Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa
Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa

Hello everybody here
Warm greetings to everyone

At Pillans Point School we believe that learning at school should be seen as an ‘Adventure’ that is ongoing and never ending. Our role as a school is to build on the learning from home to give your children the skills and competencies to go on a great adventure in life.

‘Adventurous Learning’ is a motto that guides our schools strategic direction as well as our school curriculum. We believe it is a motto that is aspirational, inspirational and achievable.

Through our ‘Adventurous Learning’ motto, the vision for our students and teachers is to ‘Seek new opportunities while challenging ourselves to grow as learners’. This is a model for teaching and learning, decision making and professional practice.

Seeking New Opportunities


Is about trying new things in our teaching and learning that engage and motivate us to want to learn. We consider research and development in educational fields as part of new opportunities.


Challenging Ourselves


Is about asking questions into what we are doing and why we are doing it. It is seeing teaching and learning as an inquiry process where we look to evaluate what we are doing and inquire into our next steps to improve outcomes for all learners in our school.



Grow


This is where we learn, refine and apply. We have developed skills and abilities and we begin to apply these as we work and learn.


Learners


This is our end goal, we are all learners. We want our school community all to be learners.
Seeking new opportunities while challenging ourselves to develop and grow as learners is an ongoing cyclic process of teaching and learning.

The ‘Pillans Point Learner Competencies’ have been designed and shaped to meet the needs of our school and the students from our community. They are the competencies that we want children to learn, know, develop and master as they move through our school from the age of five through to year six.
Research highlights a dual focus on academics and developing life skills is critical for children’s success. Mastery of such traits predicts children’s academic and future success throughout life as well, if not better, than academic success alone.

We believe that when learning and working through our five Pillans Point Competencies we will be applying the 5 Key Competencies outlined in the New Zealand Curriculum document in ‘meaningful contexts’ NZC p38. We see the Pillans Point School Learner Competencies as social competencies that will be learned alongside and through the traditional curriculum (Mathematics, Sciences, The Arts, Technology, Social Science, Health & Physical Education and English) both of which have equal importance within our classrooms.

We have a talented team of teaching and support staff who work together to create the best possible teaching and learning opportunities for your children. We have a strong school culture that is built around many of the exciting things that happen within our school.

Our school is made up of four teaching teams based around children’s ages, as well as a School House system that encourages children of all ages to mix with each other. (Don’t worry, all families are in the same house too, this stops the morning arguments on which house is the best on X Country day!)

As a school we welcome parents to take a full and active part in their child's learning. We encourage you to have open communication with your child's teacher and the school leadership team. Should at any stage you wish to discuss your child in relation to their schooling please do not hesitate to make contact with us.

Ngā manaakitanga

Matt Simeon
Principal
Pillans Point School