Kāinga Organisation

Our school is made up of three vertical kāinga (villages), consisting of Year 0-6 groupings. Each kāinga has a Year 0-2 collaboration, a Year 3-4 collaboration and a Year 5-6 collaboration. Each collaboration is 2-3 teachers so each village has 6-10 teaching staff and a number of support staff. 

Each collaboration is made up of a group of learners and teachers and signifies a personal place/space for students where they locate their belongings, relate to teachers with primary responsibility for their learning progress and well-being, and where they connect with others in their team.

Learners, whānau and teachers can see what is coming next and what has gone before in their kāinga. Learning activities are planned collaboratively, horizontally and vertically through and across kāinga.

We know each other in our kāinga; this means we all know about our learning needs, our strengths and how learning is delivered across our kāinga. Tuakana/Teina (older or more expert tuakana helping and guiding a younger or less expert teina) is a vital part of our social and learning experiences in each kāinga.

The developing culture of our kāinga is of great value and significance to our whole school culture. Our kāinga are our places of belonging, our pathway for growth, our culture within the culture which allow our learners to develop strong learning relationships and a sense of community responsibility and accountability.