Future Focussed Learning

“If we teach today’s students as we did yesterday’s then we rob them of tomorrow” – John Dewey (philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer)

Information Technology is an integral part of our everyday lives and has changed not only where students learn, but also what they learn and how they learn. As the world and technology continues to progress and change, young people today need to develop the skills they will need to become confident and connected citizens of their future society.

With this in mind, Matakana School strives to stay at the cutting edge of new technology. At Matakana School, our future focussed learning team are constantly looking for new digital tools and innovative ways to use those tools to build computational thinking and enhance the learning experience for our students. As a result, classrooms at Matakana School are very well equipped with a variety of digital tools such as, LED TV’s, Visualisers, Apple TVs and Soundfield Systems.

Students in Year 1-3 have access to iPads, equipped with a range of literacy and numeracy applications used in Reading and Mathematics programs. In Year 4-6, each student is equipped with a Chromebook as an additional learning tool and, using this, learn to use Google Apps For Education that are used in daily classroom programmes.

Collaboration is a vital skill we strive to instill in our students, so students are encouraged to work together on digital devices to create authentic content that is regularly shared at our weekly Assemblies in the form of iMovies and Presentations.

Safety on the net is foremost at Matakana School. N4L’s Web Filtering helps us create a safer online environment for our students by providing a layer of defence against internet-based threats. Additionally, student activity is monitored through the use of Hapara Dashboard, which allows teachers to view students’ web browsing at any time.

Alongside these safety features, students are also taught how to be ‘cybersmart’ throughout the year and, as well as their parents/caregivers, are expected to sign a cybersmart agreement as part of our cybersmart policy upon enrolment at Matakana School.

WIFI - Matakana School is a WIFI enabled school