Our School

Kiwitahi is a rural school located in the dairy farming heartland of the Waikato. We provide a quality 21st-century education for our pupils and we pride ourselves on the friendly, family-orientated environment at our school.

The buildings are in excellent condition and are kept tidy to reflect the care we take in providing the best environment for our pupils. The classrooms are ideally located in a beautiful spot, nestled upon a hill overlooking surrounding farmland. There is ample room for children to play and explore, with a large adventure playground, an astro turf and a swimming pool.

We aim to develop children through our six school values: perseverance, respect, responsibility, compassion, cooperation and friendship. We place a high importance on a rigorous and engaging learning programme, good manners and positive behaviour.

“The culture of small schools typically revolves around hard work, high aspirations, respect for others, and the expectation that all students will succeed” (Wasley, P and Lear, R “Small Schools, Real Gains” Educational Leadership March 2001, Vol 58(6)).

Parents and teachers become allies in fostering student success. Communication between staff is easier, and they are able to work together to build a high-quality curriculum across disciplines and year levels. Teachers have greater job satisfaction as a result.

Parents often wonder if a bigger school might offer more for their child; but bigger is not always best when it comes to the relationship between student learning and school size. Research is showing that far from being disadvantaged by attending small schools, children may actually do better. Children are less likely to be overlooked or isolated in small schools.

Everybody’s participation is needed for team activities, and children in small schools come to know and care about each other to a greater degree than is possible in big schools. Children at small schools tend to take more responsibility for their own learning, learning activities are more individualised, classes are smaller, and teachers are able to employ multi-age grouping and cooperative learning.