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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui September 2024

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

🌸Spring is in the air! 🌸 With the promise of warmer days ahead and a well earned break at the end of the week, I invite you to take time to catch up with the activities of our learners and kaiako teaching and learning online through Kōtui Ako VLN.

Netsafety Week earlier in the term was a timely reminder to consider how we support our tamariki and rangatahi to thrive in the digital world. Our case study from Ngamatapouri School illustrates what it takes to become a great online learner. We provide links to Netsafe NZ resources for schools to help manage digital incidents.

The draft Secondary course list for 2025 is available now! Amanda outlines what is involved for schools and learners and the benefits of being able to access a wide range of curriculum for our senior students.

He taonga te pepeha was a professional learning focus for us during Te Wiki o te reo Māori. Thanks to Tewai for leading us in this PLD and sharing resources about researching and creating our pepeha and mihimihi. Did you see the recent article in NZ Education Gazette that profiled our Māori programmes? How te reo Māori is thriving in virtual classrooms across Aotearoa

你好 nǐ hǎo! To celebrate NZ Chinese Language Week this year, we are sharing free digital resources and details of our online classes.

We introduce two of our talented teachers: Suzy Carnachan, Photography e-teacher and HOD from Orewa College and Malcolm Belton Economics e-teacher from Thames High School. Their reflections provide useful insights into the pedogogies and practice of teaching online. We recognise Malcolm for his many years of teaching service and curriculum leadership (NZCETA) as he retires after 48 years in education.

‘Professional development for teachers in virtual environments: evolving online practice’ was a paper presented by Lucie and Rachel at the FLANZ conference at Waipapa Taumata Rau / University of Auckland on their work with the NEX Kōtuitui online teacher network.

Our primary age learners recently shared feedback about their online classes. This helps inform our Professional Growth Cycle and learner support processes.

Our team wishes you and your whānau a safe and restful term break.

Ngā mihinui

Rachel & Amanda

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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui August 2024

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

Did you spot our article in the Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero during Maths Week? Thanks to our schools, teachers and students who responded at short notice to share pictures and content that helped tell our story.

Now is the time for our Secondary Schools to prepare to participate in Kōtui Ako VLN for 2025. Find out about the benefits for your learners, the wide range of curriculum on offer and how to participate in our schools’ learning network. Please share with your school networks and encourage them to join us.

Anna Pallerès eteacher extraordinare, demonstrates the depth of talent and expertise we have available in Kōtui Ako VLN. Ka rawe Anna for sharing your story.

We are very excited about the potential of Te Rito to support learner pathways through the schooling system and enable Kōtui Ako VLN to work seamlessly with learners across many schools. Please come along to an upcoming Kōtuitui webinar with the MoE Te Rito team to find out more. We encourage our schools to get onboard so we can begin to collaborate with you through Te Rito.

Toitū te reo, toitū te kupu Sustain the language, sustain the culture! our new competition opens today. Designed for students of all ages it is a celebration of te reo Māori and its place in Aotearoa. Find out how to get your learners involved AND pick up some resources for learning te reo Māori.

This term we intitiated Te Whare Rūmaki o Kōtui Ako to support kura meet the needs of ākonga fluent in te reo Māori. If you have learners that would benefit from interacting in an immersion Maori environment, contact Tewaiehu to find out more.

Ngā mihinui

Rachel, Amanda and the Kōtui Ako VLN team

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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui June 2024

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

✨️Mānawatia a Matariki ✨️

Matariki is a time to remember the past; to celebrate with loved ones; and plan for the future. We lead our newsletter sharing recent professional learning with Tewaiehu, Kaiarahi Mātauranga Māori. If you don’t know the purakau or whakapapa of Matariki, or the meaning behind each of the Matariki stars, this is recommended viewing over Matariki weekend.

“Through listening comes awareness,
Through awareness comes understanding,
Through understanding comes knowledge,
Through knowledge comes life and well-being.”

We are seeking interest from schools with students in Years 5-8 who are fluent in reo Māori. Te Whare Rūmaki o Kōtui Ako is open to schools without their own rumaki or access to specialist Māori support. We welcome expressions of interest from schools with ākonga who may be keen to participate.

Learning Languages Week has passed and we celebrated everything special about learning second languages, especially our wonderful e-teachers who make the magic happen for our learners. You can look back on the week’s celebration on our Facebook page. We are proud to share the story of e-teacher Gayleen and her lifetime of learning and teaching languages.

Experienced e-teacher, Morgan Scott, shares a little about himself and his passion for “all things geo”.

Meet Darcy McCully, a student devoted to her passion; protecting the environment!

Attending NZEI Rural Teaching Principals was a highlight for Rachel Whalley (Primary ePrincipal). It was wonderful to meet many of our Kōtui Ako member school Principals in person and connect faces with names.

Lucie and Rachel were invited to speak at a FLANZ (Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand) webinar on our work in New Zealand schools. Find out more about the Kōtui Ako VLN story and our work with ākonga across Aotearoa.

Finally, our Annual Reports for 2023 are now available. We look back into the year that was, celebrate today and plan for the future!

Mānawatia a Matariki ✨️

Rachel, Amanda and the Kōtui Ako VLN team

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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui May 2024

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

As winter approaches and Matariki nears, our team is getting ready to transition our Primary programs for Semester 2. This is our fresh start during the year when we invite schools to join us and register their learners in our online primary programmes. Current schools are invited to renew their commitment for the second half of the year and communicate any changes. All schools, please follow the instructions in the newsletter and register early. New and returning schools are welcome to join us. Registrations are open now and close on June 24th.

Our latest case study focuses on rural schools and features Ngamatapouri School ākonga and their teaching Principal Tracy Wizgell. They talk about their engagement with Kōtui Ako VLN, the benefits it provides both learners and teachers and share their tips for learners success.

We are very excited to share our new website! Thanks to our team for their collaborative mahi in bringing it together, our schools for the beautiful original images, and Digital Journey for creating it. Make sure you visit our new website, and engage with our social media and you could be in the draw for some Zoom merchandise, courtesy of ConnectNZ.

We showcase the work of ākonga in our Level 2 Photography course. They have just completed their first photography shoot for the year with exceptional photographs being presented.

Members of our team recently attended leadership PLD hui with Networks of Expertise. This was a valuable opportunity for us to make connections across the sector and grow our skills in supporting teachers through NEX Kōtuitui.

Ngā mihinui

Rachel, Amanda and the Kōtui Ako VLN team

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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui March 2024

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

It’s great to see our students’ learning come to life as it did for Valerie from South Westland Area School. Her artistic talents were recognised in postage stamps that she (and we) received earlier this year. Too good to use, they will be framed for our wall of fame!

We are promoting several learning opportunities this month (suitable for both Primary and Secondary learners):

We have spaces available in our Gifted programmes due to start next term. These are suitable for learners up to Year 10.

Our partnership with the Korean Education Centre enables us to bring you Korean classes at no cost. This is a great opportunity to get involved in online learning at your school AND learn about the popular Korean language and culture.

We have a great NZSL resource in our talented eTeacher Janine. We would like to hear from you about how Janine can work with you across our schools network with NZSL language support and support for learners. Find out more about NZSL opportunities and give us your feedback.

Canadian researcher Dr Michael Barbour begins his study tour in Aotearoa. Michael has a long relationship with educational practitioners and research experience with virtual and distance learning in New Zealand and internationally. Kōtui Ako VLN has operated for nearly 30 years in a policy and resourcing vacuum. Michael’s work will be important to inform the sector and advocate for sustainable support for online learning opportunities.

I was privileged to join Taranaki Kāhui Ako PLD day recently. If you would like us to share the Kōtui Ako VLN kaupapa with your Kāhui Ako, LSC / RTLB, school or principals’ network, please invite us to participate in your upcoming hui.

Finally we share the first notice of our upcoming AGM. We expect all member schools to attend, so please Save the Date!

Its been a busy term in schools as it has for us here too. I know you are all looking forward to a well deserved break over Easter.

Ngā mihinui o te Aranga

Rachel, Amanda and the Kōtui Ako VLN team

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Celebrating Ākonga 2023

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kura Tuatahi – Akonga Aka Mariko

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

We’re coming to the end of another successful year of learning at Kōtui Ako VLN. To celebrate the success of ākonga from across the motu we have compiled some highlights of the awesome mahi taking place in our schools.

Read, look and listen to some of the highlights shared by several of our eTeachers, from both primary and secondary, who bring ākonga together for a range of interesting and challenging online programmes.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa

Kōtui Ako VLN eteachers and leadership team

This is our first year as Kōtui Ako Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa (formerly VLN Primary and OLC) and its been a busy one! Kōtui Ako VLN is a nation-wide schools-based network (Years 0 -13) that enables equity of access to the curriculum for all New Zealand learners.
If you want to know more about Secondary programmes contact [email protected].
Registrations are open now for Primary programmes contact [email protected] for more information

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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui December 2023

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

In our final pānui of the year we reflect on the successes of our ākonga and acknowledge their efforts and achievements. It was super exciting to hear that several of our Visual Arts students received awards in the TENZ, Forest & Bird, and New Zealand Post stamp competition. Ka rawe! Check out the celebration of learning shared in our last pānui.

Congratulations to the many primary and secondary award winners who were nominated by their teachers for their effort, attitude, engagement and achievements. Primary special award winners were entered into a prize draw with one lucky student winning a Chrome book. Three secondary students achieved overall excellence in NCEA level 1, 2 and 3.

We farewell two longstanding Kōtui Ako VLN team leaders, Sara Field, former Volcanics e-Principal and Jan Collier, former Coronet e-Principal and Volcanics Assistant e-Principal, who are moving on to the next phase of their careers and lives. Thank you for your many years of service to our schools and your advocacy for the VLN kaupapa.

Kōtuitui Networks of Expertise recently held a hybrid hui in Rotorua and Auckland, and online. This was an awesome opportunity for online teachers and support staff to meet face to face and online and share professional conversations about online teaching and learning. Thank you to Kōtui Ako VLN leadership, especially Lucie Lindsay, who organised and facilitated this PLD event.

Did you know that any school, and any learner can participate in Kōtui Ako VLN? By contributing a teacher or resourcing a programme your ākonga can choose from a wide range of learning opportunities shared through our network. The kaupapa of reciprocity underpins how schools can work together with Kōtui Ako VLN to provide a wide range or learning opportunities for our ākonga.

Find out more on how to participate in Secondary Kōtui Ako VLN programmes, check out the wide range of secondary VLN programmes available, and how to enrol.

Primary programmes are open for enrolment now and close early in February. All the details on how to register, timeline for getting started, support information and introductory sessions are here. Find out about the wide range of programmes available, including our Mentoring programme returning next year. If you are interested in eteaching with us next year, get in touch.

Thank you to our learners, teachers and school leaders from across Aotearoa New Zealand who have participated, contributed and achieved in Kōtui Ako VLN classes this year.

We wish you all a Meri Kirihimete me Hari Tau Hou!

Ngā mihi maioha

Rachel, Amanda and the Kōtui Ako VLN team

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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui October 2023

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

Kōtui Ako VLN is based on a kaupapa of reciprocity. Find out more about how you can be part of this kaupapa through contributing and participating in our online learning community. With opportunities at both Primary level and Secondary, there are lots of learning pathways for your ākonga.

Primary programmes are now open for registration for 2024. There are a wide range of choices for your learners that will extend curriculum provision in your school or kura. Information sessions are scheduled in November for schools new to our kaupapa who may be considering how they can participate next year.

Our team are still buzzing from presenting @uLearn23. We presented the Kōtui Ako VLN story about increasing curriculum opportunities and learning capabilities. The korero wove nicely into the conference theme of Challenging Educational Inequity in Aotearoa, and was well received. We share our conference highlights and conference presentation.

Mihinui to our awesome ākonga who led our recent Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori – Māori Language Moment for Te wiki o te reo Māori. Access the te reo Māori resources we shared with schools who participated in this successful event.

We celebrate the success of our learners in the Wero Maths competition for Year 9 and 10s. Well done to all who participated and congratulations to the schools who came out top of the scoreboard this year.

Some of our students come from the most beautiful parts of Aotearoa. Join Betty from Halfmoon Bay School, Rakiura/ Stewart Island as she takes you on a virtual tour of Ulva Island. Learn more about this special place and the species protected there. Betty created her virtual tour in Scratch as a project for Digital Technologies extension class. Ka rawe Betty!

Ngā mihinui

Rachel, Amanda and the Kōtui Ako VLN team

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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui August 2023

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

16 days and counting till Te Wā Tuku Reo and Te Wiki o te reo Māori. Kōtui Ako make it easy to connect and celebrate te reo Māori across our schools. This year for the first time we are also celebrating Mahuru Māori. These opportunities are open to all schools and kura, primary and secondary – sign up and get involved!

A special mention for Tewaiehu Savage our Kaiārahi Mātauranga Māori who enables Kōtui Ako to grow in its support of te reo Māori in schools. We celebrated together with the Ministry of Education at the recent Te Matahiko Awards. Our partnership with the Ministry of Education and our growth in Matauranga Māori capability has enabled us to extend funding support to a dozen schools new to Kōtui Ako VLN to join Te reo Māori and Kapa Haka classes this term. Ka rawe!

Check out the incredible creativity and design skills of Year 12 students at Ellesmere College and Mercury Bay Area School, who share concept designs from their portfolio completed for their NCEA Level 2 DVC (Design and Visual Communication) class.

Kōtui Ako Primary ākonga give some great positive feedback on their classes although many are requesting more time at school to complete their mahi. It is worth reading their comments to highlight the benefits they gain from being connected online learners.

Finally we advise you of two funding opportunities for your ākonga. Gifted Learner Awards opening in September, can support and challenge ākonga to try something new, or extend them in areas they’re already involved in, this includes Kōtui Ako VLN (Primary) learning opportunities. Rural Women New Zealand offer several boarding allowances each year these are open now and close at the end of September. Please share these opportunities with your school whānau.

Ngā mihinui

Rachel, Amanda and the Kōtui Ako VLN team

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Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa Pānui June 2023

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

With Matariki upon us, schools and whānau are busy celebrating this special occasion with shared kai, and get togethers. When schools’ hangi and sleepovers are complete at the end of the week, teachers will soon be able to rest and reflect on an incredibly busy year so far. Please take time, when you have had a chance to unwind, to dip into this newsletter and share with your colleagues. (They can subscribe here).

Chairperson Ruth Anderson, in her report presented at our Inaugural AGM, outlines the journey to becoming Kōtui Ako, acknowledges partnerships with the Ministry of Education and others that enable us to provide opportunities for our learners, and states the key strategic goals that we have committed to. Links to a full set of reports including ePrincipal reports (Primary & Secondary) are included.

Ākonga share their experiences in Education for Sustainability as they look to make a difference in their local communities in Ruakaka and Orewa through environmental awareness. Our Rural and Remote kids write about and share presentations of highlights from their recent Wellington Camp. This successful project has been running for 12 years, and this was their 6th camp!

We are very excited to announce that Tewaiehu Savage has been selected as a finalist in the Matihiko Awards for her leadership in Kōtui Ako. The Matihiko Awards celebrate Māori excellence in the digital and tech sector. We are very proud of her achievement. Tewaiehu will be leading after school sessions for teachers next term through NEX Kōtuitui in te reo Māori me tīkanga. These places were snapped up very quickly but we invite you to register your interest for further opportunities.

NZ Sign Language classes will be kicking off again next term, and is open to all schools and year levels. We are just in the process of getting new expertise onboard and look forward to being able to support this important NZ language again.

Tutoring has been running successfully through Kōtui Ako VLN for the last three terms. A reminder to get in touch if you would like support in this area.

Wishing all our eteachers, teachers, Principals and support staff a restful holiday break.

Mānawatia a Matariki

Rachel, Amanda and the Kōtui Ako VLN team

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