Our Principal

Welcome to Paparangi School. Nau mai, haere mai. Kia Ora, Ko Tracey Arthurs ahau. I am the proud principal of Paparangi School and have been since the beginning of 2016. Before joining Paparangi School, I worked at two other Wellington primary schools for over twenty years. I am Mum to two boys, both embarking on careers in the construction industry. At the weekends you’ll find me in the garden, spending time with friends and family or walking our dog Jed.

The Board of Trustees and staff strive to provide a quality education where children can be ‘adventurous learners.’ We are close to the local Kindergarten, Intermediate and College, working together to provide a coherent pathway for learning in the Paparangi-Newlands area.

Paparangi is a Green-Gold Enviro-School and has an outdoor play philosophy, of which Adventure Zone is our much loved free-play space. Our school values of grit, respect, others and wonder (GROW!) are woven throughout our learning and play, with friendly kids and warm, positive classrooms. We have an amazing team of teachers and teacher aides who work together for the benefit of all children, delivering a curriculum that focuses on literacy and numeracy; with a special focus on environmental education and sustainability. All this makes Paparangi a fabulous place to teach and learn!

At Paparangi we believe that it takes a village to raise a child’ – so here at Paparangi teachers, teacher aides, parents and everyone in-between is working together to ensure our students grow to be good citizens of tomorrow and great kids of today! Learning is an adventure, and at Paparangi we are working hard to develop learning dispositions like risk-taking, curiosity, independence and creativity.

We are fortunate to have an active Home and School Committee, a fantastic group of parents; who give generously of their time and skills, working together to run school events each term and fund-raise for the school. Our current project is to develop our outdoor playgrounds and play spaces. In the past few years, the Home and School have raised funds for

• opening a new library

• Hall renovations

• Basketball hoops

• Shade sails and sandpit/deck

• Extracurricular activities such as Dance for Schools and Sports coaching

We welcome parents to participate and contribute to the life and work of the school in many different ways, and are grateful to parents who help coach sports teams or volunteer for class trips, volunteer for gardening projects or spend time helping in classrooms.

If you’d like more information about Paparangi School or wish to take a tour of classes in action please call the school on 04 478 6617 or email office@paparangi.school.nz. I look forward to meeting you and would be honoured to show you around our wonderful school. And to current parents – I am always available to hear your feedback, suggestions or queries about your child’s learning – why not call in and see me too?

Ngā mihi mahana

Tracey Arthurs

Principal/Tumuaki