Tania's Professional Learning Blog

Oral Language, Literacy, and Numeracy Readiness Through ECE Partnerships As Junior School kaiako, we understand that successful transitions to school aren’t just about knowing letters or numbers—they’re about being able to talk about them, think critically, and engage with confidence. That’s why I've built a strong, ongoing relationship with local early childhood centres and kindergartens to support tamariki turning four between September and December. Together, we’re working to ensure every child has a strong start in oral language, literacy, and numeracy, laying the foundations for learning success. Why Does This Matter? Oral language is now a core focus in the New Zealand Curriculum refresh, and for good reason. The ability to communicate thoughts, ask questions, and use topic-specific vocabulary is directly linked to later achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics. When tamariki can confidently use words like grapheme, phoneme, most, least, and estimate, they are not jus...

  A Reflection on Play, Policy, and School Readiness What We Count, Counts. Why the Debate is About Ideology, Not Curriculum. Sarah Aiono Jun 28 Kia ora whānau, This week I came across a thought-provoking presentation by Dr. Sarah Aiono, shared at the IPA Asia Pacific Conference in Melbourne, and it honestly stopped me in my tracks. It spoke directly to the heart of something many of us working in ECE, New Entrants, and Kāhui Ako spaces have been feeling for a while: Are we so focused on curriculum and data that we’re forgetting our tamariki aren’t always ready to learn when they walk through the school gate? Dr. Aiono’s presentation—titled “What We Count Counts: Why the Play Debate is About Ideology, Not Just Curriculum”—really pushed me to think about how our systems are shaped not just by what we teach, but by what we value. You can read the full transcript here on Dr. Aiono’s LinkedIn . What Stood Out to Me The main message?  It’s not just the curriculum that needs changi...