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From making lanterns and sharing kai to discos, art auctions and kapa haka, there are many different ways to celebrate Matariki and Puanga. Ako asked five kura from around Aotearoa how they mark this special time of year.
Working at a school on the Chatham Islands demands resilience, innovation and a deep sense of connection. Kirsten McDougall spoke with staff at Te One School to find out what it means to educate in one of the most remote communities in Aotearoa.
At Arakura School in Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt, lunchtime isn’t just about food – it’s about community, connection and learning. Instead of outsourcing school lunches, staff and tamariki grow, prepare and serve nutritious kai together. The entire school gathers each day to share a meal, turning lunchtime into a rich learning experience.
How can educators tautoko and empower young people to feel equipped to lead in the changing climate they will inherit? Researchers from the University of Canterbury and Ngāi Tahu have been working with rangatahi Māori and Pasifika in Ōtautahi to explore the ways ākonga view climate change. Ako finds out about the project.
Thank you to all our Ako Journal readers and contributors this year. Here’s a roundup of our most-read articles published in 2024.
In the past two years, Ōmokoroa Point School in Bay of Plenty has been the centre of two community-changing projects that have impacted the entire Ōmokoroa community. Years 5 and 6 teacher Deirdre Duggan shares her experience of supporting students to stand up for what they believe in.
James Kerr, a London-based teacher and national executive member of England’s National Education Union, visited Aotearoa in early August to meet with NZEI Te Riu Roa members – and present to Parliament – about the impact of the UK’s academy schools, a model of schooling similar to our Government’s proposed charter schools. He talks here about how what was promised did not transpire.
While many schools and centres were damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle, a few were forced into long-term closure with staff and children having to re-establish elsewhere. Ako talked to kaiako from three different institutions that found new premises, or were taken in by a neighbouring school or centre.
During the recent weather events schools have emerged as first responders to crisis in many close-knit communities. Where local authorities failed, groups of educators joined together as hubs of help. Ako spoke with one group of schools in Tāmaki Makaurau about their joint efforts in the face of crisis.
In times of tragedy and crisis, schools are often the glue that holds communities together. At the close of term one 2023, Ako visited one small school in Hawke’s Bay to learn how it became a regional hub after Cyclone Gabrielle.
It’s not every day a Royal New Zealand Air Force helicopter lands on your school field, and then you get to shoot hoops alongside the local policeman, your teacher, and your mum. That’s exactly what happened for students at Richmond Primary, a small school in the heart of Maraenui, Napier, when a desire for teachers to connect with whānau following the COVID lockdowns, turned into a community-wide celebration.
The Covid-19 crisis has tested everyone involved in our education system. But for scores of new principals, the challenge has been particularly fraught.
AKO talks with three beginning principals in the Auckland region about how they have managed through a crisis, while still coming to terms with their new role.
AKO chats with Liam Rutherford, NZEI Te Riu Roa president, about what it’s been like for him working from home, how he’s looked after his own wellbeing and what he sees the future holding for our members.
A leai se gagana, ua leai se aganuu … A leai se aganuu ua po le nu‘u.
When you lose your language you lose your culture, and when there is no longer a living culture, darkness descends on the village.
– Samoan proverb
In a school with dozens of cultures and languages, equipping and empowering students to coach, guide and befriend their ESOL peers has huge benefits for all involved.
At Christchurch’s Ilam School, 12 children in Year 6 are appointed as Cultural Leaders.
Two student leaders of kapa haka at Kapanui School, Waikanae explain why they like it.
A new teacher gives some advice to others starting work in a new community.
Child of the mist, Tame Iti, says that “history has woven us together. We are the basket, the kete, that holds the future!”
From her tiny school on the appropriately named Forgotten Highway, Anna Fourie teaches students across the country, using the internet.
For nearly a decade, Kapapapanui School in Waikanae has been using kapa haka as a way of building community in and around the school – and the benefits have been extraordinary for both Māori and non-Māori students.