Tūī Syndicate is our Year 4 to 6 syndicate. Composite year 4/5 classes are located in the lower area of the school. Year 6 classes are in the lower rooms of the two story block adjacent to the office. As students enter Tūī, they have an increasing range of roles and responsibilities within the school e.g. Sports Leaders, Peer Mediators, Road Patrollers and Ngā Rangatahi o Ngaio members, MacAttackers, Junior Journalists, Coding Club and the Enviro Team.

Tūī Syndicate has a Tuakana/Teina model based on developing relationships between our children and helping prepare them for future leadership roles within Tūī Syndicate. 

Planned experiences through Education Outside the Classroom programmes (EOTC) help develop resilience and confidence in our learners. Our school’s ROCKET Values form a basis for these and are central to all our learning in Tūī. One highlight for our Year 6 students is Forest Lakes Camp. Pedal Ready is also an integral programme planned each year. These programmes help increase confidence and provide challenge.

Communication with Whanau and continually developing children’s well-being are essential to our core practice. As year 6 akōnga grow and venture off to intermediate, our teachers recognise that this is an essential time for support and guidance. It can be a time of apprehension and change. Our teachers liaise with families and contributing schools to help support transition of students to intermediate school. 

Below you will find important information about our Tūī Syndicate Team.

Tūī Teachers

Chantal McKee

Ruma tekau (Room 10) Tui Team Leader

c.mckee@ngaio.school.nz

I teach in a year 6 class and am also the team leader of Tūī. I have been at Ngaio School for around 6-7 years. I would also like to introduce Poppy to you. She is an eight year old spoodle who is a Canine and Friends Pet Therapy Dog. She plays an important role in our school, teaching children to feel safe and reassuring them. I have 2 daughters, Jessie and Toni. Your child may know Jessie, as she is a teacher assistant at Ngaio. My husband Phil and I love to spend time in our caravan and of course try to take Poppy with us. I have coached and umpired netball for many years with my girls. Who knows, I may see you on the sideline at a sports event, as I love to support our ākonga through sport.

Poppy McKee

Poppy is a Canine and Friends Pet Therapy Dog. She has many talents, and often seeks out children that may need a cuddle or reassurance in their day. She is very placid and loves to lie with children on the floor. You will often see her at the school sports or around the playground walking with children. Poppy has been known to shake children’s hands at Year 6 graduation and is often a huge favourite in the Leavers Book. She is fondly referred to as Ngaio’s School Dog.

Sam Jenkins

Ruma Tekau mā rua (Room 12)

s.jenkins@ngaio.school,nz

I’m thrilled to once again be teaching year 6, this time in Room 12. I’ve been here at Ngaio since 2018 and love the school and wider community. I like to get involved in lots of different extracurricular activities like Enviro Club, Artsplash Dance, and Wearable Arts. I’ve lived in Wellington for a while now but home is down south in Dunedin, where I visit regularly and often do road trips through Central Otago with my dad. In my spare time I like getting out into nature, playing and watching football (Liverpool is my team), reading and writing, and playing games.

Megan Palmer

Rūma Rua tekau (Room 20)

m.palmer@ngaio.school.nz

I have been teaching at Ngaio School for many years. I'm excited to be moving through with the current Kākāpō cohort into Tūī syndicate next year. Recently I have been working part time while studying for my Masters of Education. I have an 8 year old and a 13 year old and I live in the local area. Both of my kids are very sporty so I spend a lot of my time on the side of a sports field or taxiing them around. Other than that I enjoy trail running and I always have a book or two on the go.

Jack Yorke

Ruma Rua tekau mā tahi (Room 21)

j.yorke@ngaio.school.nz

I'm thrilled to be the teacher for the Year 4/5 class in Room 21 this year at Ngaio School. It's a pleasure to continue my teaching career here, collaborating with a remarkable and supportive team. I’ve been calling Wellington my home for several years and I love to explore the stunning natural beauty that surrounds us. On a rainy day you’ll likely find me sipping on a coffee in town.

Hayden Trass

Ruma Rua tekau mā rua (Room 22)

h.trass@ngaio.school.nz

I have been teaching in the Tūī team at Ngaio School for eleven of the past 15 years. I have a passion for teaching a variety of subjects. When I am not at school I love to spend time with family and friends, and to travel. I am interested in history, geography, art and architecture. I also love learning languages and enjoy practising Chinese, Thai and te reo Māori. I am a little bit famous for my dogs, three cavaliers called Frankie, August and Pippa.

Louisa Marks

Rūma Rua tekau mā toru (Room 23)

l.marks@ngaio.school.nz

I'm delighted to be part of the Tūī Syndicate next year. I have been at Ngaio School since 2021. During this time I have taught years 3 and 4 and I am very much looking forward to teaching a year 4/5 class. I aim to foster a positive and encouraging learning environment where my students feel well supported. My husband and I live locally and have three teenage children. In my spare time I enjoy immersing myself in my garden and I also love to walk, read and spend time with family and friends. I am looking forward to another fantastic year at Ngaio School and getting to know my new class.

Amy Hickling

Ruma Rua tekau mā wha (Room 24)

a.hickling@ngaio.school.nz

I have been a part of the Tūī team for the past two years and I’m excited to be a part of it next year! I’ve lived in Wellington for the past ten years or so and originally hail from Taranaki/ New Plymouth, so I often pop up there during school holidays. I enjoy walks, reading and a bit of tennis if the weather is nice. I’m looking forward to meeting my class for 2024 and getting to know all of the new students in team Tūī.

Teacher Release

All New Zealand teachers are entitled, as part of their Collective Agreement, 15 hours (3 days) per term of Classroom Release Time (CRT). From term 3 this will increase to 20 hours per term (4 days). Part time teachers are timetabled to work in the classrooms during this time.

Teachers are also released for various other work related reasons, for example attending professional development courses, attending meetings or supporting sports events.

Where possible we utilise our pool of part time teachers who are known to the children and familiar with Ngaio School’s routines and expectations. At times however, we employ relief teachers who may not be known to the children. This is most often for sick cover when our part time teachers are already booked, or if several teachers are being released at once.

Our team leaders also have regular release to carry out their syndicate leader responsibilities and some teachers with allocated responsibilities also have a small amount of release time to carry out their roles.

You can check out our part time teachers in the Our Team section.

Syndicate Hui

Unfortunately all Tūī huis are postponed until further notice, due to the flood damage.

 

Tūī Hui will be held in Rūma 2 from 10am on the following dates:

 

TBC Week 8: Friday 22nd March – Hayden, Louisa and Amy’s classes hosting 

Swimming

Harakeke

Rūma 10 Chantal McKee Wednesday @ 11.30am

Rūma 12 Sam Jenkins Thursday @ 11.30am

 

Rātā

Rūma 20 Megan Palmer Wednesday @ 10.05am

Rūma 21 Jack Yorke Wednesday @ 9.05am

Rūma 22 Hayden Trass Tuesday @11.30am

Rūma 23 Louisa Marks Thursday @ 9.05am

Rūma 24 Amy Hickling Thursday @ 10.05am

Syndicate Programme - Termly Overview

Term 1 Inquiry – We are Ngaio Ākonga

This term we are excited to share and learn about others’ cultures within our classes. Children will investigate different cultural dances and music and perform a group dance composition to others.

Through the Visual Arts, children will get a chance to look at and learn about the art that has come from these cultures. Through this artwork, children will represent different cultures using symbols, icons, flags and designs.

 

Writing & Reading Focus Term 1

Writing: Classes are involved in regular writing activities covering a variety of genres including, creating a curriculum vitae to  inform their class and teacher about themselves, personal journal writing about experiences.

This term our students will be engaged in writing opportunities where our focus will be on consolidating the children’s knowledge of: 

  • consonant sounds, blends, and vowel sounds
  • common spelling patterns, understanding syllables, looking at suffixes and prefixes and building an increased understanding of how these occur in a variety of words.
  • punctuation – using capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, and speech marks consistently 
  • grammatical conventions, e.g. correctly formed sentences, consistent use of tense, subject-verb agreement, consistent use of pronouns, and correct use of prepositions.

Reading: Our reading programme provides reading to, with, and by children on a daily basis. Children will have instructional reading in small groups focusing on aspects of literacy and vocabulary and building a greater understanding of the world around us. Our students will develop reading comprehension through discussing different text types, language features, meanings and ideas in a range of texts. Children will develop their oral language through sharing their learning with others, reading poetry and speaking Te Reo in a variety of settings.

Children will be encouraged to read a wider range of authors/texts and this will be modelled during literacy and library sessions. Year 4/5 reading folders will be changed weekly during library sessions. 

Mathematics Focus Term 1

Children participate in a structured mathematics programme Monday through Friday, where they have opportunities to work in small group sessions with their teachers, engage in Maths Talks, problem solving and task board activities.

 

This term will be be covering the following aspects of the Mathematics curriculum through Number and algebra:

Mātauranga tau | Number

  • Know how to: Recognise, read, write, order, partition, recombine, and represent numbers
  • Know how to: add and subtract whole numbers including decimals.

 

Ine | Measurement

  • Know how to: measure things accurately using the most convenient measure.
  • Know: the metric system is based on powers of ten.
  • Know: measurement can contain units and parts of units, and know the need to record units with the amount e.g. 31.5cm.

Te Reo & Kapa Haka Term 1

Te Reo Māori
Our focus this term is understanding and using a range of karakia and whakataukī, and creating a solid classroom kawa (ways of working together/class treaties). Ākonga will also be reviewing and consolidating their knowledge of classroom commands. Simple sentence structures and accurate pronunciation will be practised to build confidence in asking and responding to questions in everyday contexts.

Kapa Haka
Each Monday morning our children have Kapa Haka with Hemi Prime. Our children learn waiata, karakia, haka and poi. 

Digital Technology Focus Term 1

To start the year students will be completing a new cyber safety programme, Be Internet Awesome. 

To make the most of the Internet, kids need to be prepared to make smart decisions. Be Internet Awesome is a collaboration between Google, The Net Safety Collective, and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition. It is a program designed to help teach kids the skills they need to be safe and smart online. 

Five fundamental topics of digital citizenship and safety form the Internet Code of Awesome are: 

  •  Share with Care: Digital Footprint and Responsible Communication
  •  Don’t Fall for Fake: Phishing, Scams, and Credible Sources 
  •  Secure Your Secrets: Online Security and Passwords 
  •  It’s Cool to Be Kind: Combating Negative Online Behavior 
  •  When in Doubt, Talk It Out: Questionable Content and Scenarios

Following the completion of this cyber safety programme students will begin exploring using devices. Students will reinforce their understanding of how devices work, learn and practice their typing skills, research key information and present their findings in a variety of ways. 

Many students in the Senior School are involved in MacAttack, Coding Club and Junior Journalists.

MacAttack

Children are continuing to develop their digital fluency by using a range of creative apps and outputs. They are doing this while working with our external provider (Danny). MacAttackers are also brilliant leaders for our younger year levels.

Junior Journalists

After a busy start to the Junior Journalists, we are getting ready to begin our own news reports. The journalists will be creating their own scripts, forming questions, developing voice overs and interviewing students throughout the school.

Physical Education Focus Term 1

Our children will participate in daily fitness activities, as well as swimming, gymnastics and cross country training later this term.

Key Competencies Focus Term 1

Key Competencies we will be focusing on this term are: 

Relating to Others (Aroha, Respect, Honesty)
Relating to others is about interacting effectively with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts. This competency includes the ability to listen actively, recognise different points of view, negotiate and share ideas.

Managing Self (Initiative, Perseverance)
This competency is associated with self-motivation, a “can do” attitude, with students seeing themselves as capable learners. Students who manage themselves are enterprising, resourceful, reliable, and resilient.

Library Visits

Each week we visit the library and children are able to choose 1-2 library books to take home and enjoy. The books are then returned the following week.

 

Harakeke

Rūma 10 Chantal McKee Thursday @ 10am

Rūma 12 Sam Jenkins Tuesday @ 9.15am

 

Rātā

Rūma 20 Megan Palmer Tuesday @ 2.15pm

Rūma 21 Jack Yorke Wednesday @ 10am

Rūma 22 Hayden Trass Tuesday @ 10am

Rūma 23 Louisa Marks Tuesday @ 1.30pm

Rūma 24 Amy Hickling Friday @ 9.15am

Enviroclub

Enviro Club is an opportunity for students to learn about the environment and their role within it through both information and hands-on sessions.

Children are invited to opt in to the sessions they find interesting.
Enviro Club also offers leadership roles within the school, such as recycling, composting, and running sessions with younger students.
In term 1 we will be focusing on the Arb and how the students, as kaitiaki, have a responsibility to look after our environment. We will also be working to improve our composting system across the school with the aim to reduce and reuse organic waste.
This term the Arb will be closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays to give it time to recover, and students will be checking to see how the Arb is coping with the children being back.

Home Learning

Students are encouraged to read widely to develop their accuracy and fluency. Students employ a range of comprehension strategies to monitor their reading for accuracy and sense and reading at home is the best way to support this.

The ROCKET Challenge is an optional home learning programme.

The purpose of the Tūī ROCKET Challenge is to:

  • recognise the learning children already do outside of school, and to encourage them to extend themselves in these areas
  • challenge children to try new things 
  • encourage children to contribute to your family, school and community  
  • enable children to discover, develop and showcase their talents. 

You can find out more about the ROCKET challenge here.