Some BACKGROUND

WHO ARE WE? - Some history and background

Schooling in Hāwera was established in 1875 on South Road to cater for students within the town and from the surrounding farming districts. Originally next door on the former Hawera Intermediate site. In 1890, a two classroom school was built for the children living around the Te Hāwera fort. In time it grew to cater for nearly 700 pupils of all ages. In 1928 the infant part of the school was moved to the other end of the grounds. This was the Sunshine School which became known as ‘Hāwera Primary’, in 1954 the rest of the school buildings were also moved on to our current school grounds and planning for the establishment of an Intermediate School which served the town from 1961-2022 began. In 2023 a new school Te Paepae o Aotea opened to educate students in Years 7-13 on the former site of Hāwera High School on Camberwell Road.

Hāwera Primary is a contributing school which caters for Years 1-6 children from a diverse range of backgrounds. The school roll sits around 190.  Approximately 50% identify as Māori, 40% as NZ European and 10% other ethnicities. 

The school is set in spacious park-like grounds. Features include a two pool swimming complex, a popular bike track, substantial green spaces, a large playground, confidence course, three sports fields, three courts, a sandpit and picnic areas. There are ongoing plans to continue developing and refreshing the back green area of the school...watch this space!

School buildings consist of one block of junior classrooms, two pods (which accommodate the senior classes) and several stand alone buildings and prefabs including a recently refurbished hall and admin block. In 2017 the original senior block was demolished (due to weather tightness issues). In 2018 it was replaced by two state of the art innovative learning environments (ILE). In 2019 the junior classrooms were repainted internally and work began in 2021 to gradually transform these classrooms into ILE’s with the first stage of the conversion of the corridor into a “Learning Street” completed. In 2020 the exterior of the junior block was remodelled with a deck built along the front. 

Hāwera Primary is one of the 17 schools in the South Taranaki Kāhui Ako. Our current learning priorities are relationship-based learning (RbL), social and emotional intelligence (wellbeing) and coherent pathways (localised curriculum). We enjoy working closely as a cluster of schools for professional development, learning activities, sporting and cultural events.