Inquiry Learning

At Ōpoutere School, we believe that inquiry learning is the key to deep, meaningful education. We use the Enviroschools Action Learning Cycle as the foundation for our whole-school inquiry approach, empowering students to take ownership of their learning and connect it to their own interests and purpose.
In our junior rooms, inquiry is at an emergent level, ranging from play-based exploration to teacher-guided projects. Learning often revolves around an overarching theme or scenario, making it relevant and engaging for our youngest learners.

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For students in our senior hub, inquiry is a more structured process where they learn to:
Explore and investigate topics that interest them.
Pose their own questions.
Find answers through research and discovery.
Share their findings through presentations or projects.

Our inquiry approach is flexible and multidisciplinary, drawing on various aspects of the national curriculum. Students can take ownership of the direction their work takes, blending subjects like literacy, science, social sciences, maths, physical education, and the arts into a cohesive and exciting learning experience. Sometimes, this process even leads to students creating a tangible outcome or making a real-world difference.