Learning-with-sport opportunities in term 1

The ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix is coming to Aotearoa New Zealand on the weekend of 23 and 24 March 2024.

Over the past few years, Sport NZ has been working in partnership with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the Ministry of Education, and four national sporting organisations to change the way in which sports engage with schools and kura, through the In Our Backyard project.

“We have been trialing and developing five learning-with-sport modules alongside the three Women’s World Cups and the America’s Cup,” explains In Our Backyard project lead Dean Stanley.

“From the beginning of 2024, the next steps are being taken to embed the In Our Backyard learning-with-sport approach as an enduring part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s education landscape.”

The first sport to take this step is sailing, which will provide a range of opportunities throughout 2024 for ākonga with New Zealand’s inaugural Ocean Festival Moana Auckland and the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in term 1, and as Emirates Team New Zealand defends the America’s Cup in terms 3 and 4.

“Yachting New Zealand is establishing RŪNĀ education centres in sailing clubs around the country. Each of these centres will work with a cluster of schools and with Healthy Active Learning advisors to support ākonga to learn about technologies to harness the power of wind, to learn about the settlement of their local area following the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and to participate in efforts to restore marine ecosystems,” explains Dean.

The RŪNĀ education centres will be progressively set up in sailing clubs over the next few years as a legacy of hosting major events such as the ITM Sail Grand Prix and the New Zealand’s Ocean Festival.

The New Zealand SailGP Team will compete for the second time in New Zealand waters.

Teaching resources

Schools and kura across the country can participate in one of three classroom learning modules during 2024. One module called Kōrinorino focuses on Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories, another called Kōkōkaha focuses on designing technologies to harness the power of the wind, while the third, called the 21 Day Challenge, supports a thriving ocean for generations to come.

Kaiako will be provided with a full term’s worth of classroom learning experiences for each of the three modules and ākonga will also be able to participate in learning experiences outside the classroom that enrich the learning taking place in the classroom.

In a range of locations across the country, ākonga involved in the Kōrinorino and Kōkōkaha modules will be able to visit a sailing club for a day to participate in a sailing experience.

During the day, they will go sailing to experience the power of the wind or to imagine what it would have been like for Māori and tauiwi to voyage to these shores under sail.

And while at the club, ākonga will learn about technologies used in sailing to harness the power of the wind (Kōkōkaha) or about Kāpehu Whetū, the Māori star compass (Kōrinorino).

One of the learning modules available to schools and kura involves ākonga in designing and testing technologies to harness the power of the wind.

Activities in Auckland

During term 1 in Auckland, ākonga will be able to visit the Viaduct Harbour during the Moana Auckland Festival (24 February to 17 March) for a one-day experience involving three activations.

The first activation will involve activities in the New Zealand Maritime Museum’s Landings exhibits to explore the pioneering voyages of discovery, settlement and trade that shaped the early history of Aotearoa New Zealand (Kōrinorino).

The second activation will involve ākonga interacting with a series of citizen science activities associated with monitoring ocean health and building NZL Blue Belt sites (Moanamana).

The third activation will see students engaging with a set of activities to explore technologies used in the sailing industry to harness the power of the wind (Kōkōkaha).

Kāhui ako become citizen scientists to monitor our ocean health

Ākonga in Auckland will be able to visit the Viaduct Harbour during the Moana Festival to find out about technologies to harness the wind, Aotearoa New Zealand settlement stories, and efforts to restore our marine ecosystems.

The 21-day Challenge

Inspirational Young Ocean Explorer Riley Hathaway, and her cameraman father Steve, will take ākonga and kaiako above and below the glistening waters of the Hauraki Gulf to meet all the amazing species and their habitats, learn about the challenges the Gulf is facing, and be inspired by the amazing people making it a better place. This is an integrated curriculum teaching resource that links to the New Zealand Curriculum at levels 1–4 but can be adapted for use at various levels.

To find out more about The 21 Day Challenge – The Hauraki Gulf | Tīkapa Moana Te Moananui-ā-Toi, visit youngoceanexplorers.com(external link).

Kōkōkaha and Kōrinorino

Kōkōkaha – Powered by the wind, is a cross curriculum unit of work that focuses on the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) associated with harnessing the wind, and in many places around the country can include ākonga going sailing to feel the power of the wind.

This teaching resource links to the curriculum at levels 1–4 but can be adapted for use at various levels.

Kōrinorino – In our ancestors’ wake, is an integrated unit of work that focuses on the history, science, technology and maths associated with the journeys of discovery to Aotearoa New Zealand, and in many places around the country can include ākonga going sailing and imagining what it was like to sail across the ocean to this land.

Find out more and register at runa-yachtingnz.org.nz(external link).