2026 Learn-a-thon!

Welcome to the Onehunga Primary School 2026 Learn-a-thon!

Get ready to spark some curiosity and celebrate student learning! This year, we are thrilled to launch our brand-new OPS Learn-a-thon—an exciting event that blends a fantastic learning opportunity with a major school fundraising project!

This event is stepping into the spotlight instead of our traditional Fun Run fundraiser (though don’t worry, we will still be holding a fun running event later in the year just for the fun of it!). The Learn-a-thon is all about giving our tamariki a chance to grow their brains, challenge themselves, and raise much-needed funds for our school at the same time.

What is the Learn-a-thon?

The Learn-a-thon is primarily a home learning activity, designed to focus on the power of practice. We know that mastering certain skills or content requires time, repetition, and rote learning to truly stick. Whether it's nailing times tables, memorising spelling words, learning Te Reo, or mastering a physical skill, this challenge celebrates the effort it takes to get better at something over time. We are suggesting a little bit most days.

To ensure every ākonga (learner) feels successful, we have created different options to cater to different interests. There is something for everyone!

Tamariki Ownership & Whānau Involvement

• Age and Independence: We have designed this event to grow with our students. The older the child, the more independent they can be in this process, and the more ownership they can take over their own learning. Our senior students will be encouraged to drive their own practice schedule and track their own progress.

• In Learning Communities: Our teachers will work closely with tamariki to help them identify exactly what they want to practice and set realistic, achievable goals.

• At Home: This is designed to be a fun, stress-free home activity. Whānau can be as involved as they choose to be. For younger tamariki, you might practice alongside them, while for older ākonga, your role might simply be cheering them on! You are more than welcome to look at what your child has chosen at school and add your own whānau goals or ideas to their list.

• The Resource Section: To make things as easy as possible, we will set up a dedicated Learn-a-thon Resource Section. When this is completed, you will find a complete timeline of the event, ideas for skills and content to practice, and digital resources to support your child.

We Need Your Support! (Fundraising & Prizes)

Ultimately, this is a fundraiser to support Activating Our OPS Field. To make it a huge success, we need two things:

1. Sponsorship for Tamariki: We encourage our students to reach out to friends, whānau, and neighbours to sponsor them for their efforts and goal achievements. More information coming soon!

2. Prize Sponsorship: We want to celebrate our students' hard work! If you or a business you know would be willing to sponsor prizes for our spot draws and achievement categories, please get in touch with the school office.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our tamariki and our school.

Ngā mihi nui,

Viki Holley

*Balancing Fluency with Deep Learning

While a 'Learn-a-thon' provides a fantastic opportunity to build the rote recall, foundational knowledge, and "fluency" that underpins success, The New Zealand Curriculum makes it clear that true education extends far beyond memorizing facts. The curriculum refresh, Te Mātaiaho, emphasizes that learning must be "more than the accumulation of knowledge, and more than abstract understandings".

Instead, the true value of school-wide challenges lies in how they foster broader student "capabilities"—such as self-management, communication, and problem-solving. As the curriculum states, these capabilities are vital because they enable students "to adapt, apply and transfer their learning in diverse and changing contexts".

Therefore, a Learn-a-thon is not just a test of memory; it is a collaborative community event where students practice goal-setting and resilience, developing the lifelong learning attributes needed to "understand, interpret, and contribute in the world".

Why this balance matters in the NZ Curriculum:

• The "Do" and "Understand" elements: The curriculum uses an Understand-Know-Do framework. A learn-a-thon targets the "Know" (the facts), but schools use it as a springboard to teach students how to study, how to manage their time, and how to celebrate collective success (the "Do").

• Lifelong Capabilities: The curriculum states that students must also become "active seekers, users, and creators of knowledge," not just passive storehouses of information.

Resources to support

This section will have links to resources to support your child (and you) with setting a learn-a-thon focus and finding ways to practice the skill, or knowledge at home.

Handwriting-a-thon - This resource will include basic letter formations AND pages with how to do cursive writing for tamariki who have got basic letter formation and speed well established.  It's based on the NZ Curriculum.

Maths-a-thon - This document will have a huge number of ideas, all at different levels and is based on the NZ Curriculum.

Spell-a-thon - Learning 5 new tricky words a week (from an age appropraite list suggested by your teacher) - spend 10-15  minutes practising them.

OR - plan a different learn-a-thon and present your proposal to your teacher to approve

It could be…

• learning place names on the map, 

• learning Te Reo or another language

• learning capital cities of countries' names, 

• learning names of body parts, 

• learning facts about a special topic you are interested in 

• mastering a sport skill

• increasing your fitness

To do this, you will need to have planned what you are going to learn - the topic or focus, what the details are of what you will learn, and how you will do this 4-5 times each week for 10 weeks. This needs to be signed of by your teacher.

The Timeline

The 10-Week Plan

To keep things fun and keep your learning going, your 10 weeks are broken down into six main phases. You will practice 4 to 5 times a week for 10 to 15 minutes a day.

Phase 1: Making a Plan (First Week - Starting Monday 31 August)

Think about your focus. Choose your challenge, and make a plan. Talk to your teacher and your whānau about what might be a good goal for you.

You will need to think about setting a goal for yourself. It needs to be something which you are not already doing.

It might be a goal of time each day on your learn-a-thon 

For example - I am going to set a target to read for 10 minutes 5 days a week

or it might be something specific to learn - 

For example - I am going to set a target to learn the times table from 1-5

Phase 2: The Launchpad (Second Week - Starting Monday 7 September): Building the Habit.

This is your first week for your learn-a-thon. It’s important to have a really good start.

Set a timer for 10 minutes, 4–5 times a week. Don't worry about being perfect; just get used to the daily routine. Tip: Pick a specific time, like right after school or right before dinner.

You will have 40 minutes at school to work on your learn-a-thon each week. What you do at home will make reaching your goal much easier.

Phase 3: Sponsors! (Third & Fourth Week ): Start getting sponsors

By Week 3, you will be starting to get into a practice routine. You will be able to explain to your whānau and friends what you are learning about and how your practices are going so far.

See if you can get them to sponsor your Learn-a-thon journey. 

Our goal is to raise money to add exciting playground activities around our school field for everyone to use in break times. 

Now that the habit is started, keep it going. 

Phase 4: The Check - In  (Fourth Week - Starting Monday 21 Septembert) ): Check in with your teacher

How are you going? Is it a bit hard? Can we change your goal a bit?

Is it too easy? Do you need more to practice?

Phase 5: Keep It Up  (Fifth - Ninth Week): More practice and keep up the sponsorship

Keep practising, keep getting sponsorship!

Phase 6: Celebration Week  (Tenth Week) This i

s when we share and celebrate our learning

During this week we will share our learning with our teacher and classes…and celebrate what we have achieved.

This might be reading a whole book in a week, getting tested by a buddy on your times tables or showing off your handwriting skills.