Whangārei Heads School

Our Place to Grow and Learn Together
Ko tātou kura, kia tipu, kia ako ngātahi

Principal's Welcome

It is a privilege to be the Tumuaki of such a lovely and welcoming school and community. I have been part of the team here at Whangārei Heads since the beginning of Term 2022, and have loved every minute of getting to know the children, staff, whanau and wider community.

We are very proud of the beautiful location for our school, set amongst the native bush at the foot of Mount Manaia, and overlooking the Whangārei Harbour, with Ocean Beach a short drive away. Our Green-Gold Enviro School status demonstrates our commitment towards Kaitiakitanga and we value working with our local community groups such as Bream Head Conservation Trust, Backyard Kiwi, Predator Free 2050.

As part of our strategic plan we are reviewing and reforming our localised curriculum to ensure that we are not only using the rich environment as a learning experience but that our practices align to that of the 21st Century classroom and NZ Curriculum Refresh.

Our children enjoy a rich balanced curriculum, with experiences that go beyond literacy and numeracy. They love to climb trees, build huts and play in our school native bush area Fern Valley. They are fiercely competitive in sporting activities and enjoy representing our school at E-Pro 8, Chess tournaments, Aims Games. We grow leaders through the Tuakana / Teina approach. Our Year 7 and 8 students hold a special place in the school; as role models. They take on many different leadership roles; whanau leaders, peer mediators, librarians to name a few.

Our values are designed to support ākonga to be wonderful future citizens who are able to demonstrate kindness, creativity, resilience and have a sense of belonging.

This whakatauki seems to sum up what we believe here at Whangārei Heads School:

Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakemua
If we take care of the earth and take care of people, we will take care of the future

Kelly Mercer
Tumuaki
Whangārei Heads School

Our Values | Ngā Mātāpono

We are all guided by our four core values:

School Song | Kua Tae

Manaia ko te maunga Whangārei ko te moana Tēnei tātou katoa Ko te kaitiakitanga te mea nui Ki a tātou e.	TRANSLATION: Manaia is the mountain Whangarei the harbour. We take our guardianship of this place seriously.
Kua tae kua ū Ki tēnei rohe Ko te whenua ataahua e Ko te whenua Papatūānuku e	We have come here (by sea) To this beautiful place, To this land of Papatuanuku.

Ngā manu Te whenua Ngā Rākau Te moana Ngā maunga Te tāhuna ko ngā kai o Tangaroa	The birds The land The trees The sea The mountains The beach The gifts of Tangaroa
Manaia, our home On the coast of Whangārei Honour those who’ve gone before Care for our environment Leave for the future The places and the treasure We enjoy.

(Rpt v2 under chant) (BOYS)

Taiharuru, Parua Bay
Munro Bay, McLeod Bay
Reotahi, Little Munro Bay
Taurikura, McKenzie Bay
Urquhart Bay, Ocean Beach,

Papatūānuku e

(GIRLS)

Kua tae kua u
Ki tenei rohe
Ko te whenua
ataahua e
Ko te whenua

Papatuanuku e

Opportunities

Environment

Cultural

Sports

We are an Enviro School!

The Enviroschools programme supports children and young people to plan, design and implement sustainability actions that are important to them and their communities.