Howick Intermediate School

SPORTS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

School sports are held regularly for all students. Physical education is, an important part of the school curriculum and all students are expected to take part, unless exempt on medical grounds.

Note: Children are told early in the year which days they will have physical education and they are expected to bring their physical education clothes regardless of the weather. In poor weather, physical education may be held in the hall. Parents are expected to assist in this matter.

FITNESS

It is important that pre-adolescent children attain a high level of personal fitness. Many areas of a child’s development are assisted once an appropriate level of fitness is achieved .Exercises to increase students’ fitness level will be performed on a regular basis. Our general view is that if students are well enough to attend school, they are able to take part in the programme. Naturally there will be exceptions to the rule. However, reasons for being excused from physical activity will be judged individually and decisions made accordingly. The level of students’ fitness will be assessed and programmes planned to enable improvement to take place.

STUDENT GOALS

Students are taught and encouraged to set realistic goals and are assisted by staff to achieve them. This forms an important part of becoming an independent learner.

Our school is fortunate in having a swimming pool located within its grounds. During the summer months, students take part in a swimming programme as part of the Education Outside the Classroom curriculum. This is seen as an essential part of the school programme. Tuition is provided at a level appropriate to the competence of individual students. Periodically, the pool may be offered for community use.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

The requirements of the new technology curriculum provide schools with a wide variety of challenging learning opportunities. Howick Intermediate School is well positioned to take advantage of these developments and expose students to a greatly diversified programme. Along with learning experiences from the traditional technicraft subjects, the school is able to offer design crafts, publication, pictorial, and performing arts experience. Linked with the science programme, the range of learning focuses will continue to grow. The school programme will continue to adapt to meet the changes occurring in the wider community. Biotechnology, Electronics, hydroponics, structures and mechanisms, and product production may be included as part of the programme.

HEALTH PROGRAMME

The integrated, school programme is designed to meet the needs of our pre-adolescent students.

The content includes:

• Relationships with other people

• Personal, Health and Physical Development

• Movement Concepts and Motor Skills

• Healthy Communities and Environments

Each year comment is sought from parents concerning the emphasis within the programme.

HOLISTIC LEARNING

School exists to assist students to learn. Many things contribute to the progress a student makes and the success they experience. As a school we aim to ensure that students spend their time involved with activities that really do contribute to learning.

Our standards are demanding but supportive of individual need. As our knowledge of how the brain works and how people learn increases, we attempt to apply this knowledge within our school. This means that methods and approaches change as we continue to keep up to date and provide our

students the best possible learning environment. Learning does not just take place at school. To support progress, we attempt to bring many aspects of a young person’s life in line with one another as we work to create a caring, challenging and responsive learning environment. E.g. There is clear research evidence available to suggest that physical fitness and diet affect learning. For children at this age, eating patterns are important. We try to encourage learning in these areas to support learning in curriculum areas.

INTEGRATIVE, INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING

We teach for the future using the integrative, inquiry-based learning model which engages students in real-life learning and takes advantage of their natural curiosity and desire to learn. Students acquire some ownership of their own learning which assists in motivation. The inquiry process requires well-developed questioning skills, and helps students develop strategies and processes for collecting and evaluating information. Students immerse themselves in a topic of global and personal significance and form a question that becomes the focus of their investigation. They form subsidiary questions, plan and carry out their research, come to conclusions, and decide how they could make change happen. During this time, students cover selected achievement objectives from the New Zealand curriculum, integrating as many curriculum areas as their questions promote. The integrative, inquiry-based model encourages students to participate, and prepares them to contribute to a democratic society, learning how to influence the world around them and contribute in a constructive way.

KEY COMPETENCIES

The New Zealand curriculum framework includes key competencies as an important part of the learning process. These competencies include a small number of essential aptitudes that form a basis for all learning. They also provide a platform upon which to base life-long learning. These competencies cannot be ‘taught’; however, they can be developed as a result of particular learning experiences. They are developed as students engage in real life situations and through time, develop greater ability in utilising these competencies.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment is an important part of the learning process. In the past, assessment has focused on the outcome of learning experiences and the recall of separate pieces of information. As our society changes and we adjust to the needs of the twenty first century, we recognise that being able to understand and apply learning is now more important. With the rapid explosion of knowledge and the introduction of the internet, the ability to process and use learning that reflects the knowledge, skills,

attitudes and values that have been acquired, becomes vital as we prepare our students for life-long learning. Assessment is an on-going process that provides students with information that can be used to enable them to make important decisions about their own learning. An emphasis will be placed on the dialogue that is implied by this approach rather than test results. We want our students to be able to understand and use their learning and will adopt strategies that promote that outcome.