Education for the 21st Century

Education for The 21st Century

Our approach to education is different to mainstream schools. In recent years the New Zealand education system has become more focused on meeting standards and targets rather than meeting the needs of the students. We appreciate that given the number of kids in the mainstream system there are limits to how much individual learning can happen. At AGE School, there are no limits.

The world our learners are growing up in is a different place from the one many of us experienced as children. Generation Z and Generation Alpha have seen more change and uncertainty in the world in the last few years than other generations have seen in a lifetime. At AGE, we know that it’s vital that our learners are equipped with the Foundational Skills and tools to be able to thrive in the world they live, and will live, in.

Much of what we do is based on the New Zealand curriculum, although our Learning Coaches also bring their wealth of knowledge of international curricula. Our Foundation Skills curriculum covers numeracy and literacy (including financial and media literacy), but our learners also get to develop their understanding of scientific, digital, and global literacies. Our learners experience explicit workshops in numeracy through PR1ME Maths, and in literacy through a Structured Literacy approach. Alongside these, we design multi-disciplinary modules with a specific theme focus. These modules give our learning coaches the flexibility to design bespoke learning experiences based on learners’ passions and interests.

Throughout their years at AGE, learners are on a journey of Play, Passion, and Purpose. The modules are driven by play, inquiry, and project-based learning and enable learners to access deep and interconnected knowledge, whilst also developing the Universal Life Skills that learners will need to be successful. These skills include the development of EQ, resilience, collaboration, managing themselves, learning how to learn, and effective communication.

The AGE Journey

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that needs lower down the ladder must be satisfied before individuals can focus on their higher needs. The AGE Journey model is based on Maslow’s principles, with wellbeing at the base.

The layers of the AGE Journey are:

1. Building Learner Wellbeing: this includes physical, emotional and community wellbeing. Our primary focus is on kids' wellbeing and getting their foundations rock solid. Once they are established we can feed their academic needs and encourage their creative expression. You can't have one without the other. Most mainstream schools have a 90/10 split when it comes to academics and wellbeing. We’re more like 50/50.

2. Developing academics and the arts: Once students have a strong sense of wellbeing, they are able to develop the foundational skills from the curriculum. Like other schools, we focus on building foundational blocks in literacy and numeracy, but just as important for us at AGE are scientific literacy and developing our creative skills in the Arts.

3. Extending beyond the curriculum: We don’t just do book learning. We believe in a much broader education that equips our kids with the traits and skills they will need in the real world. We don’t provide the kids with all the answers. They've got to come up with solutions themselves.

4. Preparing for a sustainable world: AGE School takes a truly future focused approach to learning by helping prepare students to engage in the world around them. We develop skills that will enable students to understand the people and environment they will be interacting with. AGE School is for any kid (or the parents of any child) who want to equip themselves for the future by expressing themselves in the present. These traits are critical for the world our kids will live in, where innovation and an awareness of the environment go hand in hand. Our learning model provides a framework to help students build their knowledge and make an impact on the world around them.

5. Launching your potential: We team up with NZ innovators and inspirational business people to mentor students on projects that stretch them well beyond the four walls of a classroom. This helps students understand how important technology, entrepreneurial thinking and creativity are in the world they’re growing up in, and gives their work that much more meaning.

   Students at AGE are not waiting to be citizens of the future, they are actively creating a future for themselves and developing the courage to Dare to Dream.

Learning

AGE School caters for Years 0 -13.

Primary 1 & 2 – Years 1-3
Primary 2 & 3 – Years 3-5
Junior – Years 6-8

Senior - Years 9-13

Whilst we accept enrolments for all year groups, our program is designed to set up learners for life and this develops over years 11, 12 & 13, therefore if you are considering enrolling your senior-aged child we recommend you do so by the end of year 11.
(Years are a rough guide, as students will move through the groups based on social-emotional development rather than age).

Primary 1 Learning Group

Our learners in this group are introduced to new experiences, learning through play and hands-on activities. This play enables learners to develop their foundational numeracy and communication skills. 

Learning coaches design engaging learning experiences linked to the real world. Learners will work as a team on community projects, learning skills like teamwork, problem-solving, and resilience whilst having an impact on the local community. This helps students to discover their passions and enables them to dream of how they can impact the world. 

Primary 2 & 3 Learning Groups

Primary 2 & 3 learners experience explicit sessions for literacy and numeracy to build the key foundation skills. Thematic lessons are delivered through play-based learning and focus on sustainability, citizenship, globalisation, and innovation. Core STEAM subjects are developed from the rubrics in the New Zealand Curriculum and specialist educators in Science, Art, Digital Technologies and Music extend learners’ abilities. 

Social and emotional development is a core part of learning at this critical stage of a young person’s growth. 

Experiential learning is woven into all aspects of their learning. Once their passions are triggered, they are scaffolded with personalised learning to turn their passions into strengths.

Junior Learning Groups  

At this stage, learners are finding the purpose in their passions. They are encouraged to think deeply and are introduced to industry leaders and experiences where they can be mentored, and where their outputs can be meaningfully incorporated into the real world.

Academic and technical skills are nurtured through high teacher-to-student ratios, and working with technology and collaboratively in teams is supported.

At this stage of adolescent development, learners are able to explore the ethical dimensions of decisions and how consequences of decisions flow on through society.

Senior Learning Groups

Senior learners take on more individualised learning tailored to their future pathways. Utilising design thinking methodologies, students are regularly creating and innovating ideas and projects based on real-world issues in their areas of interest.

NCEA is achieved through Project-Based Learning. Teacher advisors help learners to decide which standards are best suited to their project and aligned with their pathway. Many of our staff on-site are able to deliver specialist subjects but where we may not have the specialty, tutors are brought in on an as-needed basis.