Testimonials

 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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

The class were motivated and excited by the learning, as the field trip gave students the opportunity to strengthen their own identity and cultural connections/ whakapapa. In addition, I tried new ICT aspects linked to the field trip and explored the concepts of 'Cultural Narratives' and 'Social Mapping'.

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.

This was a wonderful field trip which linked with our classroom learning. The kids particularly enjoyed watching the web conferences.

Content was perfect for our topic this term on navigators. The children's sense of belonging and dual heritage was reinforced as we discussed the videos and as our more able readers supported those less able in reading the background pages.

Topic relevant to students (and whanau). Videos well paced and interesting. Background pages provide an authentic independent reading activity. All of the key competencies are addressed through the various activities.