Junior College

Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu
Adorn the bird with feathers so it may soar

The Junior College of Excellere College caters for students from New Entrant through to Year six.

We highly value relationships in the Junior College. Our teachers create family based environments in their classrooms and support students to build positive relationships with their peers and teachers across the Junior College. We work hard to create a safe, friendly and peaceful environment for our students to work, play and learn in.

We have a collaborative and creative approach to planning in the Junior College. Our teachers work together to develop effective programmes and plan rich learning experiences for our learners. We develop term programmes through an inquiry approach where we integrate curriculum areas around a termly theme (Big Idea).

We are privileged to integrate Biblical worldview into our learning programmes, environments and interactions. It is our desire that during their time in the Junior College students develop their personal faith and come to know Jesus as their personal saviour and friend.

Nicole Grammer, Junior Syndicate Leader

Te manu e kai ana i te miro, nōna te ngahere; te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga nōna te ao.
The bird who partakes of the miro berry owns the forest; the bird who partakes of education owns the world.

In the Junior College our teachers inspire students to see themselves as learners and encourage them to be excited about learning and trying new experiences. Our learning programmes focus on developing strong foundations of knowledge, skills, understandings and attitudes within each student as they progress through Primary into Middle School, Senior School and their Tertiary learning.

Students across the Junior College enjoy the structure and security of a single homeroom situation with their classroom teachers teaching the NZ Curriculum. These include Christian Living, English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Te Reo Maori, The Arts, Technology, Physical Education and Health.

A major focus at this level is literacy and numeracy. These provide the foundation for future success in all learning areas. Differentiation and specialised programmes are developed, with collaboration with whanau, for identified students where needed.

We are a google school and chromebooks are our choice of digital device. We are not a BYOD school, rather each classroom is equipped with chromebooks that are available to students. Students use the devices for a range of purposes e.g accessing educational sites, word processing, publishing and presenting). Students are taught online etiquette and are expected to adhere to the Computing Acceptable Use policy.

Ehara taku toa i te takitahi, he toa takitini
My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective

Whanaungatanga is a priority for us in the Junior College. Our teachers work extremely hard to create a family-like culture that extends from the classroom to play areas and across the Junior College. We hold firm to the belief that caring relationships mean everything. Fostering respectful and collaborative working relationships student-student, teacher-teacher, student- teacher, whanau-teacher is essential.

Our talented teachers bring a variety of strengths and giftings to the Junior College and they love to share them with students across Year 1-6. Our teachers enjoy our collaborative and supportive environment, and frequently plan and deliver rotation lessons for The Arts, Sports and Inquiry topics. This approach builds our family-like environment, teachers are able to develop relationships with students beyond their class and likewise students benefit from getting to know other teachers in the Junior College.

We love to make use of the wonderful spaces that can be discovered at Excellere College. We love our large open fields, the view of one our beloved maunga (Parakiore) is especially wonderful from this location. The fields are popular for outdoor sports, play and is where the adventure playground for Year 3-6 students is located. Our Year 1-2 students enjoy playing on their own purpose designed adventure playground that is located close to their learning area. The indoor gymnasium is a special place that we are blessed to have, especially during the winter months. Fitness sessions and class PE lessons are held in this space over the year.

Our Junior College has a Code of Conduct for all students from Year 1-6. The Code of Conduct is an essential element in nurturing the culture that we enjoy in our Junior College.

Whāngaia ka tupu ka puawai
That which is nurtured blossoms and grows

Parents are encouraged to partner with teachers in the learning process, and keep communication links open at all times. The following methods of communication are used between school:

• Email is the most effective way for parents and teachers to communicate. Teachers use email to communicate about upcoming events; this is done by sending out group email to all classroom parents.
• In the case that a teacher needs to discuss a concern about an individual student the classroom teacher will either contact the parent by phone call or email. Likewise, if a parent has a concern or needs time with a classroom teacher we encourage them to arrange to meet with a teacher via directly emailing the teacher directly or contacting the school office to arrange a meeting time.
• Students in Year 1-3 will have a student diary that moves between home and school each day. The diary will contain information about home learning tasks and teachers will also add notices. Parents can also use the diary to communicate with teachers e.g. note for an absence, explanation for incorrect uniform, child being picked up early for an appointment etc.
• Year 3-6 students will also be enrolled in a Google Classroom. Teachers will post learning assignments and notices for students on this platform. Parents/caregiver will receive a weekly summary detailing teacher posts at the end of each week.