Warrington School - Te Kura o Ōkahau

19 Jul 2026

 

Kia ora koutou, Te Kura o Ōkahau whānau,

Welcome back to the beginning of the new school term. I trust that you all had an enjoyable time with your whānau over the school holiday break, and that the tamariki are well-rested, recharged, and ready to get stuck back into their learning.

Here are the things that you need to know for the first week back.

We're very much looking forward to having our new junior room teacher, Mrs Jacqui Clark, start with us next Monday. We will be having a Mihi Whakatau first thing next Monday morning to formally welcome her to Warrington School.

This week, in the interim, Rooms 2 and 3 will be combined with Whaea Erin and Mireka. Whaea Tess will continue to work with the junior room tamariki with their Enviroschools mahi on Friday.

Life Education Trust Truck

We have the Life Education Truck on site for the next couple of days, with the tamariki exploring the following topics with Kaz (educator) and Harold the Giraffe!

Rooms 2 and 3 - (Year 1- 4)

What are the qualities of friendship and being friendly?
Students explore the qualities of friendship, and what being a friend and being friendly means, for themselves and others.
How can I be a good friend?
Students discuss what a good friend is, and how to develop the qualities to enable strong and positive relationships with others.

Room 1 - (Year 5-8)

How do the decisions I make online and/or offline affect me and others?
Our behaviour (online and offline) affects others as well as ourselves. How can we make good choices in a digital environment? What differences are there between our behaviour in a digital environment compared to a physical one?

Cross Country Training 

Over the next couple of weeks, we will slowly build the children's fitness through drills, games, and runs. Please make sure that your tamariki have appropriate footwear to run in at school (i.e., not gumboots, slides, or jandals) over this time.

Booking Parent Interview Times - Rooms 1 and 2

Please look out for parent interview times for next week, Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th July, on Skool Loop tomorrow morning. The purpose of these interviews is to review your child's mid-year written report in more detail, particularly to unpack their next learning steps in relation to the new curriculum expectations in reading, writing, and mathematics, and to answer any questions that you may have about the new Ministry of Education Reporting Format.

On Tuesday at 3.15 pm, there will be an opportunity for the parents of tamariki in Room 3 to meet Mrs Clark for a meet-the-teacher session.

 

Upcoming Events:

East Otago Hui Ako @ East Otago Events Centre - Wednesday 29th July 10.00 am ( Whole School)

3 Peaks Cluster Cross Country @ East Otago Rugby Grounds - Tuesday 4th August ( Years 3-8 )

Year 7/8 Opening Evening - Thursday 6th August

 

Mathematics Teachers Only Day - Monday 31st August - School Closed

 

Kia pai te wiki - Have a great week!

Kā manaakitanga 

Jeff

3 Jul 2026

 

Kia ora koutou, Te Kura o Ōkahau whānau,

After a very thorough appointment process, I have appointed Jacqui Clark to take over our Junior Classroom next term.

Welcome to Warrington School, Jacqui Clark!

We are pleased to introduce Jacqui Clark to the Warrington School community. 

Jacqui joins us with over 30 years of teaching experience within the South Otago region, most recently teaching new entrants at Rosebank School in Balclutha.

She brings a wealth of proven leadership experience to our team, having recently served in several pivotal leadership capacities: 

Junior School Team Leader 
Literacy Lead Teacher 
Transition to School Lead Teacher 
ICT Lead Teacher 

Her classroom experience spans a wide range of year levels, with a strong specialised focus in early childhood transition, junior school education, and targeted reading intervention, in both large schools and small rural school settings.

Please join us in giving Jacqui a wonderfully warm Warrington School welcome. 

She takes up her position at Warrington School on Monday, 27th July (second week of the term)

Kā manaakitanga 

Jeff

3 Jul 2026

The Newsletter has been posted onto School Loop.

You will find it in the Newsletter section. 

Happy Holidays 

2 Jul 2026

School Reports

The School Reports have been emailed to you today (Thursday).  

We are using a new system and if you have not received your child's report please let the school office know.  

We will print it out for you and look to solve the problem. 

Warm regards

Lana Morrison

Office Manager. 

2 Jul 2026

 

 

Kia ora koutou, Te Kura o Ōkahau whānau,

Navigating the New Curriculum

As you are aware, there have been major changes in the curriculum that impact our learners. These changes, mandated by the Government, are intended to ensure consistency through standardisation and to future-proof education, so that all ākonga are more globally competitive by the time they are in Year 13.

However, with any transition to a new curriculum, achievement levels will change. Not only has the way students are assessed been changed, but the descriptors denoting what is developing, proficient, or exceeding have also changed. Accordingly, National levels of attainment are expected to drop because these benchmarks of proficiency have been raised to a world-class, aspirational level.

The important message is that your child has not got worse; the goal posts have moved.

We thought it would be helpful to outline what the new curriculum expectations are and the shift that has occurred, especially as reports are coming out at the end of term.

As you are aware, the government has been increasingly concerned about New Zealand/Aotearoa's national drop in Literacy and Numeracy rates. Due to this, they are revamping the curriculum to ensure that all students have a world-class, quality education. What this means is that the Ministry of Education has introduced new, higher achievement objectives. While previously 80% of students were meeting expectations, the bar has been raised significantly to return to that 80% proficiency level by 2030. It is aspirational.

Inevitably, there will be a transition phase: These new standards have effectively moved the goalposts. Consequently, students who were previously considered "At" expectation may now be classified as "Consolidating." This adjustment is not a decline in student performance, but a change in the measurement scale.

To get an idea of how they will change, under the ‘old’ system, 80% of students would attain the ‘At’ achievement level. With the ‘New’ system, the prediction is that only 20% of students will be ‘At’ initially, with the aspiration being that it will rise to 80% in five years. Remember, though, these are the same students, just being measured with a different ruler.

There is also more of a focus on assessment, with marks being recorded. However, we want parents to remember that any timed assessment is just a snapshot of how that student is tracking in that moment. It does not always reflect the effort and progress that the student has made in the previous weeks. 

We will still use holistic assessment, using multiple forms of assessment that we can talk about with parents at learning conversations. It is important to remember that a single test does not define a student’s self-worth.

To reiterate, these changes and percentages are aspirational. There will be a decline in the proficiency grades as the goal posts have changed. 

Warrington School remains committed to nurturing a love of learning and focusing on progress, effort, and attitude rather than just marks. Teachers will continue to differentiate instruction, supporting students where they are currently at while still providing access to the new curriculum outcomes.

I've attached the NZ Curriculum progress markers, which outline the end-of-year outcomes for each year level, for your convenience.

 

Kā manaakitanga 

Jeff

NZC-Essential-Progress-Markers-A3-5-May-2026.pdf