Carncot Independent School

It’s every parent’s goal to ensure their child leads a happy and successful life, and education plays a key role in achieving that. But in an ever-changing world, what ‘success’ looks like today may be different tomorrow.

For children to succeed throughout adulthood, it’s becoming clearer than ever that they need to be confident, self-starters who understand that curiosity enables them to continue learning throughout their lives. And here at Carncot, we take a holistic approach to nurturing your child so they can build a foundation that sets them up for a lifetime of success.

Aside from being Palmerston North’s only independent school, our small class sizes set us apart from other primary and intermediate schools. It’s a huge advantage because it opens up the ability to provide your child the attention they need, especially in the first three years of school.

To help establish a sound work ethic and understanding of learning strategies, classes in year one and two are capped at 18. In year three, the maximum is 20, and from years four to eight we keep classes sizes at 24 or fewer.As Palmerston North’s only independent school, we’re in a unique position where we can offer students a programme that’s tailored to their specific needs. Small class sizes provide teachers the time required to make each student’s learning individual, and by employing specialist teachers they learn more from subject experts in a style they will be familiar with in high school. The results speak for themselves.

Throughout Carncot School, our strong values are front and centre. We teach students about the importance of Respect, Integrity, Care, Honesty, Excellence and Responsibility (RICHER) in everything we do; and our holistic approach to education means these values can be taught from the classroom to the sports field. Programmes like our buddy system allow older students to instil character in younger ones, and because of our small roll we’re able to foster a real community that surrounds our students.

One of the biggest advantages of a Carncot education is the individual learning attention possible through smaller class sizes. The first three years are the most crucial for establishing the Carncot work ethic and setting up the learning strategies, which will stand our children in good stead for their whole lives. To help with this, we set a maximum class size of 18 in Years 1 and 2. In Year 3 the maximum is 20, Year 4 the maximum is 22, and for the rest of the school, we keep class sizes at 24 or fewer.

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 personal excellence.

Right from Year 1, Carncot pupils leave their classrooms to take lessons with our specialist teachers. Specialists, passionate about their areas of teaching expertise, reinforce children’s skills and confidence in areas such as mathematics, science, art, physical education and languages. One of the reasons why our students transition so well into secondary school is due to the similar style of learning employed at Carncot.

Our focus on pastoral care and well-being is underpinned by the notion that happy children are free to learn, along with our school values: respect, integrity, caring, honesty, excellence and responsibility (RICHER). It’s a team effort, which includes various members from the school community, including the principal, teacher mentor, a dedicated Year 8 Gold Badge leader, peer mediator coordinators and playground peer mediators. The Carncot buddy system pairs older students as buddies and mentors with younger ones, and experience shows it has become a special part of student life at Carncot, as have the ongoing inter-House competitions with friendly rivalry to the fore.

Sport teaches pupils the importance of teamwork, team commitment and learning to cooperate. It is another way for to learn new skills, and to challenge themselves. Carncot pupils join school teams in a wide range of summer and winter sporting options. Following our school events, we enter representatives in local primary school competitions, such as for swimming, cross country and athletics.

Each year, a range of class and school day-long school trips see pupils embracing a wide range of outdoor activities. From Year 4 onwards, pupils enjoy an annual school camp of increasing length. At each year level, we focus on personal, social and emotional development. We use our time on camp to undertake personal physical challenge-by-choice activities, to develop a respect and love for the outdoors.

Carefully selected staff offer quality before-school care is offered from 7.45 – 8.15am each day, while after-school care runs from 3.15 – 5.30pm, at competitive rates. Afternoon tea is provided, along with supervised quiet time to complete daily homework tasks. During most school vacation periods, subject to demand, we offer a wide range of exciting holiday programme activities.

We offer class music lessons, and many pupils take up the opportunity to have individual voice and/or instrumental tuition from a wide range of specialist music teachers who visit weekly. We enjoy regular school singing, undertake a major whole-school production on a biennial basis.

Our whole-school approach to Kapa haka adds another exciting and inclusive dimension to the cultural life of the school, and children proudly provide a strong kapa haka welcome for visitors and incoming pupils.