39 Bradshaw Street,
Bluff 9814

Our School

We are a school that overlooks a stunning harbour situated in the heart of Bluff Motupōhue, a north facing port and fishing town like no other. Home to the famous Bluff Oyster, and part of Murihiku, Southland. Our school is over 150 years old, having been established in 1867.

Our values

Our School logo is in the shape of a Tio or Oyster to represent the town of Bluff and our school values.

The Blue indicates Learner and connects us with Tangaroa, the atua of the sea and fish: the Red represents Responsibility and reflects where the journey begins. It is shaped like the maihi at the local Marae.

The Green represents Respectfulness and is shaped like Motupōhue, the green Bluff Hill we sit under, and connects us with Tāne-Mahuta, the atua of the forest and birds.

History

Bluff School was formed from the amalgamation of Bluff Community School and Konini Schools following the Invercargill Network Review in 2005. The new school was named Bluff Community School but the word ‘Community’ was dropped after community consultation in 2015.

We are a well-resourced decile 3 full primary and intermediate school for Y1–8. The majority of our ākonga identify as Māori and our surroundings, including Rakiura and the Tītī Islands, are of huge significance to mana whenua. Bluff Motupōhue is rich in culture and history. Many whānau have played important roles in establishing this wonderful town and school. This shines through in our tamariki and their whānau who attend Bluff school. They are engaged and always willing to help out.

Bluff School today

Our current roll is 138 students and we are a full primary school from Years 1-8, U3. At present we have 6 classrooms at Bluff School, with 8 teaching staff. Our Principal is full release and we have a walking Deputy Principal.

We are involved with ERO under the new evaluative partnership model and our evaluation/action plan is currently in a draft format for the next 2 years at the school. Our previous ERO reports are available on the ERO website and were very favourable. We have a fantastic staff at the school and a very supportive board.

Additional information

Our school has been working with SchoolDocs to create a website for our policies and procedures. We are excited to announce that the site is now live and available to our school community.

The school works on a subscription basis with SchoolDocs to maintain, update, and review our policies. SchoolDocs provides us with a comprehensive core set of policies, which have been well researched and follow the Ministry of Education National Administration Guidelines. The policies and procedures are tailored to our school, and the school supplies specific information such as our charter, and procedures for behaviour management, reporting to parents, etc.

SchoolDocs updates, modifies, or creates policies in response to changes in legislation or Ministry guidelines, significant events, reviews/requests from schools, and regular reviewing from the SchoolDocs team. Our board of trustees has the opportunity to view changes/additions and comment on them before they are implemented. We will advise you when policies are up for review and how you can take part in the review.

We invite you to visit the site at https://bluff.schooldocs.co.nz to look over our policies.