PŪKEKO

‘Te piko o te māhuri, tērā te tupu o te rākau’
‘the way in which the young sapling is nurtured, determines how the tree will grow’

Welcome to Pūkeko

The teachers in Pūkeko are Ellie Cruz, Janine Wood, Muriel Pehi, Michael Leung, Maddison Hawke, Neriza Barlin and Michelle Gordon (Team Leader).

Our team also includes some wonderful teacher aides and release teachers, who support our children with their learning. As a collaborative teaching team, we share responsibility for all of the students and their learning.

Learning Programme

When children start in Pūkeko, as New Entrant 5-year-olds, they will begin in our Kōhanga (Nest), our focus is on settling them into school and making sure they are happy and comfortable. We do this by getting to know your child and building a genuine relationship with them. The teachers also work to support new children to learn the routines and to make friends.

When we see children are happy at school and ready for learning, they will be placed in small groups for Literacy and Mathematics instruction throughout the week.

Placement in these groups reflects what students can already do and what they need to learn next. Your child will be mostly working in a group of children with similar learning goals. These groups are flexible as learning develops at different rates for each child.

Alongside our Structured Literacy and Mathematics is a strong focus on learning through play, we call this time HEART Zones.

HEART Zones are an important part of the learning we do in Pūkeko. HEART Zone activities support a smooth transition to school, as many of the activities will be familiar to the children from preschool/kindergarten settings (e.g. playdough, construction, arts and crafts, role play, dress-ups, etc). HEART Zone activities provide an opportunity for children to develop collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, thinking, self-management, and oral language skills and experiences. At HEART Zones time we emphasize our School HEART Values of Hauora, Explore, Aspire, Respect, and Taonga (Treasure) and these are what we reflect on, use to set goals, and celebrate our successes.

Please always feel free to contact any of us with any questions or concerns that you may have.

We look forward to working with you and your children this year.