The kāhui ako driving greater maths achievement by growing great teachers
Supporting early learning for the longterm benefit of tamariki
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Editor’s note
‘Kei ō ringaringa te ao’ is a phrase that means ‘the world is yours’. It conveys a sense of ownership: that something belongs to you, that you have agency.
In education, fostering a sense of ownership requires a shift in practice – giving ākonga greater responsibility and opportunities to be active participants in the learning process.
This issue is all about that sense of ownership. We see evidence of this all over the country:
In East Auckland, Te ara Mana-ā Kura Kāhui Ako adopts new teaching and learning practices to drive greater achievement. This process has seen students show increased ownership, take more risks and enjoy new challenges.
In Wānaka, the combination of student-led learning and explicit instructional practices inspires ākonga at Te Kura o Take Kārara to explore, grow, and develop a lifelong passion for learning.
In Manawatū, a forest school programme provides students with opportunities to safely take risks, helping them see themselves as capable learners and encouraging them to set their own learning goals.
In Ōtautahi, students are given the tools to solve real-world problems, bringing their unique perspectives and creativity to these challenges and equipping them with skills for the future. Enjoy this issue, I hope it inspires you to keep exploring student-centred, self-directed approaches to learning, and to continue fostering environments that enable and empower tamariki and rangatahi to be deeply engaged in their learning.
Kei ō ringaringa te ao, Keri McLean, Ētita | Editor
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Te ara Mana-ā Kura Kāhui Ako puts the spotlight on maths achievement
A deep love for learning at Te Kura o Take Kārara
Collaborating to get better outcomes for tamariki and whānau
Ākonga take ownership of their learning through forest school
Exciting changes in climate education
Morrinsville Intermediate share local history to benefit their community 30 E Whiti! E Whiti! Giving ākonga the tools to solve real-world problems
Celebrating Pacific culture, unity, and expression with Pasifika Fusion
Learning Support Network: Working together so children can flourish
Enhancing literacy through digital storytelling
How to use privacy statements in education contexts
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Te ara Mana-ā Kura Kāhui Ako puts the spotlight on maths achievement
On a path to empowering its schools, Te ara Mana-ā Kura Kāhui Ako in East Auckland has been pushing for greater achievement in numeracy, which they’re achieving by ‘growing great teachers’ – a process of defining what great teaching looks like and amending their teaching and learning practices accordingly.
Students at Wakaaranga School explore measuring angles with a fan.
Serving five schools and six early learning services in eastern Tamaki Mākaurau Auckland, the name Te ara
Mana-ā Kura Kāhui Ako literally means ‘the pathway of empowering our schools’.
To improve the numeracy achievement of their school-age ākonga, the pathway of the kāhui ako for the last two years has been improving mathematics and working together to provide strong teaching across the subject.
“We were seeing similar issues to those seen nationally –in upper primary we seemed to have a ‘long tail’ of students falling behind their expected level, and we were finding it very difficult to accelerate students,” says kāhui ako lead principal and Wakaaranga School principal Caroline von Sierakowski.
“So as a kāhui ako we decided we wanted to see significant improvement in achievement rates across all ethnicities and genders, at all levels from Year 0 to Year 13. To do this, we’re ‘growing great teachers’ in mathematics by supporting teachers to build their maths capability and capacity by becoming responsive and evaluative thinkers.
“Specifically, we’re doing this in four ways: by creating a structure for meaningful collaboration, by improving our understanding of what to teach, by developing a model of what good teaching looks like – this considers the science of learning, explicit teaching and student agency – and by working on a process of changing teaching practice in the classroom.”
Defining good teaching
Thur Borren, kaiako at Pakuranga College, and Sharlet Naidoo, kaiako at Elm Park School, are across school leaders for mathematics, and say the kāhui ako drew from research, reports and best practice to define ‘great’ teaching.
Citing examples including the Royal Society’s 2021 report on teaching mathematics, the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement 2022 report on mathematics, and Dr Anita Archer’s research into using explicit teaching effectively – among others – Thur quickly points out there’s no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all approach”.
“Teaching practices need to be tailored to each school’s curriculum and the needs of their students. But all schools have implemented common components.
“These include explicit teaching, having a balanced approach, using interactive pedagogies that capture student interest, allowing for students to repeat what they’re learning, using assessment for learning techniques, and using techniques that are informed by formative assessment.”
Observation is critical, adds Sharlet. “We have built into our process teacher observations – teachers at one school are encouraged to observe what is being taught at another school. For example, all teachers at Farm Cove Intermediate observed maths lessons taught to Year 9 students at Pakuranga College.
“We developed a research-based standard observation tool that was adapted at some schools, allowing teachers to unpack what good teaching looks like in practice alongside the theoretical model.”
The process of both defining good teaching and improving their understanding of what to teach involved significant professional learning and development (PLD), with full-staff sessions at individual schools, and a series of collaborative workshops for all schools.
“Teachers are enthusiastically using processes to dig deep into their teaching practice –they understand the changes will benefit students.”
Thur Borren
Mathematics across school leader Thur Borren works with other kaiako in the kāhui ako.
Mathematics across school leader Sharlet Naidoo uses explicit teaching strategies with her class.
Top: Sunnyhills School kaiako Shanon Burns works with a group of Year 6 ākonga. Bottom and right: In one investigation, Wakaaranga students explored Connected story How do you measure a dinosaur?
“Some schools or departments had PLD on specific areas of focus – for example, what explicit teaching looks like in a secondary context and how to run investigations to ensure ideas are explicitly taught, and that investigations are engaging and allow students to explore and develop their understanding in different ways,” says Sharlet.
Mathematics leaders and deputy principals at each school also had coaching and mentoring, supporting them to lead change and track improvements.
“We also collaborated across schools in workshops to discuss teaching models,” explains Thur. “The workshops helped us identify what is working, what can be improved, how the teacher observation model is working and how that could be improved.”
He says all maths teachers also take a teacher perception survey at the beginning and end of the year, allowing the kāhui ako to track ability and confidence with the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of teaching mathematics.
“It informs us how to provide the most effective professional learning to meet their needs.”
Changing teaching practices
“Changing teaching practices across multiple schools is no mean feat,” says Sharlet.
“For us, this process has involved collecting both student and teacher voices to both identify areas of improvement and evaluate effectiveness of different approaches. It has also involved a lot of reflective practice and inquiry.”
She cites Wakaaranga Primary School as a specific example, where kaiako schoolwide have implemented a balanced approach to numeracy, focusing on explicit teaching, repetitive practice and investigations.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach by any means,” explains Year 4 kaiako Katee Hurford, echoing Thur.
She says that for her, changing her teaching practice was a shift from traditional problem-solving methods to an inquiry-based investigation approach.
“After reflecting on strategies from PLD workshops, I realised I could build in more opportunities to promote deeper conceptual and critical thinking,” she says.
“I started providing my Year 4 ākonga with question prompts to support them in developing their mathematical reasoning, and I incorporated more Kagan Cooperative learning strategies to ensure every child could share their thinking.”
The response was immediate, she says, with students showing increased engagement and ownership over their learning. “I noticed students were more willing to take risks and think creatively, and they felt more confident in exploring multiple-solution paths.”
“My change of practice involved moving to whole-class teaching,” adds Year 0–1 kaiako Sarah Samuel. “Now, everyone gets access to everything, and those who need more support get it.”
For Sarah, learning more about assessment for learning was a critical step.
“As a school, we’ve created a balanced maths programme. The PRIME framework has given us a clear scope and sequence, regular feedback, and time for review.
“We focus on cognitive load, getting students talking more, and checking that they’ve understood the feedback. Having the time to observe others and discuss ideas has also been key to growing our shared understanding of practice.”
Sarah has also noticed ākonga taking more ownership of their learning.
“Students are no longer confined to low-level tasks and are enjoying being exposed to more challenging content. Investigations give them a chance to apply their learning and engage at a deeper level.
“We’re finding that they’re able to talk about their learning better.”
Improvement in learning
But it’s not just Wakaaranga Primary that’s benefitting.
Aron Shao, head of mathematics at Pakuranga College, says the good teaching practices implemented by the kāhui ako have created consistency and a shared understanding of learning.
“As part of the explicit teaching model we’ve been learning about, Pakuranga College has adopted the ‘I do, we do, you do’ format, which outlines what ‘I’ (the teacher) should be doing, what ‘we’ (the class) should be doing, and what ‘you’ (the learner) should be able to do by the end of the lesson.
“This format allows me to give a clear learning intention and adds structure to each lesson. Both students and their parents now have a clear understanding how learning
should happen and what our expectations are.”
Nikita D’Souza, Year 4 teacher at Elm Park Primary School and a kāhui ako maths curriculum lead, agrees, saying her students are more confident because of new practices.
“I noticed students were struggling with recalling knowledge and concepts I’d taught them, so I started incorporating daily reviews at the start of each lesson, and using quick, informal assessments such as maths talks or scrap paper questions to gauge their understanding.
“Students feel more confident – they’re seeing their own knowledge and memory improve. They know their understanding is continually being assessed and that their feedback matters. It’s created a more responsive learning environment.”
Rachael Fullard and Shanon Burns, kaiako at Sunnyhills School, have been on a similar journey to Nikita, establishing a need to reduce cognitive load for ākonga, which they’ve tackled by doing more repeated instruction.
“Based on the science of learning, we started including whole class and group teaching, review, explicit instruction and rich routines. Students are displaying increased engagement in tasks and discussions and are able to justify and reason.”
Shifting confidence
Sharlet says that the progress that has been made so far is remarkable, using Pakuranga College as one example.
“Pakuranga College were seeing gaps in their Year 9
Kaiako Sarah Samuel says investigations give students a chance to apply their learning and engage at a deeper level.
students’ understanding, so they worked closely with teachers at Farm Cove Intermediate to dig deeply into where they might focus their attention, especially for students that need support with accelerating.
“As a result, entry progressive achievement test (PAT) data for students at the college coming from the intermediate shows an increase of students within stanines 6 to 9, and a reduction in the number in stanines 1 to 3.”
More data is emerging that indicates a lift in achievement, and anecdotally, she says, there have been shifts in students’ enjoyment and self-efficacy in maths.
Ludwig Worrall-Bader, deputy principal at Farm Cove Intermediate, says he’s noticed a shift among kaiako, too.
“I’ve observed significant shifts in teachers at Farm Cove,” he says. “They’ve grown in their practice hugely – they’ve expanded their vocabulary, they’re using more precise and descriptive terms, and they are increasingly recognising the value of observation as a tool for self-reflection and professional growth.”
Thur says it’s been wonderful to see the changes in both students and teachers across schools.
“Teachers are enthusiastically using processes to dig deep into their teaching practice and they understand the changes will benefit students.”
“This process has involved collecting both student and teacher voices to both identify areas of improvement and evaluate effectiveness of different approaches. It has also involved coaching and mentoring, and a lot of reflective practice and inquiry.”
Caroline von Sierakowski
CURRICULUM
A deep love for learning at Te Kura o Take Kārara
At Te Kura o Take Kārara in Wānaka, intentional and well-planned play-based learning is combined with explicit instructional practices, allowing kaiako to scaffold learning and finely tune experiences to the needs and interests of students, maximising learning through relevant, authentic, real-world connections.
Chloe takes part in a Better Start Literacy Approach explicit instruction lesson.
Ask Te Kura o Take Kārara principal Jodie Howard to sum up her school’s vision for learning and she’ll tell you it’s about nurturing a deep love for learning while fostering belonging and wellbeing.
“Our vision is ‘nurturing learners to navigate pathways to the future’,” says Jodie.
“To achieve this, we have strategically aligned our goals with our values of whanaungatanga (relationships) and hauora (wellbeing), so that we’re working in partnership with students, parents, whānau and colleagues, which strengthens and supports us to create a local curriculum that’s both responsive and engaging.”
The school uses a combination of play pedagogy with explicit instructional opportunities. Teachers encourage children to build foundational literacy and numeracy knowledge to explore, experiment, discover, and solve problems in imaginative and playful ways.
“By embracing child-led learning, we’re creating an environment where students are inspired to explore, grow, and develop a lifelong passion for learning,” Jodie says. “It’s led to vibrant, buzzing conversations in our classrooms, where students not only engage deeply in their learning but can also advocate for the importance of play.
“Through kotahitanga (unity) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship), we’re also actively involving the members of our community in creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and responsible for the wellbeing and growth of our shared space,” she adds.
The approach has been firmly embraced by ākonga, including Year 3 student Finn.
“When we are learning, the teacher makes it so fun that we can’t even tell that it is learning sometimes.”
Year 4 ākonga Jonah says he enjoys a challenge, but also appreciates having a say in what he is learning.
“Learning through play is precious because it’s fun and you can learn things that are your choice. I know I belong at school because the learning suits me.”
Real-world context for mathematical concepts
Through play, Take Kārara kaiako ‘notice, recognise and respond’ to students’ mathematical inquiry, observing how they naturally engage with mathematical concepts in real-world contexts.
In a recent example, one kaiako noticed a group of children holding a gymnastics competition inspired by the Olympics, observing how the students cheered each other on and encouraged each other as they were trying their handstands.
When the students discovered that there were no stopwatches available to time how long they could do a handstand for, the kaiako noticed that they happily adapted their plan by just counting the seconds out loud together and displayed these on a handwritten scoreboard, demonstrating an ability to estimate seconds and to record their approximations using decimal points.
To follow this up, the teacher planned to invite the children to research the scoreboard used at the Olympics and to observe a timer that shows the decimal places, what they represent and why.
Jodie says play-based exploration is crucial because it allows students to consolidate mathematical ideas and skills in an authentic and meaningful way.
“By embracing child-led learning, we’re creating an environment where students are inspired to explore, grow, and develop a lifelong passion for learning.”
Jodie Howard
A group of children look at macro invertebrates with a local scientist. Students take part in a garden-to-table session, picking capsicums from the school tunnel house and preparing them for chutney making.
“By integrating real-world mathematical experiences into their play, students deepen their understanding and develop a genuine joy for learning mathematics. It makes the concepts more relatable and memorable.”
Since 2021, staff have actively engaged in professional development and learning (PLD) to enhance their mathematics pedagogy.
“This PLD has equipped our teachers with a robust toolkit that includes rich routines such as ‘decode, discuss, defend’, explicit instruction, and surface practice for building conceptual understanding and fluency in foundational skills,” says Jodie.
“We also emphasise structured inquiry and open exploration through rich tasks and discourse, which foster problem-solving and reasoning skills.”
She adds that their approach is centred on progress steps that are time-sensitive, ensuring kaiako focus on essential concepts that are critical for students to grasp.
“Teachers have honed their ability to enable and extend students within their current curriculum level or phase, ensuring that each child receives targeted key learning and next steps while being exposed to vital mathematical concepts.
“This method is designed to close gaps, correct misconceptions, and keep our target students on track in their mathematical journey, all while being deeply relationship focused and attuned to the unique needs of our learners.”
Increasing student engagement
The PLD has been hugely beneficial for measuring student success, Jodie explains.
“It has equipped our teachers with the skills necessary to recognise and respond to learning inquiries that naturally arise during play. It also allows them to effectively integrate child-led learning with explicit instruction in literacy and numeracy, with the intentional teaching of learning areas in play.
“The combination has resulted in a significant increase in student engagement. Students are applying knowledge from explicit instruction to real-life examples, consolidating their understanding in meaningful ways and leading to enhanced self-efficacy.”
As a result, Jodie says students now see themselves as learners who are more aware of how their knowledge and skills can be applied in real-world contexts.
“Our programme ensures that children are not only engaged, but that their learning is relevant and leads to success.
“By making sure that our teaching is both explicit and responsive to the children’s inquiries, we’re creating a learning environment that closes gaps and nurtures a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing.”
Jodie notes that nurturing belonging has been particularly beneficial for students who were previously reluctant to attend school, pointing out that those students are now attending regularly and participating more fully in their learning journey.
The sentiment is highlighted by Year 4 student Isabella, who says she feels “valued at school when teachers help me with maths or writing. They help me to get good answers and describe how I worked it out.”
Play is also a key tool in literacy development, says Jodie. “It offers authentic opportunities for students to engage with and consolidate literacy concepts.”
She describes how Cosmo (“a mischievous elf”) arrived unexpectedly in the Tuna (Year 0–1) learning space, leaving notes and clues to spark children’s imagination. In response to Cosmo’s arrival, ākonga proposed their own agenda for the next month of play sessions.
Dallas and Max read a note left by ‘pirates’.
A group of Year 3 and 4 boys engage in learning through play in the block area.
“He needs a playground so he doesn’t get bored”, “I can make a table and chairs”, “What about a maze?”, “What if there were catapults to fling food up to the house?”, “Let’s write a song ...”
The suggestion of catapults led to research into Leonardo Da Vinci, and real-world experience of physics in action (using decoding strategies with oral, written, visual, and multimodal texts to make meaning).
“The students wrote their own messages to Cosmo to find out more about him or to share information about themselves, aligning with ‘Text purposes and audiences – how to enrich my storytelling’,” says Jodie.
“Then a final invite from Cosmo revealed a magical outdoor picnic and an exchange of rocks painted by the students – which is ‘Know how texts are designed for specific purposes. They can persuade, inform, and entertain. Share stories with others, treating those that are shared with me with respect’,” she adds.
“Together, the students wrote, performed and recorded a song that recounted their experiences with Cosmo (‘Know there are codes, conventions, and features for how language and texts work. Use a process to compose written, oral, and multimodal texts with features and structures of language appropriate for my audience and purpose, work with others to compose rich texts’).”
But Take Kārara kaiako also recognise that early literacy success requires a “multi-faceted approach that blends rich, culturally relevant learning experiences with explicit structured approaches” that are used throughout the school, including the Better Start Literacy Approach for early learners.
“Literacy growth is nurtured through diverse activities that engage students in reading and writing, supported by systematic whole-class instruction of essential skills,” says Jodie.
Personalised learning pathways
The school has been working to create a culture that emphasises the importance of dispositions and competencies – made possible by providing extensive professional development that addresses the “knowledge-to-practice gap”.
The result is a curriculum that embraces developmentally appropriate teaching practices and personalised learning pathways.
“By being developmentally responsive, we’re supporting children to develop the dispositions of a learner – but they are also developing the dispositions of an artist, a scientist and a sports person,” says Jodie.
Teachers intentionally use curriculum-specific language when interacting with students in their play. For example, when students are busy building complex marble runs, teachers will provide feedback related to physics (force, gravity, acceleration) and the nature of science (trial and error, hypothesis, test).
To support this vision, kaiako work with parents, educating them on the role of play in the curriculum, and involve children in the process to help bridge understanding between them and their teachers.
“This has led to a shared language and culture within our school, where play is recognised as a critical element in nurturing the dispositions and competencies for a child’s learning,” explains Jodie.
“It also means our curriculum is deeply connected to the aspirations our parents have for their children and makes sure that each child is at the centre of our educational approach.
“When we notice, recognise, and respond to each child’s needs, we’re making sure our teaching is not incidental but intentional, with a clear focus on the dispositions and curriculum areas necessary for their future.”
Meg engages in learning through play in the family area by having a tea party with a friend.
Lucas and Fergus create music to a song written by the class.
Collaborating to get better outcomes for tamariki and whānau
When Ōtūmoetai Kāhui Ako noticed that half of early childhood education centre BestStart Judea’s roll was made up of tamariki with high or additional needs, it allocated support accordingly, introducing changes to the centre to transform outcomes for both tamariki and whānau.
Learning support coordinator Vicky Wilson works specifically with early learning services.
“Two years ago, our Ōtūmoetai Kāhui Ako data showed that BestStart Judea had more than 50 percent of children on their roll with high or additional needs,” says kāhui ako lead principal and principal of Ōtūmoetai Intermediate Henk Popping.
Luckily, he adds, the kāhui ako already had a strategy in place.
“Five years ago, we realised that for our primary, intermediate and secondary schools to benefit in the long term, we needed to value early intervention and allocate support to our early learning centres.”
Accordingly, they assigned one of their learning support coordinator roles to the early childhood sector. Employed by Ōtūmoetai College but based at Pillans Point Primary, learning support coordinator – ECE Vicky Wilson supports 25 early learning services.
As a result of the extra support, professional learning and development made available through the kāhui ako, the Ministry of Education’s learning support team and partnerships with iwi, BestStart Judea has been able to build a kete of strategies to bolster day-to-day learning needs.
Building a kete of strategies
The high needs of BestStart Judea’s tamariki meant that teachers faced a number of challenges throughout the day, explains centre manager Nicola Finlay.
“The needs of the children included several who were non-verbal with autism, several with communication challenges and some with high sensory needs. There was high anxiety when it was time to transition from the younger room to be with older children.”
The centre’s philosophy became ‘takiwātanga’ – a concept that means ‘in their own time’.
“We stopped putting pressure on children to adjust to transitions in a set amount of time, and started supporting them to transition between our learning spaces in a way that met their needs,” explains Nicola.
She says that keeping children safe was also a high priority, because some tamariki had no physical selfawareness.
“We adjusted our expectations, our environment and our way of being. Taking a trauma-informed practice approach meant we focused on whanaungatanga and putting relationships first.”
When Vicky and Nicola looked closely at the needs of tamariki, they noticed a pattern.
“This led us to look at what supports we could put in place for tamariki and whānau,” says Vicky, explaining how the BestStart Judea team started attending meetings with the Ōtūmoetai Kāhui Ako panel and the Ministry of Education.
“We put in place plans for experts to attend staff meetings to talk on a variety of issues, including an occupational therapist to talk about sensory needs and a speech language therapist to talk about communication,” she says.
“The speech language therapist visited the centre regularly to talk with and support whānau – not just the kaiako.”
In addition, the kāhui ako leveraged the strong relationship they have with local iwi Ngāti Ranginui, organising an iwi member to come to the centre to support whānau, which in turn allowed the centre to bridge gaps and connect whānau who needed it to other support systems.
“Having iwi members here to talk worked to strengthen partnerships with whānau,” says Nicola. “As well as things such as spending time talking with whānau when they came in, having cups of tea with them, and using social media and newsletters to communicate.”
Vicky also provided further professional learning and development on trauma and the brain.
“We learned that rather than getting compliance from children, relational interactions have to be put first,” says Nicola, explaining that tamariki need to get out of their ‘red’ brain – the part of the brain that is in survival mode, and manages emotions.
“We developed a deeper understanding of the environment as the third teacher and how we could use that to address sensory challenges.
“We learned about sensory chasing, which is where those children who seem to like pushing over other children benefit from using ‘big muscle’ toys – pushing a wheelbarrow, for example. We learned that others self-regulate by sitting in water, so we made sure we had those things in our physical environment.
“We’ve become very intentional in our planning for the learning needs of all our tamariki and supporting whānau and kaiako. We’re intentional in what we are doing, from setting up to considering what things our children are interested in, what their sensory needs are, and what new things we can invite them to enjoy.”
Valuing tamariki for who they are
Nicola recalls an unforgettable moment one day early in the centre’s change journey, highlighting the progress they were making.
“A nan came in with her moko and said to teachers, ‘You’ll take her for how she is, won’t you?’,” she shares.
“We want whānau to know we value their tamariki for who they are. You don’t have to behave a certain way to be accepted in our centre.
“But we also know whānau feel seen when teachers talk honestly about how the child is doing – for example, when they are having to work hard to engage socially. We’ve equipped our kaiako to start those conversations with whānau.”
Nicola describes how when the time came for transition to school, the centre worked hard to empower the whānau to work in partnership with the kura and the Ministry of Education.
“The nan shared how it made a difference that our centre was so accepting of her moko. I think we all cried that day.”
Among the centre-wide changes introduced are ‘calm-down’ spaces – including a tent and a hut structure that the children can go to for regulation.
Top: Head kaiako Hayley Smith collaborates with Vicky to support tamariki learning and development.
Bottom: Hayley (centre) with kaiako Teresa Vitasovich (left), and centre manager Nicola Finlay (right).
Right: Marlee uses a calm-down space and a range of resources to support her self regulation.
“We now have tamariki saying, ‘I need to go to the calm-down house’ and taking themselves off there,” says Nicola.
BestStart area manager Nicola Ellery says the key to transformation in a centre is getting staff on board and points out centre manager Nicola has been instrumental in making that happen.
“We need to make sure we can effectively meet the needs of all tamariki during the hours they attend – some children are needing to attend 40 to 50 hours per week.
“If we hadn’t adapted these new techniques, the staff would almost certainly all have left.”
Reflecting on success
BestStart Judea kaiako share how the support of the kāhui ako was transformative, giving them the opportunity to focus on relationships, collaboration, professional development, and family involvement.
They say the holistic approach helped to provide a supportive and inclusive environment, fostering a positive experience for both tamariki and whānau – as well as kaiako themselves.
Henk explains that the success of BestStart Judea illustrates the purposes of kāhui ako, noting that schools across the area have seen achievement rates rise across the board since 2015.
“The strength of our kāhui ako is that it works for the entire Ōtūmoetai community and we’re here to help each other. We’re about trust, talking to one another and entrepreneurship.”
He adds that being optimistic rather than cautious when challenges come about has been key.
“Basically, we chose early intervention because the college and intermediate realised that if we assisted the foundation and primary years, we would benefit in the long run.
“And we are seeing positive outcomes – not only in students’ mental health but in their achievements.
“This is proof of the work that has gone into students,” says Henk.
As well as working with iwi, he says that another key part of the success of the kāhui ako is partnerships with a local community constable and with school-based mental health practitioners from Te Whatu Ora.
“We have extremely frank dialogue in all of our partnerships. Our collective intent is to be as innovative as we possibly can be and find new ways of doing things,” he adds. “We want to be proactive at the top of the cliff rather than being the ambulance at the bottom.”
“It’s about manaakitanga and how we interact and how we talk to each other. The benefit for the nine schools in our kāhui ako is that we get on very well – a big part of that collegiality is trust.
“Trust between the early learning services and schools, and trust between schools, families and iwi.”
“The kāhui ako knew that for our primary, intermediate and secondary schools to benefit in the long term, we needed to value early intervention and allocate a learning support role to our early learning centres.”
Henk Popping
Year 1 student Nate and his mum identify leaves he has found in the ngahere.
KAITIAKITANGA
Ākonga take ownership of their learning through forest school
To boost confidence and provide ākonga with opportunities to safely take risks, St Joseph’s School in Feilding started a forest school programme, allowing tamariki to follow their interests while learning life skills and how to be kaitiaki of the ngahere (forest).
In the years following Covid-19 restrictions, St Joseph’s School in Feilding has noticed a trend: many tamariki have less resilience and more anxiety.
“Many students seem to be more anxious and struggle with self-regulation,” observes sports coordinator and forest school leader Mark Searle.
“We wanted to provide tamariki with an opportunity to take ownership of their learning and safely learn to take risks. Risk is an essential part of learning – there’s a connection between risk taking and academic learning.”
Taking inspiration from Whanganui Intermediate School, St Joseph’s established a forest school, a programme where a different class each week explores their nearby reserve on a Friday morning.
“The original idea came from Dani Lebo at Whanganui Intermediate. She established a forest school programme there, which runs daily,” explains Mark.
“I spent a day observing her programme in action and I attended a professional learning and development workshop led by Dani at her ECO school and organised by Sport Whanganui.”
St Joseph’s iteration of forest school is based at Almadale Scenic Reserve, a local reserve just outside Feilding.
“It’s around six hectares of remnant native forest owned by the council,” Mark says. “It gives us a space where students can get outdoors more and provides them with opportunities and experiences that they might not get to have outside of school.”
Boosting confidence
The forest school programme is almost entirely student led. Each session begins with a ‘circle time’ consisting of karakia, pepeha, whakatauki, karakia kai and waiata, after which ākonga spend the morning following their interests in a range of activities.
“The activities are set up as invitations for students to try out,” says Mark. “Activities can include building huts, whittling, helping prepare the fire pit, lighting the fire and cooking on the fire (damper, pancakes, sausages, marshmallows).
Playing on the banks of the Oroua River is popular for all students.
“Some of them are demonstrating amazing perseverance – for example, by starting a fire with flint and steel. We are certainly seeing students become more secure in themselves and show a willingness to try new things.”
Mark Searle
Happy with their finished shelter, students often test them out with a bucket of water.
Alay and Jacob work together to build a shelter under the guidance of a parent.
Forest school leader Mark shows his Year 1 class a successfully trapped rat from one of the school’s 25 installed traps.
“They might also go looking for insects to identify, go bird spotting, or go on a walk to set up the zip line. There are art tasks such as bark rubbing and sketching of leaves and trees, too.
“Each session has a pūrākau (story) linked to the activities on offer – for example, we used the story of Maui and the secret of fire when exploring skills around fire starting. We close our sessions with a reflection circle and a retell of the story.”
He says it’s been amazing to see the engagement that has come from the programme and highlights that many tamariki have grown in confidence.
“Different students volunteer to lead each part of the morning circle,” says Mark. “They have become so much more confident with taking on these roles over the year.
“Some of them are demonstrating amazing perseverance – for example, by starting a fire with flint and steel. We are certainly seeing students become more secure in themselves and show a willingness to try new things.”
Kaiako across the school have observed the growth in confidence, most notably in some of their English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students. Mark shares how one recent migrant student was initially fearful of taking part in the programme.
“In his country the forest was a dangerous place,” he explains. “At first, he would only go if his parents went, but we’ve now come to a point where he is excited to go to forest school and is fully engaged in a range of activities.
“For all of our ESOL students, the programme is providing rich learning opportunities to grow their oral language and vocabulary.”
Ownership over learning
Only in operation since term 1, Mark says it’s too early to tell whether the programme is impacting academic achievement but says the shift in confidence levels is hopeful.
“A range of factors showed forest school would be a beneficial programme to introduce to our students.
“Learning in nature develops a sense of wonder, and the forest connects with our school’s core focus of providing students meaningful opportunities to encounter Christ – they’re experiencing and appreciating God’s creation with a sense of wonderment and awe by being kaitiaki of the ngahere.
“And because it’s child-led, it empowers ākonga and helps them see themselves as capable learners. We’re finding that some of the students who don’t stand out or struggle in the classroom are really shining at forest school. They’re able to demonstrate strengths and skills that others don’t get to see in a traditional classroom setting.
“We’re hopeful this will translate back at school into having learners who will take on new challenges in the classroom.”
Ngā kōrero a ngā tauira | What students say
“My favourite thing is going in the forest and checking the traps. I have learned about being kaitiaki, that means being a guardian of the forest.” Martin, Year 1
“I like the blackberries, playing in the river, and the ferns. I learned about poisonous plants.” Arthur, Year 2
“I like to do whittling, going on the zipline, and putting up hammocks. I have learned that forest school is a calm and relaxing space.” George, Year 3
“I like forest school because you get to explore, go on the zipline, and make fires to cook pancakes. At forest school we get to learn about nature. I learned about different types of plants and the different bug species.” Akela, Year 3
“I enjoy lighting the fire, cooking damper and toasties –there’s many more things I love about forest school. It helps me learn all of the different types of species of all the animals that live there, like possums and birds and insects and more.” Kourtney, Year 6
“I love being outdoors and getting to try new things each time, learning life skills and being able to learn about our environment. I like that we get to cook in the forest, make huts, do whittling and that we’re able to enjoy it with our friends and learn about our surroundings at the same time. I think that forest school helps us to learn about our environment and to be more careful of our actions.” Kassy, Year 7
“Forest school is a great experience, especially for kids who haven’t been on a school camp yet. I like building the fire to cook our marshmallows, damper and toasties. I like carving sticks, playing in the forest, exploring in the forest, making huts and finding strong vines to swing on. If you get lost in the forest you will know how to build a fire and make shelter and cook food. It helps us to try new things.” Charlotte, Year 7
“I think forest school is amazing. It joins our school community with Papatūānuku, Mother Nature. I love making the swings and setting up the hammocks with my class. I think we are relaxed when we get back from forest school.” Cooper, Year 7
“I think it is so cool that people in our school can experience things like this. My friends and I love to play tag/hide and seek. I also like to start fires safely and eat once we have finished cooking. I do also enjoy whittling because I can make cool things out of wood. Forest school helps me know what type of berries to eat when I’m in the wild, how to start a fire, how to cook damper, how to build shelters and how to use your surroundings to your advantage.” Alay, Year 7
Ready to explore: Emmanuel, Cledwyn, Sean, and Basil are migrant students who have thrived and grown in confidence in the programme.
Headlamps are a valuable tool when bug hunting in the forest, as Millie and Avery show while they explore an old totara stump.
Mark shares how at the close of each session, ākonga complete personal reflections, identifying what they learned or enjoyed, and coming up with goals for their next session or ideas they would like to explore further.
They are taking increased ownership over their learning, he says – and the school is hoping to see this grow exponentially.
“Already we’ve seen progression in the way students engage. Most classes have now had five or six sessions. The pattern we observed in the first sessions was that students would engage in boisterous games and exploration.
“Now we are starting to see things such as Year 5 and 6 students creating their own hut and adding a gym with exercise gear, a target range, and different tools.”
Mark notes tamariki have also taken on roles as kaitiaki of the ngahere.
“Prior to our involvement there was little work being done in the forest to help protect its biodiversity. We have set up a trap line which students help with – since we started trapping, we have removed over 100 pests from the forest.
“The forest is also right next to the river which allows us to carry out water quality studies,” he adds.
“Our future projects will involve controlling pest plants and having planting days to re-establish some of the layers of the forest which have been lost.”
Building strong relationships
Beyond confidence-building, the programme has also had an impact across the school and in the wider community, building stronger relationships between the school and parents, and between teachers and students.
“Lots of different parents have been involved in the sessions, which has given us opportunities to chat informally and get to know families better,” says Mark, adding that both parents and teachers get to see the children in a different light.
“And vice versa – students get to see their teachers in a different setting, which has really benefitted their relationships.”
The school has even employed an outdoors-loving parent as a teacher aide to accompany the classroom teacher running each session.
“They’ve done a tremendous job,” smiles Mark, noting that it’s been made possible through the support of Sport Manawatū and Tū Manawa funding. “The funding has allowed us to create that role, as well as invest in resources and equipment.”
He says St Joseph’s has also been supported by Manawatū District Council, who began investing in the reserve after the school started using it.
“In the last year, they have relevelled and improved the gravel access road, created parking spaces for vehicles, and will soon be installing signage that shows the forest trails.
“It was great to have them acknowledge the work our kura is doing to help the forest through trapping and pest control.”
ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
Exciting changes in climate education
Theresa Bowen, a Year 5–6 teacher at Ōtepoti Dunedin’s North East Valley Normal School, hails the Ministry of Education’s recent climate-positive traction.
“This programme has been the game changer. It’s the most exciting thing to happen in climate education in 20 years. I’m getting goosebumps just talking about it again.”
Theresa Bowen
Theresa works with parent volunteer Anna Meriel-Read and a group of students at the school’s on-site community gardens.
Amid the doom and gloom of some climate change news coverage, Dunedin teacher Theresa Bowen has found reason to be excited.
The cause of her excitement? The new framework and resources rolled out by the Ministry of Education as part of its work to reduce emissions in schools and kura.
“This programme has been the game changer,” says Theresa, kaiako at North East Valley Normal School. “It’s the most exciting thing to happen in climate education in 20 years.
“I’m getting goosebumps just talking about it again.”
Embedding initiatives
To understand Theresa’s goosebumps, she reflects back to 1999 when she was in Melbourne on the last stint of a five-year overseas experience.
“My friends there were hippy, earthy, environmental science students,” she says. “Through them I became aware that we were starting to overtake the planet and learned some science about it. That’s when I first heard about carbon offsetting.”
Later, when Theresa began teaching in 2003, she noticed that few people were talking about climate change.
“There were no resources at all for teaching alternative energy – I managed to find one little skinny book and that was it,” she explains, adding that she’s had a two-decade wait for that skinny book to grow into something more expansive and teacher-friendly.
Not one to sit idly by, Theresa used that time to embed her own planet-positive initiatives into her teaching. There have been river clean-ups, beeswax wraps and seed-bomb craft sessions, visits to community gardens to learn about growing vegetables, climate strike attendance, petitions to neighbourhood shops to ban plastic straws, and student presentations on climate change to local and regional councils.
“Enviroschools has been my go-to framework for years and the facilitators have helped me so much,” she says.
Theresa notes she can see the need for curriculum scaffolding when it comes to teaching specifics about climate change and supports the development of a national climate literacy framework that relieves teachers of the burden of figuring out how to tackle the subject.
“There are so many variables with climate change,” she explains. “It’s been hard to figure out how to actually teach it – both the science of it and also in regards to children’s mental health.”
The Carbon Neutral Government Programme (CNGP) requires all public sector organisations to measure and report on their carbon emissions, which includes reporting on state education. The Ministry of Education started emissions reporting in
Top and bottom: Theresa (right) works with walking school bus volunteer Karin Ludwig (left) and the inquiry group to plan a walking school bus route.
2023 on behalf of 2,100 state schools and kura, and at the start of this year translated the reporting into individual carbon footprints for each school, providing a summary of their school’s carbon emissions.
“The carbon footprint will be updated every year so we can make targets,” adds Theresa.
Reducing their carbon footprint
Analysis of carbon emissions data led the Ministry of Education to select transport as its first emissions reduction priority.
When it rolled out a transport pilot programme earlier this year to test emission reduction opportunities, North East Valley Normal School became the first school in Ōtepoti to take it on – due in part to Theresa’s tireless persistence to further climate change education.
As a ‘carbon neutral school lead’ she’s the conduit between the Ministry of Education and her colleagues, feeding lesson content out to teachers and reporting collected data back to the Ministry. She says the breadth of the transport insights astonishes her.
“There’s a live accounting software tool that all the carbon neutral school leads have access to. You can even see a breakdown of how kids get to school each day of the week and across age groups.”
The overall framework for climate education, the data and the teaching resources have totally hit the spot, she adds. “We’ve all been waiting for this. It’s just mindblowing.”
Theresa says North East Valley Normal School is working on a number of ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
“We’re at the beginning stages of seeing if we can set up a ‘walking school bus’,” she explains. “We have some keen parent volunteers and I’ve been speaking to the Dunedin City Council to see what’s required to work through the logistics. A group of Year 5 and 6 students will be organising this as part of an inquiry project at the start of this term.”
“Another thing we’ve done recently to reduce our carbon footprint was to change from heating our school with a coal boiler to using a wood pellet fuel system.”
North East Valley Normal School is in the process of setting up a walking school bus.
Considering wellbeing
Theresa says one of the trickiest things to tackle in the climate literacy space is working out what kind of lens to put on the issues for young minds – finding a balance between informing tamariki and inflaming latent anxiety.
“I hear the worry from tamariki. Everything feels scary for them,” she says. “So while we’re telling them about carbon in a matter-of-fact way, each teacher also needs to be skilled at saying ‘hey, we’re just letting you know this is happening and that adults are working out what to do about it’.”
But on the flipside of the enhanced curriculum resources around climate change is the fact that ākonga are becoming more sophisticated in their grasp of the planet’s woes, Theresa says.
“This is the first time we’ve taught them about carbon and been really direct about the science behind it. I’ve noticed that their questions to us are getting trickier all the time. When asking my class what they knew about our changing climate at the start of last year, a 10-year-old asked, ‘Are we the last generation of people?’”
To this end, Theresa likes the fact that the new framework and accompanying resources have been provided in a way that allows teachers to use their discretion and pick what best suits their students.
“I think that’s key. We have to be really conscious of the wellbeing of our tamariki. Skills in mental health need to come on the journey, hand-in-hand with learning around climate change.
“I’m constantly in that dance – I think every teacher has to be in that dance.”
On our way
On Our Way is a Ministry of Education programme that introduces a pathway through climate literacy to help prepare ākonga for a low-carbon future and a changed climate. It offers a unique whole-school opportunity to build and develop climate literacy skills for ākonga, using the same process businesses, councils, governments, and international bodies undertake to measure, predict, and respond to climate change.
Piloted this year, Sport NZ and their regional sports trusts will be delivering On Our Way in schools across Aotearoa starting in term 1 2025. For more information visit the website or email emissions.reduction@education.govt.nz.
“While we’re telling them about carbon in a matter-of-fact way, each teacher also needs to be skilled at saying ‘hey, we’re just letting you know this is happening and that adults are working out what to do about it’.”
Theresa Bowen
Morrinsville Intermediate share local history to benefit their community
Wanting to start a local ‘StoryWalk’, Matamata-Piako District Libraries reached out to Morrinsville Intermediate School ākonga, who immediately got on board with their retelling of Ngāti Hauā iwi history, writing and illustrating a book to benefit everyone in their community.
“Along time ago, at least 500 years, there lived a tribe as brave as cave bears – Hauā and Hape were brothers by blood, exploring the land, through sand, clay and mud …”
So begins the tale of Hauā and Hape as told by students at Morrinsville Intermediate School, a story which features as a new ‘StoryWalk’ on the walkway through Lockerbie Park.
The project found life in 2023 when the school was contacted by Matamata-Piako District Libraries representative Heather Furniss, who was wanting to start a local StoryWalk, an outdoor reading activity that allows tamariki, whānau and the community to read the pages of a children’s book, shared on boards along a nature path or trail.
“Heather was interested in any story that our students wanted to share,” says kaiako and team leader of technology Bailee Foulds. “Our idea of retelling the Hauā and Hape story came about as we had just wrapped up our school production, ‘The Time Travelling Waka,’ which retold over 100 years of Ngāti Hauā (an iwi of eastern Waikato) history.”
“In previous years, I was lucky enough to be involved in a field trip where Ngāti Hauā representative Te Mape Fred Haimona orally retold the story of Hauā, Hape and their sister Ruru, from the summit of Maungakawa.”
Explaining how Ngati Hauā was established, it was the first time Bailee had heard the history.
“It stuck with me,” she says.
Antalya, Caitlin and Erika view their illustrations on the StoryWalk.
Active involvement in the curriculum
Hearing the history led to the initial development of the school production which included consultation with, and tautoko (support) from, Ngāti Hauā.
“From this experience, we were able to develop a trusting relationship with Ngāti Hauā where they were happy for us to continue telling their histories – an extremely important part of the process,” says Bailee.
She says neither she nor her students wanted to lose the momentum they had gained from the production experience and decided it was the “perfect time” for the school to “once again educate our local community, while getting our students actively involved in the curriculum”.
Students Caitlin and Antalya say they wanted more people in the community to learn about their local history and hoped that their book in the StoryWalk encouraged them to do so.
“I feel very proud of what we have done and all our hard work,” says Antalya.
“It was a very cool feeling to see the book out in public on the new StoryWalk,” agrees Caitlin.
Bailee says the students involved in the writing of the story were all talented writers who had performed in the school production, which meant they were able to orally recount most of the history “before we even started writing!”.
“We started the process by investigating picture books and the writing structures within them,” she explains. “As a group, we decided we wanted our story to rhyme, so we engaged in some authentic learning about rhyming schemes.
“From here we had to break the story down into stanzas and allocated each stanza to a student or pair of students to draft their ideas.
“It was a challenge for ākonga to stick to a strict rhyming scheme while staying true to the history and concisely getting the key points across in language that would appeal to younger children and adults alike.”
“The hardest part of writing was getting the story to rhyme, while making sure it was factually correct,” says Caitlin in agreement.
“A lot of time and effort has been put into it, and I couldn’t be happier with how it has come together. I can’t wait to see how our community reacts to it in the coming months and how we as a school continue to use this resource to educate our tamariki in years to come.”
Bailee Foulds
Ilah (author) sees the finished product for the first time at the StoryWalk opening ceremony.
“I enjoyed working with a creative group of students. I feel that I learned just as much from them as they learned from me. ”
Baylee Baxter
Building the picture
While students weren’t directly involved in the consultation with Ngāti Hauā for the project, once the draft was completed, it was shared with iwi kaumatua Te Ao Marama Maaka and iwi tumuaki Hone Tamihana, who provided feedback and approved the story for publication.
Most of the illustrations were driven by the students, says kaiako Baylee Baxter.
“I provided ākonga with the tools they needed and a weekly time to meet. My guidance came in the form of questioning them about what they were seeing as they read, and giving feedback on the artwork they produced,” says Baylee.
The illustrations were initially crafted using 6B pencils, then scanned and uploaded to online graphic design platform Canva.
Digital layering techniques were employed to refine the images, and the use of mixed media enabled the addition of colour and detail, resulting in visually compelling artwork.
“I created pages on Canva as we went, so students could share their thoughts on those too. Everything was a team decision,” says Baylee, explaining that the story is written as a poem, featuring between one and three stanzas per page.
“An illustrator would choose a stanza and then lots of discussion and brainstorming would follow. We would find the point in the stanza that ‘built the picture’ for the reader, and then draw it.
“It always came back to, ‘does this show us what the story told us?’. Some of the illustrations didn’t take long to come up with, while others took us a considerable amount of time.”
Antalya said she found creative timeframes the hardest factor to work with as an illustrator.
“I like to take my time while drawing.”
Another student, Erika, says she enjoyed the opportunity to “do what I love – drawing – and working with the other illustrators along the way”.
Connecting to local history
The local council and library regularly display books along Morrinsville’s parks and walkways so parents and children can engage with them, and Hauā and Hape is being used as the first book in the newest StoryWalk, which was opened in September with teachers, students and the town’s mayor in attendance.
The story and creative process is also featured as part of the school’s annual art gallery exhibition, with the book’s pages on display alongside the original drawings.
Pages from the book as illustrated by: Tayler (top), Antalya (middle) and Caitlin (bottom).
“Our students love taking their whānau into the gallery,” says Baylee. “I am so proud of what we have created! The outcome far exceeded my expectations.”
She says the hardest part was putting the pages together digitally.
“It took hours of scanning and layering and editing to get it to the finished product.
“I enjoyed working with a creative group of students. I feel that I learned just as much from them as they learned from me.”
It’s a feeling shared by Bailee, who says it was a long process to get the pukapuka (book) to its published state.
“A lot of time and effort has been put into it, and I couldn’t be happier with how it has come together. I can’t wait to see how our community reacts to it in the coming months and how we as a school continue to use this resource to educate our tamariki in years to come.”
It was particularly special to work on the project alongside some students who are descendants of Hauā and Hape, she adds.
“It was great to see them empowered as local Māori learners, engaged in a relevant and authentic context that directly relates to their whakapapa.
“While not all students involved were Ngāti Hauā or Māori, every student has come away with a connection to our local history.”
The student authors and illustrators of Hauā and Hape alongside kaiako Bailee Foulds (left) and Baylee Baxter (right).
Matamata-Piako District Mayor, Adrienne Wilcox, cuts the ribbon at the opening ceremony.
E Whiti! E Whiti! Giving ākonga the tools to solve real-world problems
E Whiti! E Whiti!, a series of hands-on workshops in Ōtautahi Christchurch, is giving ākonga the tools to creatively solve real-world problems, nurturing skills to help them in the future.
E Whiti! E Whiti! is a series of three two-day workshops held in Ōtautahi.
With a name meaning ‘let’s cross over’, E Whiti serves as a metaphor for the programme’s mission to bridge the gap between ākonga and the professional world. Connecting ākonga, schools and businesses, the programme is helping all parties reach their digital potential.
The kaupapa of E Whiti! E Whiti! shows the best digital approaches for education require collaboration, which is also an important element of Connected ako: Digital and data for learning, the 10-year strategy guiding the digital and data direction of New Zealand government education agencies.
Comprising three two-day workshops held in Ōtautahi Christchurch, E Whiti! E Whiti! engages Year 10 to Year 13 students, allowing rangatahi to solve real-world problems, and nurturing skills to help them in the future.
Karl Summerfield, Tātai Aho Rau Core Education project manager, says the programme is about rangatahi and community partners “getting into each other’s spaces”.
“Students have an opportunity to solve a genuine, authentic, slightly knotty problem that our community partners are struggling with themselves.
“The thought is that rangatahi will bring some new thinking, and a fresh perspective to those problems.”
Exploring possibilities
Lincoln High School student Sarah sums up the E Whiti! E Whiti! journey well.
“You start in a place of darkness where you don’t know anything and then you move into a place where you get the beginning of an idea.
“And then you’re widening the scope and looking at all the possibilities, coming back to revise so it can be narrowed down to something. This happens over and over as you refine,” she says, explaining that the six days of the programme involve design days, two ‘sprints’ and a celebration evening.
The design days involve learning about the design process from industry experts and meeting the community partners delivering authentic design challenges for students, among other things.
Sprints are broken into two parts. The first sprint sees students form a team, exploring ideas and designs, meeting industry gurus, and practising pitching techniques.
The second amplifies the experience, with students presenting their ideas to community partners for feedback, allowing them to access mentoring, to finalise designs, and to create a pitch to present at the celebration evening.
“We have people coming to us who have problems that they want help with. But they don’t exactly know how to fix it, so for the next few days we have to plan out what we’re going to do and how we’re going to approach that problem to solve it.”
Danil, Rolleston College
All of these processes involve working with digital tools to collaborate, design and show how new ideas might be implemented.
Tama, a student from Christchurch Rudolf Steiner School, says he enjoys seeing how other people work.
“It’s super cool, and we see how everything created in a building on a street – or just in anything – is specifically thought out and designed in a certain way,” he says.
Rolleston College student Danil says he enjoyed brainstorming ideas with businesses.
“We have people coming to us, such as businesses or corporations, who have problems that they want help with. But they don’t exactly know how to fix it, so for the next few days we have to plan out what we’re going to do and how we’re going to approach that problem to solve it.”
Tama says it’s important to empathise and listen when engaging with community partners.
“You don’t think ‘what am I going to do?’, you listen to the problems and you put it together. It’s quite a selective process and I really enjoy learning about that.”
“These kids have really brilliant ideas – innovation, tech-savvy, sustainable thinking, learner design, AI – just all of that stuff is going to be the way of the world soon, so we really need to incorporate it into the classes.”
Lena Tuiloma
Maximising capability
One of the key areas of mahi in Connected ako: Digital and data for learning is engaging widely and effectively, acknowledging that the best digital approaches for education require diverse participants, enabling and encouraging innovation.
Teams create pitches to present at the celebration evening.
The story of E Whiti! E Whiti! demonstrates the importance of collaboration between business, technology and education sectors.
With many employment opportunities now requiring information literacy and information technology skills to collaborate, problem solve, communicate and present, it’s critical for schools to collaborate widely and effectively to ensure students are getting real-world experience.
In the programme, not only are students collaborating with businesses and community organisations, but they are also receiving mentoring from industry designthinking experts – which has made a big impact on students like Sarah.
“I think we did need quite a lot of help with experts, the lovely people who come around and talk to us,” says Sarah.
“We tend to focus on the technical details, so our process was to jump right to the end and go ‘let’s make something’ rather than ‘let’s work out who we’re actually targeting and why we’re making it’ first.”
Avonside Girls’ High School student Lily agrees.
“If we didn’t have those experts and our helpers around, I don’t think I ever would have made it to this point. When you get stuck or don’t really know how to move on, they give you a bunch of ideas and just help you through it which is really handy because otherwise we wouldn’t be at this point.”
Teachers are also seeing the benefits, including Lincoln High School digital technologies teacher Ruth Davy.
“E Whiti! E Whiti! gives us the ideal setting where teachers like me can access real-world problems, so you get that real-world experience and authenticity,” she says.
Tātai Aho Rau Core Education facilitator Lena Tuiloma says E Whiti! E Whiti! creates a foundation for students to be able to move into an employment sector where money is generated, while also ensuring students who have expertise in digital fluency and innovation stay in New Zealand.
“These kids have really brilliant ideas – innovation, tech-savvy, sustainable thinking, learner design, AI – just
all of that stuff is going to be the way of the world soon, so we really need to incorporate it into the classes.”
Fellow Tātai Aho Rau facilitator Ray Burkhill says this year the programme has expanded to include more schools, teachers, and students.
“We’ve still only really scratched the surface in terms of the schools locally. I think the sky’s the limit really.”
Celebrating skills, talent and passion
The final day of E Whiti! E Whiti! is dedicated to celebrating the skills, talent, and passion of rangatahi.
Students stand on stage and present their pitches to an audience filled with community organisations, businesses and whānau. It’s the culmination of all their hard work.
Many rangatahi have positive things to say about the programme.
“It is just a really positive experience, and it’s always really interesting to see the pitches from other cohorts,” says Sarah.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to work with wider people than just within my school,” says Tynisia from Rangiora High School.
Karl says he is “really proud” of the rangatahi. “The pitches they delivered were exceptional, the response from the audience amazing.”
Find out more about the digital strategy Connected ako: Digital and data for learning on the Ministry of Education website.
Learn more about E Whiti! E Whiti! on the Tātai Aho Rau Core Education website.
Students collaborate with businesses and community organisations, and receive mentoring from industry design thinking experts.
Celebrating Pacific culture, unity, and expression with Pasifika Fusion
Not just a festival, Pasifika Fusion is a living, breathing testament to the vibrancy, resilience and unity of the Pacific community in Palmerston North. Over its 20-year history, the event has become a cherished celebration, drawing together rangatahi from across the Taranaki-Whanganui-Manawatū region to showcase their cultural heritage through creative expression.
Overall winners, Palmerston North Girls’ High School.
Beginning as a small local initiative in Palmerston North in 2005, Pasifika Fusion is driven by a simple yet powerful vision: to provide Pacific youth with a platform to celebrate their roots while expressing their unique voices.
Administrator and media officer of Pasifika Fusion Malutamali’i Tise Fauolo’s connection to the festival is close to her heart – her mother is one of the founding members. Tise is also an alumnus of the event having competed in its inaugural run.
“A part of the framework or the structure of Pasifika Fusion is its holistic view,” explains Tise. “It’s our students, but it’s also parents, the community, teachers, and schools. There’s just a whole community involvement behind the scenes.
“What you see on stage is a labour of love of all these groups coming together.”
Celebrating its 20-year anniversary
Supported by the Ministry of Education through its Pacific Education Innovation Fund, the festival started as a modest gathering and has since evolved into 20 years’ worth of capturing the hearts of participants and audiences alike.
The festival’s growth is a testament to the importance of cultural identity in the lives of Pacific young people, offering them a space to connect with their heritage, celebrate their traditions, and share their stories.
Lemalu Moevao Faimalie coordinates Pasifika Fusion Legacy, an offshoot event of Fusion introduced this year to celebrate its 20th anniversary. She says the journey that led to Fusion has been critical to its success, with their Pacific community enabling and nurturing their path.
“For me, it’s not about the 20-year journey of Fusion, it’s about the journey of the 20 years that preceded Fusion and even further back. The event speaks for itself, we are a well-oiled machine that sits under a phenomenal umbrella.”
Tise echoes Lemalu’s sentiments, crediting the involvement of their community as the key to the festival’s longevity.
“I think Pasifika Fusion connects with the older generation, especially the generation that migrated to Aotearoa New Zealand; they love watching the kids connect with their culture and their Pacific language outside of just our normal cultural spaces like church.
“They get to see our kids thrive in their language and identity for all to see and hear, that’s what keeps them coming back every year.”
Each year Pasifika Fusion embraces a theme that resonates with participants and their communities.
For the 20th anniversary, the theme that spoke to the committee was ‘legacies’ – specifically the legacies of their community leaders and past students.
The 2024 theme, “Triumphant Pasifika legacies: A reflection on the dawn raids,” is particularly poignant, inviting students to explore a painful chapter in the history of New Zealand Pacific communities, while also honouring their strength and resilience.
“It’s so heartwarming to see our non-Pacific students take part in Pasifika Fusion Legacy because that’s what it’s all about – it’s about sharing our culture and language and our passion for it.”
Tise Fauolo
The event features a wearable arts competition.
“It’s important for us to use the word ‘triumphant’ because we didn’t want to come across as though we’re still oppressed and stuck in the time of the dawn raids,” explains Tise.
“We’ve had progress since then, but we also still have a lot of progress to go. It’s important for us to know that we did overcome that time as a people, we have made progress in terms of the representation of our people and who we are.”
Allowing tamariki to shine
This year was made extra special with the introduction of Pasifika Fusion Legacy, a branch of the original festival created for primary and intermediate-aged tamariki to shine in cultural performances.
The organising committee, comprised of passionate Fusion alumni, sought to strengthen the foundations
of culture and language education for their Pacific students and in turn also saw a rise in non-Pacific students participating.
“It’s so heartwarming to see non-Pacific students take part in Legacy because that’s what it’s all about: it’s about sharing our culture and language and our passion for it,” says Tise.
With an impact extending far beyond the event itself, the festival creates opportunities for students to develop important life skills, such as leadership, teamwork and communication, all within a culturally affirming environment.
“We have an opportunity with Legacy to not only implement some great change with our students but also elevate our communities and families,” says Lemalu.
By participating in Fusion and Legacy, students not only celebrate their culture but also learn to navigate the
“The goal is for Fusion to go hand-in-hand with the curriculum at school.”
Tise Fauolo
Horowhenua College put on a showstopping performance.
complexities of their identity in the world.
“For our Pacific kids, we know that surrounding them with bilingualism allows them to have the skills to learn language better and in a more effective way as they grow older. I believe that starting Legacy is going to help them strengthen their identity as a person and hopefully that contributes to developing a thriving society,” explains Tise.
Cultural performances are at the heart of the festival, with students proudly showcasing traditional dances, songs, and music from their respective Pacific cultures. Performances are more than entertainment, they affirm identity and belonging.
Speech and spoken word competitions provide a platform for young people to share their thoughts and emotions, often addressing the festival’s theme or broader issues related to Pacific identity, while drama and theatre participants bring stories to life, using their creativity to explore social issues and historical events.
Visual arts and wearable arts competitions celebrate the artistic talents of Pacific youth, with students creating works that are both visually stunning and deeply meaningful. Students are also able to compete in quiz, talent, debate, cinematography, and science – these categories introduced over time to reflect the academic pursuits and pathways students seek to explore.
“The goal is that the categories will be used as pathways to different career choices, and we want to provide as much exposure to these careers as possible,” says Tise. “We also want to align the categories with what tamariki are doing in school. The goal is for Fusion to go hand-in-hand with the curriculum at school.”
This year the festival had 17 secondary schools compete, its highest number of competing schools to date.
Horowhenua College took home the highly soughtafter first place spot for cultural performances. The overall winner, with placings in all 12 categories, was Palmerston North Girls’ High School.
A legacy of inspiration
For many participants, Pasifika Fusion is a life-changing experience, offering them the confidence to embrace their heritage and the inspiration to carry it forward into the future.
With the organising committee continuing to look for ways to meet the needs of their students and community, future goals for the festival include having their academic categories NCEA accredited and widening the pathway opportunities for their students with scholarships and internships in their desired future career.
As the festivals continue to evolve, the mission remains clear: to celebrate the richness of Pacific cultures and empower the next generation to become leaders, creators, and advocates for their communities.
The festival’s commitment to these goals ensures that it will continue to be a source of inspiration and pride for years to come.
Above: This year, students embraced the ‘Triumphant Pasifika Legacies: A Reflection on Dawn Raids’ theme in their designs.
Below: The event’s visual and wearable arts competitions celebrate the artistic talents of Pacific youth.
Learning Support Network: Working together so children can flourish
The Learning Support Network supports education learning support kaimahi to connect, network, share resources and best practice, and engage in professional development. Having recently undergone a major refresh, the network offers a range of new spaces and places to support kaiako in their everyday practice.
‘Mā te māhi ngātahi ka puwai te tamaiti, through us working together, the child shall flourish’ is the guiding tūāpapa (foundation) of network of expertise the Learning Support Network (LSN).
Established in 2018 as a Massey University initiative funded by the Ministry of Education, the network’s purpose is to support professionals working in learning support roles to connect, network, share resources and best practice, and engage in professional development.
Evolving from being a network of expertise for learning support coordinators (LSC) and special educational needs coordinators (SENCo), the LSN is now an interprofessional
network for all educators and practitioners working in learning support roles. These include those in early learning services, kōhanga reo, primary schools, secondary schools, Māori-medium schools and kura kaupapa Māori, as well as resource teachers of learning and behaviour (RTLB) and Ministry of Education learning support roles.
It has a growing membership of more than 1,500 members, diverse both in terms of work contexts and roles, all sharing the common objective of working together to achieve equitable educational outcomes for all ākonga.
The Learning Support Network is an interprofessional network for all educators and practitioners working in learning support roles.
Refreshed website
The Learning Support Network has refreshed its website, providing access to nine online spaces, with each space supporting learning support kaimahi in different aspects of their practice.
Spaces include:
» a calendar of events
» a kete of resources
» a catalogue of webinars
» a space to connect and kōrero
» a newsletter archive
» te rourou whai hui, a collection of resources supporting He Pikorua in Action
» a space for professional learning
» short courses/formal qualifications
» community spaces.
All network content has a strong evidence-base and is relevant for educators working in learning support roles across Aotearoa New Zealand. Data is regularly gathered from members through online forums, polls and surveys to identify areas of practice where they would like further support and guidance.
“This enables us to really tailor the curation of resources and the selection of webinar topics to the needs of LSN members,” explains LSN national facilitator Nicola Leete, adding that in the last six months alone, webinars have included emergent literacy instruction for tamariki with complex learning and communication needs, protecting and respecting student privacy, narrative assessment, supporting ākonga with dyspraxia and the zones of regulation.
Ensuring the LSN is user-friendly and easy to navigate is a key objective for the LSN team.
“All aspects of the site have been designed with the needs of busy learning professionals in mind,” says LSN director Mandia Mentis.
There is a search function, allowing members to easily find information by keywords or topics, while a recently introduced resource and webinar catalogue enables members to identify content that aligns with Te Tūāpapa, the Ministry of Education’s framework for identifying supports.
Termly newsletters provide an opportunity for LSN members to engage with learning support-related news from across Aotearoa. Newsletters feature summaries of latest research in the learning support field, updates from learning support professionals on regional initiatives, interviews with authors of recent publications highlighting key messages, and upcoming professional learning and development (PLD) opportunities.
Collaboration and networking
Ōtūmoetai Primary School kairuruku tautoko akoranga (learning support coordinator) Cathie Stenhouse has been a member of the LSN since its early days and describes the LSN as her “go to” and “online colleague”.
“There is a seemingly endless kete of resources,” she says, noting that these equip LSCs with tools and strategies to identify and support the diverse needs of ākonga.
“What is also vital in our role is collaboration and networking, and the LSN connects us with other professionals through forums. We’re able to share best practice and access expert advice.”
With opportunities to collaborate and network extending beyond the site, the LSN also offers tailored regional workshops facilitated online or face-to-face. This year, a series of workshops in the Bay of Plenty region highlighted their value in bringing together learning support kaimahi.
Ministry of Education learning support advisor Larissa Poole, who collaborated with LSN facilitator Jo Arnold to organise workshops in Tauranga and Rotorua, says feedback from workshops has been resoundingly positive.
“All attendees can see how the LSN enhances the work they do with the ākonga they support.”
Their initial success led to workshops in Katikati, Taupō and Whakatāne and the development of an exciting new initiative – regional spaces within the LSN. Larissa has been part of a group working with the LSN to co-design a custom regional space for Tauranga, and further spaces for Rotorua, Taupō and Whakatāne are also in the pipeline.
“We anticipate this will have a significant impact for the learning community,” she says.
“As well as being used to collaborate and maintain connections among learning support professionals, organisations and agencies, the regional space will be used to share local resources and PLD opportunities.”
Ensuring the LSN is user-friendly and easy to navigate is a key objective for the LSN team.
“The study has really helped my practice be more evidencebased about how and why we do things at my kura. I’ve also really valued learning from connecting with other people that are doing similar mahi.”
Susan Yardley
Qualification pathways
An additional feature of the LSN is the pathway it offers from short courses to a formal qualification.
Working at their own pace, LSN members can complete six short courses that explore different aspects of learning support within their work context.
These short courses can then be credited towards Massey University’s postgraduate certificate or diploma in learning support, a qualification developed specifically for LSCs, SENCo and kaiako working in other learning support roles.
The short course to formal qualification pathway means kaiako can incorporate their study into their everyday work context, ensuring their learning is authentic and meaningful.
Susan Yardley is an LSC at Kaiapoi High School in Christchurch and began her postgraduate study journey through the LSN this year.
“I came from a classroom science teacher background and went straight into the LSC role, so I really wanted to broaden my understanding of how to help support students with diverse needs in a high school setting,” she says.
“The study has really helped my practice be more evidence-based about how and why we do things at my kura. I’ve also really valued learning from connecting with other people that are doing similar mahi.”
Lorraine Southey, an LSC at Bethlehem College in Tauranga, echoes Susan’s sentiments.
“The study has broadened my networks. I’ve always really valued working collaboratively but I feel
The LSN supports professionals in learning support roles to connect, network, share resources and best practice, and engage in professional development.
more empowered in this area now and I find myself connecting with other professionals in our local area,” she says, explaining that she’s in the second year of her postgraduate study journey that began through the LSN.
“Study through the LSN is relevant, current and purposeful because it’s what I’m doing every day.”
Learn more about the Learning Support Network
To find out more and enrol in the Learning Support Network, visit the website.
Take a virtual tour of the Learning Support Network.
See details of upcoming events on the Learning Support Network Facebook page.
Email the Learning Support Network team about regional workshops: info@thelearningsupportnetwork.org
Enhancing literacy through digital storytelling
HNot just a form of entertainment, digital storytelling is providing new ways for students to develop oral language and literacy skills. Through podcasting programme DigiKōr, ākonga are learning to structure and present their thoughts in a compelling narrative, equipping them with essential skills they can use in their study and future careers. LITERACY SKILLS
aving grown up with dyslexia, Will (Viriamu) Fleming is passionate about strengthening oral communication as a way of making literacy more accessible in education.
Founder of Campfire Studios, Will says that participating in podcast creation allows students to improve not only their spoken communication skills, but their ability to structure narratives, encouraging critical thinking and creative expression.
His podcasting programme Digital Kōrero (DigiKōr) is doing just that: equipping students with podcasting skills and allowing them to create and share their stories in a format familiar and accessible to their generation. It’s also amplifying Māori and Pacific oral storytelling techniques.
“I don’t see a lot of places where our young people
are able to express their voice. I see a lot of spaces where young people are encouraged to listen to a voice,” says Will.
He says what makes podcasting effective for literacy development is its focus on interactive learning. Instead of passive consumption, participants engage in active storytelling, requiring clear articulation, planning, and self-reflection. By verbalising their ideas, they practise organising their thoughts and building coherent narratives – both essential in reading and writing development.
“Podcasting gives students the chance to practise their oral communication, develop their digital literacy, connect with other generations, see their ideas come to life, and
ultimately build pride in themselves and their mahi,” explains Will.
“Real connection happens when people come together for a deep and meaningful conversation, and the skills the young people are learning are transferable to all parts of their lives.”
Contributing to qualifications
Will says DigiKōr is NZQA-approved and students can use it to gain Level 2 NCEA credits – it can be used to achieve skill standard 40153: Create an interview podcast for social media.
“Podcasting provides another approach to literacy that is conducive and empowering. It’s also incredibly important for Māori and Pacific students who come from oral traditions.”
Describing DigiKōr, he says it’s a 10-week programme that concludes with students hosting a podcast with a guest that they look up to. They are encouraged to share stories that reflect their communities, giving voice to under-represented cultures in a way that is both authentic and personally meaningful.
Will adds the programme has also been designed to “help students gain some confidence in their abilities” – and feedback from students using the programme indicates he is on the right track.
“This experience has been invaluable in learning how to communicate better,” says one student. “My favourite moment was speaking with a special guest. It helped me deal with my nervousness and gain confidence.”
“My podcast experience has been really enjoyable,” shares another student. “I interviewed my friend, a music creator. It was challenging at first, but I got used to it and learned how to ask good questions. It’s been a great learning curve.”
Developing transferrable skills
Skills developed through the initiative aren’t limited to podcasting: the programme helps students build the confidence to express themselves in various contexts, from public speaking to written communication.
By learning to structure thoughts and present them in a compelling narrative, ākonga are better prepared for academic writing tasks, presentations, and future career opportunities.
“Producing a podcast was a step out of my comfort zone, but it was also exciting,” explains one student. “It gave me valuable experience and a unique advantage for my future. I’ve learned to be more confident and just let things flow naturally.”
“I was always encouraged to not be nervous. I was told to just let it all flow out and that it’ll come naturally,” agrees another student. “That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned, and it’s helped me with my confidence as well.”
With 10 schools currently participating in DigiKōr, Will and his team are planning to expand their reach, with a goal to get the programme approved for both Level 2 and 3 NCEA students nationwide. They also want to make it accessible for students who are hard of hearing, sight impaired, or have English as a second language.
The programme helps students build the confidence to express themselves in various contexts, from public speaking to written communication.
“Young people get to practise their oral communication, develop their digital literacy, connect with other generations, see their ideas come to life, and ultimately build pride in themselves and their mahi.”
Will Fleming
By verbalising their ideas, ākonga practise organising their thoughts and building coherent narratives – both essential in reading and writing development.
Learn more about DigiKōr on the website.
How to use privacy statements in education contexts
Privacy statements set out what personal information a company, service provider, or other organisation collects and what it will use it for. Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster explains privacy statements in an education context and what your school or early learning service needs to consider.
It seems like privacy statements are everywhere: when you sign up for a service, check out a new website, or buy a product.
But what are they and why are they important in education?
A privacy statement sets out what personal information a company, service provider, or other organisation collects and what it will use it for. It may be published on a website or included with a product or service.
When an organisation, business, or agency collects
information from an individual, they should ensure that the person is informed about what information is being collected and what purpose it will be used for.
In a school or early learning service context, privacy statements should be in an easy-to-find location, such as a school or early learning service’s website, making it clear it relates to all of the information collected, not just information on the website itself.
Privacy statements should be included in things such as enrolment forms and permission slips, and they should
Privacy statements ensure that individuals are informed about what information is being collected and what purpose it will be used for.
cover all aspects of personal information, including the use of images and videos.
The idea is to be clear and obvious, so people understand what is happening with their information.
A privacy statement ensures that people understand:
» that you’re collecting information about them (if it’s not obvious)
» why you’re collecting the information
» what you’re going to use it for
» who you’re going to give it to (if anyone)
» whether the person has to give you the information and what will happen if they don’t
» that they can access the information you hold about them, and they can correct it if it’s wrong.
Collecting information about children and young people
Many of the privacy statements we see in our daily lives are long and complicated, read by very few and understood by even fewer.
It’s important that the people who will be affected by your privacy statement can understand it. A good way to make sure this happens is by thinking about who your audience is.
It’s also worth considering different privacy statement formats and contents to factor in the increasing maturity of children through their primary school years and then on to secondary.
If you’re collecting personal information from children and young people, you should provide summaries of your privacy statements that are written in a way they can access, read, and understand.
It may not be fair to collect information from children in the same manner as you would from an adult. Ensuring your privacy statements make this distinction, and are easy to understand, can help address any power imbalance. It can also ensure that any authorisation given is meaningful and can be properly relied on.
Privacy statements don’t always have to be in writing – you can ask someone (for example, parents) for their permission to share information about a child at any point. This can be done verbally, but you still need to let people know what’s happening with their information and cover the points mentioned above.
An important thing to remember is that children’s attitudes can change over time. A great example is the use of photos: a child who might be happy to have their photo taken might change their mind as they get older.
There’s an ongoing relationship that evolves over time and that can’t be entirely captured by a privacy statement in an enrolment form parents sign when their children first start school.
The key thing is reviewing your privacy statement when introducing new ways of handling personal information and keeping people informed about how their information (or their child’s information) is being used, which may change over the school year for several reasons (for example, a school is introducing new thirdparty software, or a teacher wants to use a new app).
Privacy statements don’t always have to be in writing – you can ask someone verbally, but you still need to let people know what’s happening with their information.
Resources and guidance
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has created tools to help schools and early learning services make their own simple privacy statements.
Use the online privacy statement generator, the Priv-o-matic, as a starting point.
Use the example privacy statement.
Access new guidance on how to be transparent, part of a new suite of privacy guidance called Poupou Matatapu.
