Welcome from the Principal
Tre Sylvawood - September 17, 2023
Kia ora tatou
Thank you for reading our Winchester Rural School website and prospectus.
For a small to medium sized school we offer a broad range of exciting opportunities for our children, a holistic approach, encouraging children’s passion and interests as drivers of learning as well as focused learning times on the core curriculum areas of reading, writing and maths.
Our school roll has grown so we now have an enrolment zone. We know the importance of catering for children’s individual needs and do this by keeping our class numbers as low as possible, having skilled teacher aides in many classes and an extra teacher who works with individuals supporting reading. We also look for ways to support and encourage our children’s talents and passions by providing extension opportunities.
Our contributing primary school caters for Year 0-6 children and then our children primarily move onto the local high schools of Opihi College and Geraldine. But some go into the Timaru high schools.
The last opportunity to showcase Winchester Rural School through the triennial Education Review Office (ERO) was 2016, proving that we do provide a high quality of education for our children. The ERO model of working has now changed and in 2021 we moved into a new era of working in partnership with ERO.
For a rural school, we are well resourced in both personnel and physical areas, within an attractive environment. Our heated pool is of benefit to both our children and the Winchester community. We are currently planning building projects to meet the growth and maintenance needs of the school. As part of this we are planning to add a new 'break out space' between our two senior classrooms, with a central courtyard for the children to meet and play in. We have just completed an upgrade of our library building, which is the oldest in the school. To celebrate the school’s Jubilee we installed a new junior playground.
We are always looking for ways to enrich our school environment. Some outcomes are already evident around school with murals, school vege garden and our bottle house. The roadside school sign is well known and frequently commented on, with its changing messages to inspire, inform and reflect on.
Our Vision has three strands - Inquisitive Minds, Connected Kids and Kind Hearts - and we see these as pivotal and interconnected. Through leading our school with these we endeavour to grow our children in a holistic way.
Inquisitive Minds, Connected Kids and Kind Hearts plant the foundations to grow active learners and celebrate success.
Our 4 school values promote important skills for life and learning and are embedded in everyday life at school: ‘Our Winch-wise community will be Kind - Atawhai, Independent – Motuhake, Resilient – Manahua and Curious – Pakiki.
Our children achieve in a range of academic, cultural and sporting endeavours throughout the year and we see this continuing in the years to come.
Our school has a very active and supportive Board of Trustees and Parent Teacher Association (PTA). These groups work well with the children, staff, parents and wider community to increase the range of opportunities for our children.
We see the primary school years as vital foundation blocks to set up a lifetime of learning. We have high expectations of our children and encourage a commitment by parents to help support and prepare their child for our ever-changing world.
We look forward to welcoming you and your whanau to Winchester Rural School.
Ngā mihi nui,
Tre Sylvawood
Principal
Principal