You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Testimonials
Matariki and Navigation
Trips like this are great because all of the students can access the material, not just the capable readers, as so much of the content is video based. Being able to access the material after the event is also great.
Frank Usherwood from Bethlehem School
Perfect fit for our learning. Students really responded to this teaching medium. It met our AO about understanding cultural aspects - stars / navigation, understanding signs and symbols, participating and contributing, and thinking. Also helped a special needs student to shine.
Tanya August from Havelock North Intermediate
Appropriate as my class was investigating this topic. This is another way to connect my students' learning to a wider community and it let my students see that other kids ask similar questions.
Tarakihana Roberts from Kaitao Intermediate
Totally appropriate as we have spent the term focussing on our origins and how our ancestors reached NZ. For the Māori children, in particular, the story of Kupe was perfect.
Jane Hill from Ballance School
Great for inquiry learning about Matariki and a good link with Tuia 250. Helpful to be able to replay the videos and do the quizzes to check learning and retention in a fun interactive way.
Jean Waretini-Paul from Mercury Bay Area School
It integrated well with the NZ Curriculum i.e. Thinking, Managing self, Relating to others, Participating and contributing, High expectations, Treaty of Waitangi, and Future focus.
Tarakihana Roberts from Kaitao Intermediate
Perfect timing for Matariki. Tamariki were very connected with this field trip. Strong Social Sciences link around cultural ways of knowing.
Denise Barrington from Kerikeri Primary School
This field trip lent itself so naturally to exploring space in a NZ context. Students loved learning about our sky & our history as navigators.This was powerful for my Māori learners as it showed sophistication they were not previously aware of.
Louise Wilson from Mt Pleasant School
The kids loved seeing our ambassador and reading her diary. Thank you.
Nicola De Vries from St Albans School
Our focus this term was "Exploration" and this trip linked beautifully with this. We have many Pacifica students in our class and it enabled them to make connections to their heritage, culture and history.
Melissa Heard from Masterton Intermediate
We were able to relate this field trip to our learning around literacy, science, social science & the arts. The setup of the material encouraged students to work both collaboratively & independently.
Louise Wilson from Mt Pleasant School
Excellent that students could replay the web conferences, as they can view later to find answers to their questions and hit the pause button as often as they need.
Sandra McKendry from Seddon School
Love it! There are connections to all of the Key Competencies and Learning Areas as students become engaged by the 'Real People' behind the information. Also gives students an opportuntity to connect with others in an authentic digital experience.
Melissa Heard from Masterton Intermediate
The topic linked into our current Integrated Inquiry. Great resources on the website that the kids enjoyed interacting with.
Hannah Oates from Methven School
Fantastic background information for my students; they all really enjoyed it. Great resource that all students and teachers should use.
Daniele Cuthbert from Edgecumbe School
Students were excited to go on this virtual field trip and really enjoyed using Google maps. They were motivated to do the activities, which utilised all key competencies and encouraged multiple learning styles.
Megan Connolly from Arahoe School
Engaging, motivating, easy to use, great resources, tailor-made for busy teachers to implement. Resources fully support an integrated approach. Thoughtfully curated. Children loved the digital content and videos. Rankings via quizzes very motivating for my class.
Lenora Skinner from Whangaparaoa School (Auckland)
BioBlitz
The Bioblitz field trip allowed our tamariki to further explore their learning context (insects) and to add to their understanding of an area of the science curriculum. The format of the field trip meant that what the children had already learned was given relevance and promoted further inquiry, conversations, excitement and engagement in this context.
Jane Reid from Southbrook School
The BioBlitz trip was an excellent activity in terms of supporting NZ Curriculum objectives in Science and Ecology for Levels 3 and 4. Science is a way of explaining the world and scientists work together to support their ideas. Ecology - students can see how organisms are adapted to their environment.
Simon Romijn from St Paul's College (Ponsonby)
Pitched at a perfect level for my Year 4/5 class and went well for our place-based focus for the term. It supported and excited my students in an inclusive and well-planned way.
Nicola Bennett from Wanaka Primary School
It fitted in with our next unit "Living Landscapes" and my students' interets in NZ spiders. It was my first time doing a live web conference and my class and I found it to be enjoyable, especially hearing from the experts, and they learned about the etiquette of that situation.
Shannon Christie from Fenwick School
The learners were excited by the theme of the trip and carried out their own BioBlitz as a result. LEARNZ provides great resources and exciting opportunities for our learners to hear from experts in the field and to see practical applications for their learning.
Andrea Tong from Academy for Gifted Education
We have been focussing on collaboration so students used this unit to work together to find information and monitor their own learning. It was easy for the children to navigate and use the website independently.
Cheryl Moeau-Jones from Postgate School
It followed on very well from the inquiry we have been doing into the plants in our local native bush. The most noticeable impact was a increase in our classes' scientific vocab. Great opportunity to communicate and collaborate with others outside of our school.
Warwick King from Otatara School
It was really appropriate as we learnt how to do a Bio Blitz in our own backyard - which we did! Helped us in the key Learning Area of Science - provided extra information, motivation and a wider NZ focus on the environment. Also added to the kete of useful add-ons to make my teaching better.
Andrew de Wit from Fergusson Intermediate (Trentham)