The Learning Areas

This section highlights the essence of each of the eight learning areas. Click on the learning area logo (to the right of each header) to visit TKI portal for further details.

English

Ko te reo te tuakiri. Ko te reo tōku ahurei. Ko te reo te ora.

Language is my identity. Language is my uniqueness. Language is life.

English is the study, use, and enjoyment of the English language and its literature, communicated orally, visually, and in writing, for a range of purposes and audiences and in a variety of text forms. Learning English encompasses learning the language, learning through the language, and learning about the language.

Understanding, using, and creating oral, written, and visual texts of increasing complexity is at the heart of English teaching and learning. By engaging with text-based activities, students become increasingly skilled and sophisticated speakers and listeners, writers and readers, presenters and viewers.

the arts

Te toi whakairo, ka ihiihi, ka wehiwehi, ka aweawe te ao katoa.

Artistic excellence makes the world sit up in wonder.

The arts are powerful forms of expression that recognise, value, and contribute to the unique bicultural and multicultural character of Aotearoa New Zealand, enriching the lives of all New Zealanders. The arts have their own distinct languages that use both verbal and non-verbal conventions, mediated by selected processes and technologies. Through movement, sound, and image, the arts transform people’s creative ideas into expressive works that communicate layered meanings.

health and physical education

He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora.

Positive feelings in your heart will raise your sense of self-worth.

In health and physical education, the focus is on the well-being of the students themselves, of other people, and of society through learning in health-related and movement contexts.

Four underlying and interdependent concepts are at the heart of this learning area:

Hauora – a Māori philosophy of well-being that includes the dimensions taha wairua, taha hinengaro, taha tinana, and taha whānau, each one influencing and supporting the others.
Attitudes and values – a positive, responsible attitude on the part of students to their own well-being; respect, care, and concern for other people and the environment; and a sense of social justice.
The socio-ecological perspective – a way of viewing and understanding the interrelationships that exist between the individual, others, and society.
Health promotion – a process that helps to develop and maintain supportive physical and emotional environments and that involves students in personal and collective action.

Our health statement is HERE

learning languages

Ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo, te tuakiri tangata. Tīhei uriuri, tīhei nakonako.

Your voice and my voice are expressions of identity. May our descendants live on and our hopes be fulfilled.

Learning a new language provides a means of communicating with people from another culture and exploring one’s own personal world.

Languages are inseparably linked to the social and cultural contexts in which they are used. Languages and cultures play a key role in developing our personal, group, national, and human identities. Every language has its own ways of expressing meanings; each has intrinsic value and special significance for its users.

This learning area provides the framework for the teaching and learning of languages that are additional to the language of instruction. Level 1 of the curriculum is the entry level for students with no prior knowledge of the language being learned, regardless of their school year.

Te Ao Māori , Te Reo, Tikanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Te Ao Māori denotes the Māori World. while simple in definition, it is rich in meaning and vast in breadth and depth. Te Ao Māori refers to three key areas, including Te Reo Māori (Māori language). Tikanga Māori (protocols and customs) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi). Together, these three areas provide the students with a broad overview, and better understanding of Māori culture and Māori realities. Te Ao Māori is integrated into all learning areas.

Te Reo is an official language of New Zealand. By learning te re and becoming increasingly familiar with tikang, Māori students strengthen their identities, while on their journey towards shared cultural understandings (NZC pg 14). The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa, New Zealand are acknowledge. Students will gain knowledge of te re Māori me ona tikanga.

mathematics and statistics

Kei hopu tōu ringa ki te aka tāepa, engari kia mau ki te aka matua.

Cling to the main vine, not the loose one

Mathematics is the exploration and use of patterns and relationships in quantities, space, and time. Statistics is the exploration and use of patterns and relationships in data. These two disciplines are related but different ways of thinking and of solving problems. Both equip students with effective means for investigating, interpreting, explaining, and making sense of the world in which they live.

Mathematicians and statisticians use symbols, graphs, and diagrams to help them find and communicate patterns and relationships, and they create models to represent both real-life and hypothetical situations. These situations are drawn from a wide range of social, cultural, scientific, technological, health, environmental, and economic contexts.

science

Mā te whakaaro nui e hanga te whare; mā te mātauranga e whakaū.

Big ideas create the house; knowledge maintains it.

Science is a way of investigating, understanding, and explaining our natural, physical world and the wider universe. It involves generating and testing ideas, gathering evidence – including by making observations, carrying out investigations and modelling, and communicating and debating with others – in order to develop scientific knowledge, understanding, and explanations. Scientific progress comes from logical, systematic work and from creative insight, built on a foundation of respect for evidence. Different cultures and periods of history have contributed to the development of science.

social sciences

Unuhia te rito o te harakeke kei whea te kōmako e kō? Whakatairangitia – rere ki uta, rere ki tai;

Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao, Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata!

Remove the heart of the flax bush and where will the kōmako sing? Proclaim it to the land, proclaim it to the sea; Ask me, "What is the greatest thing in the world?" I will reply, "It is people, people, people!"

The social sciences learning area is about how societies work and how people can participate as critical, active, informed, and responsible citizens. Contexts are drawn from the past, present, and future and from places within and beyond New Zealand.

technology

Kaua e rangiruatia te hāpai o te hoe; e kore tō tātou waka e ū ki uta.

Do not lift the paddle out of unison or our canoe will never reach the shore.

Technology is intervention by design. It uses intellectual and practical resources to create technological outcomes, which expand human possibilities by addressing needs and realising opportunities.

Design is characterised by innovation and adaptation and is at the heart of technological practice. It is informed by critical and creative thinking and specific design processes. Effective and ethical design respects the unique relationship that New Zealanders have with their physical environment and embraces the significance of Māori culture and world views in its practice and innovation.

Technology makes enterprising use of knowledge, skills and practices for exploration and communication, some specific to areas within technology and some from other disciplines. These include digitally-aided design, programming, software development, various forms of technological modelling, and visual literacy – the ability to make sense of images and the ability to make images that make sense.

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