Purakaunui School

Ko wai au? Ko Helvellyn Range te maunga. Ko Irish te moana. Ko Mersey te awa. Ko Rere Aotearoa te waka. Nō Liverpool England ōku tīpuna. Kei te noho au ki Waitati. Ko Bell Howard tōku whānau. Ko Thomas tōku matua. Ko Colette tōku whāea. Ko Barbera tōku kuia. Ko Nicky Bell tōku ingoa. Tīhei mauri ora. 

I am very proud to be the leader of this very exciting learning community. It is also a pleasure to lead a very committed and passionate team of teachers and support staff who have many life experiences and skills to share with our young people. Our first priority is to build positive relationships with students and their whānau and work in partnership together.

The individual skills and abilities of each child are valued and we aim for each child to achieve to the best of their ability and potential. A strength of our school is the involvement of parents and the community in the classroom programmes as well as activities outside the school. We live in a rich, beautiful coastal environment and value education outside of the classroom.

I am a teaching Principal and this is the part of the job that I find most exciting – getting into the classroom with children and watching them grow, learn and improve.

I look forward to getting to know you as your child progresses through Purākaunui School. The staff and I welcome the opportunity, at any time, to discuss with you matters regarding your child’s education and welfare.

Ko wai au? Ko Rimutaka te maunga. Ko Heretaunga te awa. Ko Lord Auckland te waka. Ko Celt te iwi. Ko Pākeha te hapū. Ko Francis Otterson te tangata. No Orongomai ahau. Ko Rachel Brown tōku ingoa. Ka moe ahau i a Gus McAllister. Ka puta mai ko Winifred McAllister Brown. Kei Hāwea mātau e noho ana. Tīhei mauri ora.

My ancestors arrived in Nelson and Gisborne in the 1840s; I grew up in Upper Hutt and Auckland, then was an itinerant kiwi until I washed up in Hāwea Flat 25 years ago, and built a house, a farm and a family. I can identify with small communities where everyone is an important part of the place and everyone cares for where they live.

Ko wai au? Ko Kapukataumahaka tohōku mauka. Ko Otakou tohōku moana. Ko kati Pākehā tohōku iwi. No Ikarihi, no Kōtarani, no Wiwi, no Nōwei, no Kānada ohōku tipuna. Kai Otepoti tohōku turakawaewae hoki. Ko Tim rāua ko Robin ohōku mātua. Ko Rich tohōku hoa rakatira, ko Jet tā māua tamaiti, ko Rune rāua ko Veda tā māua mokopuna.

Rache has been teaching at Pūrākaunui School since 2013, and currently works in our tuakana (senior) classroom two days a week providing principal release for Nicky. She is passionate about helping children find their individual strengths, and be happy. Rache helped to design our school charter graphic and also wrote our school song. She is from Dunedin, has one son, and she recently became a grandmother to twins.

Sarah is our wonderful school secretary. Once described as "manna from heaven," she can do any task quickly and efficiently and expects others to do the same. If you have a notice to return make sure you hand it in. Sarah is our key communication person: she puts together our fortnightly newsletters, checks the school cell phone regularly, and is responsible for refreshing our school website so you can have a window into our world here at Pūrākaunui School. When Sarah is not in the office she can be found outside throwing a frisbee for Dante the school dog with our tamariki or applying her mind to a cryptic crossword with staff.

Staff