Recognition that is easy to give
A certificate takes a minute to make here, so it can mark small wins as well as the end of the year: a first chapter book, a week of kindness, a tricky times table.In NZ classrooms
- Years 1–3Children read decodable texts and Ready to Read Colour Wheel books, moving up through the colour levels, so a Super Reader award can mark a new level.
- Years 4–5The curriculum expects the 2 to 10 times tables in Year 4 and the 11 and 12 tables in Year 5, natural points for a Maths Whiz award.
Certificates aren’t part of the curriculum, but they are part of school life in Aotearoa. Many schools hand them out at a weekly or fortnightly assembly, and the school year’s four terms give regular points to stop and notice effort, not only at end-of-year prizegiving.
For a whole kura, type the names once and print a set for each class. Names with macrons, such as Tāne or Hēmi, keep them, so every child’s name appears the way their whānau writes it.
Year placements summarised in our own words from the Ministry of Education’s guide to the New Zealand Curriculum, Years 0–8, and Te Whāriki (2017).
