Introduction 

Waiharara School is small rural decile 1 school catering for students from years 1 to 8, 15 minutes from the townships of Awanui and Pukenui and 20 minutes north of Kaitaia.  Free transport is available within our transport zone.

At the beginning of the Aupouri Peninsula. State Highway 1 runs along the eastern boundary of the school. To the west is Aupouri Forest, and beyond that Ninety Mile Beach. Lake Waiparera, is immediately to the south west.  To the east is the beautiful Rangaunu Harbour and the seaside settlement of Kaimaumau, home to many of our students.

Current students identify as Māori with whakapapa to the local iwi, Ngāi Takoto and are the mokopuna of past students. Tikanga me Te Reo Maori is provided daily in a natural way.

Our community is primarily involved with farming, fishing, forestry and tourism. Our school’s history includes a strong connection to early Dalmatian immigrant families who settled in the area at the time of the kauri gum diggers.

The richness of our people, place and environment is celebrated and explored through an innovative, local curriculum. We provide quality educational experiences with a strong focus on literacy and numeracy that fully integrates modern e-learning including the daily use of ipads, laptops. The arts are also a major focus in the curriculum. Music, dance, drama, kapa haka and art promote student engagement and learning at a deeper and more creative level, resulting in a positive climate of student engagement.

We provide exceptional learning opportunities that are further enhanced by our small classes and strong staff student relationships. We are fortunate to have experienced, committed teachers and support staff, who develop warm, respectful, relationships with our students.

Class programmes cater for children from Years 1-8, and the mix of age groups supports students’ learning through natural teina, tuakana relationships.

Through Sport Northland, we are able to provide a high quality physical education programme delivered by experienced sports coaches that encourage both competition and cooperation. We also have swimming lessons from qualified coaches at the beginning of the year.

Our year 7-8 programme includes fortnightly technology lessons at Kaitaia Intermediate. Students in year 7-8 also have opportunities to be involved in careers education and leadership programmes focusing on citizenship and challenge.

We are fortunate to have a strong supportive community made up of parents, wider whanau, past students and their families, who support fundraising, classroom programmes and are regular visitors to the school. Their dedication has resulted in a fabulous well-resourced school that includes an onsite
preschool, swimming pool, library and attractive classrooms as well as vege gardens and a developing fruit forest.

Waiharara is a resourceful, resilient community that is strongly connected to each other, the land and the environment.