Our School
Specialist
Music
“The true purpose of arts education is not necessarily to create more professional dancers, musicians and artists. It’s to create more complex human beings who are critical thinkers, who have curious minds, who can lead productive lives.” – Kelly Pollock
All children attend regular music sessions with our Specialist Teacher in our bright, spacious and well-equipped Music room. Throughout their time at Meadowbank School children will sing, participate in movement games and activities, explore timbre, gain skills on a range of pitched and unpitched percussion instruments and ukulele, listen and respond to a wide range of musical styles/genres, and be given opportunities to create and share their own music.
We have a number of performing arts ensembles which cater to those children who learn an instrument or love to sing as part of a group. These include Orchestra, Tweeters Choir, Hummingbirds Choir (auditioned) and Rock Band.
Highlights in the music calendar include Talent Quest, Performing Arts Evening and assemblies, Composition and Songwriting competitions and participation in the Kids Sing Festival.
Physical Education
Meadowbank School offers a diverse physical education programme for Y0-6 students. Y0 students begin with the perceptual motor programme run by classroom teachers with the assistance of senior student leaders. The year is divided into themes which mirror school wide sports events for the year.
The Physical Education programme is structured as follows:
Term 1
Y1-6 Swimming/Aquatics & Small Ball Skills
Term 2
Invasion Games – Te Ao Kori
Term 3
Large Ball Skills & Cross Country
Term 4
Athletics & Summer Games/Net Games while swimming is introduced in New Entrants classes
Swimming
Taught by outside professional providers / instructors. All students can access 10 x 30 minute lessons over 2 weeks
Inter-School Sports
During school time all Year 5 & 6 students will have opportunities to represent the school. Teams compete in a range of sports including cricket, softball, tennis, touch rugby, rugby, soccer, netball, hockey, athletics, swimming and gymnastics!
Extra-Curricular Sport
There are many opportunities for students to participate in extra-curricular sports teams. These teams are coached and managed by parents.
Flippaball – Terms 1-4 for Years 3-6
Netball – Terms 2-3 for Years 1-6
Hockey – Terms 2-3 for Years 1-6
Basketball – Terms 1-4 for Years 3-6
Mandarin
Children from Years 2 to 6 in Meadowbank attend Mandarin lessons regularly. The Mandarin programme started in 2011 and we became a Confucius Classroom in 2015.
Our Mandarin classes are full of joy and fun – children learn to speak, read and write the language through games, songs, videos and lots of interactive activities. They also have many opportunities to practise and share.
Our school runs the annual Mandarin speech competition and the YCT exams (Youth Chinese Tests). There is also a Chinese fan dance club which is very popular. Children performed in various cultural assemblies and showcases.
We also celebrate the important Chinese festivals such as Chinese New Year and Moon Festival every year.
Digitech
At Meadowbank, we provide experiences that encourage our students to be innovators and creators. Students from the age of 6 learn about digital technology and citzenship and learn to plan, program and practise digital skills and knowledge in problem-solving situations. They use a range of floor robots, lego kits, circuit and construction sets, coding and CAD (Computer-aided design) applications.
From Year 4 onwards, they work collaboratively on design and digital technology projects in Launchpad. This is a unique design space for students, teachers, parents and whānau where they can create, modify and launch their design prototypes. There are soft and hard materials that the students can use along with a laser cutter, fabric printer, vinyl printer and two 3D printers .
