Principals Korero

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Kia ora and welcome to Selwyn School - Te Kura o Herewini 2025

My name is Peter Barker and I am the Principal of our great school. We are a family/whānau based school, located Selwyn Heights. Our dual medium school offers classes in both English (Year 0-6) and total immersion Māori (Year 0-8) and is underpinned by our vision..... Together we are Responsible, Respectful and Right Into Learning. This drives our high expectations for learning and well-being!

We prioritise relationships and hauora and are proud of our partnerships with students whānau, community and iwi. The school’s vision, ‘Kia kotahi tātou Takohanga, Whakanuia, kia u ki te Ako – Together we are Responsible, Respectful and Right into Learning’ empowers high aspirations for the learning and the hauora of all learners (Education Review Office 2023).

Whānau trust in us as a school - whanau and students are our clients and relationships are open, honest, supportive and nurturing…….. A culture of whānaungatange prevails in our kura - care and connectedness.

High expectations for learning and relationships exist and we enjoy celebrating our student's successes. Our approaches to learning are a mixture of old and new. This, in simplistic terms, is about:

• equipping our learners with the skills, knowledge and understanding for their future
• focusing on the foundation skills of reading/panui, writing/tuhituhi, maths/pangarau and korero for our Māori Medium/Rumaki students
• using digital technologies (Chromebooks, iPads & AI) as well as traditional tools such as pens, paper and books to enhance learning

Our Māori Medium/Rumaki students learn in a culture of tuakana-teina at Level 1 immersion. This is a setting where students can learn to speak, and enhance their ability to speak, Te Reo Māori. Please note that 81-100% of teacher talk and instruction is in te reo, meaning that some talk is in English. No student will be left to flounder and not understand.....

The Arts, sport and kapa haka are important to us. Students benefit from active participation in a variety of activities including attending classes with our art specialist teacher. Our sports coordinator ensures maximum opportunity in all interschool events. Haka and waiata feature for all students at all levels across the school.

Extensive recent work has been undertaken on our school site including a full school repaint, remodelled/modernised classrooms, heat pumps in all rooms. Our school site is clean, tidy and attractive with lots of space for our students to learn and play including riding bikes on our 405m bike track, climbing trees, playing bullrush and riding scooters!!

The best place to get a grasp of the wairua that exists in our school and what we are all about, is to visit our school or our Facebook page - there is a link on the front page of our website.

Welcome to our kura, we look forward to meeting you……

Peter Barker MEd (UTas)