PB4L Positive Behaviour for Learning is a school-wide approach used in New Zealand to create a positive, safe, and supportive school environment. It treats social and behavioural skills just like any other subject, teaching students how to behave appropriately and giving them the tools to make good choices. We work together as a team to ensure expectations are clear and we are all on the same page.

If you are interested or would like to know more, please reach out to the team, and we will endeavour to answer your questions. Alternatively, you can read about PB4L here.

Our School Values

Our values are an integral part of the make-up of Waitati Kura. They encompass who we are and what we look for in school leavers. These are displayed in each teaching space, and we are proud to have the feathers that line our driveway as you enter the school. Our values are as follows:

  • Tūrangawaewae – Fostering a sense of belonging, identity, and care for our environment.
  • Manaakitanga – Uplifting others through kindness, respect, and deep consideration.
  • Rangatiratanga – Developing leadership, accountability, and a growth mindset.
  • Kotahitanga – Working together as a team, problem-solving, and including everyone.

The Waitati Way Expectations

We are absolutely thrilled to share a wonderful update with you all. Recently, our team has been working hard behind the scenes to refresh and overhaul our Waitati Way Expectations.

Our main goal was simple: we wanted to ensure that our tamariki and ākonga have absolute clarity about what we expect here at school, while making our core school values truly visible and alive in everything we do.

Moving forward, you will notice that we will frequently link our weekly PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) focus directly to these expectations. This helps our students connect their day-to-day actions with our overarching values in a meaningful, practical way.

Our refreshed framework brings together four key pillars:

  • Tūrangawaewae – Fostering a sense of belonging, identity, and care for our environment.
  • Manaakitanga – Uplifting others through kindness, respect, and deep consideration.
  • Rangatiratanga – Developing leadership, accountability, and a growth mindset.
  • Kotahitanga – Working together as a team, problem-solving, and including everyone.

We encourage you to explore the new visual guide with your tamariki and chat about how these values shine at both school and home.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support in helping our young people grow, learn, and thrive the Waitati Way!

We use the acronym THINK at school. Below is what it stands for and is a good reminder of the expectations when speaking to others.

OK, that’s the sunny stuff. But what happens when issues come up?

PB4L Focus of the week

As a part of reminding students of our PB4L journey and to embed our learning, you will see the following image around the kura. Each week, the team changes these into focus sentences. There are two or three a week, and we use this to remind us of expectations and also hand out gems. We remind students to stay focused when responding to different behaviours. We will include it in the newsletter so you can discuss it with your children at home and help close the learning triangle.

The Response Continuum

Together as a team, we have co-constructed a clear behaviour response continuum that reflects our values, what we see now, and the positive environment we want to build at Waitati School.

We’ve kept this framework as succinct and straightforward as possible so it is easy for our tamariki, kaiako, and whānau to understand and use.

We take behaviour seriously here. To ensure a safe, respectful space for everyone, we have set firm, non-negotiable boundaries around:

  • Unacceptable language
  • Unsafe physical touch
  • “Rage baiting” or intentional provocation

These behaviours do not align with who we are. Our goal is to guide our ākonga to be respectful, resilient, and ready for the world by the time they graduate as Year 8s. We appreciate your support in upholding these standards for our school community.

What else would you like to know?

Please send your feedback in an email to the School Office. This helps us make the website useful to the entire school community. Thanks!