Our Story

This image represents Our Story at Mairehau High School.

At Mairehau High School we develop learners who….

  • have developed a set of competencies/attributes (Head, Heart, Hands) that will enable them to paddle their waka in any direction that they chose in life - they are the skills to live and learn, function and succeed; to reach their full potential.
        • Literate and numerate
        • Critical thinkers
        • Able to take responsibility for their own learning and manage themselves
        • Confident and believe in themselves and their abilities
        • Able to connect and empathise others
        • Responsible, aware and contributing members of our community
        • Digitally fluent (5 E’s)
        • Capable of communicating themselves through a variety of mediums
        • Ready to embrace challenges and show perseverance.
        • Healthy and resilient
  • have developed the values (CARE) of Challenge, Achievement, Responsibility and Empathy. They will underpin (as they do on the waka) everything that our learners do.
  • have experienced successes and experiences (Korowai). These experiences and successes will shelter them during the challenges they face. Successes will be different for all learners as they have different goals, interests and strengths. They wear them with pride.
  • have qualifications and skills (Kete) to take on their journey in life.
  • have ara (Map) for their journey. They will have the ability to set and achieve goals, in whatever direction they choose.
  • have developed a strong sense of identity, belonging and pride (Au = Mountain/Waka Animals/Mairehau Flower/Southern Cross).


Mairehau High School aims to provide this though learning experiences that are:

  • Acknowledge prior and future learning pathways for individuals.
  • Based on authentic and relevant learning contexts.
  • Challenge our learners and expose them to new experiences and ideas.
  • Differentiated and personalised to meet individual learning needs.
  • Connected to our local experiences, environment, cultures and the wider world.