North Canterbury News: June 22, 2023

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NEWS
20 The North Canterbury News, June 22, 2023
Schools sticks with innovative teaching
By DAVID HILL,
Local Democracy Reporters
One North Canterbury school is sticking
with its innovative teaching methods,
while another is returning to more
traditional models.
Oxford Area School principal Mike
Hart says his teachers are sticking with
their ‘‘teams teaching’’ approach which
sees asocial science teacher and a
science teacher joining forces to offer
subjects to year 9and 10 students over a
semester.
This followed Rangiora High School’s
announcement it was moving back to
specialist teachers for specialist
subjects for its year 9and 10 students
from next year, following acurriculum
review.
Sweeping changes were announced
last month with internal walls to be
installed in Rangiora High School’s
open plan Rakahuri building, and the
co­operative learning style of recent
years for junior students would be
dropped in favour of spending more
time with specialist subject teachers.
Deputy principal Haidee Tiffen said
there would be amajor focus on
‘‘teaching and learning’’and improving
literacy and numeracy results.
But in Oxford, Mr Hart said his
teachers saw the benefits of their Rau
Whetū (100 stars) programme.
‘‘When we developed our year 9and 10
curriculum we realised there were
opportunities to pull learning areas
together.
‘‘We do the electives as well, because
we want students to be able to do the
subjects they love.
‘‘It is successful because we offer both
options.’’
Courses were offered like Earth to the
Moon and CSI, to combine social science
and science.
The Earth to the Moon course
celebrated the school’s connection to
the stars, with its own observatory.
It began with students learning about
the history of the space race between
the United States and the Soviet Union,
before learning about the International
Space Station and the Mars rovers.
Mr Hart said there were plans to
incorporate images from the school’s
new meteor camera into the lessons.
Students Elisha Ricketts (14) and
Lucas Trewheela (13) said they were
fascinated by the space station.
‘‘It brings together all the countries in
space and they do research to find cures
in micro gravity,’’ Elisha said.
BRIG workshop popular
Arecent BRIG (BeginnersResearching
in Genealogy) workshop attracted 23
participantskeen to learnhow to
research their familyhistories.
Conducted by the Waimakariri branch
of the New Zealand Society of
Genealogists, attendees were
introducedtothe many ways available
to research their familyhistory.
Society member Anne Sugden says
manyneeded assistance in getting
started.
‘‘Others had issueswith finding
adopted family membersorhad came
up against brickwalls withwhere their
family memberswere born or had died.’’
She says this was how most people
start building their family trees, by
joining genealogygroups, and talking
withother like­minded people.
Society secretary Christine Pearson
spoke on howtoget started in genealogy
thenfellow member Trevor Walmsley
demonstrated how to accessthe
resource roomand whatwebsites were
available for research.
Annesays fivetrends are developing
in the Genealogy world as it continues to
growinpopularity in the digitalage.
‘‘Gone are the paper trails, now online
programmesstore, sort and collate
Digging deep into history ... Members
of the Waimakariri branch of the New
Zealand Society of Genealogists work in
their public assessable resource spaces.
PHOTO: JOHN COSGROVE
family trees via the cloud,which can be
shared viasmartphone apps.’’
She says it’s easier now to access to
large data bases and new AI apps
(ChatCPT)greatly assist with research.
‘‘It goes at four times the speed of
sound and hovers at 400km above the
earth. It takes 93 minutes to do afull
orbit,’’ Lucas added.
Deputy principal Sharyn Whitlow
helped develop acourse based on the
television programme Crime Scene
Investigation (CSI).
‘‘We ask them at the start of the
course, ‘what about CSI do you want to
learn about?’.’’
This semester students were curious
about the psychology of crime,
identifying substances, profiling a
person, what acrime scene looked like
and doing an autopsy.
Instead of doing an autopsy on a
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human, the students got to dissect rats.
‘‘We always relate it back to doing an
autopsy and consider what would have
to occur,’’ Mrs Whitlow said.
‘‘For example, if we are looking at the
lungs we ask ‘why would they be
interested in the lungs? How did they
die?.’’
The course included apolice visit to
do finger printing and setting up acrime
scene.
The younger students were not
missing out, with the year 4to8students
learning how to build and launch
rockets.
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through New Zealand on Air.
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St Patrick’s Kaiapoi Rarotonga Cul
Nine Kaiapoi children are about
quickly realised the school doesn’t have
to embark on a trip of a lifetime to a lot and in the last few years they had a
fire burn down some of their classrooms
St Patrick’s Kaiapoi Catholic Primary and to date, nothing has been rebuilt
School is taking nine Year 7 and 8 pupils due to a lack of funding.”
and two adults to the Cook Islands in The St Patrick’s contingent plans to
term four to learn abou the local culture take some resourcesfor the school and
and do some community service. is seeking support from the local North
“This is our second trip and what we’ve Canterbury community.
identified is the opportunity to do an A number of local sports organisations
overseas trip like no other,” says teacher have agreed to donate sports equipment
Pax O’Dowd, who wi l accompany the and local businesses have given some
pupils to Rarotonga.
“It’s like school camp, where the
Pax says the group is also liaising with
studentswilhavesome fun, but it’s Raro community groups in Rarotongatodo
style and it’s an opportunity to give back some volunteering, planting and clean
the local community and an opportunity
to learn what we share in common The group wi l be staying a the
as Pacific communities as we l as our Rakahangahostel, which is named after
di ferences.”
one of the islands, and is like a marae,
Pax wi l be joined on the trip by parent
Pacific Islands.
and Board of Trustees member Angela “It’s very basic, but community focused His classmateCalebSpencesayshe
and everybody pitches in with cooking has been to Rarotonga before and is
Although the Cook Islands is o ficia ly and cleaning.
looking forward to returning.
a part of New Zealand and uses New “They are wonderful hosts and are quite “I’m exciting to see the beach. It’s pre ty
Zealand do lars, life is very di ferent on proud of their country and are rea ly hot at 30 degreesmost of the time and it
the islands and local schools do not happy, humble people.”
have the same resources.
The pupils said they were looking Their classmatesare looking forward to
As we l as fundraising for the trip, Pax forward to visiting Rarotonga and learning about Cook Islands culture and
s he school has been fundraising to meeting their new penpals at Nukutere meeting their penpals.
rt Nukutere Co lege, a Year 7 to 11 Co lege, who they have been
They have been busy fundraising and
in Rarotonga, which St Patrick’s
co responding with in the lead up to the co lecting stationery supplies and books
ilt a relationship with.
to take to Nukutere Co lege and packing
rs trip last year was an
Pupil Mason Robson says his penpal
nity to see the lay of the land. We ‘likes taro’, a popular vegetable in the The Cook Islands is a co lection of
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