Learning@Home

Learning@School

Newmarket School will operate within the guidelines outlined by the government. This is requiring agility and innovation. Routines, schedules, and the operation of school is looking different than it did when we were last engaged in face to face learning. Regular communication with families will continue as will our Learning@Home programme.

The guidelines have been developed based on the advice provided by Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health for what we believe will work for our school. As we have never had to operate in this environment previously, there may be some adjustments that need to be made. These will be communicated our parents in a timely manner.

As we start back learning kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) this must continue to be done in a way that is safe for children, students and staff.

We have lots of migrators in place at Newmarket School, such as excellent air quality, separated teams and groups, mask wearing, sanitizing and lots of outside fresh air breaks. Students are underway with their vaccinations.

Schools have the flexibility to determine how we manage onsite and off-site learning and attendance, with our decisions informed by the required health measures, the needs of our community, and any opportunities or constraints through our physical settings and layout. Thankfully, our lovely environment is very spacious. We are therefore able to offer a tailored hybrid learning model, one where learning is well balanced between home and school learning.

Our focus as a school is what happens inside our gates. We aren't able to control how people travel to or from school, or what students and their families do outside of school, however, we are ensuring everyone adheres to the rules inside our school at all times.

Learning@Home

Newmarket School teachers have worked hard to provide a balanced and diverse range of Learning@Home resources to support our learners. This will continue even though schools are now open. While we will still utilize our devices for digital learning and Google Meets, the focus will be more on activities, and the paper resources we have provided.

If a class, team or the whole school were needing to isolate or go in to a lockdown situation Learning@Home will likely look different. In this situation, where students and teachers were well, but unable to come to school then we would likely send devices home.

When learning at home students will need a different routine to a regular school day.

It is important to set short timeframes and include breaks for exercise and social interaction.

Parents and families don’t have to be teachers. As a guide for academic learning we recommend that you spend approximately 2 hours for primary aged children.

Parent Support

Research suggests that ‘the most accurate predictor of a student's achievement in school is not income or social status but the extent to which that student's family is able to:

1. Create a home environment that encourages learning

2. Express high (but not unrealistic) expectations for their children's achievement and future careers

3. Become involved in their children's education at school and in the community’.

MOE - parent section including information about the New Zealand Curriculum

MOE - Ideas on how to help with reading, writing and maths - there are some fantastic ideas here for each year group.