Local curriculum – School stories
This resource supports your school with the local curriculum design and review process.
About this resource
These stories describe how schools throughout Aotearoa have brought The New Zealand Curriculum to life.
The range of ideas and approaches in these stories reinforces the message that there is no set recipe for local curriculum design. What you do at your school will be influenced by the priorities, preferences, and issues of your unique community, whānau, iwi, hapū, and ākonga.
Use these stories as inspiration for designing a local curriculum that works for your school. This resource is from the Leading Local Curriculum Guides series of resources. See the resource carousel for more.
School stories
These stories describe how schools throughout Aotearoa have brought The New Zealand Curriculum to life.
The range of ideas and approaches in these stories reinforces the message that there is no set recipe for local curriculum design. What you do at your school will be influenced by the priorities, preferences, and issues of your unique community, whānau, iwi, hapū, and ākonga.
Use these stories as inspiration for designing a local curriculum that works for your school.
Primary school stories
Te Akau ki Papamoa School – Cultural Inclusiveness
Principal Bruce Jepson shares his kura’s vision and journey in becoming one of New Zealand's leading mainstream schools in normalising the delivery of te reo Māori and cultural competencies and the positive impacts on student achievement, school, and community culture.
Arrowtown School – Lighting up minds through project based learning
Year 7 and 8 students from Arrowtown Primary School designed and created illuminated ski suits for a competition run by the school in collaboration with NZ Ski. Find out how this project lit up the minds of the students and the slopes of Coronet Peak.
Hororata Primary School – Discovery learning
Marty Gameson, principal of Hororata Primary, shares how discovery learning aligns with their school vision and explores how it can be applied to improve learning outcomes.
Wairakei School – Working in partnership with Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Schools in the Taupō area, including Wairakei School, have worked in partnership with Ngāti Tūwharetoa to ensure students learn about their iwi, its history, places, and stories.
A culturally connected curriculum
The community at Te Kura o Hiruharama worked together to create a culturally connected curriculum with strong links to the rich history of the area.
Secondary stories
Howick College – The innovation stream
Learn how teachers at Howick College have adopted a new integrated approach to learning in a mainstream secondary setting.
Kaitiakitanga in Waimea Inlet
Students at Nelson’s Waimea College have been working with local mentors, council and community groups to improve the habitat of an elusive wetland bird, the banded rail.
Heading
Planning for Aotearoa New Zealand's histories
This resource supports your school with the local curriculum design and review process.
1 of 7Assessment for learning guide
This resource supports your school with the local curriculum design and review process.
2 of 7Strengthening local curriculum
This resource supports your school with the local curriculum design and review process. The resource is for tumuaki, principals, curriculum leaders, and professional learning and development providers.
3 of 7Local curriculum guide
This resource supports your school with the local curriculum design and review process.
4 of 7Information sharing and building learning partnerships
This resource supports your school with the local curriculum design and review process.
5 of 7The revised technology learning area
This resource supports your school with the local curriculum design and review process.
6 of 7Strategic planning guide (secondary)
This guidance helps you consider what outcomes you are seeking for your ākonga and the learning opportunities you create to achieve these. This includes thinking about what pathways you want to support your learners to progress and how they represent ākonga and community aspirations.
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