Te Kura o Orangi Kaupapa, Northland School is a full primary school, incorporating Years One to Eight. We are situated on Te Ahumairangi Hill (Tinakori Hill) overlooking Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Our end-of-year roll is approximately 300, and most students are here for all of their primary education before moving on to secondary school.
We are committed to working alongside our primary and secondary schools in Kāhui Ako o Te Whanganui-a-Tara. There are seven primary and two secondary schools involved; Karori West Normal School, Karori Normal School, Kelburn Normal School, Makara Model School, Wadestown School, Brooklyn School, Wellington Girls College and Wellington Boys’ College. Promoting collaboration across our Kāhui Ako community to support the wellbeing and optimise the achievement outcomes at all stages of education is the vision. We have two within school teachers from Northland who contribute to leading the work in the Kāhui Ako.
There are strong connections between the Early childhood centres in the local area and visits with students are made to support a seamless transition. Staff provide opportunities for those enrolling to have a number of visits prior to starting and for those joining further up the school, visits and transition plans are developed with families.
The school is organised into three Teaching Teams: Team Ruru Year 0-3, Team Kōtare/Tīeke Year 4-6 and Team Kākā Year 7-8. We have new purpose-built innovative learning spaces where teachers are working collaboratively and exploring the use of spaces to promote student agency.
As children start school, we want them to enjoy learning and be curious in a safe and nurturing environment. We provide them time to settle and focus on building relationships and finding out their interests. Many opportunities are provided for learners to build strong foundations for lifelong learning.
Programmes are developed through inquiry and play. Writing, Reading and Mathematics are a focus to develop sound understanding, so as learners progress, we can build on these fundamental areas. Learning experiences are based on an overarching theme and teams design learning activities both in and out of the classroom to engage and challenge learners.
Our community of learners include children, parents and teachers and we work together to provide a supportive, stimulating learning environment.
This is a caring, family-oriented school that fosters social and moral development as well as intellectual growth. Our children and their teachers work together to help our students learn about responsibilities and consequences.
Our school is fortunate in having a community of parents and caregivers that provide support in many different ways: through the Board of Trustees or the Home and School Committee, by volunteering to help in the classroom or on school trips, and by joining various voluntary groups. We value the views of the community, staff and students, and incorporate them in our planning.
We are very proud of our school. It is a focused, forward-looking learning community working together to encourage everyone to grow in confidence and to be their best selves.