Curriculum / Teaching and Learning

The Preparatory School Curriculum is developed under the guidelines and philosophy of the New Zealand Curriculum and takes into consideration the special nature of St Andrew’s College. It takes, as its starting point, a vision of our young people as lifelong learners who are confident and creative, connected, and actively involved. It includes a clear set of principles on which to base curriculum decision making. It sets out values that are to be encouraged, modelled, and explored. It defines five Key Competencies that are critical to sustained learning and effective participation in society, and that underline the emphasis on lifelong learning.

Literacy remains the largest and most important learning area (includes Reading, Writing, Spelling, Visual and Oral Language). Literacy accounts for 60–65 per cent of the weekly timetable. Numeracy (Mathematics), Enrichment (specialist areas), and Units of Inquiry make up most of the remaining time in the timetable.

The school is committed to enhancing strategies and skills for learning and high levels of understanding. A quality learning environment encourages discussion and questioning, and for the student is engaging, differentiated, and meaningful. It also develops interpersonal skills.

A significant development in 2022 was staff beginning the journey to modifying their approach to the teaching of Literacy. The change is from a whole language approach to a Structured Literacy one.

Structured Literacy is a highly explicit and systematic way of teaching all important components of literacy. These components include both foundational skills (e.g. decoding, spelling, handwriting and letter formation) and higher-level literacy skills (e.g. reading comprehension, written expression). It has gained considerable traction in New Zealand Education circles in recent years, particularly as an approach for our youngest learners and those with learning differences. At the start of Term 3, all staff completed a full day of professional development on Structured Literacy. Several teachers have trialled aspects of this approach across 2022 and all staff took part in further PD in December. The staff are looking forward to incorporating Structured Literacy as a key aspect of class programmes in 2023.

A Student-centred Learning Approach where learning is visible, has continued to underpin and drive teaching in the Preparatory School. In 2022, the focus has continued to be on teacher clarity, which according to Professor John Hattie, is one of the most important learning interventions available. Specifically, the following areas were a focus:

• learning intentions and success criteria are visible to students. Students know what they are learning and what success looks like;

• students have opportunities to self-assess their work;

• formative feedback is given to students;

• feedback is related to the learning intentions;

• Next step: feedback incorporates listening to the children explain their thinking.

The introduction of Aotearoa New Zealand Histories into our curriculum as part of the Social Sciences learning area was a significant development in 2022. Through the Social Sciences, students explore “how societies work and how they themselves can participate and take action as critical, informed, and responsible citizens” (the New Zealand Curriculum, page 17). Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum content supports this focus on critical citizenship – understanding the past to make sense of the present and to inform future decisions and actions. It focuses on stories of interactions across time that connect us to one another and to place. There are three elements to the histories curriculum content: understand, know, and do. Teachers design learning experiences that weave these elements together so that student learning is deep and meaningful.

In 2022 the Preparatory School was fortunate to have the knowledge and expertise of teacher Mary Leota working part-time implementing the ANZH curriculum in Years 3–8 classrooms. Mary taught a lesson once a fortnight to classes, and teachers participated as learners for these classes. Lessons covered a mix of learning and inquiry into our local history as well as basic Te Reo development.

Over the course of the next three to five years the entire New Zealand Curriculum is going through a refresh process. Key changes signalled include:

• a greater emphasis and recognition of the intent of Te Tiriti. This will include designing local curriculum that includes content about Te Tiriti covering local and national contexts;

• broadening our view of what success looks like. In practice this means creating inclusive environments that value every student;

• setting high expectations for all.

As each Learning Area is rewritten it will follow the Understand, Know, and Do format of the Histories Curriculum. As a Preparatory School and College, we are well placed to adapt to the changes. Many of the key changes reflect our current student-focussed philosophy and mirrors the College values of inclusivity and excellence.

In 2022, there continued to be a focus on the use of Te Reo Māori in classrooms. Te Reo Māori is one of New Zealand’s three official languages and providing our students with a basic understanding of Te Reo Māori and Tikanga has had many benefits for them. All teachers attended short professional development sessions run by a specialist teacher and implemented this learning in their classrooms. These sessions had a dual focus of actively encouraging staff to develop confidence in their own speaking, while providing practical activities for use in the classroom. Staff briefings now begin with a karakia and waiata which are then taught to classes across the Preparatory School. Part of the teacher’s role this year has involved the teaching of Te Reo to Years 3–8. Teachers also take part in these lessons as learners alongside their students. Students have displayed an increasing sense of pride in the New Zealand Māori culture, as well as an understanding of how languages work and how these skills can be transferred to other areas of learning.

Over recent years there has been a growing understanding of, and recognition for neuro-diverse students in mainstream Education. Neurodiversity is a broad term used to encompass a wide range of diagnoses that includes Learning or Developmental Disability; Communication Disorders (CD), Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD). As a school that values inclusivity, St Andrew’s welcomes students with diverse needs and has a wealth of resources to assist in their education. An important part of this package is continuing to upskill classroom teachers in this area. During the earlier part of the year all staff attended Professional Development on what to expect when teaching neuro-diverse students and how to cater for them in the classroom.

The Preparatory staff’s ability to deliver learning during the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic was again put to the test, as it was across the College and wider community. During Term 1 the Preparatory School had its share of staff and student absences. Heading into this time the decision was made to employ a full-time reliever for the duration of the Term 1 and part-way through Term 2. Other part-time specialists were also re-deployed to assist with preparing learning for students isolating at home during the pandemic. It was a testament to the skill of our teachers that the learning for our students remained seamless and of excellent quality. 2022 results in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics indicate that there was no dip in achievement for our students and the school was able to remain open for instruction throughout this challenging time.