The Waitematā Whānau comprises teachers Kynan Watt (Syndicate Leader), Matt Hansen (assistant leader) Hella Tolhurst, Damyanti Daya, Eunhye Kwon and Vicki White. Currently, our classes are organised in composite year groupings. Assisting our classroom teachers are specialist teachers Anna McLeod (music), Geoff MacCullogh (hard materials) and Mark Webster (digital technologies).
Our individualised learning programmes are used to develop our student's knowledge in the key academic areas of Reading, Writing and Maths. Our school learner qualities (team player, risk taker, communicator, problem solver and creator) underpin all of our teaching.
As part of our EOTC programme (Education Outside the Classroom), students in the senior syndicate attend Camp Carey, the Life Education Trust van and participate in the police bike safety programme. Regular syndicate fitness sessions are held to develop students' physical fitness and well-being.
In the Waitematā Whānau, we believe in developing individuals with the skills required to be successful in a changing world. Our 'Bring Your Own Device' (BYOD) policy is optional across the syndicate and a range of technologies are used to enhance our teaching programmes.
We believe that students are motivated to learn when tasks are authentic and have tangible outcomes. Students participate in The Barfoot and Thompson writers' competition, the EPro8 Engineering challenge, Mathex, Maths week, The Fair Go Ad Awards, the APPA Speech competition, the Auckland Robotics competition, the St Heliers Art competition and The St Thomas Book Quiz as part of their classroom programmes.
We offer numerous extracurricular opportunities to students in our whānau, including a variety of sports teams, a chess club, a choir, a marimba band, a rock band, a cross-country running club and a book club.
A recent highlight has been the success of our Epro8 team, which reached the Auckland finals on their first attempt.
