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Where are we?
Our school is situated on a flat, scenic and sunny site, at the Northern end of Upper Hutt, four kilometres north of the Upper Hutt City Centre. It is surrounded by bush-clad hills near the Hutt River junction with the Akatarawa River. We have fantastic outdoor spaces and our large playing field borders Rata Park and Birchville Kindergarten.
Our school was opened in 1979 and we now have two main variable space teaching blocks, two classroom blocks, and a large hall. A dental clinic, office block, and library complete the colourful well maintained buildings. We have continued to develop our environment to ensure we meet the needs of today's learners which means that we have had a huge focus on upgrading our Information Communication Technology facilities (ICT).
In 2011 all of our school network cabling was upgraded to ensure we are high speed broadband capable. We pride ourselves on students having ready access to technology as this makes a discernable difference to their engagement with learning tasks. We currently have 1 computer device to every 2.3 students and an interactive whiteboard in every classroom. ICT is an integral part of learning and teaching.
We have a close relationship with our kindergarten are jointly working on developing a strong sense of 'wider' community.
Who are our people?
Our school community is a mix of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds with our roll reflecting the multi cultural nature of New Zealand society. The children are drawn from established ribbon development areas, developing urban areas, farms and small rural lifestyle blocks.
We maintain a high profile within the community and a true partnership between parents, staff, children and the community exists . We operate in a strong and supportive culture. Active parental involvement in all aspects of the children’s education is encouraged.
We currently have 10 teachers and 8 ancilliary staff and pride ourselves on creating a friendly environment that children want to be part of . We focus on activating in children, the desire to learn and encourage a wide range child centred activity.
What do we do?
Alongside this strong focus on academic achievement ( see our results), we offer a huge range of extra opportunities for the children. These currently include the opportunity to learn music ( guitar, keyboard, drums) and be part of 'rock bands' , choir, dance, learn Japanese and talk to a 'real' school in Japan, a wide range of individual and team sports, play on scooters, ride bikes on our 'nearly' finished BMX track and many more!
We also have a huge Kapahaka group with a smaller performance group who regularly have the opportunity to share their skills with others.
Our student leaders coordinate many of our school activities such as assemblies, lunchtime library activities, sporting activities, our student section on the website, catering for school events, our environment group ( Ecowarriors) and our school discos.