Our school community

Newton Central School is a vibrant and diverse community who celebrate our difference. We strive for quality teaching and learning and are committed to children reaching their full potential through educational excellence.

We are known to our children on a 'first name' basis. We believe this allows children access to us without the traditional power block of being either 'Miss, Mrs, or Mr'. It is successful for us and important to our relationships with children.

We are a medium size, decile 7 primary school operating in the urban setting of Central Auckland. The school currently supports a Māori medium 1 immersion unit, a Bilingual level 2 immersion unit, two emerging level 3 bilingual classes and a Fanau Pasifika Unit. The Fanau Pasifika unit is based around a philosophy of 'Fanau' – family and the incorporation of culture, values, and participation by parents and extended family. We also have a very unique bicultural curriculum that teaches all students to understand their own identity and gives them knowledge to understand culture and relationships with others.

This school's catchment areas are principally Newton, Kingsland and Grey Lynn: old inner city suburbs. Although these suburbs have become 'trendy', a significant proportion of the population in these suburbs is still transient or low income.

Our school currently has an enrolment scheme in place. This is impacting on the growth of the school and the Board of Trustees is looking to consult with the Ministry of Education for its removal. This decision is made in the knowledge that sustaining a school and its infrastructure below 300 students is very difficult.

Māori language education draws children from a wider catchment area. Demand for quality immersion and partial immersion education continues and we are committed to meeting the demand within our resources.

Our school community has a commitment to enhancement and beautification of the environment. As a result a flourishing native forest regeneration project, a tropical garden, a permaculture and orchard site are now well established.

Some of the unique features of our school

The school is organised in 2 year whānau groupings i.e. New Entrant, Y1 & Y2, Y2 & Y3, Y4 & Y5 and a single Y6 classroomrather than age-specific classes. Whānau grouping is supported by the school community as sound educational practice and as a supportive and effective environment for multi-cultural education. The Fanau Pasifika class has children from Y4 - Y6.

Te Whānau Rumaki O Te Uru Karaka is the specialist Māori immersion education unit, supported by a funding allocation from the Ministry of Education. This was first established in 1997. All children at Newton Central School learn Te Reo Māori as they are exposed on a daily basis to the use of the language and incorporation of this into teaching and learning programmes.

Special Needs Education involves meeting the learning needs of all children to assist their progress and development. It is an area of priority at our school and a large amount of resources are allocated to meeting children's individual needs.

The school is committed to providing inclusive education for all children and as such teachers can be expected to have children with significant needs in their room.

Our students

The school roll is currently 242. We expect to reach 280 - 300 by the end of this school year (2012) and to maintain this roll for reasons of feasibility.

At present there are 16 nationalities in the school, although Pākehā/European - 33%, Māori - 47% and Pacific Island students - 7% make 87% of the total. Our community is diverse not only in ethnicities, but also in the range of socio-economic groups and family structures.

Our staff

Currently, our school has 18 Ministry of Education Funded Teaching Positions. This is inclusive of the Principal, Special Needs Coordinator, Reading Recovery, Maori Literacy Intervention, Sports Coordination and Classroom Release Time for Beginning teachers and fulltime classroom teachers. The Board of Trustees through the Maori medium funding employ a Director of Maori Medium Education responsible for the management and development of all Maori Medium Education. The Board also funds a role of student advocate to ensure that students well being, both physical, emotional is given high priority.

Highlights in the school calendar

Each second year – odd years, senior students go on a residential adventure camp somewhere in the Auckland region
A 'meet the teacher' BBQ usually runs in February or early March
In Term 2 each student prepares a special piece of art work which goes on display in the school's Art and Food Festival, run in conjunction with a local real estate company. The best pieces from each class go into an inner city Art Festival, in which most local schools participate. Parents contribute ethnic food and the evening is a major fund raiser for the school
The annual concert / production is a large scale event, where students perform in cultural groups or a whole school drama/dance production. Each child in the school participates in this event and is celebrated as a performer. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the mana and contribution of our Graduating Year 6 students
A FiaFia / Family day is held in March each year. This is an opportunity for the entire school community to come together and celebrate our students and our collective achievements.

Future growth

We expect the school roll growth to slow and stabilise at about 300 students because of the new zoning policy. We want to consolidate the advances made over recent years and to ensure there are adequate resources and appropriate space for them.

Vision for the future

To maximise the philosophy of whanau reflecting the language, culture, values and aspirations of all members of the community
To provide a child-centered learning environment which meets the needs of all children in the strive for academic and social excellence
To provide quality teaching and resourcing to achieve these