Learn, engage, act, dare: preparing for life

“We have great young people at Wairarapa College,” Principal Matt White says. “And we have amazing teachers. Our job is to build on the strengths and interests of the students, support them to be ready for the next part of their life journey, and open their hearts and minds to opportunities and challenges.”

The school’s LEAD Values encourage students to:

 Learn with purpose

- Kia tapatahi te ako.

 Engage with pride

- Kia whakah˜ te mahi tahi.

 Act with respect

- Kia nui te whakaute.

 Dare to succeed - Kia eke ki te angitu.

“Today, in a confused world,” says Matt, “our school provides a safe, stable environment in which students can ÿ nd their identity and their interests. Wellbeing is a priority.”

A newly built tech hub includes commercial kitchens for hospitality classes, as well as modern spaces for courses in textiles, wood, metal, and digital technology topics.

An innovative approach to core subjects is on o˛ er for Years-9 and 10. Topics that resonate with students can be chosen within which their reading and writing are contextualised: ‘heroes and villains’ and ‘blood, sweat and tears’ are just two examples. A similar method is used for maths.

Matt shows o˛ the unique Supported Learning Centre (Whare ˝whina) for students with learning disabilities. Its manager, Amanda Kawana, says: “Whare ˝whina is another example of the college helping students to prepare for independence”.

Performance, music, and arts spaces, building on generations of creative arts at the school, “provide opportunities for creative expression”.

“An agricultural education is a natural calling for so many of Wairarapa College’s students and is one of the school’s most in˙ uential courses,” Matt says.

The huge school hall includes a wall of fame: “a way for alumni to reconnect”.

In celebration of Wairarapa College’s 60th anniversary, the Minister of Education, Merv Wellington, noted that:

“Few schools … have in their ranks of former pupils so many who have distinguished themselves … A school earns a reputation not just through the achievement of its most distinguished and able former pupils, however. It is in the many - whose only distinction lies in the face that they are good at their job, good citizens, and good family people - that we get a truer picture of the value of what a school is doing.”

And Wairarapa’s community is testament to that.