Innovative Learning Environments

While each hub is uniquely designed to meet the needs of the ākonga year group, to leverage the

expertise and interests of kaiako, and to make the best use of the physical spaces available, they all

have these aspects in common:

1. Dedicated kaiako relationship – Each ākonga has a class teacher who is responsible for their pastoral care. The ākongat to kaiako ratio in hubs is the same as other classes at Kohimarama School ensuring the same or better level of attention and care.
2. There are multiple sets of eyes on each child – While they have a class kaiako, all kaiako in the hub take ownership for every child’s learning; meaning that each child’s learning needs are met, and they are supported to make the  next steps. Through professional dialogue between kaiako, a clear picture of each child in the class is  formed.
3. Multiple learning modes - In a typical hub, ākonga learning happens via targeted small group workshops, individualised activities, and collaborative opportunities to work across the hub with all of their peers.
4. Scaffolded approach that builds independence – Hubs provide a heavily scaffolded and supportive environment for ākonga to develop greater agency and independence appropriate for their age. Typically, there is always a kaiako roving while others take workshops or work individually with children. Students take responsibility for managing their equipment and developing their ability to complete independent tasks.
5. A focus on developing learner agency - Multiple kaiako allow for us to provide more learner agency, through selecting level of challenge, preferred activity or learning experience.
6. Peer work to build collaboration and social skills – Ākonga  get to work across the whole year group, fostering relationships and building collaborative skills. As a result, their social skills are strengthened as is their ability to independently problem-solve and investigate  solutions before requesting support.
7. Spaces to accommodate different learning styles and modes of learning 
8. Code of conduct to ensure each hub works effectively – Supporting the scaffolded approach, each hub develops their ‘way of working’ a bit like a code of conduct. It is an agreement between the ākonga and The kaiako  about how they will work in the different contexts. It covers things like noise levels and respecting different spaces. This has been very successful in helping students to become capable of working effectively in a variety of contexts.
9. Consistency by setting a deliberate hub rhythm - Kaiako develop a rhythm for the hub.