Kia Ora, Talofa Lava, Bonjour, Kia Orana, Greetings, Tena koutou e te whanau, he mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.
Welcome to Richmond Road School, Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand. Our primary school was established in 1884. Our unique feature is the focus on teaching and learning through children's heritage languages. Alongside an English unit (ropu), we have Māori, Samoan and French immersion and bilingual classes.
Bilingual education underpins the philosophy, strategic direction, policies and practices of Richmond Road School.
The school enjoys international and national recognition for its provision of bilingual education. There are about 350 students attending the school. The following classes (or ruma) cover all the age groups across each ropu:
Te Whānau Whāriki, the Māori bilingual unit, has four ruma
Mua i Malae, the Samoan bilingual unit, has three;
L’Archipel, the French bilingual unit, has three; and
Kiwi Connection, the English unit, has five,
The majority of children in Te Whānau Whāriki and Mua i Malae come from English-speaking backgrounds and focus on acquiring an additional language, te reo Māori or Samoan. Most of L’Archipel children are already fluent speakers of French and focus on maintaining their French language with English as an additional language.
We offer a well-balanced programme based on the New Zealand curriculum framework.
In addition, we aim to help children develop as individuals and as members of their community and society in general by fostering the growth of concern for others and respect for differences as well as self respect and self esteem.
