LEARNING ABOUT NEW ZEALAND CURRICULUM REFRESH

LEARNING ABOUT NEW ZEALAND CURRICULUM REFRESH

How We Support Your Child’s Learning at Maunu School

At Maunu School, we’re proud to support every child’s learning journey in a way that is thoughtful, structured, and built for success. The New Zealand Curriculum has been refreshed and is now organised into five clear learning phases, called tūārere.

At our kura, we work within the first two of these phases:

• Phase 1 (Juniors) – for tamariki in Years 1, 2 and 3

• Phase 2 (Seniors) – for students in Years 4, 5 and 6

Some of our classes are what we call composite classes, where students from two year levels learn together. In these classrooms, our teachers still follow a clear and specific Teacher Scope and Sequence for each year level. This means that even in mixed-age settings, your child is learning the right things at the right time, in a way that builds on what they already know.

The curriculum now includes year-by-year learning progressions, which help us make sure teaching is connected, purposeful, and based on what works best. Our teachers use explicit teaching practices – explaining clearly, modelling new learning, encouraging discussion, and giving students plenty of chances to practise and get feedback. These foundations help our learners grow in confidence and capability as they move through the school.

What is Explicit Teaching?

At Maunu School, we use an approach called explicit teaching to support all our learners. This simply means that teaching is clear, structured, and carefully planned. Teachers break learning down into small, manageable steps and guide children through each one.

Here’s what this looks like in practice:

Teachers clearly explain and model what students are learning and how to do it.
Students are involved through questions, discussions, and activities.
New learning builds on what students already know, so they can make strong connections.
Plenty of practice and feedback helps students become confident and independent.
Learning is checked regularly, so teachers can slow down or extend the learning as needed.

This approach supports how the brain learns best. By practising and revisiting key ideas over time, students store knowledge in their long-term memory. This frees them up to think more deeply, solve problems, and try more complex tasks.

Explicit teaching is not just the teacher talking – it’s interactive and engaging, with students working together and taking part in rich conversations.

In short, explicit teaching helps all our tamariki know what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how to succeed – one clear step at a time.