Our Story

 

Ko tatou tenei - this is us

 

Geraldine Primary is a forward thinking and exciting school and we are working collaboratively to build a local curriculum that caters for all our diverse tamariki. This graphic outlines our vision, our values and our big ideas. By focusing on these areas we know that our tamariki will be prepared to face any changing local, national and global situation, be able to work together and be ready for the next stages in their lives. What an exciting time to be part of the Geraldine Primary whanau.

 

History (Nga mahi a nga Tupuna)

Education in Geraldine began in 1862 with a private school in a private home. The first public school was established in 1867, occupying the Bark Hut that Samuel Hewlings had used from 1854 as his home and survey office. This was the beginning of Geraldine’s District School. In 1872 the first public school was built in Cox Street, but was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1907. It was replaced, which saw the development of our existing primary school.

1963 saw the formation of two separate schools – Geraldine Primary School, for New Entrants – Standard 4 (now known as Years 1 – 6), and Geraldine High School for Forms 1 – 7 (now known as Years 7 – 13).

Since then, a number of new buildings have been erected at Geraldine Primary School. In 2005, the school was merged with Orari and Hilton Schools, after these two schools were closed. A new hall, which is a wonderful asset for both the school and community, was opened in 2006, with a new administration building opened in December 2007.

Two new teaching spaces, known as Rooms 15 and 16, were completed in December 2009. Five year olds that start during the year will typically begin their time at Geraldine Primary in these rooms. A new playground was constructed in November 2014. This was a project funded by the Geraldine Primary School Home and School and the Southern Trust. The Geraldine Lions provided the labour to assemble the new playground.

The junior block of Rooms 6, 7, 8 and 9, along with the adjacent toilet area was redeveloped in 2016. New breakout, resource and meeting spaces have been included in this project, along with modernised classroom spaces. 

Further development work was undertaken in 2019, the first of which was the modernisation of Rooms 1 and 2. Following this, the Board embarked on a major project which saw Room 13 being removed and a new classroom block constructed. This is now known as Rooms 10 and 11. The latter room was funded by the Board, local businesses and community grants and is connected to Room 10 by a shared break out space and art area. Room 3 and the adjacent toilet areas were upgraded in 2020 / 2021, with some toilet areas being repurposed into additional work / meeting spaces. In 2023 Rooms 12 and 13 were upgraded. 

 

Geraldine (Raukapuka)

Geraldine is a vibrant rural town with a population of around 3000. It is situated on the edge of the Canterbury Plains, in the South Island of New Zealand. Geraldine is 35 km north of Timaru, 50km south of Ashburton and 140km south of Christchurch. The town is a base for the local farming community and has a number of cafes, shops, boutiques and services on and around the main street.