You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Testimonials
Antarctica
It was a very REAL and engaging focus for a lot of different interest groups. Use of the Audio conferences was a first and was very impactful for the students.
Jean Mallinson from Alfriston School
This is an effective and engaging part of my literacy programme. My Pasifika students, in particular, are much more engaged with a Learnz field trip than other academic activities. Especially relevant in meeting the vision of the NZ Curriculum.
John Brunton from Marshall Laing School
Students love them (LEARNZ field trips) - they are engaging, use real life contexts which have an impact on students' lives, encourage whanau involvement. Fabulous resource.
Caroline Arnold from Lepperton School
Led to better engagement and met the learning towards taumata 5 tikanga ā-iwi marau in the TMOA. Outcomes for my kura were evident and supported our kura value system or mātāpono, kaitiakitanga (guardianship of our earth mother Papatuānuku) and rangatiratanga (self-determination that comes from our own actions).
Kararaina Iasona from Te Kura Maori o Porirua
You do a great job of preparing and motivating us to engage with the topic. Well structured for all students. Even low achieving readers well engaged. Covered science, values, aspirations and career information.
Martin Dodge from Balclutha School
Great for Nature of Science. Also enviroscience topics. The kids were really interested - we found all the science fascinating and it was delivered in a way that made it understandable for the class. Also just the glimpse into life in the Antarctic.
Deirdre Hutton from Holy Family School Wanaka
The unit was an excellent opportunity to integrate the Principles, Values, Key Competencies across a range of curriculum areas within authentic learning situations. The students really enjoy the online learning resources, especially the audio conferences.
Brigid Conaglen from Clifton Terrace Model School
This field trip has been the highlight of the year for all the students. Amazing enthusiasm from the whole school.
Emily Wells from St Mark's School Christchurch
The idea of virtually going to Antarctic created such a buzz and a HUGE level of engagement. It's great the way LEARNZ leaders connect with students - they present everything in such an accessible way but have high expectations that students can and will be able to understand fairly sophisticated concepts.
Christine Hailes from North Street School
It made the students aware of the value of the work done in Antarctica, both in the past and in the present, more effectively than just reading about it.
Jacinta Drummond from Mount Hutt College
My students have a different view of the world we live in after this field trip. My students love the field trips.
Martie Andrew from Awakeri School
The 'real-time' trip increased motivation for students and hooked them into their learning. The virtual relationship with Shelley was a highlight. A class visit from David Wallace, who visited Antarctica in 2012, reinforced all the students had seen and inquired about through LEARNZ.
Kathleen McIsaac from Cambridge East School
My Year 3-4 students found the field trip extremely interesting, particularly as we had an ambassador join Shelley on the trip, too. We used the background pages for our reading programme and used the videos. There was a high degree of curiosity from the students, and their questions were answered at their level.
Fiona Mackley from Alexandra School
Rather than just researching independently about Antarctica, the students enjoyed having a variety of tools at their fingertips. The mixture of videos, photos, quiz etc kept students interested and being able to listen to the information rather than having to read it is highly beneficial.
Marcia Karaitiana from West Gore School
The students particularly enjoyed the videos and the quizzes. They also commented on how much they liked how the diaries were written as if they were there. This LEARNZ Antarctica trip fitted in well with the Nature of Science aspects of questioning and using vocabulary that we were focussing on.
Lauren Milnes from Ngatimoti School
It has been one of the best units I have taught in my 16 years of teaching - I would recommend it to anyone. I do think that it has been particularly successful in my classroom because we signed up for the extras such as the ambassador and the audio conferencing - that's what really made it come alive for me and the children in my class.
Samantha Edwards from Kenakena School
WOW, what a powerful learning tool the Audio Conference was - our extension Year 3-4 students were so engaged in listening and learning that they didn't make a sound.
Joanne Drake from Geraldine Primary School
Very appropriate for year 7/8 students. They absolutely loved being able to look at the resources, especially the photo/video content. It gave maximum opportunity to discuss what they were looking at and learning.
Adrianne Harding from Ross Intermediate
Interactive, engaging and highly motivating. Helps create partnership between home and school as students are extremely keen to share the field trip experiences with their parents.
Karen Edwards from Brightwater School
Excellent source of information for the students, aimed at their level, well presented and easy for the students to access and work with. Students found it extremely interesting and they learnt plenty of new things about Antarctica.
Susan Dane from Elm Park School
The field trip was very effective, especially from the view point of engagement and motivation as the students felt it was relevant and real.
Jeremy Shroff from Glendowie School
This field trip was very appropriate for my Year 4 class as we used it under the theme of Kaitiakitanga. I feel the effectiveness (of the virtual field trip) can be gauged by the involvement and the questions asked by the children, and this Antarctica study has really had them enthused and doing independent research of their own. It is fascinating to discover how much knowledge the children take home and discuss with their families.
Pam McDowell from Westbrook School
Students were highly engaged, especially by the videos and photos of our ambassador. Students who need extra support with literacy really appreciated the easy to read background material.
Cristy Yonetani from St Mark's School Christchurch
Linked well to our inquiry this term on Ecosystems and Science.
Jillian Adams from Trentham School
Children loved every part of the experience- thoroughly engaging. Really cool for the students to be able to participate with a group outside of their immediate context!
Ruth Millett from Upper Harbour Primary School