Nau mai haere mai

A message from Principal Matt Jackett

Welcome to our wonderful kura. You will find Carterton School offers tamariki a wide range of opportunities to develop academically, socially, culturally and creatively. The whole school community works as a team to develop these skills and we look forward to your involvement in this process. 

Carterton School acknowledges students as individuals on their own learning journey. Excellent staff foster a love of learning within a caring, sustainable, respectful and enriching environment where individual excellence and diversity is valued.

Tamariki are encouraged to fully explore the school environment, especially the outdoor spaces, providing them with challenging and risk-taking opportunities in a safe space. This helps to develop their ability to assess risk, learn self regulation and build confidence in their decision making.

Carterton School values:

Our ‘Carterton School 3Rs’ strongly support our goals and are central to the way we learn and work together. These values are upheld in all aspects of school life and by everyone who is involved with our kura.

Respect myself - Mana motuhake
Respect others - Manaakitanga
Respect our environment  -  Kaitiakitanga

Our strategic goals are:

• To focus on ensuring that all students will achieve to the best of their academic ability, as evidenced by their progress and achievement in relation to the New Zealand Curriculum.

• To provide an engaging learning environment, where students’ languages, identities and cultures are supported and celebrated.

• For our students and our kura to be at the heart of a culture of learning in Carterton that develops skills and capabilities for now and in the future.

Our school charter:

Our Board of Trustees regularly review our school charter. This is our guiding document, which outlines the direction our kura will take in the coming 3-5 years. Many whānau help us to reflect on the direction of Carterton School. The main direction set in the past has been reinforced, but more emphasis has now been placed on connecting with our community to enhance learning.

Following community consultation, the Board is determined to develop further links with local community groups and to bring the life experiences our students have out of school into school. We will be focusing on making links with our families’ identity, languages and culture. With our two Ākonga Māori classes, which base learning around te ao Māori, we have an innovative and groundbreaking way to meet the needs of a specific group of our students.

We are involved in the South Wairarapa Kāhui Ako, a professional learning initiative to link home and school, kaiako, whānau and students.

Some of the things on offer at our kura:

Our kapa haka group has become well known in the local community, and we will be participating in the Wairarapa Schools Kapa haka Festival later in the year.

Our Year 6-8 students are digitally ‘one to one’. All students in Team Kahikatea have access to a Chromebook to support their learning. The devices provide connections to learning way beyond the classroom walls and engage the students in a wide range of learning opportunities.

Special extension opportunities will be provided for gifted and talented students in a range of areas this year.

A huge strength of our school is the extensive outdoor education programme the children are offered, ranging from local visits to tramps and camping opportunities for all age levels.

Come along and see for yourself!

We have a genuine Open Door policy – you can come to all classrooms or activities. Please sign in and out at the office. We have lots of fun and we would love you to be part of it in this great learning environment.

Our kura does have an enrolment scheme in place but we are currently accepting out of zone places. For more information on zoning or enrolling at Carterton School, get in touch with the school office.

Ngā mihi nui,

Matt Jackett

Principal

Carterton School