Our School
Our school mission statement is: To educate, guide and mentor all students to become successful, internationally minded, lifelong learners.
Bucklands Beach Intermediate School opened on 1 February 1976 with a roll of 199 students. Since those early days it has grown significantly. For many years the roll was stable in the mid 500-student range. Additional in-fill housing, immigration, and a growing demand for out of zone places, are all factors in causing the school roll to grow substantially in recent years.
Over recent years Government immigration policies have resulted in significant changes to our school population. From a community with a predominant NZ born European population some years ago, we are now a multi–cultural school with the following ethnic balance:
Māori 5%
Pākehā 22%
Asian 68%
Pasifika 2%
other ethnic groups 3%
A significant challenge for teaching staff is being able to adequately cater for all students owing to the wide range of ability levels present. Many students show a high degree of competence across the curriculum. At the other extreme is a significant number who need considerable additional assistance. Included in this group are the many students from non-English speaking backgrounds. Programmes are in place to provide additional assistance to these students. BBI strives to be at the forefront of digital learning. The use of technology to enhance the learning experience at BBI has seen school invest heavily in hardware and infrastructure during the past 5 years. Approximately 75% of BBI students own personal laptops, which are fully integrated into class programmes.
The ongoing sustainability of International Baccalaureate, Primary Years Programme is an on-going current goal, and connecting this with the New Zealand Curriculum.
