CURRICULUM
"Developing Independent Life-Long Learners"
New Zealand has a national curriculum that guides what your child learns at school. Your child will develop a range of values and key competencies, or capabilities, that they need to succeed in life and became independent life-long learners. These are all woven into the teaching of learning areas, or subjects.
The National Curriculum is the term used to refer to The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. These set the direction for student learning and guide schools and kura as they design and implement a curriculum that meets the needs of their students. At Taita Central School, we like to start where the child is at and use their culture and experiences to enrich our local curriculum.
There is a big focus on reading, writing and mathematics in the primary years, as these are really important foundation skills that everyone needs in order to be able to do well in life and access the rest of the Curriculum. Where possible, we like to integrate the subjects so a unit of work is well rounded and covers many learning areas.
Vision
The vision is for young people to be confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners.
Values
Students are encouraged to value:
excellence, by aiming high and by persevering in the face of difficulties
innovation, inquiry, and curiosity, by thinking critically, creatively, and reflectively
diversity, as found in our different cultures, languages, and heritages
equity, through fairness and social justice
community and participation for the common good
ecological sustainability, which includes care for the environment
integrity, which involves being honest, responsible, and accountable and acting ethically, and
to respect themselves, others and human rights
Learning Areas
There are 8 learning areas (or subject areas) in The New Zealand Curriculum:
english
the arts
health and physical education
learning languages
mathematics and statistics
science
social sciences
technology
The values and competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum are woven into these learning areas. They are designed to encourage enjoyment of learning and the ability to think critically, manage oneself, set goals, overcome obstacles and get along with others – the attributes students need to succeed as adults.
Key Competencies
Competencies are abilities and capabilities that people use to live, learn, work and contribute as active members of their communities.
The New Zealand Curriculum identifies 5 key competencies that it has a focus on children developing throughout their time at school:
Thinking - is about using thinking processes to make sense of information, experiences and ideas
Using language, symbols, and texts - working with, being able to understand, and making sense of the codes (languages and symbols) in which knowledge is expressed
Managing self - having self-motivation, a "can-do" attitude, and seeing oneself as a capable learner
Relating to others - is about interacting effectively with a range of different people in a range of different situations, including things like being able to listen well, recognise different points of view, and share ideas
Participating and contributing - being involved in communities, such as family, whānau, school, and be able to contribute and make connections with other people
