Curriculum
At Te Awamutu Intermediate School we follow the New Zealand Curriculum, alongside our very own school curriculum. Our school curriculum is planned and formulated with the needs of our students in mind. We try to incorporate the principles of NZ Curriculum alongside our own values. These two aspects are embedded in our planning and teaching. Our ultimate aim is to integrate our student learning to make meaningful connections where we can. We have eight learning areas: English, Mathematics and Statistics, The Arts, Health and Physical Education, Science, Social Science, Learning Languages, and Technology.
LITERACY AT T.A.I.
Literacy is extremely important at our school. Literacy includes reading, writing, visual language and speaking. The teaching of reading and writing happens every day and professional development for teachers, in these curriculum areas, is given high priority.
Because of variance in abilities within reading and writing, the teaching of literacy is often done in small groups. Planning is completed according to the needs of students and progress is tracked and feedback and feed forward is given to students, especially with writing. Students are aware of their next steps in their learning.
Our reading and writing programmes are influenced by such experts as Sheena Cameron, Jeff Anderson and Gail Loane.
We believe that:
Children need to be able to communicate effectively to be successful citizens in society.
Students need success in literacy as it underpins success across all areas of the curriculum.
Students need to be able to understand the meaning of what they read and consequently create meaning through writing.
Support from home also assists the progress students make.
NUMERACY AT T.A.I.
As with Literacy, Numeracy is extremely important. The New Zealand Curriculum guides our planning and teaching in this learning area.
Numeracy is taught every day and our programmes are structured and well resourced. Teachers plan according to the needs of their students, and explicit and structured teaching follows. Clear targets are set, and students’ progress is monitored. Our maths programme strongly emphasises basic skills, including the learning of basic facts.
Because of the wide range of abilities, students are taught in small groups, which may change regularly according to the mathematical unit.
We use Education Perfect, an online learning platform, to support and enhance our children’s learning in both Mathematics and English. This programme is based on the New Zealand Curriculum, and allows teachers to target learning activities to meet the needs of their students. It can be accessed by students at home, as well as at school.