We’ve come a long way from the early days where the motto was “He carries his cross bravely”. We love the fact that our school has a solid foundation – almost a century and a half of passion and care for education. Many of our school families have made the active choice to live in Hawke’s Bay, a stunning part of NZ. Havelock North is a special place, nestled at the foot of iconic Te Mata Peak. We are lucky and proud to be the school that’s right here in the midst of Havelock North – a great little village. Our school is a community of learners who respect and value each other and our place in Havelock North, our environment and the wider world. At Havelock North Primary School every decision we make is based on one question: “How does this affect the learning of our students”
In mid 2017 some changes took place. After over 12 months of consultation, the school’s Mission & Vision were combined into one statement: Empowering Learners for Life. This statement is succinct and at the cusp of everything we want to achieve for all our learners. As a school we want to empower the students to explore, make mistakes and learn from these, plus develop social skills – alongside the more obvious teaching in reading, writing and maths. By the time the children leave HNPS our aim is to have enabled them to move confidently into the wider world with a range of life skills and a lifelong love of learning. The school has decided to introduce a Motto: Tū Mana. Tū Tangata. Loosely translated into English this means: Stand Proud. Stand Strong. Stand Together. These are powerful messages which we want everyone to identify with. They link intricately to the Values listed below. To have a deliberate Māori influence within our school statement sends a powerful message to everyone: it acknowledges the importance of the Māori culture and enables everyone to identify with this irrespective of their cultural background. This is a positive step for the school – one we can embrace and feel proud of. The school Values have already been amended to: Respect,(Whakaute), Relationships (Whakawhanuanga), Responsibility Tū Tangata) and Resilience,(Manawaroa). This leads us to the Logo which the school will adopt. The new logo is a current reflection of ‘us’ as a school and a community, and links to the new school motto. It tells a story about who we are and about our place in the wider Havelock North community. The three peaks in the logo have multiple meanings:
they represent the maunga-teitei/mountains that surround us: Te Matā, Ko Hinurākau and the largest – Kahuranaki – in the middle;
they mirror the roof-line of the village – and symbolise the interpersonal connections and relationships of our community standing united;
they are strongly associated with the new school motto: Tū Mana, Tū Kaha, Tū Tangata (Pride, Strength, People). The white triangles within the logo represent joining together and mixing with the creation of something new or different. This happens in nature when two rivers meet, merge and grow. Similarly every day in our classrooms, teachers and learners combine their knowledge and ideas through collaboration to create and empower new knowledge. Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei
‘Reach best potential, if you bow let it be to a lofty mountain’.
