About Us

We have a long history of welcoming International Students into our community and we look forward to your child joining St Thomas’s School.

The city of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city with a population of around 1.8 million people, is ranked as one of the most liveable cities in the world. Situated in the beautiful Eastern Bays of Auckland and overlooking the sea towards Rangitoto Island, St Thomas’s School has served the community of Kohimarama since 1955. We are a short walk from Kohimarama Beach and just 8km from the Auckland Central Business District.

Catering for students from Years 1 to 8 (5-14 years old), we are a high performing school where students excel and experience rich, varied and meaningful learning opportunities. We are proud of the high-quality teaching and learning that we off er and the extensive range of academic, social, cultural and sporting activities available to our students.

Extensive school grounds with a range of onsite facilities such as a swimming pool, a bicycle track with 50 bicycles, all weather playing areas, a technology/STEAM department, a library and an environmental science study area ensures our students have access to a well-rounded education.

With our long history of welcoming international students into our community, we have a quality induction and education programme provided by staff in our English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) department.

Well prepared for an ever-changing world, the St Thomas’s School learning community is:

• Respectful – valuing who we are as individuals, welcoming of diversity in others and caring for our environment.
• Resilient – ambitious, persistent in overcoming challenges and driven to be the best we can be.
• Responsible – for ourselves and for our connection to those around us.

At St Thomas’s School we live these values to successfully play our part in the world.

Academic Programme

St Thomas’s School believes in nurturing young minds and fostering a love of learning from an early age. Our comprehensive academic programme is designed to inspire curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking skills in every student.

From literacy and numeracy to environmental science, STEAM and physical education, we provide a well-rounded integrated education that supports students to make connections to their own knowledge, culture and experiences and prepares them for success.

ESOL Department

With a dedicated team of highly experienced and well trained ESOL Teachers and English Language Learning Assistants (ELLAs), our ESOL department supports students to learn English both in class and in small groups for extra reading, writing, speaking and listening activities.

Learning Extension

We have a range of learning extension programmes that run on-site across a variety of curriculum areas. These include Future Problem Solving, chess club, environmental science, digital technology, sport, ICAS testing, visual art, music, rock band and more.

STEAM Department

Our specialist STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths) department provides lessons for all students at all year levels every term. Their programme is hands-on, exciting and varied and includes learning experiences in materials, digital technologies, science, visual and performing arts, food production, engineering and applied mathematical concepts.

The Arts

Our students experience dance, visual arts and an opportunity to perform on stage with their class each year. We have a strong cultural group, choir and rock band who perform at various events. We offer music lessons covering a range of instruments as well as extra art lessons. Students also have the opportunity to participate in our major school productions where they can showcase their acting, singing, dancing, stage management and set design skills.

Sport

St Thomas’s School runs an extensive and successful sport programme. We offer a wide range of sports including athletics, cross-country, netball, football, basketball, hockey, touch rugby, swimming, orienteering, waterpolo, softball, tennis and more. These sports are offered to students at various times throughout the year and we have connections with local sports clubs for students wanting to participate in sport outside of school time.

EOTC
Education Outside the Classroom

Throughout their time at St Thomas’s School, our students get to participate in a variety of exciting outdoor experiences including camps, field trips, nature walks at local islands and wildlife sanctuaries, farm visits, cultural immersion, outdoor science experiments and environmental activities.

These hands-on learning experiences allow our students to engage with real-word environments, objects and situations, deepen their understanding and motivation to learn as well as increasing their connection to the natural world.  The experiences are also memorable and help to shape our students’ attitudes, values and lifelong interests.

School Facilities

Our classrooms are modern, well equipped and many boast beautiful views. We have high speed internet which ensures our students have success in digital learning. Our school library sits at the heart of the school and offers a range of reading resources as well as a games area that students can engage with during break times.

Our school has wonderful outdoor facilities, all looking out across the ocean to Auckland’s iconic Rangitoto Island.  We have separate junior and senior playgrounds, a large astroturf for all weather play, basketball/netball courts, a hall, an onsite swimming pool for junior swimming lessons, a large amount of field space as well as a challenging bike track and pump track that all students get to experience.

International Department:

International Student Director:  Helen Vercoelen – email:  hvercoelen@stthomas.school.nz

International Support Advisor (Japanese speaking): Teri Yanagisawa – email:  tyanagisawa@stthomas.school.nz

International Support Advisor (Chinese speaking): Cynthia Chau – email:  cchau@stthomas.school.nz

International Student Handbook and Agreement