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.
Funding support for U1 – U3 schools
This trial funding initiative is aimed at reducing barriers for small rural schools in gaining equitable access to a rich curriculum through online learning. Thanks to the MOE for recognising this need and supporting schools to participate in VLN classes. Small rural and remote schools make up a large percentage of schools currently learning online.… Read More
Registrations for Semester 2 online learning are open now
Find out all the important information on how to register, what you need to do to prepare and support your learners and funding support available. Current participating schools and new schools please read carefully and note actions you need to take. Registration timeline We have lots of great new programmes available this year – see our… Read More
Connecting rural students
The rural Taranaki school, Waitoriki, engaged with VLN Primary so senior students could take up extension opportunities and connect with other students their own age from around Aotearoa. Teresa Jones, Principal of Waitoriki School, has seen the kura grow from sole charge through to over 50 students, three teachers, and two teacher aides. Carol Downer,… Read More
From exploring to embedding
Situated in Christchurch’s red zone, Banks Ave School is used to making the most of what they’ve got, and it’s no different learning online with VLN Primary. Jan Thompson, Leader of Learning at Banks Avenue School engaged with VLN Primary for the first time in 2021. The kura utilised online learning as a means of… 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. Our Gifted Learner programme funding highly subsidises school membership and student participation. Connecting like-minds All of our online programmes provide learners with opportunities to be extended and challenged in their area of interest.… Read More
OnlineTaster Classes
Schools who are new to the VLN Primary can now have their membership fee waived when they register 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
Intro sessions
Learners or staff new to online learning with VLN Primary? Join our free intro sessions Learners and staff supporting them – test-run your devices and online learning space, find out about your online class and the tools we’ll use (Zoom, Google classroom or Seesaw etc), and ask any questions you have about our classes. Sessions… Read More
Getting ready for online learning 2022
Welcome back to the new school year! I hope you all had time to relax and unwind over the summer break 😎🌞Here is the timeline and information for getting ready for your online classes. — ** Omicron Update ** Omicron is throwing us another Covid curveball this year. Contact us if your school needs support… Read More
VLN Primary Snapshot of Learning 2021
Another successful year learning online with the VLN Primary! Here are some of our vital stats for the year. Our Goals: Provide high quality inclusive teaching and learning programmes across a wide range of curriculum. Help learners to develop future focused life skills, key competencies, and digital fluency. Recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi to support… Read More
Registrations for 2022 are now open!
Extend your school curriculum and enable your ākonga to build key competencies and connect with others from around Aotearoa. Share in the expertise of a growing collaborative network of schools by participating and contributing to online learning in 2022. Registrations are open now! Did you know that any school, any learner can participate in the… Read More
Free mid-year opportunities for gifted learners
We had a great uptake from schools enrolling gifted learners in VLN Primary’s range of online programmes free of charge – and now we’re ready for our semester two enrolments. The Ministry of Education granted VLN Primary funding to support gifted learners access a range of online learning opportunities free of charge. Semester one placements… 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
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
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
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
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
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