Guidance for Parents and Others

Recommendation (9): thatcCurriculum guidance materials for parents/whänau and members of the community and business are developed

Publications explaining The New Zealand Curriculum Framework and Te Anga Marautanga o Aotearoa should be developed for parents/whänau, community organisations and business.

The parent publications should explain:

• the reasons for, and purposes of, national curricula;
• the obligations of schools in regard to curricula;
• the different elements of learning expressed in the curriculum - essential skills/ngä tino pükenga, attitudes and values/ngä waiaro me ngä uara, essential learning areas/ngä tino wähanga ako;
• the continuum of learning from years 1 to 10 through illustrations of student work exemplifying what they can expect their children to achieve at different levels of the curriculum;
• how parents/whänau can effectively participate in their child's learning;
• how parents/whänau can assist their children to transfer their knowledge from school to the world outside of the classroom; and
• what is currently known about learning, for example, the importance of literacy, numeracy and early childhood oral language development.

The content of the community and business publications should resemble the parent publications, in that they also explain:

• the reasons for, and purposes of national curricula;
• the different elements of learning expressed in the curriculum - essential skills/ngä tino pükenga, attitudes and values/ngä waiaro me ngä uara, essential learning areas/ngä tino wähanga ako;
• reasonable expectations of what students should know and be able to do towards the end of schooling;
• information on the National Certificate of Educational Achievement; and
• information on how school-business partnerships can be developed through mentoring, field trips and guest speakers.

Rationale

Parents/whänau, members of the community and business are all key stakeholders of the education system.

Parent involvement is linked to improved student outcomes.

There is a lack of knowledge in the general community of the scope and expectations of the New Zealand curriculum and ngä Marautanga o Aotearoa. Providing better access of knowledge about the curriculum for key stakeholders could develop this sense of connectedness.

Providing better access to curriculum knowledge for members of the community and business may improve the effectiveness of schooling through active citizen participation and a more connected community.

Providing better access to curriculum knowledge for parents/whänau has the potential to increase the expectations parents/whänau have for their children and to focus these expectations on educationally significant learning.

If students are to transfer their learning to the real world, parents/whänau and members of the community have a fundamental role in assisting this transfer.