About Maungaraki School
Maungaraki School is a Decile 10 full primary school located on the western hills of the Hutt Valley. It serves a diverse community, which has high educational expectations and values strong school/community links. We generally have between 360 and 390 students enrolled in the school. Our school has been growing over the past few years and an enrolment scheme is in place. Maungaraki School opened on 19 April 1999 with the merger of Otonga and Puketiro Schools - one school to serve the needs of the Maungaraki community.
With the growing school roll we opened a new classroom and music suite in 2007 and a new classroom and staffroom in 2010. At the beginning of 2015 we have opened the first of our MLE (Modern Learning Environment) flexible learning spaces. In 2016, we refurbished another 4 classroom block to better meet the needs of modern learners. In 2018 another classroom was built onsite, followed by a prefabricated class moved onto the premises in 2019. 2022 will see the exciting development of a 3 classroom block and some developments with a new library and community space.
As a school we focus on our HEART Values based on the principles of wellbeing, and delivering a skills based curriculum. Through this we achieve great results in numeracy and mathematics, as well as in all areas of the curriculum. The curriculum is delivered through rich learning experiences that are designed to be relevant and provide opportunities to connect with their peers, families, the wider community and even globally. The board is committed to provide our students with a well-balanced curriculum to nurture the whole child, celebrate successes and provide a range of experiences in all curriculum areas. This includes a range of music, sports and cultural activities. Each year our students experience a range of education outside the classroom opportunities, and we are committed to our Enviro Educational opportunities too.
We have an environment where students are trusted to use high quality, engaging and powerful technologies as an integral part of their learning. All students from year 5-8 have access to 1:1 devices, and are provided opportunities to learn in engaging and agentic ways. We have a strong emphasis on the digital curriculum, being delivered in an integrated and meaningful way. This is delivered through external expertise as well as within each classroom. Our juniors also have opportunities to engage digitally through Ipads, SeeSaw and other online learning platforms.
Increased emphasis has been placed on developing the partnership between parents, students and teachers. Our website has just been redeveloped and designed, and includes information on the school, newsletters and other notices, the school calendar, resources for parents and a great deal of other material. A great deal of effort is given to communicating clearly and regularly with the community.
We consult regularly with our community, and value the voice and feedback they provide. We have three-way conferences that students participate in where goals are collaboratively determined. We regularly share successes of our children through social media, assemblies and other online forums. We seek opportunities to work with our parent community to help support our children in the best way we can, through information evenings, celebration functions, workshops, surveys and individual or small group consultations. We feel privileged to have a very supportive and engaged community, and a very passionate and capable staff and leadership team.