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Principal's Welcome

Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. What a privilege it is to be Tumuaki, Principal of Onerahi School.

Onerahi School is a friendly and caring place to learn and work, and sits in a prime position in Onerahi, a seaside suburb of Whangārei. We connect closely to Parihaka, our maunga and Hātea, our awa and we take great pride in being able to walk the lands of our ancestors.

The school is close to Matakohe Limestone Island, Dragonfly Springs Wetlands and the Marine Reserves of the Whangārei Harbour. We make the most of learning opportunities in our local community and contribute to the future of our environment.

Achieving Green Gold status as an environmental school in 2017 recognised our commitment to a sustainable future. We have fruit and vegetable gardens, beehives (our honey is delicious), we make Kawa Kawa balm, and we are continually looking for ways to make improvements. The Garden to Table programme is now in full swing and our tauira are engaging in learning new skills and utilising our produce in the kitchen.

We value people’s culture and identity and their connections to Aotearoa New Zealand. Understanding who we are, where we belong and our relationships with people and places are important aspects of our kaupapa.

Our vision, Onerahi School - A Place to Thrive, drives all that we do at Onerahi School and empowers students, their wh?nau and staff to grow as learners. We are grounded in whanaungatanga, manakitanga and manawa reka as we continue our pathways into the future.

We are on an exciting journey designing a rich local curriculum and building capacity in Te Reo Māori me ona tikanga. As we define Onerahitanga and acknowledge what we do well here at Onerahi School, we invite you along on this journey. This will shape our future together.

At Onerahi School one of the questions we are always asking ourselves is “why” and this has led to a culture of innovation and development. We are recognised in local, national and international circles as a progressive school and visits from teachers, administrators and leaders of education is common. All our visitors recognise and admire the culture they see and feel within the school.

We are proud to work and learn at Onerahi School. Haere mai. Come and see us anytime.

Annmaree MacGregor

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What's happening at Onerahi Primary School?

Latest Notices

School Pool is Open Again!

10 Nov 2025

Kia ora koutou,

With the last of the work completed on the pool over the weekend, it is now back in action starting this week! It has received a few upgrades around both safety and accessibility. We want everyone to be able to benefit from this resource.

I have attached the timetable to this post for your convenience. Teachers of classrooms swimming today let their whānau know last Friday. The focus for this term is water safety, which is perfect leading into the summer holidays.

Ngā manaakitanga,
Danny Hamilton
Tumuaki Tuarua / Deputy Principal

Week 5, Term 4

7 Nov 2025

Kia ora koutou,

The sun agrees that Onerahi is the place to be as summer approaches. With two camps next week, the fences around the new building almost ready to come down, and the school buzzing with new learning, I think the sun might be on to something.

Thanks to everyone who has handed in their logo designs for our great logo hunt. Our values of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, and manawa reka are important to us. The care that our artists, both young and old, have shown in their mahi is appreciated. The logo designs are on display in classrooms, as well as in our school library. We will take some time to appreciate everyone’s efforts and then move on to the challenging task of shaping our final logo designs.

With lots of events occurring over the rest of the term, checking bags for those newsletters that seem to always sink to the bottom, as well as staying informed by regularly checking ClassDojo are both key ways of staying in the loop.

Hopefully this warm weather makes it through the weekend. We look forward to having everyone back here on Rāhina.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Danny Hamilton

Tumuaki Tuarua / Deputy Principal

End of Week 3, Term 4

24 Oct 2025

Kia ora koutou,

Thanks everyone for your support yesterday. It was great to see such a range of people working in sectors that are primarily focused on helping others, supporting one another. As always, we want what you want, the very best for your tamariki.

Thank you also to everyone who has started designing logos for our Great Logo Hunt. We have already received a few from our community and our tamariki have also begun to create their own masterpieces. Everyone sharing their interpretations of our school values adds additional layers to our communal understanding of what manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and manawa reka means to us. My previous post has all the details and the form if you would like to contribute.