The VLN Primary School is a busy and thriving organisation, with a rising public profile. Stay in touch and subscribe to our regular Newsletter.
For archives of all our news visit our Hail News Centre.
Whats new @VLN Primary in 2020
In addition to our long standing and popular programmes we have a host of new ones to bring to your curious learners. Check them out! Gifted & Going Deeper; Digital Citizenship; Shaping Aotearoa – NZ History; Risk Vs Reward – Investing in the Stock Market; Literacy Booster & Extension; Creative Writing & Poetry; Maths Phenomenan;… Read More
2021 VLN Primary Enrolments Now Open
Do you want your students to be #connectedlearners, lead their own learning and build key competencies? Do you want to share in the expertise of a growing collaborative network of schools? Enrolments are now open for Semester 1, 2021. Our online classes & projects are open to any NZ children to participate from school or… Read More
Digital Technologies
The VLN Primary offers Digital Technologies classes at NZC Technology Learning area levels 1-4. Students develop knowledge, understanding and skills of the underlying concepts of computational thinking for digital technologies and designing and developing digital outcomes. They learn programming skills to create their own interactive stories, animations and games. They think creatively, reason systematically and… Read More
Supporting Safer Internet Day
Having a safe internet is vitally important for the VLN Primary as the internet is our learning environment. We want our children to be confident and safe living and learning in our digital world. We supported Safer Internet Day this year by running a free webinar for teachers on February 11th. Our webinar, run together… Read More
2020 VLN Primary Enrolments Now Open
Do you want your students to be #connectedlearners, lead their own learning and build key competencies? Do you want to share in the expertise of a growing collaborative network of schools? Enrolments are now open for Semester 1, 2020. Our online classes & projects are open to any NZ children to participate from school or… Read More
Digital Citizenship
“A digital citizen understands the rights and responsibilities of inhabiting cyberspace” (MoE, TKI). “Digital citizenship is a powerful enabler of inclusion in social, cultural and civil society” (Netsafe). The VLN Primary offers Digital Citizenship classes to develop students digital fluency. Classes are based on the NZ Curriculum values and key competencies and build Digital literacy and… Read More
Supporting Safer Internet Day
The VLN Primary and NEX are offering teachers a free webinar supporting Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 11 February 4 – 4.30 pm. (Nau mai Haere mai – all teachers welcome!) Register tinyurl.com/VLNPsafer The VLN Primary has signed up to become an official supporter of Safer Internet Day, the world’s biggest campaign to make the… Read More
Going deeper for gifted learners
VLN Primary has recognised the need for affordable and specific opportunities for Gifted &Talented students to better understand themselves as learners. As an organisation, the VLN Primary was established to expand learning opportunities for all students. The online school allowed an element of freedom difficult to attain in a physical school with limited teachers yet… Read More
Hazel Owen – VLN Primary Champion
It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of our amazing Hazel Owen who has been a champion of online learning and the VLN Primary for many years. Hazel Owen passed away peacefully on Sunday 9th of June after a 2 year battle with cancer. Hazel will be remembered as someone who was… Read More
Rural & Remote schools meet in Wellington
What a great time our kids and teachers had on our recent Wellington camp! The Rural & Remote Schools Project is a collaboration between Halfmoon Bay, Whataroa, Marco, Makahu, Tapora & Kaitoke Schools. Our Year 7 & 8’s learn online together throughout the year with the support of the VLN Primary. We get together every… Read More
Congratulations Koka Jules!
We are very proud of our Koka, Julie O’Donnell, who recently graduated from Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi Ngā Mana Whakairo a Toi: Bachelor of Māori Performing Arts. Koka Jules shares her knowledge and passion for Kapa Haka with tamariki from all over Aotearoa | New Zealand through her online Kapa Haka classes. Get in… Read More
Our Schooling Futures
We see the Tomorrow’s Schools review as a real opportunity to reorient the system and change the way we ‘do school’ in New Zealand. We believe that every school and kura should be supported to be the best it can be, making the most of what is locally available, embedded in a strong community base,… Read More
OnlineTaster Classes
Schools who are new to the VLN Primary can now have their membership fee waived when they enrol in a 5 week taster class. Jump right in and try it out! Sometimes the only way to get your head around something new or different is to try it out. Participate in an online taster class… Read More
Whats new in 2019
In addition to our long standing and popular programmes we have a host of new ones to bring to your curious learners. Check them out! New Zealand Sign Language; Logo Design; Risk Vs Reward – Investing in the Stock Market; Literacy Booster – Yr 8s; Literacy Booster – Level 3; Poetry; Creative Writing; Book Study… Read More
Halfmoon Bay School Showcases Air New Zealand Airpoints for Schools
Great to see the wonderful Nate from Stewart Island share his story on the Air New Zealand website on how the Airpoints for Schools programme helped the VLN Primary Rural & Remote Schools get to Wellington in 2017. The Air New Zealand Airpoints for Schools programme is a great initiative and one that helped our… Read More
How are we doing?
At the end of semester one we asked students, teachers and principals how are we doing? Students and schools were mostly positive about their learning with the VLN Primary. They talked about what was going well, what wasn’t, their teachers, their online environments, and the opportunities they had in learning especially for te reo Māori,… Read More
Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요
This week is Korean Festival week and we were proud to have one of our students participating in the Korean Education Centre speech competition and also to hear that the Korean Education Centre and CAPE will be continuing to support our Korean classes in 2019! We still have opportunities for free Korean classes in Term… Read More
Repealing CoOLs – Back to the Drawing Board for Online Learning in Schools
On 13th September the government tabled the Education Amendment Bill (No 2) 2018 which seeks to repeal CoOL (Communities of Online Learning) legislation. What does this mean for the future of online learning in NZ schools? It was not entirely unexpected that the new government would make this decision to repeal CoOLs. There were major… Read More
VLN Primary Korean Day enriches students’ cultural diversity
Students learning Korean with the VLN Primary and students from Kiwitea School recently enjoyed a Korean Cultural Day to expand their knowledge of the culture. Students experienced a variety of traditional events, such as games, fan making, calligraphy, playing instruments and savouring Korean foods. VLN Primary eTeacher Sunny Yang worked closely with Kiwitea School to… Read More
Connecting to expert teachers virtually
Kudos to Melanie & Olivia who presented at ULearn this year. They shared findings from their study of how the VLN Primary is working in their school. Melanie & Olivia presented in the research stream on the Grass roots project they conducted in their school, Wairakei Taupo. They also took part in the Connected Conversations… Read More
Visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds Virtually
Te Tiriti (The Treaty of Waitangi) was taken around Aotearoa back in 1840. Let us take you back to where it all began through a personalised virtual visit with our Education Team at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The Education Team at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds provide personalised and highly engaging programmes for visiting schools. We… Read More
Teach Computer Science and Programming online!
The new NZC Digital Technologies Curriculum is coming into schools from 2018 and Computer Science and Programming are some of the Big Ideas covered in the new curriculum. 2017 is the third year that I have been teaching a Computer Science and Programming class with VLN Primary School and I have focused on these topic… Read More
Global Connections – Making it Work
Having been asked often, “How do you establish and maintain your global connections?” Geoff Wood details the nuts, bolts and issues relating to this. We have been on an exciting journey since we initiated an on-line, collaborative, web-presence 13 years ago. We have also hosted 4 live video-conferences. It is not easy developing and sustaining… Read More
Using Google Classrooms to support student learning
This year some of our eTeachers have been using Google Classrooms to share activities and resources with students and as a tool to collate and evaluate student work. eTeacher, Sofie Jacobs, shares her experiences so far. Google Classroom is a versatile, flexible platform to work with. From a teacher’s perspective it is really handy to… Read More
VLN Primary approved to renew eteachers registrations
The VLN Primary is really pleased to announce that we have recently become an approved institution through the Education Council to attest for our eteachers renewal of registration. This is an important milestone for us as it recognises and values the professionalism of our eteachers. Being an online teacher requires the same level of professional… Read More
Expressions of Interest for Learning Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Arabic
Did you know that Hindi is the 4th most spoken language in New Zealand? We want to hear from schools, communities and families who are interested in joining online classes for any of these languages. We can provide short cultural taster programmes for schools, language classes for beginners or extension classes for native speakers wishing… Read More