Konini School
Andrew Ducat, Principal
Konini School is a pretty special place. Our unique physical environment provides our students with a wealth of rich, authentic learning experiences - without having to leave the school grounds. Neatly nestled at the end of Withers Road our school sits proudly on 8.5 hectares of land, half of which is native bush which adjourns the foothills of the Waitakere Ranges. The Whakarina stream weaves its way through the upper reaches of our bush area, fed by a gentle 4 metre high waterfall which surrounding rock face provides a home for our resident glow worms.
Our strategic goals center around the three simple headings of; Learning, Culture and Environments. Our goals are interwoven and provide us with our guiding values which are; child centred learning, whanaungatanga, creativity, authentic learning, kaitiakitanga and maanakitanga.
We are very proud of our school and the strong relationship we have with our community. We are excited about the opportunity to work collaboratively with all the schools in Kotuitui.
This is my Konini in-school Community of Learning team:
Charlotte Nola
The focus of my inquiry is: How we can boost motivation by using innovative strategies to teach writing. Are we willing to take risks and change our mindsets about our teaching and learners? I will be taking writing workshops at Years 2, 4 and 6 and to further boost motivation I am looking at creating a Writers’ hub where the children can produce, publish and ultimately see themselves as authentic authors.
Lisa O'Malley
This year my inquiry is focused on Maths teaching and learning. Does mixed ability grouping in Mathematics have an effect on student motivation, engagement, and achievement? How does having a high expectation approach to teaching influence student progress in their Mathematics learning?
I will be starting a mixed ability class using the DMIC (Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities) approach. This is a contrast to the rest of the syndicate who is following the Cross Grouping approach. I am interested in how this approach will affect students motivation, engagement, and achievement. I will also be looking into High Impact Teaching, the concept of having high expectations of all learners regardless of their ability levels in order to lift student achievement.
