Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu or Te Kura (formerly The Correspondence School) is New Zealand's largest school with around 25,000 students enrolled each year, from early childhood to secondary level. It is headquartered in Portland Crescent in Thorndon,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. In addition to its ordinary full-time students, Te Kura provides programmes to students at other state-owned schools where a subject is unavailable, and to adults. Te Kura is Ministry of Education funded.

Early history

The school began in 1922 with 100 primary level students, expanding into

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

in 1928 with 50 students and into early childhood education in 1976. When the school was first established in the 1920s, parliamentarians referred to the founding vision as "a school for the benefit of the most isolated children, for example of lighthouse keepers and remote shepherds living upon small islands or in mountainous districts". The same parliamentary debate on TCS also described it as "a school of last resort, ensuring that no matter where he lived every child should have as full an education as he was capable of achieving".

Recent developments

The school began a significant review of its services under the leadership of Debbie Francis (CEO January 2004 - July 2006) during which time the school was restructured. A $6 million annual deficit was corrected primarily through reducing the number of salaried staff - amongst other strategies. Further to this, the school developed a Differentiated Services Model for its full-time students. Mike Hollings commenced in the position of CEO from August 2006 after completing a contract as the CEO of New Zealand Education Review Office (ERO). Further restructuring was undertaken at the end of 2007 when the school commenced the adoption of a more regionally focused model.

Notable staff

* Arthur Gordon Butchers (1885–1960), principal, educationalist and historian *

Louise Henderson Dame Louise Etiennette Sidonie Henderson (née Sauze, 21 April 1902 – 27 June 1994) was a French-New Zealand artist and painter. Life Louise Etiennette Sidonie Sauze was born on 21 April 1902 at Boulogne sur Seine, Paris, France ...

(1902–1994), artist and painter *

Trish McKelvey Patricia Frances McKelvey (born 5 January 1942), often known as Trish McKelvey, is a New Zealand former cricketer, cricket administrator and educator. She appeared in 15 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals for New Zealand between 1966 and ...

(born 1942), former cricketer, cricket administrator, and educator *

Apirana Mahuika Apirana Tuahae Kaukapakapa Mahuika (1 May 1934 – 9 February 2015) was a New Zealand Māori tribal leader. He was chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou from its establishment in 1987 until his death in 2015. Biography Mahuika was born at Whakaw ...

(1934–2015), Māori tribal leader *

Te Paekiomeka Joy Ruha Te Paekiomeka Joy Ruha (21 February 1931 – 16 December 2011) was a prominent Māori people, Māori leader and member of Māori Women's Welfare League. Of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Porou descent, she lived most of her life in Wellington. A ...

(1931–2011), prominent Māori leader and teacher

Notable alumni

Courtney McGregor Courtney Louise McGregor (born 17 November 1998) is a retired artistic gymnast who represented New Zealand. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics and retired in 2020. Early life and education McGregor was born in 1998 in Christchurch, wher ...

(born 1998), representative artistic gymnast *

Nico Porteous Nico Porteous (born 23 November 2001) is a New Zealand freestyle skier and an Olympic champion. He is New Zealand's youngest Olympic Games medallist, having won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics at the age of 16. He became New Zealand' ...

(born 2001), represented New Zealand and won bronze at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

in Pyeongchang. *

Miguel Porteous Miguel Porteous (born 14 May 1999) is a New Zealand freestyle skier who competes internationally. He represented New Zealand in the 2018 Winter Olympics, where he finished 17th in the men's ski halfpipe and the 2022 Winter Olympics where he ...

(born 1999) represented New Zealand at the

in Pyeongchang.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Correspondence School The Educational institutions established in 1922 Schools in Wellington City Distance education institutions based in New Zealand 1922 establishments in New Zealand