Our Vision (Moemoea)

Desire to Learn, Aspire to Achieve

Our Purpose (Whāinga)

To provide purposeful learning experiences that will help each child to become a life long learner

Our School's Aims (Nga Whainga o te Kura)

To provide a stimulating educational environment, which allows for a wide range of experiences. 

To provide balanced coverage of the New Zealand Curriculum.

To help all students experience success by providing programmes and activities that meet their individual learning needs and allow them to reach high standards of achievement.

To identify and analyse barriers to students' learning and achievement.

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. 

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.