You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
I have found the LEARNZ website an invaluable tool to support the learning needs of my class.
Fabulous trip; excellent daily videos that support teaching practice. The Māori aspect was particularly good with the lead up to our Matariki celebrations. Students loved taking part in the web conference, especially having their extra questions also answered.
As this was about Matariki and Navigation, it was of interest to my Maori and Pasifika students and showed them that we valued their stories. Excellent opportunity for all my students to learn in areas that would otherwise be inaccessible and from people they can't access locally.
I could quickly look at background and ideas and use those suitable for my Year 2 class. Great for English (use sources of information e.g. videos, to identify form and express ideas), Science (PEB - Astronomical Systems - Matariki) and Social Studies (How the past is important to people | How places are significant to people).
This field trip is a great experience and learning for students and teachers alike. It caters particularly well to the High Expectation, Inclusion, Cultural diversity and Treaty of Waitangi Principles. All students have access to the knowledge offered by the audio option, and learning of Te Reo words, history and culturally different points of view are being taught.
Students really enjoyed it and were really engaged. They feel able to connect with their history and it has opened up discussions about our own past.
This field trip allowed my students to engage with Matariki in a new and interesting way. My students used all the key competencies and were given complete responsibility for sharing their new knowledge; we ended up with 2 raps, a play, a pop-up book and a speech. It was awesome.
Good background and build-up to Matariki. Prompted cultural awareness and discussions.
This was a wonderful field trip which linked with our classroom learning. The kids particularly enjoyed watching the web conferences.
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.
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.
The website fitted perfectly with our current learning about Matariki and the field trip was very engaging. It helped encourage the students to be actively involved in various Matariki events in our area, as they felt confident sharing their newly acquired knowledge as well as asking questions.
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.
We were studying Matariki as a whole school so this field trip was fantastic!
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.
Absolutely fantastic experience. Complimented the work we were doing with School Kit. Supported all key comps, real learning for the kids, integrated into many learning areas, authentic learning.
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.
Helped my teaching practice, as this BioBlitz field trip was a helpful tool to differentiate my teaching. Students enjoy a different form of lesson delivery, too.
In this virtual field trip, the students studied creatures while learning about the concepts of biodiversity and conservation so we built our Inquiry around native animals. We decided to go to the Groynes and check out creatures there. We also looked at the wildlife at Willowbank.
It was an appropriate level of challenge, and was fun and engaging at the same time. My students are buzzing after this experience. and are excited about the next LEARNZ field trip.
Supported all of the KC's, the Nature of Science and the science capabilities.
Not only did my students enjoy this BioBlitz field trip, they were able to apply their learning to our local area. Having the ability to listen to the background pages being read to them is empowering for my lower ability readers. It means that they can still get the same information and complete the tasks.
It linked in to our syndicate camp in the Tangihuas by Whangarei. It backed up our teaching points on why we need to monitor wildlife and trap introduced pets.
Great way to extend learners in science and mathematics. Adjustable for Years 1-6. Lots of Key Competencies.
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.