Welcome to Tamahere Model Country School

It is my honour to welcome you to our beautiful school/kura, located between Hamilton/Kirikiriroa and Cambridge/Kemureti, in a lifestyle block area. Established in 1884, our school exists within mature grounds and enjoys spacious playing fields.

Around 400 delightful students/aakonga bring our school to life, along with our dedicated staff team who nurture and guide them in their learning and growing journeys, along with our supportive parent community.

Our Vision – Kia atawhai aa mua – Kia tipu nga tahi – Nurturing our future – Growing togetheris at the heart of everything we do. With our three core pou/pillars:-

• Kia manaaki – Honour be your guide.  

• Kia maia – Confident Can Do. 

• Kia Kotahi – Together as One. 

Under each of these pou we have three I statements to help guide everyday learning and behaviour. E.g. I am kind and inclusive,  I try my best even when things are hard. Using our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) framework, we focus on a different statement each week and have Vision and Principal awards, along with Vision tickets and tokens to support great behaviour and achievements.

Reading, Writing and Mathematics form the main focus for our learning. The structured literacy and numeracy approach based on the new curriculum is embedded in our practices. Science, Social Studies, Technology, The Arts, Health & PE are also important parts of our learning. The enjoyment of reading is very important to us. Our wonderful library is located in our historic first classroom, which provides a magnificent showcase for reading and stores over 9,000 books.

Tikanga and te reo Maaori are celebrated. We have three specialist teachers who take our students during their teachers’ release time. All students/aakonga will have at least a term of te reo Maaori, Music and STEAM – Science,Technology,Engineering, Arts and Mathematics within their learning programme each year.

As a primary school, we endeavour to provide our aakonga with a wide variety of experiences so that a flame may be ignited into a passion in future years. Sporting and cultural activities are an important part of this.

• We have a very strong Kapa Haka roopuu/group with over 70 members.
• Music tuition is available for almost all instruments.
• We have a school production to celebrate the arts every second year.
• We enjoy many sporting events, and over 80% of our young athletes play weekend sports supported by their parents.

We believe that growing up in New Zealand, Kiwi children/tamariki should be given the experiences and opportunities to build skills and explore the great New Zealand Outdoors. As an Enviro School, we celebrate and learn about the environment, including growing our own fruit and vegetables. Outdoor education and school camps are an important part of our school culture and provide unique and exciting learning experiences. Swimming is an essential skill to have.

• We want to ensure that all children have basic floating, swimming and water survival skills in water out of their depth. 
• Our fantastic swimming facility with a 25-meter eight-lane pool (1.6 metres at the deep end) and a learner pool was a huge school community project. 
• St Peter’s Swim School supports us with this goal as part of our Kids Club after-school tuition, available in Terms One and Four.

Our caring and involved parent community hold high expectations for their tamariki and supports us in so many ways, from binding books and driving for trips to sponsorship and fundraising. Our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) hold community building events throughout the year to fundraise for the icing on the cake extras that enhance our children’s experiences. All parents and caregivers are encouraged to be involved. We also have a Dad’s Army to help with projects around the grounds and provide another link for hard-working families to come together. Our sports teams could not operate without the dedication of parent managers and coaches.

It takes a village to raise a child. Kia kotahi – Together as one! We look forward to welcoming your child/ren and whaanau to be part of our great village. 

Waveney Parker