Roslyn School’s approach to the key competencies

Roslyn School in Palmerston North has developed a school curriculum based on three kete:

1. Knowledge - matauranga
2. Personal and social development – hauora
3. Skills for learning – ngaa tautoohito

The staff have explored the key competencies within the design of the Roslyn school curriculum. During this process they decided to change the name of each key competency to make them more ‘active’ and personal to their students. As a result:

• thinking became The Thinker
• using language, symbols and text became The Communicator
• managing self became The Self Manager
• relating to others became The Effective Interactor
•  participating and contributing became The Active Participator.

Together, teachers and students have designed ways to show the development of these competencies as personal and unique to each class or team.

School posters

The school has recently developed a set of posters, each related to one of the key competencies, and featuring students from the school describing what the key competencies mean at Roslyn School. The posters are displayed throughout the school to build a shared understanding of what they mean for staff, students, their wider whānau, and community.

A set of symbols, relating to each key competency, supports students to integrate the competencies into all aspects of their learning. 

These are available as stickers for use in a variety of situations to reinforce the effective development of the key competencies.

Book look

The school also makes connections with families and whānau through the ‘Book Look’. Each term the children take books home so families can see examples of the key competencies in action. These include self and peer reflections as well as evidence of everyday development. The school also reflects the development of the key competencies through their reporting system, which is related to the three kete.