Ngaruawahia High School Yearbooks 1994-2009 Ngaruawahia High School Yearbook 2007 | Page 4

Te K

otah

Janu

ary

S

everal days before the pupils
commenced the new year,
the school staff was hard at work
preparing for a new initiative.
Te Kotahitanga - a project
aimed at raising the achievement
levels of our students. Research
has shown that students are
more likely to be successful if a
positive relationship with the
teacher is established.
Two
of the aspects that teachers
involved in Te Kotahitanga are
seeking to improve are:
Manaakitanga…is about
caring for the students and

respecting the culture and life
experiences they bring into the
classroom.
Mana Motuhake…is about
having high expectations of the
students, in terms of both the
learning and behaviour.
After four terms, our data
shows teachers are making
positive changes.
In trying to
move from an old-fashioned,
more traditional style where the
teacher dominates the lesson to
a style where students have
more say and involvement in the

2

itan

2526

ga

lesson, there has been an
marked improvement.
As well, teachers are
managing lessons where there is
less ‘whole class’ teaching
(teaching everyone the same
thing at the same time).
In term 2, teaching styles
using groups of students was up
by six percent compared to term
one.
Part of the school’s goal this
year is to raise the thinking and
learning skills. There is a 14%
r i s e i n Ma n a m o t u h a k e
(performance) which r Y?X??\???????YH\??XZ?HB?X\??[??[?H?[[??[???XX?\?[?\?X?[???X?????X[?XZ?][??H??Z[B??[][??\?[?H?\????B?[?????H??]]?H[??X\?K??\???X??[?[????]?B?YX\??[????\?\??YX\?H[??L?Y[???]H?\???X?Y?YX\?\?H]??X??\???X??B??\?Y?]H??[][?]B?\?[?X?[H[?H??????]??]\????