Primary school

The Early Primary Years (Years 1 – 3)

Learning is a life-long skill. You have already given your son or daughter a great start through early childhood education. Now it is time for their next milestone, as you choose the primary school that is right for them.

Children thrive in our unique, independent school environment, so much so that we pride ourselves on the pursuit of individual excellence for our junior school aged children through:

• Low student to teacher ratios, whereby your child gets the attention they deserve through increased interactions with their teacher. Our new entrant pupils get off to a flying start!
• Employing subject specialist teachers. Our classroom teachers focus on the core aspects of literacy and numeracy, and the children benefit from subject specialist teachers who are passionate about their curriculum area! Right from Year 1, Carncot pupils have weekly timetabled periods with our dedicated specialist Science, Physical Education, Art and Music teachers, making use of our well-equipped, science lab, gymnasium, art studio and music suites.
• Promoting our strong school values of respect, integrity, caring, honesty, excellence and responsibility. From their first days at Carncot, pupils are encouraged and supported to become confident and community-focused citizens. Our junior school children have regular contact with their senior school buddies, and experience the warmth and sense of belonging that comes from being a valued member of a small, safe and caring community.
• Use of evidence-based teaching methods, including the structured literacy approach to acquisition of early literacy skills.
• Through the use of the Cambridge International Curriculum in Years 4 -8, world recognised as providing excellent structure and specific, detailed learning goals at each year level.

Starting school is a special time for children and parents alike. Our transition programmes are designed to make this step a seamless and enjoyable experience. Pupils and staff alike look forward to welcoming new children into our special school community. We offer school visits and trial days and, when you are ready, we will tailor a transition programme to suit the needs of your child.

The Middle Primary Years (Years 4 – 6)

You would expect academic success at school and we certainly don’t disappoint on that front! Carncot though is much more than academia. We are preparing students for a life of learning, in which they recognise their own strengths, abilities and sense of belonging. To do that, as pupils progress into Years 4, 5 and 6, we continue to nurture the whole child; academic, sporting, cultural and social and emotional.

Along the way, we celebrate their interests and achievements, both within and outside school. Throughout their time at Carncot, children enjoy a myriad of leadership opportunities all aimed at building their skills and confidence, which are so valuable later in life.

Teaching and learning

The word “structured” when referring to education is falling out of favour with some. Structure though is part of our learning culture and we see it as the key to success. Each pupil has their own desk, within their own classroom. They know who their class teacher is. Each pupil is accountable for their learning, and their teachers personalise the class learning programmes to challenge, motivate and inspire individual excellence.

Students know that to succeed, they have to get to work and stay focussed. We drive this through individual attention, tailoring programmes to individual needs, maximising learning time, a strong work ethic and reiterating our school values.

We aim for individual excellence. It’s a bold statement, underpinned by our confidence in the way we teach children to learn. But it’s well-placed confidence based upon the high end results from the range of norm-referenced assessments undertaken, and from the high proportion of distinctions and merits gained in external assessments, like ICAS. However, successful learning is much more than just data. The focus is on both a student’s strengths and their areas for development. Students learn that it is okay to say, “I don’t understand,” and then to go about the learning in an open and receptive way. Successful learning is about discovering how we learn as individuals and about applying ourselves in a purposeful way to the task. As a result, the marks just come.

The Curriculum

Throughout our primary school years, teachers use the New Zealand Curriculum as a framework for building team, class and individual education programmes in the eight curriculum areas (English, the arts, health and physical education, languages, mathematics and statistics, science, social sciences, and technology). Specialist teachers in physical education and health, mathematics, science, visual art, languages, and music elevate education beyond the usual primary school levels. Academic programmes are complemented by a wide range of provisions (e.g. competitions, badged challenges, international assessments and clubs), which are very popular.