Hello and Welcome to Hillcrest Normal School
From Irene Cooper
I am pleased that Hillcrest Normal School can now offer this interactive portal to parents, caregivers and community. It came out of your ideas and is the first step to us moving into an interactive online environment where you can communicate with us directly at any time and vice versa.
Our school is multi-cultural and proudly centred on maximising student learning potential by focusing our teaching on the identified learning needs of all its students. We expect all students to experience success, and enjoyment through our programmes. Yes, we think learning should be FUN. However, hard work and perseverance on the part of the student is an expectation and we know that a positive and supportive partnership with our families and community, helps us to ensure that this is a school where great things happen!
Foundation skills in literacy and numeracy have a key place in our teaching programmes and are supported by a broad curriculum emphasis that covers all disciplines; science, technology, social sciences, arts, health and well being.
The school offers a strong in-school arts programme including kapahaka, as well as out of school music classes. Choir and orchestra opportunities for students are accessible from year three onwards.
Regular Special Needs programmes operating across the school, monitor and support those students who cannot easily meet learning expectations. Whilst not every child will achieve at the same level, they can each be "the best that they can be". Everyone has a contribution to make.
We do expect high levels of achievement and that success is born out through our yearly achievement reports to community.
This year as we move forward with full implementation of the New Zealand curriculum we have chosen as our overarching theme for the year 'The World is your Oyster'. The inspiration for this came from the first children's book that Tamara James has published. Tamara was one of our staff in 2009.
