School of the Week: Pukehina Primary

Imagine a school where there is one laptop per student, classes are small and children get one-on-one teaching.
In this school resources are abundant, facilities are spacious and the children are well-rounded, confident learners.
It sounds too good to be true, but at Pukehina Primary, these dreams are a reality.
I ventured out to Pukehina Primary one sunny afternoon last week and got a taste of life at a true rural school.
Only a short drive from Te Puke and over a one-lane bridge and I'm standing in front of the two-classroomed school that offers a world of opportunity for its 24 students. Looking around I see native trees and an abundance of greenery. A Tui, singing its sweet song, is sitting in the branches of a tree planted in the centre of the school.
Inside the senior class, a handful of students are sitting in front of their own laptop. They're working on persuasive writing, discussing the pros and cons of a school uniform. Nearby, two more students sit at adjacent desks and are buried deep in a worksheet.
Teacher Roger Reid is familiar with the students, he treats them as equals, but they know he means business. One student asks for help and Mr Reid immediately obliges, but challenges her to work it out for herself. Other students ask questions - some answer each other's questions.
Mr Reid is passionate and enthusiastic and he dedicates his whole self to his students but for him, coming to school each day is a blessing. This is his fourth year teaching at Pukehina Primary after coming from another Western Bay school. He commutes from Papamoa and said driving 50 minutes each day was a small sacrifice to make for his dream job.
"The best years I've had in teaching have been at rural schools."
"There's isn't the crap that goes on at bigger schools ... the children are completely different out here, the setting is lovely and the kids all get on well. It's really a wonderful place to work."
Students at Pukehina Primary are separated into two classrooms - junior (Year 1-3) and senior (Year 4-8). In this composite-class setting, students work at their own level, regardless of age, which Mr Reid said was an effective way of teaching.
"The beauty of it is that the kids have ownership of their learning and they're learning at their own pace. That doesn't mean they can slack off, and the top students don't coast, because if they're working at the appropriate level then they won't have time to muck around."
Mr Reid said the benefit of having a small class meant he could focus his attention on each child and work with them individually to address their learning needs.
And if they're succeeding in the classroom, they succeed in other aspects of their life, Mr Reid said.
"Rural kids are different, they're confident and willing to learn. They genuinely care about the others and I think that's a part of this school culture."
The bell rings for lunch and I sit down with 12-year-olds Rangimarie Turner and Kahurangi Tango. The pair are in Mr Reid's class and spoke very highly of their teacher.
"Most days he lets us go out and play games in the afternoon and I think that's cool," Kahurangi said.
Rangimarie added: "He's always talking and joking and he makes the day lots of fun."
Outside the classroom, teacher Annette Patterson and the junior students eat their lunch on the sun-kissed veranda. Mrs Patterson tells me how she loves the school and how the students who attended were very lucky.
"Because of the small numbers I love it how we're able to give each child individual attention and cater for all their needs.
"We've got a very flexible timetable, which makes learning fun, for example if I wanted to I could take the children into the staff room and do cooking with them."
It's this flexibility that principal Michele North said was one of the stand out features of the school.
That and the fact the school is "extremely well resourced". Mrs North is proud of Pukehina Primary and she beams when she tells me 79 per cent of students are achieving at or above National Standards.
While it can sometimes be challenging, Mrs North loves her job.
"What we have here is really exciting. We have terrific staff and we have trust in each other.
"We have to make sure we are all on the same page and we have enough respect for each other to not step on each others toes.
"This place is too small and we have to be role models for the children."
SCHOOL OF THE WEEK
Name: Pukehina Primary School.
Where: Pukehina.
Pupils: 24.
Staff: 5.
Decile: 3.
Principal: Michele North.
School mission statement: Pukehina PROUD.