| Kuranui College | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| East Street, Greytown 5712, New Zealand |
|
| Information | |
| Type | State co-educational secondary school |
| Motto | Tatau Tatau |
| Established | 1960 |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 249 |
| Principal | Geoff Shepherd |
| School roll | 482[1] |
| Socio-economic decile | 5[1] |
| Website | kuranui-college.school.nz |
Kuranui College is a state co-educational secondary school in Greytown, New Zealand. It is the only secondary school in the South Wairarapa District, and serves the towns of Greytown, Featherston, Martinborough, and the majority of Carterton.
The college was opened in February 1960, replacing three district high schools in Greytown, Featherston, and Martinborough. Built to the Nelson plan, it was designed to take up to 900 students in the midst of the post-World War II baby boom. It has been said to have as many as 1000 students in the mid-1970s, but since the end of the baby boom, has since dropped back to around the present level of 482.
The name Kuranui in the Maori language means "'large school" (kura = school of education + nui = big, large), describing the aspect it was formed from three former high schools, and also being a secondary school ("bigger" than a primary school.).
The school has had four principals - O. Sam Meads (1960-); Peter Werry; Joye Halford; and R. Grey Tuck (1998–2008). Geoff Shepherd, the then deputy principal, superseded Grey Tuck as principal of Kuranui in May 2008.
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Since the Education Act 1989 was introduced, Kuranui, as well as other schools in New Zealand, are independently managed through a Board of Trustees and senior management. This has allowed Kuranui College to develop several programmes and educational practices to suit it and today's learning.
One of Kuranui's educational initiatives is the Base 6 integrated learning programme. Implemented in 2001, the integrated programme is taught in both Years 9 and 10, combining national achievement objectives from the English, Social Studies and Science curricula. Base 6 learning is structured around inquiry, research and a strong emphasis on students taking responsibility for their own learning. The programme is an alternative to conventional subject classes, which are also offered for those students not wising to enrol in Base 6.[2]
From Year 11 onwards to Year 13, education is entirely conventional-subject-based, with the main emphasis on achieving formal qualifications through the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). With the revised national curriculum coming into force, several changes to senior education are forecast in the near future.
From 2008, Kuranui College replaced the traditional senior management system with a new system better suited to today. This involved abolishing deans of year levels, and replacing them with two head of school (Junior and Senior). With the change to principal, the two assistant principal positions were abolished in favour of increasing the number of deputy principals to two.
Since mid-2008, the senior management structure consists of a principal (currently Geoff Shepherd), two deputy principals (Gary Hall and Maree Patten), a Head of Junior School (Years 9 and 10, currently filled by Catherine Rossiter), and a Head of Senior School (Years 11 - 13, currently filled by Shaun Tavernor).
Form classes also changed in 2008. Year 11 through 13 form classes were rearranged into twelve form classes, with a mixture of Year 11 through 13 students from the same school house (Aorangi, Ruamahunga, Tararua, and Wairarapa). Year 9 and 10 form classes were rearranged so everyone in the same house at that year level was in the same form class. As it was the trend to keep Base 6 and conventional subject form classes together, this means now that unlike other schools, siblings can be in different houses because of whether they were Base 6 or conventional subject in the junior school.