Our size makes us shine

Drawing on the best of rural school traditions, our smaller size is one of our true strengths - we encourage family participation, cater for individual needs and foster a holistic approach to life-long learning.

We nurture and celebrate every child

We cherish and applaud the abilities and achievements of every child. Optimal class sizes allow our children to receive lots of teacher support with their learning. 

We work hard to ensure we are responsive to individual needs, rather than having a ‘one size fits all’ model. 

Our school culture is underpinned by five values celebrated through special achievement awards at whole school assemblies:

We create life-long learners

We empower our children to talk about what they are learning, where they are at, and what their next steps are.

Our curriculum reflects a holistic approach to learning. Student engagement with their learning increases when they have opportunities to personalise their learning process and set their own goals.

In our playground we encourage kids to explore personal limits and develop skills in managing risk. Tree climbing, scooter riding and playing in our stream are all encouraged in a supervised environment.

We are guided by 6 big ideas

Hira School’s curriculum is based on:

These draw together the New Zealand Curriculum learning areas and key competencies, and enable children to pursue personal interests and engage with real world issues.

We are culturally responsive

Our school community is made up of people from diverse backgrounds and we endeavour to know our people well and be responsive to their individual needs. 

For Māori, we engage with whanau (family) to work in partnership to enable our tamariki (children) to experience success as Māori. This requires strong cultural identity, positive learning relationships and ako (learning) based on the aspirations, values and tikanga (protocols) of Māori. We have a close connection with Ngati Kuia as land owners of our school site and local iwi. 

As a school, we bring an understanding of cultural capabilities, culturally responsive practices and pedagogy and a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We are Kaitiakitanga - guardians of our environment

We are part of New Zealand Enviroschool’s movement, where our school values and curriculum teach children how to nurture our precious environment.