UDL is a way of thinking about teaching and learning that helps give all students an equitable opportunity to succeed. This approach offers flexibility in the ways students access material, engage with it and show what they know. Please click on the link to view the universal design for learning website here.

Multisensory teaching is explicit, direct, cumulative, intensive, and focused on the structure of language. Multisensory learning involves the use of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways simultaneously to enhance memory and learning of written language. Links are consistently made between the visual (language we see), auditory (language we hear), and kinesthetic-tactile (language symbols we feel) pathways in learning to read and spell. 

Please click on dyslexia and Understanding Structured Literacy websites to view more information.

Learning through play is a pedagogical approach where play is the valued mode of learning – where children can explore, experiment, discover, and solve problems in imaginative and playful ways.

Please click on the Learning through play what it is all about.

We aim to expand and embed knowledge, understanding and practice around meeting the needs of neurodiverse learners. We believe this is essential if we are to ‘level the playing field’ within the education system and have neurodiversity not only acknowledged but more importantly, celebrated and championed.

At Gladstone School, we actively use and teach a ‘Growth Mindset’ approach. We also work hard to develop students’ metacognition skills through student mapping. 

Growth Mindset: “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” ( Dweck, 2015). 

Metacognition is, put simply, thinking about one’s thinking. More precisely, it refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess one’s understanding and performance.

Metacognition includes a critical awareness of a) one’s thinking and learning and b) oneself as a thinker and learner.

Healthy Minds are essential for overall hauroa. At Gladstone School, we are implementing ‘Pause Breathe Smile’. It is a mind health programme designed to equip children aged five to 12 with tools to manage the ups and downs of life and set them up for a healthy future.

Delivered in schools, by teachers, it is aligned with the New Zealand curriculum and fully funded by Southern Cross.

This programme sits alongside our ‘Positive Psychology’ work and the South Wairarapa Kāhui Ako strategic plan.