Strathmore Community School
Tahi Tatou Tupu — Together We Learn
Our Community
Find out more here about what's to be found around us.
Hover your mouse over the image to see where we are in this picture.
School Board of Trustees
As for all New Zealand schools, our Board oversees and governs the school's operation. Our Board comprises our principal, a staff representative, and a selection of students' parents (elected or co-opted).
Friends of Strathmore Community School
The school is supported by the Friends of Strathmore Community School group.
The Friends would like to thank everyone who supported our fundraising by purchasing a ticket in our 2010 Christmas raffle. Congratulations to the prize-winners, who have been notified. Over $1,500 was raised! Deserving of extra-special thanks are also:
- Trish Snowden of Remax Leaders, who donated our major prize of a homewares hamper, and
- Paul Vegar of Miramar New World, who granted us a prime spot in their lobby for a ticket-sales table.
Our involvement in the community
We are continually looking for ways to promote our school as a base for community events. In 2008, we held our first Christmas carols-by-candlelight evening, which was a great success.
Our whanau room is available to the community for hire. (Contact the office for more information.) We are particularly grateful to Saint Aidan's Church in Miramar for the ongoing supportive relationship we share with them.
We have established friendly connections with Scots College, and local pre-schools and community services, and look for opportunities to collaborate with them on appropriate projects, such as the 'Wheels Day' fundraiser by our neighbouring kindergarten and pre-school. We regularly use our grounds to provide parking (for a token fee) during local events, such as the Scots College gala. See Our Facilities for some more details.
We are working toward setting up a community People's Market, along similar lines to the markets held monthly in Newtown. This might initially be set up to run once a term. The goal is for it to involve all sectors of our community, coming together to buy and sell, be entertained and get to know others in our neighbourhood.
Our suburb
Our school is the only public primary school in the suburb of Strathmore Park. Our students' families live mainly within the suburb, which is a broad and fascinating mix in many ways. Our local area is home both to the wealthy and the less-advantaged; to indigenous Mäori, fifth-generation pakeha (such as European colonial settlers), Pacific and Asian neighbours, plus a range of more recent immigrants and refugees.
Around us are new homes and old, state housing units, red-brick bungalows, and modern villas. Even our streets show this wonderful diversity: our school is found at the end of a long, wide, level street, but it is at the bottom of a hill that is wound with narrow twisting roads. The Wellington "green belt" crosses the top of the hill behind us, and the Eastern Walkway winds through this. Located on the Miramar penninsula, we enjoy slightly warmer and sunnier weather than the western side of the city. We are still within Wellington, however, so of course we also get to enjoy the wind!
What's nearby?
Within a five-minute walk of the school, there are two pre-schools, the Strathmore Community Base, our small local shopping centre, two churches, and Scots College. Within a five-minute drive, you can reach Wellington Airport, Miramar golf course, several parks and playgrounds, several more churches, several other primary schools and preschool facilities, two beaches (Seatoun and Lyall Bay), and the shopping centres for the suburbs of Miramar and Seatoun.
Our school has unofficially 'adopted' Tarakaena Bay as our school's beach. It is not far from us as the bird flies, on the south coast. We have set up penguin shelters there, planted trees, and carried out 'beach clean-ups'.
Nearby schools
The nearest specific intermediate school (Years Seven and Eight) is Evans Bay Intermediate School in Kilbirnie. These secondary schools lie in our area, and between us and central Wellington (in order of proximity):
- Scots College (boys), Strathmore Park
- Rongotai College (boys), Rongotai
- Saint Patrick's (boys, Catholic), Kilbirne
- Saint Catherine (girls, Catholic), Kilbirnie
- Wellington College (boys), Mount Victoria
- Wellington East Girls College (girls), Mount Victoria
- Wellington High School (co-ed), Mount Cook