Vision and Values

Ko ā tātou tamariki ngā rangatira ō āpōpō

Learners today, Leaders Tomorrow

Ōtaki School, Te Kura o Ōtaki believes that the heart of our school is our tamariki/mokopuna, our learners. We believe that every learner has the right to achieve excellence in a wide range of academic, cultural and sporting activities, for they are our leaders and guardians of tomorrow. 

OUR MISSION:

 
Kia Ōtaki te tū

When coming up with our mission in 2022, we thought “what do we really want from our tamariki? If we could only get one outcome, what would that be?  What makes us unique in Ōtaki? What makes us special compared to the hundreds of other schools across Aotearoa?”

Of course there are many things that we want from our tamariki, but in the end we summed it up with Kia Ōtaki Te Tū which loosely translates as Stand as Ōtaki. To us, this means that you need to have pride in yourself and your town. We want our tamariki to always take Ōtaki with them no matter where they go and to know that Ōtaki is always there for them. To be proud of Ōtaki and to have Ōtaki be proud of them. Ōtaki is a town steeped in history, whakapapa, reo and tikanga and we want our tamariki to know their own history, whakapapa, reo and tikanga no matter if they are Māori, Pākahā, Pacific Island, Chinese or from anywhere else - Ahakoa ko wai koe, ahakoa nō whea koe. Once you are a student of Ōtaki School, you will always be a student of Ōtaki School. If we can instill this sense of pride and honour with our tamariki by the time they leave us, we will have succeeded.