What We Teach

Our mission

To provide a comprehensive educational experience in a contemporary Jewish environment.  To encourage the pursuit of academic excellence and a love of learning by nurturing the unique potential of each child. To develop caring and contributing members of the Jewish community and New Zealand society.

The Curriculum specifies eight learning areas:

The New Zealand Curriculum is the document from which all schools plan their teaching and learning. The Curriculum has been adapted by staff to suit the learners at Kadimah through the building of our local curriculum. Work programmes are individualised, which means that within each class, children work at the appropriate level for them personally (for example, a child may be extended and work above their age and curriculum level if they are ready to do so).

Literacy - At Kadimah, teachers understand that effective communication and the ability to think deeply and critically lies at the heart of all learning. Reading, writing and speaking are integral to students’ success across all curriculum areas and, indeed, to their success in the wider world. Our aim is to develop children’s ability to comprehend a range of texts and to communicate their knowledge, interests and ideas effectively.

Our reading programmes are robust, focussing on fluency, thoughtful comprehension and analysis and research skills, and frequently extend into our science, social science and Jewish Studies learning. Reading is celebrated everywhere at Kadimah – in our substantial school library, buddy reading programmes, classroom libraries, book fairs, “Book Week” celebrations, school-wide reading initiatives and visits to the Auckland Central Library.

Through our writing programmes, students are exposed to the full range of writing genres and text types and learn from  the earliest years to write for a variety of purposes and audiences. As with reading, writing is practised throughout all curriculum areas, with students using a range of manual and digital mediums. Kadimah students regularly attend the Auckland Writer’s Festival, participate in national writing collaborations and competitions, and have their writing published in journals and newsletters.

Our oral language programmes thrive in our small school environment, where opportunities to speak formally and informally present themselves on a daily basis. Children lead syndicate and whole school assemblies, present at our weekly Kabbalat Shabbat ceremonies, and participate – and place – in school-wide and external speech competitions. From Year 3 upwards, children are expected to give at least one in-class speech per term, and throughout the year, students of all ages are offered the opportunity to present at special character events and art and dramatic performances.

Mathematics - Students explore relationships in quantities, space, and data and develop skills to help them learn to express these relationships in ways that help them to make sense of the world around them.

Kadimah School follows the New Zealand Curriculum in teaching Mathematics. Mathematics is based on an adaptable curriculum so that students move at their pace through the curriculum, revisiting areas of numeracy (addition, subtraction, multiplication & division) repeatedly throughout their time at school from Year 1 to Year 8. This allows students to build on skills they have previously learnt and expand their understanding further.
 
Number involves calculating and estimating, using appropriate mental, written, or machine calculation methods in flexible ways. It also involves knowing when it is appropriate to use estimation and being able to discern whether results are reasonable. We also work through strand: measurement, geometry, statistics and algebra.
 
Mathematics often crosses into other learning areas, particularly Science and Inquiry depending on the topic. It is also an integral part of any S.T.E.A.M programme.

Science - Students learn to investigate and test ideas, work logically, gather evidence and make observations.   

Science is a way of investigating, understanding, and explaining our natural, physical world and the wider universe. It involves generating and testing ideas, gathering evidence – including by making observations, carrying out investigations and modelling, and communicating and debating with others. Scientific progress comes from logical, systematic work and from creative insight, built on a foundation of respect for evidence.

Science is also an integral part of our S.T.E.A.M. programme.

Junior & Middle School Science is based on the Inquiry approach. Where students are asked what they know about a topic and what they would like to learn within a topic and they research and carry out practical experiments where applicable to demonstrate the topic being worked on.

The Senior School aim to look at Science with a view to completing a Science Fair Project. We have our own Science Fair and send our best projects through to the NIWA Auckland Science Fair. Kadimah students do very well, with regular success in outside competitions.

The Arts - Students explore and communicate ideas and engage imagination and creativity in making and refining art works. 

Health and Physical Education - Students enjoy a varied and engaging, skills based Physical Education Program, and learn about their own well-being. Kadimah also offers a water safety skills and swimming programmes, opportunities to participate in inter-school competitions, and an annual sports day.  

Learning Languages - Hebrew is taught to all students at Kadimah (see below for further information) and Te Reo Maori is a valued part of our learning programme. By learning other languages, students develop important cognitive skills, develop their capacity for learning further languages, and open their minds to different cultures. 

Technology - At the heart of technology is innovation. Our students are given opportunities for hands-on learning, solving real world problems, thinking creatively, and developing an innovative mindset. See our STEAM page for further.

Evaluation and Achievement

The regular assessment and evaluation of our students is an integral part of the teaching and learning cycle. Student achievement is monitored against national data and corresponding targets are set annually. Kadimah students achieve highly against national data.

Individual student portfolios are started in Year 1. These are sent home twice a year, supporting reports with examples of student work.  This provides parents and caregivers with a visual sample of their child’s learning throughout the year.

Jewish Studies and Hebrew 

Our Special Character: Hebrew and Jewish Studies are taught to all students at Kadimah. By learning the special character of the school in a holistic and well-integrated programme, students develop a deep understanding of their identities, and become more open to the different cultures at school and in New Zealand society.

Jewish Studies - At Kadimah we use the Edgar Yosodi Curriculum for teaching Jewish Studies. We also incorporate philosophical inquiry.
Through this approach to teaching our culture and religion allows us to incorporate modern styles of teaching in each lesson. The children are very engaged with their learning as it becomes relevant to their lives in this day and age. We also incorporate STEAM based learning throughout our Jewish Studies lessons in the form of projects, whether it is animating a story from the Tanakh or blending environmental issues into Tikkun Olam studies.

Hebrew - Our students learn to read, write and speak Hebrew in its modern form by native Hebrew speakers. The programme is built on the integration of games, songs, stories, projects and other media, which derive from the Jewish Studies curriculum and progress gradually, extending student’s initial level of Hebrew. Students first learn to recognise the Alef-Beit (the letters), and then the vowels to be able to read using the phonic system. Learning any second language from a young age is considered valuable for brain development, and Hebrew’s unique symbols and right-to-left writing, extends the learning process.

Music

All classes have weekly music lessons from our specialist music teachers. 

Our music programme offers hands-on musical experience grounded in the NZ Music Curriculum, with singing, games, instruments and plenty of opportunity for fun and creativity.

Students have opportunities to participate in:

• Productions

• Musicals

• Special character choir

• APO Involvement

Students also take part in Jewish Music. Learning to perform and learning to appreciate traditional and modern songs embedded in Jewish tradition or by Jewish composers.

In the first term the students begin their Music Programme, they first focus on rhythm and tempo, where students learn to recognise an ostinato/canon (repeated pattern) within a piece of music. The students learn to use body percussion to develop an understanding of rhythm and tempo, and draw patterns in response to sound. The students also learn to recognise note values, and clap and recognise using methods such as rhythmic bingo as well as cutting out bar lines then rearranging and putting back together to form a sequence. Following this is experimentation with pitch and notes, where students begin experimenting with pitch to create tunes on the Keyboard/Recorder/Ukulele, while learning to read basic notes and continuing to identify and practise different note values using a variety of instruments. Learning to identify different instruments of the orchestra and their characteristics is the next learning step for all students. Younger to middle students learn the story of Peter and the Wolf, identifying and matching the instruments used in the story. Examples and characteristics of African music are discussed with the upper levels and how they differ from European Music.