SCHOOL OF THE WEEK: They're a big, happy family at Kaimai

On a windy highway at the top of the hill, lies Kaimai School.
Like an impressive house it sits on an expansive, manicured lawn; its long driveway flanked by giant oak trees.
The autumn wind is blowing, swirling crispy golden leaves in all directions. It's a picturesque sight.
This is rural heartland and if you listen  you can hear deer roaring - although some pupils have mistaken them for lions, chuckles the school's principal Dane Robertson. At primary school imagination runs wild.
With just 73 pupils, this quaint little school at the top of the hill, has a homely feel.
Senior children are busy in the kitchen having harvested their latest crop from the community garden, and the smell of sizzling roast veges is quickly filling the school office.
Everyone will be getting a free taste at lunch today.
In between the cooking and the learning  going on in the classrooms, two junior children barrel into reception to show office manager Sharon Aitchison their work. Textbooks spread wide, they quickly rattle off what they have been doing and pause for her thoughts.
Mr Robertson says Kaimai School is one big family and perhaps a little different from its city cousins.
Kaimai children live on lifestyle or farming blocks and 90 per cent are able to bring a chicken, lamb, goat or calf on Calf Club Day. And here all kids play, even at Year 7 and 8. "They don't just 'hang out'," Mr Robertson says.
"The kids are kids. They are not worried so much about the cool gear and the cool group. Kids are exposed to a lot of things now, that we weren't exposed to at my age. There are students out there who are quite worldly. I say let them be kids because you're a long time an adult."
A Milo Evening run by the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) is one example of kids getting to be kids. Children are encouraged to go along to school in their pyjamas for a night in the library. Mr Robertson will read them a story and then they'll break into groups and parents will read to them.
"They get a bit too much sugar but by the time it kicks in they're in the car and heading home again," Mr Robertson says with a grin.
There are only four teachers at Kaimai School and Mr Robertson says without parent help, things just wouldn't happen.
Small schools mean tasks are shared more than usual.
At Kaimai School the caretaker works only one day a week, so  today Mr Robertson was outside with the leaf blower, clearing the driveway.
"If the toilet is blocked ... I have to do these things," he says. "And I have to teach. It keeps you sort of on the ground and level with what is happening in the school.
"I know all the students' names, it's the nature of a small school and it's a good thing I think."
Mr Robertson also mans the phones in reception from time to time,  and develops the curriculum (there are no syndicate leaders here), monitoring students' achievement data, coming up with new ideas and finding money and applying for grants.
It's a full-on role for a first-time principal, but it's one 34-year-old Mr Robertson has quickly embraced in the two-and-a-half years he's held the helm.
"You always look at what you don't have. You speak to some of the older principals and they didn't have as much non-contact time, but then they also tell me that they didn't have as many other things to do. It would always be nice if the Ministry of Education gave us a little bit more money.
"We look at what some schools spend on certain items and that's just about our whole operations grant for the year."
All the same, Kaimai School has plenty to showcase - including a playground space to be envious of.
"We offer what a rural school has to offer, but offer what other schools have to offer," Mr Robertson says.
That includes laptops in the Year 7/8 classes and 14 laptops that float around the other classrooms. Thanks to grants and a visionary board of trustees, about $50,000 has been spent fitting the school out with information and communication technology.
"To my knowledge we are the only school where parents don't have to pay, or provide laptops themselves," Mr Robertson says.
All students sit the International Competition for Assessment in Schools (ICAS) run by New South Wales University. And last year Kaimai kids received 13 credits, putting them in the top 20 per cent, and two excellents, putting them in the top 7 per cent.
They play competitive sports, a third of students play guitar, drums, keyboard or sing, and the senior students are preparing for this year's upcoming Made (Movie and Digital Excellence) Awards.
For a small school, Kaimai School punches above its weight.
And that makes Mr Robertson "really proud".
NEXT WEEK: We visit Papamoa School.
If you know something happening in your school, we want to hear. Phone Carly Udy on 577 7770, ext 57514, or email news@bayofplentytimes.co.nz