Learning through play
Play enables teachers to understand how to best support students’ socio-emotional skill development and competencies. At Pukehou School we believe the early years of education are incredibly important to learn the skills of communication, negotiation, problem solving and resilience. Allowing our students to learn these skills collaboratively through guided and unguided play based activities, ensures these skills are developed alongside other curriculum areas that follow more of a traditional learning approach.
Play is a time when children can try out ideas, take risks, try on different roles, share feeling and thoughts. It provides a safe context for children to learn.
Both the Incredible Years programme and play have a significant body of evidence demonstrating their effectiveness in successful outcomes for student learning. Furthermore, both align with the vision, values and key competencies of the New Zealand School Curriculum and reflect the neuroscience research on how children grow great brains for their adult working lives.