Our second Rangitāmiro Science Pilot meeting brought together teachers from Ōtaki College, Bay of Islands College, Papakura High School, and John Paul II High School. Participants explored how Gemini Gems can be designed to support teachers in providing effective feedback and feedforward that deepens students’ understanding and strengthens scientific thinking.

We also discussed the development of a collaborative feedback framework for discussion threads. Drawing on the Cybersmart commenting model of being positive, thoughtful, and helpful, the group explored ways to support students in demonstrating deeper conceptual understanding while confidently integrating appropriate scientific terminology into their writing.

Rangitāmiro is a collaborative professional learning initiative designed to connect secondary teachers within their specialist areas. Bringing together small groups of teachers teaching the same topic or standard, Rangitimiro creates space to co-design, trial, and refine learning in response to student needs. Grounded in Universal Design for Learning, the approach values strong relationships, clear expectations, and iterative improvement to support engagement, achievement, and shared capability across schools.

In our first meeting, a primary focus for teachers was the urgent need for learning opportunities that bolster student literacy within scientific contexts. There was significant concern regarding the demanding literacy requirements of NCEA Level 2 and 3 science.   Students frequently struggle to unpack complex contexts, establish links between questions, and effectively utilise specific scientific terminology int their assessments.  Teachers are keen to explore how the class discussion forums might support this.