Teaching Delivery
Curriculum Delivery
The teaching team at Roslyn has agreed that Literacy and Numeracy will be their priority. Opportunities for children to experience success in other Essential Learning Areas will be delivered through an Integrated Curriculum within an authentic context.
Principles
- Learning will focus on the needs, interests and abilities of learners enhancing their self-esteem.
- Further develop students social and personal behaviours leading to ‘making the right choices’
- Equip learners with Thinking and Learning Strategies to achieve and exceed achievable goals
- Allow learners to construct and make connections with others leading to independence
- Important skills including communication (Literacy), using number confidently in everyday life (Numeracy), thinking, investigation, information, self management and classroom opportunities, knowing I am learning and cooperative learning will be elements that support learning
- The National Education Goals are integral to the wairua of our curriculum delivery
- Children with special learning needs and abilities will be identified for inclusion within learning support programmes.
Key Indicators
- Teachers through a range of assessment strategies will identify children’s needs, abilities and interests in order to enhance self-esteem.
- Children will make the right choices about their learning in order for them to take responsibility for their learning.
- Teachers and children will teach and practice a programme of thinking and learning strategies and will utilise them within the integrated curriculum.
- Children will learn from others so that they can make sense of the current learning and advance in their thinking and learning skills.
- Children will use the Essential Skills, taught and practised within learning contexts to ensure skills for life.
- The spirit of the National Education Goals will be inherent within teaching and learning programmes.
- Children identified with special learning needs and abilities will be catered for through a variety of learning support strategies.
Integrated Curriculum
An Integrated Curriculum approach is important because it is seen as a collaborative process of learning and teaching based on children’s needs. It provides opportunities for our school community to engage in in-depth learning using Literacy, Mathematics, Thinking and Learning Tools. It provides opportunities to make connections between curricula in order to make sense of our world.
Principles
- Learning will endeavour to take place within real life contexts. We will provide a focus for learning within these contexts.
- Children will be encouraged to think for themselves and to share ideas, beliefs and thoughts. At appropriate times we will gather and use children’s questions and interests about topics/issues to guide and facilitate learning. We will try to bridge the gap between what learners can do with support and what they can do independently.
- Children will help plan experiences and activities. They will actively be encouraged to review through self, peer and teacher assessment. This can be achieved through written learning intentions and success criteria suggested by both teachers and children.
- Children will continue to develop questioning skills, a range of thinking tools, problem solving skills and research and information skills.
- We are aware of multiple intelligences and learning styles. We will endeavour to meet the needs of individuals through a variety of activities.
- We will promote the uniqueness of New Zealand through Te Reo Maori and Tikanga and endeavour in democratic learning by respecting the multicultural background of our school community.
Key Indicators
- Children involved in hands on activities, having visitors and going places.
- Children interacting with others to learn. Teachers providing models, facilitating children’s learning to build on existing frameworks.
- Children knowing ‘how to learn’. Children engaged in setting Learning Intentions and success criteria, peer/self and teacher assessment.
- Learning Intentions and success criteria being displayed.
- Explicit teaching of thinking/learning strategies with opportunities provided to practice them.
- A range of learning experiences and activities that promotes and caters for different learning styles and multiple intelligences.
Why use and Integrated Curriculum approach?
One of the principal aims of primary schooling is to assist students to understand and build on their experiences and to make sense of their world. The integrated curriculum makes possible the exploration of large and complex human issues, which rarely limit themselves to logically distinct subject areas. The broad topic approach employed in the integrated curriculum presupposes distinct disciplines; however, it shows how different disciplines interconnect in the pursuit of particular questions. We believe that the most effective learning happens when connections are made between curriculum or subject areas. Our main approach is inquiry based, students are supported to explore their own interests within a framework that provides curriculum balance and focus.
School and classroom organisation aims to facilitate optimal curriculum delivery. Literacy and Mathematics will be taught daily. The content of these sessions may not necessary “fit” in with the theme being studied in the current integrated unit. Integrated studies will encompass the areas of Social Studies, Science, Health and Technology and all essential skills. Aspects of literacy will always be present. Mathematics, Physical Education, ICT and the Arts will also be integrated if there is a natural connection or an individual students inquiry leads into one of more of these areas.