Mapua School has 13 classrooms with about 260 students from 5 to 13 years of age.

We offer many opportunities to our students, including sporting, music, arts, a range of academic areas and community events.

Special Features of Our School

Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC)

A comprehensive programme of EOTC has evolved, taking full advantage of the immediate seaside locality of Mapua, as well as the proximity to the three National Parks, Abel Tasman, Nelson Lakes and Kahurangi.

Residential camps in Years 5-8 aim to give first hand experiences in learning by exploring the environment, developing social skills, and providing challenging and new experiences. In Y7-8 camps will alternate between an urban and an outdoor experience.

A two year cycle of camps involve the Year 5/6 classes having a four day and Year 7/8 having 5 day residential camps at various locations. Activities may involve abseiling, kayaking, tramping, outdoor cooking, studying the historical aspects of the area and exploring the area on horseback, mountain bikes and trucks or exploring opportunities within a city environment.

Years 3 and 4 have a Big Day Out and alternate between using the local environment and travelling further afield for the day.

All classes use the local environment for a variety of learning experiences including the beach.

These programmes are planned to meet the requirements of the Physical Education and Health Curriculum.

Schoolwide Policies and Procedures are used to manage the risks in the outdoors.

Annual Ski Trip

In September each year, all Year 5 – 8 students escape to Rainbow Ski Field for the day. This highly successful trip, provides an opportunity for professional ski and snowboard instruction at the level of the students’ experience. It is also an opportunity for collective fun and collegiality!

“Student achievement is celebrated and the school motto “To Be All I Can” is evident in all aspects of school life.”

Education Review Office 2012

PrEP
The PrEP Programme involves the senior school running business ventures in small groups, supervised by an adult. The ventures produce a business plan and aim to make goods and services that can be sold for profit. Members of the ventures spend the profits at the market.

Things I’m Great At (TIGA Programme aka Gifted & Talented Education)
Our programmes cater for a wide range of students with many different strengths or passions. We avoid stating any specific percentage of the school population as being gifted or talented, instead we take each child on his or her merits, identifying areas where there is a need to further develop a strength or talent.

First and foremost these students needs are met in the classroom. When planning for students with special abilities they ensure that their learning needs are met through activities that have more depth, complexity and choice.

The next tier to our TIGA programme is opportunities for learning outside the classroom. This includes things such as GATE conferences, Motueka High School workshops (Y7 & 8 only), competitions (e.g. Mathix, speech, chess tournament), authentic tasks for the school or community (e.g. Tane’s Ark, school magazine, murals for school buildings) and/or working with specialist teachers.

Student initiated learning programmes are another opportunity to cater for all students in a Learning Team (Discovery, SMARTIES, MASSIVE and Popcorn are the names given to the various Learning Teams’ programmes).

School Magazine
The magazine is a school wide production. Senior students with a passion for writing are invited to be part of the team of journalists working to produce the school magazine at the end of the year. The journalists select the school wide events and activities to write about and invite all classes to contribute two pages highlighting top activities for their room. A competition is held to select the cover designs (each Learning Teams’ top design goes on the inside or outside of the cover) and name for the magazine.

“Students are engaged, enthusiastic learners who are focused, confident and respectful.”
Education Review Office 2012

Music Tuition
Music tutors are available on a user pays basis for tuition in school time in our music suite. Students can learn piano, drums and guitar.

Sport
Weekly Sport occurs in the Senior School throughout the year and options include the mainstream sports (Cricket, Softball, TBall, Padder Tennis, Soccer, Hockey, Touch).

Schoolwide events include annual Swimming Sports, Athletics, Tryathlon, Cross Country and House Days run by the House Leaders.

Interschool events include Swimming Sports, Athletics, Gymnastic Competitions, Winter Sports tournament and Cross Country.

Out-of-School Teams entered by the school may include Touch, Basketball, Football, Cricket and Netball. Furthermore the school acts as a conduit for outside groups.

Learning Support Programmes
We support all learners and provide opportunities for students with learning needs in a number of ways:

Dyslexia Support
Reading Support Programme (Rainbow Reading)
Phonics Reading Programme
Reading Recovery
Special Needs Register
Access to Specialist Services
Individual Programmes
Teacher Aide Support
Therapeutic Riding

“Kapa haka is a strength in the school. The group performs with pride and passion at school events.”

Education Review Office 2012

Year 7/8
High standards of behaviour and work presentation are set at this level. The Year 7/8 students fulfill a large number of important roles:

House Leaders and Captains
Bus Monitors
Librarians
Web page authors
ANZAC Day readings
Peer Mediation
School Magazine/Web Page

As a member of these classes, students have great access to a wide range of events. These include Literacy Quiz, Technology Challenge, Nelsonmathix, Science Fair and Smokefree Speeches.

The class attend a weekly Technology programme, (MOTEC) at Parklands School, Motueka.

School Information

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Strategic Goals 2019 - 2021 PDF, 11.9 MB

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Strategic Goals 2019 - 2021
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