Our students learn Maori and Chinese at our school
Kaitao Intermediate has two composite rumaki classes where Te Reo Māori is the spoken language. Both
classes are working at Māori Immersion Level 1, which means teachers are teaching instructional Te Reo Māori for 80 to 100% of the time. Our aspiration is to develop successful, competent and confident learners, who communicate effectively in the Māori world. We aim for our students to have a healthy mind, body and soul, secure in their identity and sense of belonging with a Māori world view.
Te Reo Māori is also taught in our mainstream classes at Māori Immersion Level 4. This means teachers are teaching instructional Te Reo Māori for 30% of their learning week. Students in mainstream also learn within a range of Māori contexts, where Te Reo Māori is integrated. Our staff participate in professional learning each week to upskill their own knowledge in regard to Te Reo me ona tikanga Māori.
As a global citizen, it is vital that our students learn a language that is spoken by millions of the world population. Our students learn Mandarin Chinese. We currently have a sister school agreement with Nanchung, China. This arrangement includes an exchange visit every two years. With the current world situation regarding travel, this arrangement continues but with the use of technology. We are hoping to restart physical visiting as soon as safely possible. Kaitao Intermediate offers weekly Mandarin language lessons through the expertise of Fiona Zhou (our International student coordinator) and we will continue to compete in local and regional Chinese language lessons.
