Our Curriculum

The key elements of the Havelock School curriculum are:

A commitment to working in partnership with parents and caregivers to provide quality education for the students of Havelock. Literacy and numeracy are taught both as independent, comprehensive learning programmes and integrated into other curriculum areas where appropriate. Literacy and numeracy comprise the morning timetable and are further sustained through inquiry learning programmes. Key Competencies, Learner Agency and our Havelock School Values are practised and acquired throughout the entire curriculum. We explicitly teach the expected behaviour for each of our school values through our PB4L curriculum. The inquiry learning programme supports learning in literacy and numeracy, and incorporates learning areas in Science, Social Studies, Technology including Digital Technologies, the Arts and Languages. Some Health and Physical Education topics are also delivered through inquiry learning. The Havelock School curriculum delivers a balanced coverage of all learning areas.

A comprehensive Havelock School curriculum document is available upon request.

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Curriculum and Student Achievement Policy

The Havelock School board fosters student achievement by providing teaching and learning programmes which meet the expectations of the National Administration Guidelines and incorporate the vision, values, key competencies, essential learning areas, and principles expressed in The New Zealand Curriculum.

The board, through the principal and staff:

develops and implements teaching and learning programmes that:

- contribute to the inclusive culture of the school

- provide all students with opportunities to achieve success in all areas of the national curriculum, including the revised technology curriculum

- give priority to student progress and achievement in literacy and numeracy

- give priority to regular, quality physical activity that develops movement skills for all students, especially in years 1–6

evaluates the progress and achievement of students, through the analysis of good quality assessment information, giving priority to:

- student progress and achievement in literacy and numeracy

- the breadth and depth of learning related to the needs, abilities, and interests of students; the nature of the school's curriculum; and the scope of the national curriculum (as expressed in The New Zealand Curriculum)

identifies students, and groups of students, through the analysis of good quality assessment information, who:

- are not progressing and/or achieving, or are at risk of this

- need learning support (including gifted students)

develops and implements teaching and learning strategies to address the needs of students identified above, and any aspects of the curriculum that require particular attention

develops plans and targets for improving the progress and achievement of Māori students – these are made in consultation with the school's Māori community and are made known to the school community

provides appropriate career education and guidance for all students in years 7 and 8.

See our Inquiry Framework

Tuakana-Teina Approach

At Havelock School our double dolphin symbol represents the tuakana teina relationships we value within our school, in which we are all teachers and learners depending on the context. This also aligns to the concept of ako.

“It acknowledges the way that new knowledge and understanding can grow out of shared learning experiences. This powerful concept has been supported by educational research showing that when teachers facilitate reciprocal teaching and learning roles in their classrooms, students’ achievement improves” (Alton-Lee, 2003).

As teachers we must be open to planning, working and teaching collaboratively. Although our classrooms are set up more so as single cell environments, at times decisions are made based on the needs of learners and to suit particular learning tasks for students to cross into different classes and make use of a tuakana-teina approach.

Professional Growth Cycle.

The Tuakana- Teina approach is also heavily relied on for our Professional Growth Cycle.

Therefore, our expectations of teaching staff are that:

  • They are open to discussing their practice and receiving feedback with each other;

  • They build relationships that involve trust, honesty, respect, appreciation and care.

  • They value the diversity and difference represented across our teaching team;

  • They model collaborative relationships, backing each other up in front of students, when it is in the best interest of the student;

  • They plan together, meet regularly and have daily reflective conversations;

  • They share ownership of any shared teaching space and all children who cross their class;

  • They ensure that students know and understand the big picture and their next step and what they need to do to learn, achieve the outcome or make progress;

  • They collaborate and cooperate as professionals;

  • They manage change effectively;

  • If they are having trouble with an aspect of their practice or with a colleague, they raise that issue with the colleague in a timely manner;

  • They vary their teaching to suit the situation and students need, e.g., parallel teaching, alternative teaching, station teaching, team teaching.