Rotokawa School Earns National Award for AI-Integrated Curriculum

Rotokawa School, the sole Bay of Plenty primary recognised in this year’s New Zealand Education Excellence Awards, secured a commendation for innovative educational leadership. The initiative began after the school signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the local iwi Ngati Uenukukopako in 2018. Through that partnership, the iwi “gifted” sixteen stories that the school incorporated into its teaching resources, ensuring that Maori narratives are presented in the mana whenua’s perspective.

The New Zealand Herald

Using ChatGPT as a foundation, the school’s staff built a custom bot that houses the revised national curriculum, all relevant Ministry of Education documents, and the iwi-provided stories in both English and Maori. When teachers enter a prompt, the bot draws exclusively from this curated library, producing lesson plans, writing models, assessments and differentiated versions of the same story for Year 1 through Year 6 classes. This closed-source approach guarantees that the output reflects the school’s own materials rather than the broader internet.

The New Zealand Herald

Principal Regan Williams noted that every teacher now accesses the bot for lesson preparation, creating a “consistent” experience across staff. Deputy principal Christina Roberts said the tool has liberated teachers to focus on creative, hands-on instruction, as they no longer need to hunt for resources. The system also supports teachers of varying experience levels, from recent graduates to long-standing staff who began their careers when computers were limited to typing assignments.

The New Zealand Herald

Ministry of Education representative Debbie Holmes visited the school to present the award, describing the achievement as “exciting to see” and praising the staff’s proactive stance toward emerging technology. Williams called the recognition “fantastic” for the project’s leaders and the teaching team, emphasizing the years of development behind the bot.

The New Zealand Herald

• “What that’s done is it’s made it consistent for all the teachers.” — Christina Roberts, deputy principal

The New Zealand Herald

• “The success is that all of our teachers and staff are on board with what we are doing.” — Christina Roberts, deputy principal

The New Zealand Herald