About Te Horo School

Te Horo School is a country school set in a picturesque rural area between Ōtaki and Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast. Te Horo School is unique in the fact that despite its proximity to Wellington, it is able to maintain all the traditions of a country school.

We pride ourselves on our school-wide events such as Lamb and Calf Day, this is when children bring their animals to school, feeding and caring for them onsite. This day also includes growing and tending to flower or vegetable gardens. Other special events include our annual school fair “Paddy’s Mart” which is led by our Home & School committee and is an event that the wider community looks forward to. Our tree planting for Matariki breakfast is an event where we can view the Mataraki stars and think of those who have been at the school before us and those who have passed on, sharing a picnic breakfast with those who are here now. We have a special ANZAC service to honour those fallen from our area.

Our children enjoy many educational opportunities that take them outside of the classroom including a relationship with Te Kāhui Tokotoko – the local Ōtaki Schools. We are building links with Katihiku Marae, have a talented Kapa Haka and school choir. Year 6 Camp and Year 8 Camp grow our students' independence and encourage them to challenge themselves physically, along with Ōtaki and Kapiti interschool sporting events, Cross Country, Swimming Sports, Athletics Day and Tabloid Sports to name a few. 

EPro 8, Otago Maths and Mastermind give the students an opportunity to stretch their mind. Our Year 7 & 8 children engage in Technology learning onsite and we are resourced to teach Digital Technologies, Cooking, Sewing and Building as part of our Technology programme.

The children can explore our bush reserve, spend time in our school pool, while away the time in our fruit and vegetable gardens and look for hidden chicken eggs! We encourage children to learn in and enjoy their local environment.

Teaching and learning at Te Horo school grows our students from year 1 (5 year olds) to year 8 (12 year olds), we operate as a whole school which we believe encourages the tuakana/teina relationship; older children have a younger buddy whom they care for and look out for while they are at school. We aim to each collaboratively so that we can utilise teacher strengths and cater to the diverse learning needs of our children.

Our HEART values are unique to Te Horo School and we model the values in all of our day to day interactions with each other. We have courage, we are empathetic, we have a sense of fun, we show respect and we are tolerant. Students are supported to behave in a way that ensures that our school is a safe and enjoyable space for everyone.