Testimonials
At Te Matauru Primary we aim to ensure that we meet the needs of our community. We appreciate the support we get from our community in return.
Below are the testimonials from some of our current school families.
My daughter Isobel started in Opuke about six months ago and is really enjoying her school days. She has settled in well to school life, made great friends and built a strong rapport with her teachers. The teaching team and wider support team have been awesome to work with as she transitioned from Preschool to Primary school.
The TMP team do a wonderful job of keeping us informed of what’s going on and all the exciting activities happening at the school - there’s always something for the children to look forward to.
Highly recommend a visit to see the school, it has great staff, pupils, resources and facilities and you are just made to feel very welcome and part of the school community from the outset.
Amie
We moved to Rangiora just as Te Matauru Primary School was opening. Sienna was in Year 8 and
Monty was Year 4. They made friends straight away. Sienna is now at High School, but still keeps in touch with her TMP friends.
We were amazed at how much hard work had been put in before the school even opened, and it really showed. From Day 1 everything worked well, despite all the challenges the world has thrown up over the past few years. The school regularly create opportunities for family and whanau to be involved. Danny and his team have developed a family-friendly culture, and we always feel welcome there.
Sienna and Monty have had lots of opportunities to be involved in different sports, and other extra-curricular activities like camp and the ski trip. The teachers try to make learning fun, which our kids have responded well to.
Overall, we’ve been really pleased with TMP.
Gordon and Wendy
Te Matauru Primary has made us feel welcome from our very first visit, giving a real sense of whanaungataunga in the school environment.
Our daughter loves the Opuke environment, where we have seen her grow as a competent, confident learner. We put this down to the relationships she has formed with her peers,teachers and the amazing learning space Opuke is. Each day there are new and exciting child-led activities within the structured program that make our daughter excited to go to school.
Manaakitanga is very evident in the school's culture and community events, we love how the whole school interacts. Buddy time is a real highlight of our daughters week.
Most importantly our daughter is happy at school and has a love for learning!
Brett & Mel
A choice in which school to send your child to is not one you often get nor one you take lightly; we were however in a position allowing us this opportunity and choosing Te Matauru was the best decision we made!
Having your first child transition to school is something that can be challenging in many ways and combined with covid times extra difficulties can arise. With this being the start of our girls schooling our experience with Te Matauru has been nothing but exceptional.
The environment supports play based learning making for familiar surroundings and activities available at preschools and allows children to quickly engage themselves in something of their own interest from the minute they enter the class. These play opportunities are all supported by teachers to encourage learning (such as counting during cooking or block building, writing in the post office) and cemented during focused literacy and numeracy lessons. The rate at which our daughter is gaining and sharing new knowledge is amazing.
The Ōpuke teachers are approachable, communicative, encouraging and caring providing the children a safe space to learn and discover.
At the end of the day our first focus is on our daughters happiness and enjoyment at school as this is the foundation to being able to learn effectively. Having a child who didn't want to leave during her school visit was the first sign we were on to a good thing and continuing to be eager to go to school everyday since she started could not be a better measure of a perfect start to our girls schooling!
Kirsty and Gavin
We are the parents of three girls at Te Matauru Primary; Charlotte aged 5, Sophie 8, Emily 10 and a 16 year old son, Connor at High School.
Te Matauru is a school full of fun, friendship, learning and opportunity. Our girls continue to grow academically while they are encouraged to become more confident and resilient individuals through leading school assembly, taking on roles of responsibility, buddying with other students, speeches, school trips, Kapa Haka, Jump Jam, music and sports. Many of these opportunities were not available in our previous school.
The teachers and school staff are warm and friendly and always feel very approachable. In particular our girls have enjoyed being taught by Miss Stopforth, Mr Richmond and Mr Buller who are all exceptional teachers and a significant part of the reason why they love going to school each day. We are grateful that Principal Nicholls is familiar with all the pupils and their whānau and is often there to greet us in the mornings. As parents we also feel welcome and included in school events and our children's learning.
We couldn't be happier with our decision to move our children to Te Matauru Primary.
Chris and Rachael
Our children were foundation pupils at Te Matauru Primary school. From the initial meetings (prior to the school opening) with Danny and the staff, we felt excited and had no doubt that the decision to send Lucy and Jack to Te Matauru would be the right one.
The children are excited about going to school each day and have thrived in the environment that the staff have established. There is a real community feel and the events the school holds are well supported by students, parents, staff and the wider school whānau. The staff continue to focus on whanaungatanga and developing strong links within the community.
Shane and I believe developing our children both socially and academically are equally important and this is embedded within the school's core values of respect, bravery and responsibility. All staff are approachable and are willing to go the extra mile in ensuring our children are given every opportunity to realise their full potential. Shane and I would have no hesitation in recommending Te Matauru Primary to prospective families looking to choose a primary school in the Rangiora area.
Shane and Bex
We chose Te Matauru as it allowed the boys some independence of getting themselves to school and back as they were attending an out of zone school. Since starting at Te Matauru it has been wonderful to see the boys meet and form friendships with the neighbourhood kids and families.
We were blown away by the state of the art rooms and facilities at Te Matauru and impressed by the calibre of teaching staff.
Both Tom and Harry have flourished under Mr Foxley and Mr Buller in year 5 and 6. Both Mr Buller and Mr Foxley are inspiring, motivating and engaging which is evident in the stories and conversations we have at the dinner table and their progress they have made with their learning. As parents we have noticed a confidence boost in both the boys, streaming from being truly engaged and inspired. From newly-found confidence and resilience in the dreaded Cross country, to academic progress and success.
Kathryn and Karl