Curriculum Refresh

Te Mātaiaho

Te Mātaiaho (the Refreshed NZ Curriculum) has just arrived in draft form and over the next year the board, staff and leadership will develop an understanding of the principles and content of this refreshed NZ Curriculum. We are currently being asked to review the draft and give the development group feedback.

This short vimeo explains how and why the curriculum is being refreshed (in case you need translations: whānau = families, ākonga = students, kaiako = teachers).

Key Changes:

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a central pillar to Te Mātaiaho
There are 3 key shifts:
- realising the intent of Te TIriti o Waitangi
- broadening our view of what success for everyone looks like
- setting high expectations for all
We are moving towards a progression model where ‘phases of learning’ replace the curriculum levels and these are cumulative in nature
- Y0–3 is about thriving in environments rich in literacy and numeracy
- Y3–6 adds on expanding horizons of knowledge and collaboration
- Y7–8 adds on knowing I belong and advocating for self and others
The learning strands of ‘Understand, Know and Do’ (UKD) will be woven together
Literacy and Numeracy, key competencies and values will be explicitly integrated within each learning area. At KTS we currently have focussed literacy and numeracy times in the school day with an integrated approach to inquiry in our inquiry times. Our values and learner competencies have been an integral part of our curriculum planning and delivery for some time.
Mātauranga Māori (Maori knowledge) will be included in the Understand, Know, Do (UKD) structure as a deliberate feature. The concept of mātauranga Maori was a discussion point in our last hui with our Māori community. We are continuing to build our understanding of this and how it can be reflected in our classroom programmes, although our Matariki celebrations this year were certainly a good start.
The Learning Areas remain the same, however Social Sciences now incorporates a focus on Aotearoa NZ Histories. We have spent some time as a staff building our understanding of the key areas of focus in the Aotearoa NZ Histories curriculum.
We have received the draft Mathematics and Statistics and English curricula, which staff are becoming familiar with.