Takaka Primary School

Kia Kotahi Tātou, Tū Tonu Mai!

Nau Mai, Haere Mai ki te Kura Tuatahi ō Takaka

Welcome to Takaka Primary School

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Naumai, Welcome to 2020!

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Term Dates 2020:

Term 1: Tuesday 04 February - Thursday 09 April

Term 2: Tuesday 28 April - Friday 03 July

Term 3: Monday 20 July - Friday 25 September

Term 4: Monday 12 October - Thursday 17 December

Welcome to our vibrant place of learning, where we place children and their learning front and centre.

Our school is a diverse and happy place; we prioritise student wellbeing and engagement, knowing that progress and achievement will follow when students are happy, have friends, and feel safe!

We are centrally located, between Golden Bay Kindergarten and Golden Bay High school, and have some things that make us unique:

We have four hubs in our school and around 150-170 students. We have a junior hub, which is Year 1-2, a bilingual hub for Māori immersion, which is currently two classes of Year 1-3 and Year 3-5, a middle hub which is Year 3-4, and a senior hub which is Year 5-6. With the exception of the bilingual hub, students stay in each hub for two years. Each hub has two teachers and a learning support assistant (at least one, maybe more).

Our focus is on Relationships based Learning (RbL); creating a family like context across our school. In short, we are a whānau and our relationships with students and between students are central to all of our mahi.

Our school values of :

Kotahitanga (unity)

Integrity (pono)

Adaptability (autanga)

Open to Learning

Respect (whakaute)

Aroha (empathy)

----- are the building blocks of our wharenui, within which we grow

Kia Ora Kids; Connected, collaborative life long learners

Our school culture is underpinned by restorative practice and our mantra is :

“Own it, fix it, learn from it”.

We value the development of behaviour just as much as we do the development and progression of learning academics. When mistakes are made, we encourage ownership, accountability and responsibility and support students to repair the harm and restore the peace. Our vision states that our students thrive in respectful, restorative relationships.

Our junior hub and dual-medium hub in Year 1-2 are very much play based learning and are similar to kindergarten, with a little more structure to enable the teaching of core skills. Our new entrant teacher is both Steiner and NZ teacher trained, which complements our focus of educating the head, the heart, the body and spirit.

Our dual-medium hub is blessed with clever kaiako (teachers) and kaiarahi (Māori Language Learning Support Assistants), some of whom are fluent Māori speakers, and others who are hugely experienced junior literacy teachers. This means that students get regular, quality literacy and mathematics in both languages. Both the bilingual and junior hub back onto the playground. Pikopiko has a lovely outside deck which is covered and we have extensive building works planned for 2021 for the rest of the school.

As our students progress through the years, the play based learning evolves into project based learning and students increasingly take responsibility and agency, and use digital tools. Every child from Year 3-4 onwards has their own chromebook, which is provided by the school (and remains the property of the school).

We transition our children from kindergarten and our local early childhood, where possible, in groups to soften the transition. We have an open door school and value parent help and connections. It's a great place to be, supported by our strong focus on values, relationships, and creating a family like context.

We have a wonderful local curriculum, complete with a graduate profile of what we aspire for our learners to acquire during their time with us. Most of all, we have a fabulous community in which to learn, play and grow.

Do come and meet us, and join us as we journey together.

Kia Kotahi Tātou, Tū Tonu Mai!

Jenny Bennett

Principal