Are Schools Ready For Our Tamariki?

What if we've been asking ourselves the wrong question about our tamariki starting school for the first time? What if it isn't so much a case of are they ready for school – but is school ready for them?

Do our schools do enough to prepare themselves for new entrants and their whānau? What should they do to prepare?

These are some of the questions that some bold teachers have been asking themselves, as part of an Early Years research project. The two-year research project was the result of a partnership between Christchurch-based Rātā Foundation and CORE Education (not for profit research and learning organisation).

Two years ago Rātā Foundation provided funding for a project for new entrant teachers in Christchurch to research ways to deliver the best possible experience to tamariki arriving in their classrooms. The approach includes three streams of research – in English, Māori, and Pacific language mediums. With the English language research complete, and the Māori and Pacific language research drawing to a close, Rātā Foundation is very excited about the results.

"We went into this project wanting to find out what it takes to get all tamariki off to a good start in school, to equip their teachers with the knowledge and the confidence to make changes, and to give both whānau and tamariki a real connection to their school,” says Rātā Foundation Chief Executive Leighton Evans.

“It has opened our eyes to changes needed in our systems if we are to ensure all New Zealanders get the best possible start at school."

Teachers found that new entrants got off to a much better start when they were happy at school. They were happy when they were familiar with their new setting, when whānau were involved as they got to know their school, when there were familiar toys or activities at school, and when they had friends or siblings with them at school.

It all sounds like perfect common sense – but our schools and early learning centres have traditionally not been geared up to hit this happy spot.

Leighton Evans describes the research findings as "potentially transformational" and he looks forward to others being able to share and adopt the learnings.

“This is a major investment under our Strategic Funding programme and underscores the importance Rātā places on the future of our tamariki.”

Eighteen teachers in six Christchurch primary schools were part of the research and were supported by researchers from CORE Education.

"Supporting hauora (wellbeing) and equitable access to learning for tamariki is important at any stage, but particularly when they start school," says Dr Hana O'Regan, Chief Executive of CORE Education. "The action-research led by kaiako (teachers) provides valuable insight and resources to support this."

Already, the 18 kaiako (teachers) in the first research stream have directly shared their experiences with 150 kaiako and over 125 educators via conferences and webinars. CORE Education estimates that over 4350 tamariki and 600 whānau have been positively impacted by the project to date.

The schools taking part were Kaiapoi Borough School, Kaiapoi North School, Ilam School, Addington School, Haeata Community Campus and Rāwhiti School.

“Last week the teaching staff at Rāwhiti School used this research to identify how to encourage a sense of belonging for kids in their school,” says Liz Weir, Tumuaki | Principal at Rāwhiti School.

“They created video and provided photos of the staff so that students can see and hear their voices at any time, creating a sense of belonging and familiarity. It might sound like a small step but it’s a step in the right direction in developing the bigger picture of lifelong learning.”

The teachers and researchers had focus groups with whānau, individual meetings between teachers and whānau, conversations with tamariki, visited early learning centres, and observed what was happening at school.

They discovered that teachers and schools can do a better job of embracing tamariki and launching them on their education journey.

Some of the learnings and new initiatives:

• The importance of familiar and friendly faces – by providing a buddy system where a new entrant is paired with an older tamariki who will look out for them when they're at school.
• The importance of play in helping new entrants to settle into school, and as a basis for play-based learning.
• Understanding that if whānau don't come to school information evenings – it's more likely because of other things happening for them at work and at home than disinterest in what's happening at school.
• Avoiding information overload in new entrant information packs – which often include nothing aimed directly at the new entrant.
• Monthly open mornings at school give whānau an opportunity to get to know the school and also make it more likely that tamariki will attend school visits before starting school (making them more connected).
• Whānau will become much more engaged when they have the opportunity for one-on-one chats with teachers – one teacher referred to car park chats with whānau.
• Whānau are influenced by their own school experience – if their own experience wasn't good or if the whānau are from a different culture or national background, there will be uncertainty and potentially separation anxiety – both for tamariki and whānau.
• Sharing a school's cultural narrative and waiata with local early learning centres means this is familiar territory for tamariki when they get to school – creating a sense of belonging from the outset.
• The importance of putting the child at the centre of everything – rather than making it all about the school.
• The importance of teachers taking more time thinking about what's happening in the classroom, rather than moving straight into problem solving mode.

The research is available here.

The infographic of the transition to school journey is available here.

Video clips are available here:

· Successful transitions to school

· Listen to tamariki

· Listen to whānau

· Explore tuakana teina

About the Rātā Foundation

Rātā Foundation, formerly The Canterbury Community Trust, was established in 1988 and is led by a board of trustees. It is the South Island's largest philanthropic funder and receives no income from other funders or gaming machines - making it unique and independent in the region's philanthropic community.

For more than 33 years Rātā Foundation has assisted hundreds of organisations through its community investment programme. In 2021 it hit the milestone of distributing over $500 million in grants to support communities in need – made up of $386 million invested in Canterbury (including the Chatham Islands), $76 million in Nelson and $40 million in Marlborough.

Rātā Foundation is now the guardian of a putea of more than $640 million and makes grants of around $20 million each year.

About CORE Education

CORE Education (CORE) was established in 2003 as a charitable, not-for-profit company working in the education sector in New Zealand.

CORE’s kaupapa is based on equitable access to education for all, with a culture shaped by commitment to equity, and a powerful transformation agenda. CORE works with educators, ministries, government departments, businesses and individuals, in facilitation, research, and to design and create learning solutions.

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