Integrated Curriculum
Pakuranga Heights School uses an Inquiry teaching approach for teaching and learning in The Arts, Social Studies, Science and Technology. Wherever possible, Health and PE are integrated into the Inquiry approach. The English and Maths and Statistics curriculums are woven through all areas of learning.
Each term a school wide focus for Inquiry is established and this is taught in all classes at the appropriate level for the students. Classes may focus on different aspects of the big topic as students express interest in certain aspects.
We have developed an Inquiry model based upon the acronym HEIGHTS. This is used across all areas of the school so students become increasingly familiar with it over their years at Pakuranga Heights.
An outline of the stages:
H= How do we learn is at the centre of the honeycomb
At each stage students are encouraged to constantly reflect on their learning, and how they are doing at each stage of their Inquiry.
E = Exploring What I Know
During this phase we:
- Explore the children’s prior knowledge about the theme
- Develop vocabulary around the context
- Explore key knowledge required in a variety of ways
- Explore what level of thinking the students already have
I = I Want to Know
During this phase we:
- Ask questions about areas of the theme that interest us and are relevant
- Classify our questions
- Analyse our questions
- Share questions with others
G = Get Investigating
During this phase we:
- Consider where we might find answers to our questions
- Seek and access information from a range of sources
H = Hunt Through Information
During this phase we:
- Sort the gathered information according to relevancy
- Use thinking maps to sort and analyse our information
T = Time for Action
During this phase we:
- Take action based on our new learning
- Select a method to share our learning with others
- Create a presentation, or create a new idea, or develop a solution and share it
- Share with an audience
