Kōrero ō te Tumuaki

Principal's Update

Autumn is a time of change!

We find ourselves in a current climate of considerable change in the education system in Aotearoa. While many of these changes are driven by the government, we are still self governing schools who set our own strategic direction, and with that comes an element of autonomy and individual flavour to reflect each school's community.

A key change across schools this year is the adoption of refreshed curriculum areas for English and Maths. This curriculum refresh has been in the pipeline for some time, with consultation having taken place last year, and a requirement that all schools start to implement the new content and structure this year.

As with any big change, this adoption is expected to take time, both within and across schools. We are well on our way with teachers having taken part in professional learning last year and this year.

English Curriculum

So far our large focus has been on the English curriculum, and part of the refreshed English curriculum is to use a "Structured Literacy" approach. What this means is that we follow a clear and succinct scope (what we teach) and sequence (when we teach it) with specific methods of delivery that ensure learners have clear, unambiguous instruction.

Reading lessons in Room 4

All of our junior teachers have been trained in BSLA (Better Start Literacy Approach) and use this in their daily teaching. Teachers of our older children are either currently learning this approach or are due to begin within the next year.

Maths Curriculum

Te Rito Maths

The refreshed curriculum has some additional components, and some expectations are different at certain levels. Our teachers feel positive and excited to unpack this further.

Next term we will focus more on Maths. The MOE have provided 4 teacher only days over 2025/26 to allow us to unpack and upskill in the new maths requirements. We will take our 2025 days in Terms 3 and 4 (dates to be advised). Please note, many other Stoke schools are having their first teacher only day next Friday. We are not.

Other Curriculum Areas

The refreshed curriculum is a gradual rollout. We have already had some learning areas previously introduced and adopted, such as the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories. Other areas are currently being developed.

Currently public consultation is invited for the Relationships and Sexuality part of the Health and PE curriculum. You can have your say on this by clicking here.

Structure of Curriculum

One of the biggest changes in the curriculum is the move from previously used "levels" to learning phases and year specific content.

While some teaching is year-level based, much of what we do is tailored to students' individual next learning steps.

The challenge that these changes present is in expectations for progress and achievement. There may be some circumstances where a child had previously been meeting curriculum expectations, and with the shifting of the goalposts this may no longer be the case. Were this to happen, teachers would communicate this with you, and indicate what was being done to support the learning.

Information for Parents

Some of you may have seen the recent news about the Ministry of Education's new Parent Portal.

You can view the parent portal here.

This is a great resource for finding generic information about what you might expect to see from schools about learning, giving ideas for how you can support at home and how to ask questions regarding learning. As it covers all schools, the information on this site may not specifically relate to what happens at Enner Glynn. As always, if you have questions about your child's learning, the best person to talk to is their classroom teacher.

Reporting

As we work through the changes to the curriculum we will review our current reporting practices. As has been in the past we are required to report to students and parents about progress and achievement across the curriculum.

At our Whānau Learning Conversations next week we will have a small survey that we will invite parents to complete regarding reporting and communication. This information will help us to ensure we are giving the right information in a way that is most useful for you.

Keeping an eye on the Big Picture

It is really important with all this change that we don't lose sight of our purpose. The vision of the New Zealand curriculum states that students will become Confident, Connected, Actively Involved, and Lifelong Learners.

While new initiatives in education may give us new approaches, we must remember that this remains our overarching goal. Derek Wenmoth in a recent article wrote:

"Literacy and numeracy are essential, but they are not the end point of education — they are the entry point. They equip learners with the tools to access knowledge, express ideas, and engage in the world. But the deeper purpose of education is to help young people make meaning, ask questions, think critically, relate to others, and contribute to society."

I believe it is worth reminding ourselves of this regularly as we navigate the current waters.

Ngā mihi nui,

John