Ōrere School
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We are a small rural school with strong ties to our coastal community. We believe that children need free play, meaningful structured learning, and personal choice to be successful at school.
Our learning programmes are developed to cater to the needs and interests of the children that are currently in the school. Our teachers are dynamic, inspirational people who know the children and their whānau.
We aim for our children to be confident learners who have a strong sense of self-worth and belonging. They develop meaningful connections in the school and the community.
Our children value the unique Māori perspective that is part of our New Zealand heritage while valuing diversity in all its shapes and forms.
Our teaching and learning programmes are underpinned by our strategic plan that is focussed on enhancing the hauora of every learner by meeting their individual needs.

Ko Kohukohunui te maunga
Ko Ōrere te awa
Ko Tikapa te moana
Ko Wharekawa te marae
Ko Ngati Paoa ko Ngāi Tai ngā iwi
29 Oct 2026
Good afternoon whānau,
We have completed our lockdown exercise and all students, staff and persons on-site are safely accounted for. Everyone did extremely well and responded to instructions.
You should have received an email and notification from the Edge app that we went into lockdown.
If you haven't yet downloaded the Edge app, now is a good time to do so as this is what we use in emergency situations.
If you have the Edge app and did not receive a notification, please let me know.
If you have any concerns or questions about our lockdown procedures please let us know.
Ōrere School is conducting a lockdown exercise. This is how you will be notified, should a lockdown occur at the school. Please refrain from contacting any staff at the school, as this could lead to distraction of their primary focus, which is caring for our students. Please refer to all further updates on the school website.
Dear Parents,
As part of keeping our school safe we need to be able to respond safely and quickly to a range of emergency situations.
We work alongside an independent company, Harrison Tew® Ltd, who specialises in emergency management planning for schools, whose procedures have been successfully implemented in hundreds of schools throughout New Zealand.
As part of maintaining our emergency procedures in our school, specialised training is being conducted with our staff by Harrison Tew® Ltd.
The students will also receive information on how to respond in an emergency directed at their respective age groups from either their teacher or Harrison Tew® Ltd.
We will then be conducting a lockdown exercise under the guidance and support of Harrison Tew® Ltd.
During the exercise you will receive a notification from the school, so it is important that your emergency contact details are up to date and correct. The notification will emphasise that this is an exercise/practice and will explain that all updated information will then be posted on the school website.
In a genuine incident, should you become aware of a lockdown or evacuation at the school, can I please ask that you do not attend the school or phone, as we will not be able to respond. Your presence or contact may make it more difficult for us or the emergency services to manage a situation.
We thank you for your support.
Good afternoon parents,
We are having an assembly this Thursday 29th October in Papatūānuku at 2pm. You are all invited to join.
Good afternoon whānau,
You may have seen on our list of upcoming dates that Photolife was booked for Wednesday 11th November, this has been moved to Thursday 19th November.
If you wish to have Sibling photos taken on this day, you need to register using the below link:
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