Timetable and Course Structure

There were a number of changes to the timetable and courses begun in 2010 as part of Takapuna Grammar School’s ongoing review of teaching and learning and determination to create the best possible outcomes for students.

The first involved the structure of the timetable which has become based on a 10 day model. This means that there are 48 teaching periods and 2 staff professional development slots over a two week period.

The pattern will be:
Week A: Monday Day 1 Tuesday Day 2 Wednesday Day 3 Thursday Day 4 Friday Day 5
Week B: Monday Day 6 Tuesday Day 7 Wednesday Day 8 Thursday Day 9 Friday Day 10 Then back to Week A.

There will be no more “rotation”. If Monday in week 2 is a holiday, then Tuesday will still be Day 7. This is a much more consistent model and makes forward planning more predictable. Wednesdays will still start for the students at 9.45 but there will only be 4 period days. It also means the old Day 4 system with a period dropped in rotation and the irregular times for Wednesdays will disappear.

In addition, there was a change to the times of the day. There are now 4 one hour periods before lunch and one 55 minute period after. Our research and the experience of other schools who have adopted this structure is that it maximises quality teaching time. It also fits teenage eating patterns more closely.

The daily times are:
8.45 – 9.00 Form period
9.00 -10.00 Period 1
10.00 – 11.00 Period 2
11. 00 – 11.25 Interval
11.25 – 12.25 Period 3
12.25 – 1.25 Period 4
1.25 – 2.10 Lunch
2.10 – 3.05 Period 5

The second main timetable change was to the Year 10 course structure. The school has responded to the New Zealand Curriculum which will become mandatory.

A new subject has been introduced, Sustainable Business Futures, which will be compulsory for all students. Sustainable Business Futures aims to address one of the fundamental principles of the New Zealand Curriculum which says “The curriculum encourages students to look to the future by exploring such future-focused issues as sustainability, citizenship, enterprise, and globalisation.” It also fits the vision of the New Zealand Curriculum to create “young people who will seize the opportunities offered by new knowledge and technologies to secure a sustainable social, cultural, economic and environmental future for our country”.

Part of the definition of the course in the Takapuna Grammar School Year 10 Subject Booklet is that “the scope of the course ranges from personal life skills of financial and career planning to examining the responses to the big issues that are facing many countries around the world such as the aging society and global warming.” Also to ensure that all students cover the Essential Learning areas from the New Zealand Curriculum and also to reflect the Takapuna Grammar School Learning Charter, Year 10 students in choosing their options must make two choices but only one subject from 2 of 3 Learning Areas, Languages, Technology and the Arts. The subjects are listed in the subject booklet. Terry Holding, the Associate Principal in charge of curriculum delivery, says of the changes, “The future that our students are facing will continue to change rapidly, largely due to technological advances. They need to be adaptable, entrepreneurial, economically aware and to appreciate their reliance on and responsibility to their society and to the wider world. In responding to the New Zealand Curriculum, we are preparing our students for that future.”