Mā te Rangatiratanga Te Whakaritenga Te Kaitiākitanga Te Kōtahitanga Me Te Ngākau Māhaki Ka tau i raro i te whakaaro kōtahi Hei ōranga mo tātou katoa Haumi ē! Hui ē! Taiki ē! Karakia

Waiata

Session 10 – Reviewing ECE & School Curricula

Peters, Hartley, Rogers, Smith & Carr (2009)  What are the key messages in this reading?  In pairs/ small groups complete the question sheet

What do you know about connections between ECE and School curriculum documents? Te Whāriki states: “The early childhood curriculum provides a foundation for children to become confident and competent and, during the school years, to be able to build on their previous learning” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 93) The New Zealand Curriculum states: “This new stage (transition from early childhood to school) in children’s learning builds upon and makes connections with early childhood learning & experiences” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 41)

The Key Competencies (Reading 3: Carr, 2006) Discuss ONE example of a key competency “in action” within an ECE learning experience – what might this look like in practice? Diagram: Ministry of Education, 2007, p42

Practical information for Parents Via ECE education in NZ – moving onto school ece/moving-on-to-school/ Primary education in NZ – enrolling & starting your child school/enrolling-and-starting-your-child-at-school/ Learning at School – the key competencies school/developing-key-competencies-needed-for-life/

Discussing Curricula  Find /fold out the Learning Areas at the back of the NZC document  You will be given 1 to examine. Look at level 1.  How different/similar is this to what happens in ECE?  Where are the possible connections with Te Whāriki?

Relevant Government policy Improving transitions to school is a key goal in:  Ka Hikitia : The Maori Education strategy  Pasifika Education plan  Pathways to the future: Nga huarahi arataki  10 year vision from Office of Children’s commissioner

Ka Hikitea – Accelerating Success “For Ka Hikitia – Accelerating Success to be successful, key stakeholders must form productive partnerships where there is an ongoing exchange of knowledge and information, and where everybody contributes to achieving the goals. A productive partnership starts by understanding that Māori children and young people are connected to whānau and should not be viewed or treated as separate, isolated or disconnected. Parents and whānau must be involved in conversations about their children and their learning”. (Ministry of Education, 2013 p.3- summary doc).

Pasifika Education Plan (Early Learning Actions) - The focus is on increasing participation in quality early learning and building a strong foundation for life-long education The Ministry of Education and Education Partner Agencies will:  Improve information collection to identify vulnerable Pasifika children.  Introduce new approaches to engage parents, families and communities (PFC) with ECE for example through Supported Playgroups and the Engaging Priority Families initiative.  Change funding policies to incentivise better support for and participation by Pasifika learners.  Gain support from schools to identify and engage Pasifika learners under six;  effectively transition and support Pasifika learners into English medium schooling using language acquisition strategies, such as strengthening learners’ first languages, as a foundation for learning English;  plan for Pasifika children with no ECE experiences before enrolling at school.

But…aspirations do not = reality!  The aim for early childhood and school teachers to have greater understanding of what happens in the other sector is reflected internationally.  However, achieving such understandings is not always easy. New Zealand researchers Timperley, McNaughton, Howie & Robinson (2003, p. 55) found that “despite a commitment to collaborate, teachers from the two sectors (ECE and primary) had very different expectations of each other and most were dissatisfied with the current arrangements”.

School entry age in NZ  In NZ – the age compulsory school entry is 6yrs  Transition to school programmes described in overseas literature usually relate to groups of children starting together rather than continuous enrolment.  NZ children are relatively young on school entry compared to other Western countries – only 4 out of 56 countries had a school entry age of < 6yrs and this “…indicated no benefit from early entry to formal schooling and some potentially negative consequences for children's long-term success” (Peters, 2010, p 7)  Timing of child’s birthday often determines the size of class – can result in further transitions

How could your centre build relationships with the local school/s?  In pairs/ small groups…  Create a list of ways that you could do this….be creative….