Approach to Learning

Learners at Manaia School

Have control over their learning - they know how they learn best and have choice about the context in which they learn.
Know what they know and how to get better.
Learn in a safe and secure environment in which it is safe to have a go, safe to fall, safe to get back up and keep going.
Interact with others.
Are actively engaged.
Experience a balance of challenge and support.
Know that learning is more than finding the right answer (surface features), it is also about finding multiple approaches to solving a problem (deep structures).
Are expected to achieve.

Teachers at Manaia School

Ensure strong, trusting relationships form a foundation for learning.
Make learning visible.
Provide multiple opportunities for learners to learn.
Reflect daily on their teaching and the impact they are having.
Are Learners themselves and use internal inquiry and collaborative conversations to unpack practice to ensure a continuous cycle of improvement.
Continually ask ... What is the shift that has happened? What interventions caused the shift? Where to next?

Community Learning Partnership

Hopes and dreams.
Regular reporting.
Informal and formal conversations.
Whānau empowered to share responsibility for learning.
Localised Curriculum - utilising experts in the community.

Our school commits to raising student achievement through ...

Effective teaching practice.
High expectations of achievement
A consistent daily focus on Reading, Writing and Mathematics across the curriculum.
A consistent focus on the wider curriculum through play, inquiry and student-let learning.
The explicit teaching and social coaching of Key Competencies and Values.
building strong, empowering school and community learning partnerships.

Brain Development

The approach we take towards learning at Manaia School is strongly guided by new found scientific knowledge relating to brain development.

We are now rapidly evolving from a teaching approach that was strongly guided by theories to an evidence based practice guided by scientific facts.

So we've heard a lot about brain development but what does it actually mean?

A renowned New Zealand Neuroscientist, Nathan Wallis has provided us with a wealth of knowledge in this area.
Here’s a quick breakdown:

Brain 1 is the brainstem. It focuses on the survival and creating a feeling or sense of safety. This is one of the most important parts of the brain to develop.

Brain 2 is the midbrain, it focuses on the movement or 'rhythmic patterning'. As the name suggests, this is about the rhythmic pattern in which a child moves and thinks.

Brain 3 is the limbic system. It focuses on emotion and a child's disposition or attitude.

Brain 4 The frontal cortex focuses on thinking, learning and executive functions. A child needs to have the first 3 in place before focusing on brain 4.