About Us

About Us

Our Kāhui Ako is one of 5 Kāhui Ako in Whangārei known as the HUB. Te Manawa o Whangārei Kāhui Ako mainly consists of educational centres in the Whangārei rohe, in Northland. Our learning centres include two secondary schools, seven primary schools, and fourteen early learning centres. Our early childhood learning centres are BestStart Regent Kindy, Comrie Park Kindergarten, Kensington Educare, Manaia Kindergarten, Parua Bay Childcare, Parua Bay Playcentre, St John’s Progressive Childcare and Tutukaka Coast Playcentre.

Te Manawa o Whangārei Kāhui Ako includes St Francis Xavier Catholic School, Whangārei Girls High School and Pompallier Catholic High School in central Whangārei. It also captures schools within a distance of 30 km in the coastal communities of the Whangārei District, including Ngunguru, Parua Bay and Whangārei Heads, as well as the semi-rural farming areas of Matarau and Maungatapere. These are a mixture of smaller and larger full primary Year 0-8 schools. The Kāhui Ako stretches even further to include St Josephs, Dargaville, a contributing Catholic school to Pompallier Catholic High School. Our schools have developed achievement goals and curriculum designed to prepare our students for a future where they play a full part in our local community and economy, and this work will be enhanced by the Kāhui Ako.

Community Profile

Te Manawa o Whangārei Kāhui Ako is based in the city of Whangārei. The Whangārei district is made up largely of rural land and includes a fifth of the Northland Region with a population of approximately 96,000. It extends southwards to the southern end of Bream Bay, northwards to Whangaruru and almost to the Bay of Islands, and westwards up the Mangakahia River valley past Pakotai and almost to Waipoua Forest. It includes the Hen and Chicken Islands and the Poor Knights Islands.

Te Manawa o Whangārei Kāhui Ako is centred in the city of Whangārei, the largest city in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland), with a population of around 76,000. Whangārei is the hub and service centre of Northland, it has a diverse economy with strengths in tourism, farming and processing, forestry, horticulture, manufacturing, and marine engineering.