Wakaaranga school principal, Brent Jenkin makes no apology for the fact that the school’s emphasis is on excellence.

“Our motto is ‘To be the best I can possibly be’,” Brent says. “This is not just something we stick on a wall and forget about but it is a belief we instil in all of our students. We do not accept there are excuses for students not doing their very best.”

Core school values, ‘Respect, Responsibility and Reflection’ are extremely important to staff and students in this colourful, multicultural school. Three trees in the school logo represent the Three R’s.

“We relate the behaviour of students to these three values and encourage them to make positive choices in their behaviour and school work,” says Brent.

The name Wakaaranga literally means ‘the resting place of the canoe’ and is named after the area at the base of Wakaaranga Creek where pre-European Maori from the marae on Pigeon Mountain kept their canoes.

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