’s $10.4 million transformation. PHOTO CREDIT: Serendipity Photography.
Principal Lisa Harland, who was new to Ellerslie School at the start of the term, says everyone is delighted to see the progress made to the school with the new building.
“There has been much excitement and anticipation about moving in,” she says. “Students and staff are really enjoying the new classroom learning system.
“It is a spacious, calm, welcoming space. There is much passion in the teaching and learning by students and teachers.”
Construction began last year to provide Ellerslie School with the fresh, bright building.
Of the 24 new classrooms, 16 have replaced old relocatable buildings, and the other 8 are new classrooms to provide more room for the school’s growing roll.
Miss Harland says the new block provides new facilities and a greatly improved learning environment for the students of Ellerslie School.
“Educators are increasingly aware of the interaction between physical spaces and learning environment. Modern facilities improve not only the school’s physical environment but also its learning culture.
“But the building alone cannot infuse the vision and passion that guide the school’s development. It is the human spirit and interaction between teachers and students which will make the difference and ensure the new building supports higher levels of learning.”
Ellerslie School occupies a compact site, so the new block is 2 storeyed to maximise the amount of outdoor space that can be used.
Last week it was announced that the redevelopment of the kura had been upscaled by $5.9 million to $21.7 million.
The additional investment will enable the Mangere based kura to relocate to a larger area on the site it shares with Southern Cross Campus. This means that any future roll growth at the kura will be able to be accommodated.
Principal Arihia Stirling, who has led the school for the past 20 years and is a former student, says the rebuild is a dream come true.
“For this community, we have worked extremely hard to have this outcome and the students, staff, iwi, kaumatua, kuia and whānau feel that we deserve it,” she says.
Ms Stirling says the students at the kura are excited and looking forward to using their new facilities.
“Our students are happy that they will have the opportunity to be in a fully equipped school with all the facilities that they should have. The lack of space and facilities will no longer be a problem.
“The community, staff and students are most excited about how we’re designing our school to incorporate and capture the stories of Te Waiohua and the local iwi, Tainui.
“These designs have been created by our elders, and the mokopuna of our school and we thank our main designer and artist, Sunnah Thompson, who is also an ex-pupil of Ngā Tapuwae.”
In 2012, it was announced that $15.8m would be invested in an upgrade of the kura, including a new multipurpose centre, teaching spaces and library.
Construction work is expected to start at Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae next month.
While the college’s Trades Centre will ultimately be used for the school’s trades academies, including Agriculture, Forestry and Beekeeping, it is initially being used as a flexible learning space for a range of subjects.
Ministry Head of Education Infrastructure Jerome Sheppard says the school’s idea of trying out the new space is very practical, and the Ministry is supporting them in use of the new building.
“The students will be able to see what it’s like to work in a flexible space which supports a variety of teaching approaches,” he says.
“Innovative learning environments are proving to be enormously popular around the country, because they support student centred learning, and kids are able to find a space and a way of working that is effective for them.
“By opening this building up for all students to use immediately, the school community will quickly get an understanding of how the rest of the school is going to look when it’s finished.”
When the other buildings are complete, the trades centre, named Te Kuaha Ahuwhenua – The Doorway to the Land, will then be dedicated to the trades academies.
Northland College principal Jim Luders says it is not very often that a school gets a chance to experience what it will be like to work with flexible learning spaces.
“This is our opportunity to trial it and take on board any learnings that we can, then apply them to our new teaching environment,” he says.
“I’m excited to see the progress that has been made on the redevelopment and we’re all looking forward to seeing the build completed in the New Year.”
The Northland College redevelopment is well underway and is set to deliver modern teaching spaces and state of the art facilities including a multipurpose gym and hall, library and technology areas. It will accommodate 330 students and allow for a future roll of up to 450.
Construction is on track and expected to be completed in mid 2017.
School principal Donna McDonald says she was ‘blown away’ when St Theresa’s was named the winner of the NZSL in Schools award at May’s NZSL Awards.
“We were humbled and blown away when we won the award,” she says. “We are still at the very beginning of our journey to learn New Zealand Sign Language.”
From a group of teachers attending a local night class to the formation of a Sign Language Club - Donna says many of the teachers and students at St Theresa’s have been making a big effort to learn NZSL.
“We can definitely see what Andre has brought into the school,” she says. “We’re trying to incorporate sign language into everything we do on a daily basis.
“Andre is learning New Zealand Sign Language alongside the rest of us, we’re all learning together. It’s a real two way street.
“The children and adults have both benefitted from having him here.”
Donna says it has been a learning journey for the whole school since Andre started.
“We’re expecting there will be highs and lows along the way,” she says. “We have noticed little things that we’ve had to adjust to over time. For example, he can’t hear the teacher’s instructions for pack up time so one of the other children has to go over and quietly alert him that it’s time to pack up.”
Andre, 5, started at St Theresa’s School in Plimmerton at the start of the year.
Teacher Deborah Norris says that anything Andre learns, so does the rest of the class.
“One of our first learning initiatives we put into place was for all students to learn 3 NZSL words a week for their homework,” she says. “These were taken from our word wall and now we are putting them together and beginning to sign full sentences.”
The children are like sponges and are absorbing NZSL quickly, Deborah says.
“It was daunting at the start because I didn’t know anything, but we have just been taking it step by step.”
Andre’s learning is supported by his teacher’s aide Vinny, and specialist resource teacher from van Asch Deaf Education Centre, Darryl, both of whom are fluent in NZSL.
Vinny, who started learning NZSL more than 20 years ago, says she has been impressed by the enthusiasm students and teachers at St Theresa’s have for learning NZSL.
“They’re just so receptive, I’m so inspired,” she says. “The whole community has been getting involved, teachers and parents as well.”
Donna says students and teachers throughout the school have been learning their sign names, something that is gifted to them by the Deaf community.
Next term the school will be holding their own NZSL classes for teachers, part of their ongoing professional learning and development.
On Mondays the school has Sign Language Club, which is open to any students from throughout the school.
“It’s amazing, some of them can stand up and do whole sentences by themselves now.”
The NZSL club at St Theresa’s School meets once a week.
Even the school song has been made accessible with the addition of signs.
Vinny and Darryl have worked with teachers at St Theresa’s School to develop a wide range of learning resources for Andre to use.
For example after a trip to Te Papa earlier in the year, Vinny created an NZSL story book about the visit. This is now one of Andre’s favourite books.
Andre also uses the Aurasma application on his iPad, which allows him to match up images in a book with signs.
Deborah says it is important to be inclusive of all students.
“When Andre leaves our school, we want the 6 years that he has spent at St Theresa’s school to have been rich in communication, including NZSL,” Donna says.
“We want Andre and his peers to be fluent and confident users of NZSL and to have developed strong social and learning communication skills. It is our belief that the whole community will benefit from this.”
The combination is quite awesome – and now the building is winning awards as well.
Since opening in April 2015, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu o Te Wairoa won the education prize in the 2016 Gisborne Hawke’s Bay Architecture Awards, made the shortlist of the NZ Architecture Awards, and was one of 14 New Zealand finalists at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore last year.
The colour design - chosen by the students - won the Resene Colour Award this year.
The award-winning design of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu o Te Wairoa.
In the green striped wing are the junior students, from year 1 – 8. It has breakout wetrooms for activities such as painting and papier mâché, and plenty of room in the main learning areas for everything from reading to kapa haka.
In the orange striped wing are the learning areas for senior students, as well as the library and technology areas.
The purple central area, joining the wings together, is the wharenui where the whole school meets for karakia every morning.
Tumuaki Anaru Ratapu says this part is called Te Aio, which means peace.
"The building is the heart of the whole school,” he says. “We have all our school meetings here. The kapa haka kids go there to play games. We have a class at the moment doing transition [from English to Māori]."
The kura was designed by architects RTA, who designed it along traditional lay lines.
The hall faces directly north, with the Wairoa River mouth to the south. The eastern wing is orientated towards the mountain, Whakapunake, and the western wing is orientated towards local marae Takitimu Wharenui.
The central hall and 2 wings are connected by a single roof resembling a "cloak" acting as shelter.
The kura began nearly 20 years ago in a house on the other side of the Wairoa River. Back then, it just had 3 rooms for 2 classrooms and an administration area, and it had around 20 students.
Fast forward to 2016, and the award winning flexible learning spaces, built by Stead Construction in Hastings, now hold up to 79 students.
Ministry case manager Rob Petre says the $4.2m project started with the local people.
"Together we’re shaping an outcome that everyone’s proud of, and reflects who they are, where they come from, and where they’re going," he says.
The building has been designed as a total sustainable solution from its orientation to the northern solar gain to passive ventilation, natural daylight, rain water harvesting, and solar panels.
"I thought we were quite lucky to get what we’ve got," Anaru says. "I feel quite humbled that we got all this."
Te Wae o te Wheke, is the name of the new Education Service Hub, opened on Wednesday by Ngapuhi kaumatua and kuia at Northland College in Kaikohe.
Te Wae o te Wheke is a collaboration between the Ministry of Education, Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) and Northland College. It builds on relationships already established to support the te hau kainga of Kaikohekohe and is a key service arm to support tamariki, whanau and the wider community.
The new home for the Service Hub in Kaikohe will provide a base for (RTLB) Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour staff, as well as Ministry staff when they are in the area needing to work with students, schools or whanau.
Te Tai Tokerau director of education Hira Gage, says it was an honour to attend a recent blessing ceremony to introduce the Service Hub and acknowledge kaumatua and kuia who have high expectations for our tamariki mokopuna.
“The new Service Hub aligns with other developments in the mid north area which are all focused on providing better educational outcomes for our young people,” she says.
Northland College principal Jim Luders and Rob McDonald, RTLB Manager both say they are delighted to work with the Ministry to lend further support to tamariki in the area and mahi that is already occurring in the community.
With the addition of a new Ministry office now open at 9 Hobson Avenue, Kerikeri, the mid Northland area has an even stronger education presence.
Kaumatua and kuia of Ngati Rehia opened the Kerikeri building yesterday, along with students from Kerikeri High School, roopu tautoko. The opening has paved the way for Ministry staff to move into Kerikeri.
The awards recognise outstanding achievements by young Pacific New Zealanders in the areas of sport and fitness, creativity, leadership, business and enterprise and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
Prizes include a trip to Geneva, paid internships and scholarships, courtesy of sponsors Air New Zealand, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deloitte, BNZ, Creative New Zealand, NZ Institute of Sports.
The 2015 winners of the Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards.
Previous winner Reina Vaai, 26, says the Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards are an incredible opportunity for young Pacific peoples who have a passion for a particular area.
“The awards are great for recognising talented young Pacific peoples.”
In 2013 Reina, who is of Samoan descent, won the Vodafone NZ Foundation Mobiles 4 Good Award for using social media for a community initiative.
“I was not expecting it at all when I won. What I wanted to do was tell positive Pacific stories using social media. The judges probably saw was that I had a genuine passion for something.”
Last year Reina graduated from Auckland University with a law degree and was admitted to the bar. She now works as a lawyer in Auckland.
In her spare time Reina works on projects to inspire fellow Pacific New Zealanders.
2013 Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards winner Reina Vaai.
“It’s important that we take control and change perceptions as well as stereotypes,” she says. “I want people to appreciate that being women of colour and women from minorities is something that should never hold us back.”
Earlier this year Reina was a role model for the Duffy Books in Homes programme and previously helped organise Readers’ Revolution, a charity book drive to supply books to rural Samoan villages.
Reina says it is not too late to apply for the awards as she put her application in on the day they were due. She strongly encourages others to put their names forward.
“You should absolutely apply,” Reina says. “You have nothing to lose.
“I was so scared to apply, I didn’t think I would get it. All you have to do is fill out the application form and put your best foot forward.”
Entries for the 2016 Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards close on Monday, November 7th at 9am.
We want the updated Te Whāriki to be relevant and valued. Above all else we want it to empower every child to be competent, confident and eager to keep learning.
Te Whāriki has long been recognised as world leading and continues to be an important framework for delivering quality early childhood education. Updating it means it stays that way for years to come.
The update aims to better reflect today’s New Zealand and developments in educational thinking and practice. It includes fewer and clearer learning outcomes (twenty in total) and shows the links between early learning and the learning that happens at school and kura.
The vision, aspirations and framework for learning have not changed. The overall structure of principles, strands and goals remain.
The update was carried out by a team of expert writers, both academics and practitioners, from across the sector including Kōhanga Reo.
Te Whāriki places the child at the centre of the curriculum and emphasises the partnership between teachers, educators and kaiako in weaving local curriculum with parents, families, whānau and communities.
We’ll make the updated Te Whāriki available in hard copy and from our web site in early 2017. It will be accompanied by new online resources to help teachers, educators and kaiako put Te Whāriki into use.
A quality curriculum and excellent implementation is critical to building a strong educational foundation for all children.
The 17 visitors are members of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) working group that examines and shares information on effective learning environments.
While the visitors are in New Zealand, they’ll visit examples of outstanding innovative design in schools in Auckland and Christchurch, where spaces have been designed to support students’ learning.
Ministry of Education deputy secretary Kim Shannon represents New Zealand on the group, and is currently vice-chair.
“This is a rare opportunity to share our innovative approaches to school design with the international community,” she says.
“Our international colleagues have a wealth of specialised knowledge about creating environments that help students learn, and we are delighted to host them.”
The delegates come from a diverse range of education systems, and they are particularly interested in how school infrastructure can support inclusive education, earthquake resilience and New Zealand examples of the link between pedagogy and school design.
“They have expressed a great interest in our schools, our world-leading curriculum, and our inclusive design approach which is working really well across our country. This is a fantastic vote of confidence in how we provide education to New Zealand students.”
In Auckland, the group will visit Ormiston Primary School, which includes a satellite unit of Kelston Deaf Education Centre, Ormiston Junior College, Ellerslie Primary School and Te Moananui-a-Kiwa.
Te Puna Reo o Puhi Kaiti won the Excellence in Teaching and Learning – Atatū Award at the 2016 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards.
