Homework week 4-5. Due 3rd June.

The Human Body

The human body- a mysterious and wondrous thing! There are multitudes of systems working within the human body and each have a unique job to play to keep us functioning. 

Your homework- choose an internal organ which you have some interest in finding out about. If you're having a hard time choosing go here to have a look at some of the different ones. 

Once you've chosen, have a go at some of these tasks

- Find out all about your chosen organ. What is it's job? How does it do it's job? What other organs does it work with (what system is it a part of)? What would happen if that organ was damaged or didn't work properly? 

- Create a visual representation of your organ- NON digitally. This could mean a model, a sketch, a sculpture- get creative.

- Now find a way of presenting your research creatively- Google Slides, a cardboard poster, Google Draw, drawing it up, the choice is yours! 

This homework is due on Friday the 3rd of June. We can't wait to see it! 

Week Two homework

Welcome back, everyone! It has been a busy start to term, and we have lots of new learning ahead with our fantastic unit on the systems of the human body!

A reminder to all of you who might be wondering about homework. Homework is of course what you find here, on the blog. However, you should also be reading a book you enjoy and doing your basic facts EVERY NIGHT. There are lots of ways to do this- try reading a picture book to a younger brother or sister, reading aloud to your parents, or reading a chapter book to yourself. You can find basic facts all over the internet and phone apps, and you could even do it the good old fashioned way and write it down!

This weeks homework has a special focus- the Travelwise team have asked us to have a go at this Travelwise poster competition! 

There is a great prize for the winning school! Get creative, read through the poster attached and give it a go. Google Draw could be a great tool for this activity. Alternatively, go here to find all the information you need. 

Ask an adult at home to help you submit your poster online here

Good luck! 

TERM 2 Organisation

Te Ako Kahikatea has taken another big step towards the brave new world of 'Modern/Innovative Learning Environments'.
At the beginning of the year, students had a home class, but were grouped across the four classes for literacy and numeracy, returning to home classes in the afternoons for Social Sciences. This gave the four teachers a chance get to know all the students in the Ako, and was particularly beneficial for camp preparation and follow-up.

This term, we have moved into phase two of our programme. To streamline the process,  Rooms 1 and 1A will function as one class.  Rooms 2 and 3 will do the same. 

We have developed an orientation programme for the first two weeks where students  will develop the necessary skill sets and work habits required for succeeding in this new environment. This involves developing a robust work ethic as students will be working on individualised programmes based on learning goals they and their teachers have developed.


Students will attend guided learning sessions with their teachers designed to address their learning needs. There will be groups for literacy and numeracy, but we will not be cross grouping.

What will this look like in practice?
After students have identified their goals, they will select the guided learning sessions the teachers are running, and put them in their personal timetable - which is shared with the teacher. The teachers know who should be at each session, so will ensure that these students attend. However, it is important that students develop independence with this.
One teacher might be taking a maths group, while the other might be taking a writing group.  
This means that when they are not working with of the teachers, students will select from a range of learning tasks they need to complete for the week. So you would see some students working on maths problems, some doing reading tasks, others doing science etc. They will select from a menu of 'must dos' and 'can dos'. It will be up to each student to prioritise these tasks so that a)follow-up tasks are completed b) they do something they are particularly interested in.

Students are accountable for their progress through their required tasks through both their critical friend group, and both teachers. Each student has been assigned to a critical friend group. These groups meet every day or so and students must show what they had planned to do vs what they actually achieved. They must provide evidence of this in the form of a photograph, a document/slide etc. This information is collated in Hapara - the Google student management system we use.  Group members support each other with developing independence re prioritising and meeting task requirements on time.  

All four classes will come together for our Discovery Friday programme each week. Here, teachers, students, and parents will provide workshops on areas of interest e.g. cooking, building, computer programming etc. Students will develop their own area of inquiry in the manner of Google's Genius Hour. Genius Hour Explained

If you have any questions about about your child's learning, please make a time to come and see us.
Warm regards,
Te Ako Kahikatea teachers.