Nga Mōtu

Kia Ora and welcome to Ngā Motu 2026!

We are the New Entrant and Year 1 Class within our kura with our 2 wonderful kaiako Mrs Duynhoven and Mrs Morresey . We also have an 3 amazing Learning Support assistants; Whaea Jamie, Whaea Jayne and Whaea Vicki. Our classroom will continually grow throughout the year as new tamariki join Midhirst School and we currently have 20 tamariki in our class with a further 2 tamariki having school visits this term. If you are interested in sending your child to our school, please feel free to ring the office and Sara will make a time for you to visit.

Margaret Duynhoven

Ngā Motu Room Yr 0/1

Deputy Principal

Natarsha Morresey

Release Teacher

Jamie-Lee Davis

Learning Assistant

Vicki De'one

Learning Assistant

School Cross Country

Thursday 3rd September was an awesome day of Cross Country fun! Our tamariki showed incredible determination, perseverance and courage as they took on the course and gave it their very best. Even though the rain made an appearance, it certainly didn’t dampen our spirits! There were plenty of smiles, muddy shoes and lots of cheering as everyone got stuck in and supported one another. It was fantastic to see our tamariki encouraging their classmates, celebrating each other’s efforts and showing such a positive attitude from start to finish. A huge congratulations to everyone who took part! We are incredibly proud of the effort, determination and perseverance shown by our Ngā Motu tamariki.

Term 3 Swimming at Wai o Rua

This Term, Ngā Motu has been extremely fortunate to the have swimming sessions at Wai o Rua in Stratford each Thursday. Wai o Rua have accessed Toi Foundation Funding to provide us with free transport, entry, and swimming lessons with amazing instructors. The aim of these swimming sessions is to improve the tamariki's confidence in the water and teach them basic swimming skills. It has been wonderful to watch the confidence levels grow over the term. These sessions have definitely enhanced the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of or tamariki as well. Check out the photos below!

Te Reo

At our kura, we have a deep passion for Te Reo Māori, embracing not only the language but also our rich local history, legends, culture, kaupapa, and traditions. We believe that revitalising and normalising Te Reo across all learning contexts is vital for our tamariki, helping them connect to their identity and heritage. In Ngā Motu, we start every day grounded in Te Reo Māori, using high energy waiata, active kēmu, and vibrant visuals to keep everyone engaged and deepen our understanding.

A truly special part of our morning routine is the powerful tuakana-teina relationship we share with our older Kaitake students. Each morning, the Kaitake class joins Ngā Motu for Te Reo time, providing incredible support, role modelilng, and encouragement for our younger learners. This tuakana-teina dynamic builds strong whanaungatanga, boosts confidence, and helps make the language thrive in our space. We hope that whenever you step into our classroom, you feel the warmth of our community and hear our wonderful kōrero filling the room!

Moo To You

For Term 3, the Junior Syndicate have been learning about Farming and Milk! We have been using the House of Science "Moo To You" kit, and the tamariki have absolutely loved every single moment. The children put their senses to the test in The Great Milk Taste Test, discovered how rich pastures grow in The Cow's Yummy Salad, and explored high-energy mixtures during Magic Shakers. We even got our hands sticky by making wobbly instant pudding, churning ice cream, and triggering colourful explosions in Rainbow Milk Magic to see how dairy products change and react!

A huge thank you to Becky Corlett for sharing her fantastic Farmer Time videos with us—they have quickly become a weekly highlight! The tamariki love watching each episode to learn about caring for cows and following the journey from paddock to plate. It has been amazing to see our young scientists make bold predictions, test their ideas, and discover the wonder of New Zealand dairy farming!

Art with Mrs Morresey

We are so lucky to have Mrs Morresey as Mrs Duynhoven's Release Teacher. Each week when she is in Ngā Motu she has worked with the tamariki to create some amazing artworks. The tamariki absolutely love working with her and have learnt to develop techniques when using paint, pastel, paint, vivid, dye and collage.

Ngā Motu and the Beeman

Mr Hill came into Ngā Motu to talk about bees and beekeeping. He showed us all the tools he uses for collecting the honey from the hives and even put on his beekeeping suit for us to look at. Mr Hill explained that he has to wear a special suit which keeps him safe from being stung from the bees when he's collecting honey from the hives. Nga Motu loved being able to try on the bee suits and tasting the pollen too.

Duffy Books

At Midhirst School, we believe that reading is the passport to a bright future. That is why we are incredibly proud to be a part of the wonderful Duffy Books in Homes scheme! The core mission of the programme is "To inspire a love of books in Duffy children so they become adults who inspire a love of reading." Duffy Books in Homes recognises that having books at home is vital for a child's literacy. Through this fantastic partnership, our students receive brand-new books of their very own to take home, keep, and share with their whānau. The tamariki in Ngā Motu love choosing their own books and really enjoy having these books read to them. We love celebrating our "Duffy Days" when the book boxes arrive! Thank you to the Duffy team and our community sponsors for helping us grow the next generation of passionate, lifelong readers.

Emotional Regulation

In Term 2 we have been learning about our emotions. We are learning to identify and name our feelings.

We know we have been successful when we can:

Name different feelings like happy, sad, angry, brave, and shy.
Talk about how my body feels when I have different emotions.
Use words to tell others how I am feeling.
Know it is okay to have lots of different feelings during the day.

Term 1 Korowai - Kotahitanga

This term, our school Korowai Inquiry has been around Kotahitanga. In Nga Mōtu, we are learning that we all have responsibilities and rights as members of a community. We know that belonging to groups is important and we have responsibilities when we’re members of a group. During Term 1 we learnt about the responsibilities we share within our classroom and school environment. Our Korowai topic linked beautifully into our school's KAHA values, especially around Hauora. In Ngā Motu we learnt that relationships can be both challenging and rewarding and there are many things we can do when we are having problems with our friends.

Bullying Awareness

During Term1, Ngā Motu has been learning about Bullying. As a class, we have been discussing what bullying is and its key characteristics. Each week Mrs Duynhoven creates a Storybook for use to read about how to show kidness, be strong and ask for help. We have learnt that there are different types of bullying:

- Physical
- Verbal
- Social
- Cyberbullying

Tabloids Day 2026

On Thursday 5th February our Kura had an amazing Tabloids Day. This was an amazing event and was greatly enjoyed by our tamariki and their whānau. The tamariki loved taking part in all the fun activities that were run by the Year 7 and 8 studets. We are very grateful to Mr Kevin Bennett who provided all these activities for us to use. The tamariki loved dressing up i their House Colours and absolutely loved takin part in the Tug of War. The tamariki especially enjoyed the sausage sizzle and ice block after this event.

Term 1 Swimming

During this term, Ngā Motu will be swimming everyday. Our swimming sessions are in the afternoons and on Tuesday we have swimming with our Instructor at the school pool. The aim of our swimming sessions is to improve the students confidence in the water and teach them basic swimming skills. Swimming sessions are a great way to enhance the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of your child.

Structured Literacy

In Ngā Motu, we follow a Structured Literacy approach for the teaching of Reading, Writing, Handwriting and Spelling. Structured Literacy focuses on 'phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge' which provides our tamariki with the skills they need to read, spell and write with confidence. The tamariki are taught to recognise individual words, syllables, onset sounds, rime and individual sounds in a word. They learn to read using the Kākano decodable texts. Your child will bring home a book to read which practises the letters and sounds that have been taught at school. Thank you for supporting your child on their Literacy journey. Making strong links between sounds and letters is a key step in learning to read as it supports word decoding and helps grow reading fluency and comprehension. A little practice goes a long way! Spending up to 10 minutes a day revisiting the sounds your child has learned will help cement their learning and build confidence.

How whānau can support at home:

Play simple games that focus on sounds and letters in words
Have fun stretching words out slowly to hear all the sounds
Try word swaps, e.g. “If I change the /b/ in bun to /s/, I get… sun!”
While reading together, notice and talk about familiar letters and sounds
Visit the Ministry of Education Parent Portal for helpful slides to practise phonics at home.

Practising sounds and letters in the first 6 months - Ministry of Education

KAHA

During Term 1, Ngā Motu focussed on learning our kura's KAHA Values and how we can show Hauora to others by using our manners. The tamariki also learnt that we all have responsibilities and rights as members of a community and relationships can be challenging and rewarding.

K - Ka eke toku pai - Our Best Always

A - Auaha - Creative and Innovative

H - Hauora - Well being

A - Ako - Reciprocal Learning

Healthy Active Learning

Healthy Active Learning is a joint government initiative between Sport NZ, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and Health NZ - Te Whatu Ora. It supports schools and kura to improve the wellbeing of tamariki and rangatahi through healthy eating and drinking, and quality physical activity. It is part of New Zealand's Child Youth and Wellbeing Strategy, a set of actions across government to improve the wellbeing of all children and young people.

This term, our kura has been working with Megan from Sport Taranaki to learn how to play a variety of games which focus on Respect. Our tamariki have spent time learning why this value is important when taking part in co-operative games and how we can respect others when playing these games.

Phase 1 Mathematics and Statistics

Phase 1 of the NZ Mathematics Curriculum (Years 0–3) focuses on building foundational number sense and fluency up to 100+, using materials to solve problems, and introducing basic geometric/statistical concepts. Key skills include counting to 100, place value (tens and ones), basic addition/subtraction to 20, and identifying shapes. There Core Focus areas for Years 0-3 are as follows;

Number & Algebra:
- Counting & Ordering: Counting forwards/backwards up to 100 (and beyond by year 3) in 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s.
- Place Value: Understanding numbers up to 120 (e.g., recognizing 17 is 1 ten and 7 ones) and locating them on a number line.
- Strategies: Solving addition/subtraction problems by joining/separating groups of up to 20 objects, then moving to 100+ by year 3.
- Basic Facts: Recalling addition/subtraction facts to 10, then to 20, and multiplication/division facts for 2, 3, 5, and 10 by year 3.
- Fractions: Using materials to understand halves and quarters.
Measurement & Geometry: Identifying 2D shapes and 3D objects, understanding position, and using tools to measure length and time.
Statistics: Organizing data into simple charts and talking about patterns.

Every day, your child is learning about and using maths ideas like: counting, measuring, sorting, patterns, numbers, shapes, size and

position.

Kapa Haka

On Fridays we are lucky to have Whaea Raewyn come in to take us through different waiata, karakia and tikanga. The tamariki are enjoying getting involved and learning abour different waiata that we then practice in class. We are apart of both the junior Kapa Haka and the whole school one as well. The Ngā Motu tamariki especially enjoy being able to have Kapa Haka with Panatahi and Taranaki.

WHAT IS DISCOVERY LEARNING?

Discovery Learning develops key competencies through activity-based, child-directed learning. It is an opportunity for tamariki to direct their own learning and practice social skills within fun, hands-on activities. In our Junior Syndicate Discovery Time sessions we have a range of activities for our students to choose between with more activities being added each week. Our tamariki are given opportunities to engage in a variety of activities which include; arts and crafts, dress ups, play dough, block building, Lego puzzles and much more! At times they will be working independently to develop their self-management skills and at other times they will be working with a buddy or small group to build their social and cooperative skills. During these sessions our tamariki will have the opportunity to feed forward and feedback, decide on activities and lead the discovery time sessions.

The role of the teacher:

drawing on curriculum knowledge to recognise the learning within play
providing sufficient opportunities for students to engage in play
participating in meaningful learning conversations with children that stretch their thinking
understanding and supporting the development of specific skills and knowledge that students need
facilitating social interactions.