25 February 2015

Curriculum Report – Te Reo Māori

Focus

• The focus for the curriculum of Māori within the school is to ensure that Te Reo and tikanga Māori are a regular part of the curriculum in all classrooms and to acknowledge the position of Tangata Whenua.

• Within the school there are 2 different levels of expectations, those for children within Te Korowai o Te Aroha (Tūmanako, Rangimārie and Manawanui) and those for children who are not.

Programme

• Within the bi-lingual unit, children should be exposed to Te Reo for at least 50% of their day.  This includes, but is not limited to: karakia, himene, whaikōrero, waiata, he mahi whakarongo, pānui, tuhituhi, whakaatu, mātakitaki me te kōrero.
  
  

• In a recent survey of  te reo use in their class it was evident that many of our mainstream classrooms are using te reo but would like to do more.
  
  

• We are holding whole school karakia every morning which involves students participating in karakia, hīmene, mihimihi and waiata. As well as being a tikanga based programme it also allows us to practice our te reo in an authentic context.

Assessment Procedures

• A recent publication by the Ministry of Education is ‘He tātairanga reo māori’ which enables teachers to place students at a particular level in terms of te reo use. We will be using this particularly in Te Korowai o Te Aroha, with an aim of implementing it school-wide. Within both bi-lingual classes non-formal assessment is taken in the form of observation and discussions.  As each teacher is expected write a comment on the end of year report, ‘He tātairanga reo māori’ could be used in this evaluation.

• Within te Korowai o Te Aroha, a whāriki whakanui (praise mat) is developed. This recognises students who are showing that they can use one or more of our eight values or mahi i roto i te reo. They are values such as ūkaipōtanga, whanaungatanga, rangatiratanga and manaakitanga. There is also mahi i roto i te reo aspects such as pānui, kōrero, tuhituhi and whakarongo. A few mainstream classes have taken this on also. This recognises that mahi and values are equal and we should be embracing both.

Trend Analysis

• We are yet to implement this new assessment, however through observations over time we can see that the level of understanding within the children is improving and the confidence of students to be able to mihi to the other children is increasing also.

Students and Groups of Students at risk

• Some students in mainstream classes are at risk in terms of not having as many opportunities to use and learn te reo.

Teaching and learning strategies to address the above

• The teachers in Te Korowai o Te Aroha are using 'Te Aho Arataki Marau mo te Ako i Te Reo Māori – Kura Auraki'.  This is a document which has curriculum guidelines for Teaching and Learning Te Reo māori in English-medium schools.  It provides specific achievement objectives which makes integrating Maori into the daily programme a lot more easier. All teaching staff have copies of this document.

• Within Tūmanako we are looking at running mini lessons and, or a blog on te reo māori use with the aim of providing opportunities to other classes to be exposed and take part in te reo.

• The children across the school participate in karakia, learn hīmene and waiata, participate in powhiri, have opportunities to mihi, are exposed to speakers of Māori through fortnightly Hui-a-Kura.

Looking Ahead

• This year we intend to do the following within Te Korowai o Te Aroha:

• Continue to work on Te Korowai o Te Aroha vision

• Continue to raise the profile of the Te Korowai o Te Aroha by participating in the Cultural Festival in Term 3

• Selecting units of work and contexts for learning with a Māori view

• Visiting local Marae and Kohanga Reo

• Implement assessment through ‘He tātairanga reo māori’