Tūī Syndicate (Years 4 to 6)

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, Buddy Readers, Junior Journalists 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.

Tūī Syndicate Information

Tūī Parent Evening Information Slideshow February 2024

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 Dates

Please refer to website calendar

Syndicate Hui

Syndicate Huis

Tūī Hūī for Certificates in Room 24:

Friday Week 2 – TOD

Friday Week 4 – Megan and Jack 10-10.40am

Friday Week 6 – Hayden and Dan 10-10.40am

Friday Week 8 Amy and Louisa/Donna 10-10.40am

Wednesday Week 9 End of Year Celebration at 1.40pm

Due to limited space, please note, whanau from the presenting classes are welcome to attend.

Syndicate Programme - Termly Overview

Term 4 Overview

Health

During Term 4, our students in year 4/5 and year 6 will be working on a unit called “Navigating the Journey”, as part of our health programme. This programme will be implemented throughout the Tūī Syndicate.

The learning outcomes from this unit will enable the students to work towards the achievement objectives of Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum.

Identify factors that affect personal, physical, social, and emotional growth and develop skills to manage changes.
Describe how their own feelings, beliefs, and actions, and those of other people, contribute to their personal sense of self-worth.
Identify the pressures that can influence interactions with other people and demonstrate basic assertiveness strategies to manage these.
Describe the characteristics of pubertal change and discuss positive adjustment strategies.

The units focus specifically around five key topics. These topics and key concepts are:

Manaakitanga (Inclusiveness) – Respect for self and others, being inclusive and supportive.
Ko wai au? (Who am I?) -Identifying uniqueness, influence of media, gender stereotypes.
Ngā whanaungatanga (Relationships) – Different relationships, managing friendships and peer pressure, understanding different perspectives and communication skills.
Te tipu me huri o te tangata (Growing and Changing) – Growth and development, positive body image, movement of bodies and how exercise makes us feel. Body parts, pubertal change (including menstruation for year 5 and 6 only) and personal hygiene.
Te noho haumaru (Staying Safe) – Body ownership, bullying, safety strategies, standing up for myself and others. Cybersafety and people who can help me.

Writing & Reading Focus Term 4

Reading

Our reading program provides opportunities for children to read to, with, and by themselves on a daily basis. The children participate in a guided reading program that may include instructional reading, focusing on aspects of comprehension, fluency, structure and vocabulary while building their understanding of the world around us. Children will discuss genres, structures, language features, meanings, and ideas across a range of texts. Where possible, texts are selected to align with learning in other curriculum areas. This term it includes our health-focused topic and financial literacy.

Tūī teachers are implementing “The Code,” a systematic approach to teaching spelling. This approach enhances students’ understanding of spelling patterns, rules, and morphology.

Students also attend weekly library sessions, where they are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and explore new types of texts.

Writing

This term, ākonga will be engaging in a range of authentic writing activities that support students to consider their audience and purpose. Some writing tasks will be aligned to our Health Unit, such as writing and responding to tricky situations by considering alternative outcomes. Students will also have the chance to write creatively. We will also be linking writing to our Financial Literacy unit in the form of a design brief and brochure to advertise their business. Finally, students will be learning letter writing conventions and applying these to write their own letters.

Daily writing covers the structural and language features of particular text types, and also covers the following skills:

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, as well as exploring more sophisticated punctuation.
grammatical conventions, e.g. correctly formed sentences, consistent use of tense, subject-verb agreement, consistent use of pronouns, and correct use of prepositions.

Mathematics Focus Term 4

Ākonga participate in a structured mathematics programme Monday through Friday, where they have opportunities to work in both whole class and small group sessions with their teachers, engage in Maths Talks, problem solving and independent activities. Our maths teaching features a range of both explicit teaching and rich learning opportunities.

While continuing our ongoing teaching of Number, this term we will also be covering Financial Literacy and Algebraic Thinking.

Mātauranga tau | Number

In our number system, each place value is a power of 10, and this continues infinitely.

Multiplication and division problems can involve equal groups, rates, comparisons, combinations, part-whole relationships, areas, and volumes.

Know how to:

Add and subtract whole numbers and decimals to two places
Know how to multiply two- and three-digit whole numbers
Divide whole numbers by one- or two-digit divisors
Find factors of numbers up to 100
Compare, and order fractions, decimals and percentages
Convert between fractions, decimals and percentages
Find equivalent fractions

Financial Literacy

Financial literacy education is essential for students as it equips them with the foundational skills to make informed decisions about money management. Teaching students concepts like saving money, budgeting, and understanding the value of money will help them to have an awareness of responsible financial habits.

Students will:

Create simple financial plans (e.g. shopping lists, a simple budget)
investigate financial plans and decisions
investigate making amounts of money, using different denominations
estimate and calculate the total cost and change for items

Algebraic Thinking

Algebraic thinking develops students’ understanding of the structure and relationships within numbers, shapes, and measures. In exploring patterns of increasing complexity, students develop the ability to recognise, explain, and generalise relationships between quantities and objects.

Students will:

Describe growing sequential spatial and number patterns to solve problems
Explain repeating patterns to others
Use tables, graphs, and diagrams to recognise relationships in a linear pattern
Understand that the equal sign represents an equivalence relation between two quantities.
Use scales to explore the idea of equality in equations

Te Reo & Kapa Haka Term 4

Te Reo Māori

Our focus this term integrates te reo with our mathematics, using a variety of sentence structures to identify and discuss time, dates, and mathematical operations and relationships. We will also review language structures and vocabulary learned throughout the year.

Traditional stories (pūrākau) and associated waiata this term relate to local landforms and will be integrated into literacy and the arts.

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 4

Digital Learning

The Digital Curriculum will be integrated across literacy, numeracy and inquiry throughout the term.

Students will develop their research skills through interpreting information from a range of given websites. They will then use this to design and develop their own website by using Google Sites as a way to record and present their work. Students will learn how to use hyperlinks, create multiple pages on their site, use subheadings, and include images to grab attention.

Children will be using Seesaw as a tool to share learning with families. Hapara will continue to be used to save and access work on the children’s google drive and workspace.

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 4

B4 Challenges and social and cultural factors

Participate in cooperative and competitive activities and describe how cooperation and competition can affect people’s behaviour and the quality of the experience.

C1 Relationships

Identify and compare ways of establishing relationships and managing changing relationships.

D2 Community resources

Participate in communal events and describe how such events enhance the well-being of the community.

During Athletics Ākonga will develop the skills to:

Run for distance and speed. They will know how to start and how to pump their arms and legs to give them power.
Participate fully in PE sessions and be able to demonstrate to others how to jump for distance and height.
Be successful through practising their technique to throw a vortex and quoit accurately.
Support and encourage others to give things a go and participate fully at the school athletics.

During Striking and Fielding Games Ākonga will develop the skills needed to:

Demonstrate an effective striking action
Demonstrate a pass and catch action to field as a team
Demonstrate control while striking a ball to a space using a bat
Participate fully in PE sessions and be able to explain, demonstrate to others and teach others how to throw, catch and strike a ball.

Key Competencies Focus Term 4

Key Competencies we will be focusing on are: Relating to Others and Managing Self

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.

Students who relate well to others are:

Open to new learning and able to take different roles in different situations.
Aware of how their words and actions affect others.
Able to compete and cooperate when it is appropriate.
Able to work effectively together, they can come up with new approaches, ideas and ways of thinking

Managing Self (Initiative, Perseverance)

This competency is associated with self-motivation, a “can do” attitude, and with students seeing themselves as capable learners. It is integral to self-assessment.

Students who manage themselves are:

Enterprising, resourceful, reliable, and resilient.
Aware of personal goals, make plans, manage projects, and set high standards.
Able to use strategies to meet challenges.
Aware when to lead, when to follow, and when and how to act independently.

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

Room 10 (Chantal) Thursday 10-11am

Room 12 (Sam) Tuesday 9-10am

Rātā

Room 20 (Megan) Monday 10.15-11am

Room 21 (Jack) Wednesday 10-11am

Room 22 (Hayden) Tuesday 10-11am

Room 23 (Louisa) Thursday 11.30 – 12.30

Room 24 ( Amy) Friday 9.15-10am

Enviro Club

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.

Throughout the year 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.

The Arb is closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays to encourage growth, and to allow students to monitor the impact they may have on the environment. The Enviro Team endeavours to try to balance access and the impact children may have on our taonga.

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.

The Rocket Challenges close Friday 22nd November (week 6)