Literacies
Horizon School uses the NZ Curriculum and integrates our school's special Christian character, our mission and values into our teaching and learning. |
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In our rapidly changing world, there are many important ways to be literate, including:
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Traditional Literacy |
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Traditional literacies are reading, writing, spelling, listening and speaking. At Horizon, we teach these skills discretely, and also through our projects and real life learning, through enjoying books, speeches, reports, creative writing, blogs, reflections, reviews, videos, performances and e-books.
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Visual Literacy |
Visual literacy is the dominant form of literacy today and at Horizon we are committed to develop ability to understand, interpret and create messages using imagery (such as maps, photos, signs, infographics, graphic novels, charts, icons, advertisements, memes, comics and cartoons) appropriately and ethically. They will deign and develop digital outcomes (including through websites, animation, stopmotion.)
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Digital Literacy |
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Digital literacy is vital for life today and in the future. Our learners use digital tools, gaining a wide range of digital skills, including retrieval of information, digital discernment, and digital creation with a focus on appropriate and ethical use. As they develop they will learn the basic principles of computing devices, skills in using computer networks, an ability to engage in online communities and social networks while adhering to behavioral protocols, and an understanding of the societal issues raised by digital technologies (such as big data).
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Media Literacy |
Our learners learn to understand and interpret messages in media (such as TV, movies, music, Google, newspapers, magazines, video games, internet, radio) and create messages using media (such as drawing, collages, graphics, and infographics) appropriately and ethically.
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Information Literacy |
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In a world of excessive information, we teach children and young people to find and locate information, make sense of it, and use it appropriately and ethically (through such things as identifying primary and secondary sources, summarising and validating information).
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Mathematical Literacy |
At Horizon School, we teach and discover mathematical literacy discretely and through our projects and real life learning. We develop number knowledge and strategies through identifying and using patterns and relationships (through such things as statistics: designing investigations, collecting and interrogating data, evaluating and communicating findings; through measurement and geometry, through algebra and through estimations) and develop computational thinking (through such things as problem solving, testing and finding solutions, robotics, and algorithms).
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Biblical Literacy |
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As a Christian school, we value learning from people of faith from the past, and highly value truths in the biblical texts that are inspirational and relevant to our lives today. We recognise that careless reading of the Bible, or any text, can result in unhelpful responses and therefore it is important that our learners gain appreciation for genre, historical and physical setting, plot features, characters, symbolism, and themes, and that they are able to translate relevant truth to their lives today.
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