Week 3 news...

What are our Seesaw Learning Conferences about?

Over this week and next week our teachers have a range of times available for you to come and talk about what is happening with your child's learning journey and how we connect you with their progress and achievement (across the curriculum) through the use of their Seesaw Learning Journal. While these are two designated weeks for this to happen this dialogue with you is an ongoing process and something that we take seriously. Seesaw is one example of how we are attempting to give you a real look into the learning that happens everyday for your child.

But what is the point of primary school?

You may have noticed that (besides the use of Seesaw) that how our school talks about learning, and the structure of how we support that with our teachers, has changed somewhat from how we used to do it. This can seem confusing for parents as a lot of what we hear about school in the media, and politically, is centred around the key words of reading, writing, maths and national standards. Well, the national curriculum framework is actually a whole lot more than that. There is no set curriculum for a school to follow. Every school in the country has to take the national framework and define what that looks like at the school and classroom level, reflective of our local community and culture. National Standards are not a checklist de facto curriculum in themselves and there is no national test that any school child has to take in New Zealand while at primary school. Below is an excerpt from the national framework that indicates what learning in Years 1 - 6 must consider:

Learning in Years 1–6 (from the NZ Curriculum p. 41)
The transition from early childhood education to school is supported when the school:

• fosters a child’s relationships with teachers and other children and affirms their identity
• builds on the learning experiences that the child brings with them
• considers the child’s whole experience of school
• is welcoming of family and whānau.

This new stage in children’s learning builds upon and makes connections with early childhood learning and experiences. Teaching and learning programmes are developed through a wide range of experiences across all learning areas, with a focus on literacy and numeracy along with the development of values and key competencies.

The National Curriculum Framework then has a whole section that outlines the requirements for the Board of Trustees around the development of a school curriculum. Again, nothing is given as a prescription, except that each board of trustees must ensure that the school (through the principal and the staff) must provide all students with "effectively taught programmes of learning... in all learning areas... in response to the identified interests and learning needs of their students." This must also:

• be underpinned and consistent with the principles of the national curriculum (p. 9)
• encourage, model and explore the values of the national curriculum (p. 10)
• support all students to develop the key competencies (p. 12-13)

Reference: NZ National Curriculum Framework - pdf linked here