Te Ara Tupu

Welcome to Te Ara Tupu

and the start of your learning journey at Kelburn Normal School.

In our team we have children who have just started school, our New Entrant children, and our Year 1 and 2 children. We work towards confidently achieving level one of the New Zealand Curriculum through child focused programmes that cater for all.

In Tupu children experience a rich, hands on, creative literacy and numeracy programme which is represented in our learning environments. We investigate topics that we are interested in that may involve our community, ourselves, or the wider world around us. We enjoy exploring different elements of physical education, te reo Māori, science, music, drama, technology, art, health, and dance.

We believe in a collaborative partnership with all families. We encourage parent support through class involvement in such things as our weekly Discovery time programme, trips, and Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP - see below), but most importantly supporting our learning through regular feedback, reporting, and home learning. Home learning is a nightly reading book, poetry on a Friday, and a weekly literacy and/or numeracy activity that reflects the learning in the classroom.

We are lucky to be able to offer Reading Recovery when children turn six, as well as carefully planned programmes that support individual children to achieve their next learning goals.

As a team we strive for independence, a ‘can do’ attitude and approach to our learning. We work on developing the confidence to problem solve by thinking for ourselves and making our own choices. We encourage questions, reflecting on our learning, accepting ideas that differ from our own, thinking about others, and sharing as we work as a learning community together.

Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP)

This programme is aimed at developing the motor skills that are the foundation for many activities for Year 1 and 2 children. This runs as part of the class programme, with parent volunteers managing activities. The teaching staff believe that this has a direct positive outcome for our children in their learning ability and general improvement in their own confidence and awareness of self. This is a fantastic opportunity to meet the students in the school and build community with the children.