Four major integrated Inquiries are studied each year at Pt England.
The whole school participates in the integrated Inquiry topics that cover a range of curriculum areas and broad contexts lasting one whole term. Each Inquiry has a main curriculum focus such as Science, with some of the learning outcomes being achieved through the integration of English, Maori, The Arts, Key Competencies and Values, using The Pt England Learning Model and LEARN, CREATE, SHARE. The Digital Learning Objects created as part of the Inquiry process are played daily on PENN (Pt England School News Network) sharing learning from Yr 0 to Yr 8. This sharing creates a sense of progression and connectedness with learning across the whole school.
Integrated school wide thematic Inquiries have been used at Pt England for since 2000 and have proved to be particularly successful in creating a dynamic school atmosphere and a high degree of motivation and joy in the school community. This form of Inquiry is particularly suited to LEARN CREATE SHARE, The Pt England Learning Model and our beliefs about teaching and learning in the 21st Century to produce confident connected actively involved lifelong learners.
Planning is completed in the last week of each term, in team meetings, after an Immersion staff meeting that clearly establishes the big ideas of the context.
Planning is stored in google docs and accessed through the class sites. Rubrics accompany each Inquiry, setting out clearly the Learning Outcomes and success criteria for each area of the school.
The first Inquiry for the year is always 'The Pt England Way', a study that sets the scene for the year and includes Values, Key Competencies, Routines, The Language of Success and Rules and Expectations that are negotiated with the students with links being made to the Treaty of Waitangi.