Welcome to Diamond Harbour School, Te Kura o Te Waipapa.

Diamond Harbour School is a hybrid, a town-and-country school. It serves a distinct and cohesive community from Port Levy to Teddington, including all the southern bays of Lyttelton Harbour. Most children in the district attend Diamond Harbour School, those from farthest away travelling by school bus.

Lyttelton Harbour is an extinct volcanic caldera which has collapsed and been flooded by the sea. Diamond Harbour School is set on an ancient lava flow at the foot of Banks Peninsula’s highest peak, Mount Herbert. Situated right at the edge of suburban Diamond Harbour, the school has a stunning rural backdrop of paddocks, open space and craggy hills. The north-facing school buildings have views out over the harbour and across to the port of Lyttelton and the Port Hills skyline. 

Diamond Harbour is a state, co-educational, full primary school catering for students from Year 0 (new entrants) to Year 8. After this students usually go to Cashmere High School  with a free bus service available. 

At Diamond Harbour School there are approximately 120 students of diverse ethnic origins. Some children attending the school are second (or even third) generation students. A number of families are relatively recent immigrants, mostly from the United Kingdom.  A small number of students speak more than one language.12% of the school’s students are Maori. 2% of our students are Pasifika.

Even though many families have members who commute to work in the city of Christchurch, our community retains some rural characteristics which are reflected in the school. There are networks of relationships between families which are formed and/or maintained outside the school via other community organisations such as kindergartne, play centre, churches, yacht club, fire brigade, cultural and sports clubs. Typically, new entrants already know many in their class and others at school: there is a Kidsfirst kindergarten alongside the school, which  eases the  transition to school.  Regular visits are made to the kindergarten, the kindergarten children often visit school and we have a buddy system which ensures a smoooth transition for all our new entrants.  Children of different ages often play together in the playground.

As a school we make the most of our local environment and students are regularly involved in a range of activities helping to care for the environment. We are an Enviroschool and we have a large garden as part of the Garden to Table programme.

On Friday afternoon  we have assemblies where students perform or present their work before the whole school, parents, caregivers and other members of the school community. The size of the school accommodates programmes such as whole school fitness and buddying up of older and younger students.

The school has working relationships with other community organisations, Diamond Harbour Rugby Club (New Zealand’s first ‘smokefree’ rugby club), and the Charteris Bay Yacht Club (which has produced many young champion sailors).

In addition to local possibilities, our proximity to Christchurch enables students to take advantage of opportunities to participate in sporting and cultural events in the city. In recent years students at the school enjoyed particular success in robotics, athletics, winter sports and sailing. Students also go to town for music events, information technology events and other enrichment activities.

At Diamond Harbour School all classes are composite, which means each class includes students from two or more years, with a range of different levels and abilities.  Recently, the school undertook a redevelopment project which saw the creation of a new administration block and well as the modernising of our classroom spaces - making them more flexible and more spacious. Currently, during 2022, a new library space is being built.

Our classroom teachers are adept at meeting the learning needs of a diverse range of students, challenging and extending each individual to meet his or her potential. A number of other teachers and learning support workers are employed at the school to enable the learning needs of all students to be met. 

Information about enrolling your child at Diamond Harbour School can be found here.