ABOUT US

Springfield School is a decile 6, rural UI primary school nestled at the foothills of the Southern Alps. It is a Year 1-6 school, drawing its akonga from the rural boundaries of Kowai Bush, the Waimakariri River to the North, Russell's Flat to the South and East, and Arthur's Pass to the West.

There will be approximately 44 children attending our kura across 2022. The rural/ village balance has changed considerably over the last few years and now the majority of our families reside in the Springfield township.

Classes will be split into year 1-3 and Year 4-6 whanau pods across 2022. Groupings for numeracy and literacy will be fluid across our kura to cater for all akonga.

The school is staffed with a teaching Principal (0.5), one Principal-Release teacher (0.5) and 1 classroom teacher.

Cultural identity, environmental education, literacy, numeracy, well-being and digital literacy are priority areas in the school, ensuring all children have the opportunity to experience personal success in these areas. We seek to strengthen and practice our cultural inclusiveness and are enjoying new partnerships with those who can support us with this journey.

Our school community values the way our school operates on a tuakana-teina model of learning and all children are comfortable working together and mix happily in and out of the classroom. We consider our small numbers an advantage to student success and we afford our tamariki every opportunity to thrive on their educational journey.

We operate a learning support programme that aims to support those akonga with additional needs and enhance those akonga that are operating at accelerated levels. We engage with support agencies such as Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour, and Resource Teacher for Literacy as well as outside experts for other areas of the curriculum (e.g. The Arts}. We have a teacher aide who supports akonga with their classroom learning and the PTA has committed additional funding to increase these hours for the 2022 school year.

Our students are motivated, increasingly self-regulated learners. They are offered leadership programmes, and classroom programmes which directly teach, model, and allow time to develop the skills required to become an optimal Springfield akonga.

In mid-2019, Springfield School partnered with the Ministry of Education, Matauraka Mahaanui and School Support create a new, purpose-built school. This building reflects the future-focused learning needs of the tamariki and is in keeping with our surrounding environment, acknowledging the historical values of the Springfield township. Our Te Reo Maori name, Te Pou, 11Kouka, refers to the cabbage tree and its benefits as mahika kai - this is linked to our learning opportunities 'feeding the learner' as they journey through their education during their time with us.

2022 will see some of our landscaping projections come to fruition with the support of our landscape architect and committed Board of Trustees.

In 2021, our kura turned 150 years young and celebrations were deferred to 2022 to incorporate the opening of our new kura, and a new chapter for Springfield School I Te Pou, 11Kouka.