Clover Park Middle School serves the community of southern Otara, close to the Manukau City Centre. Opened as a traditional
Intermediate school in 1981, Clover Park officially changed its status in 1995 to a four year Middle School, catering for emerging adolescents in Years 7 to 10 (Forms 1 to 4). Clover Park was the first middle school in New Zealand.
In 2001 Maori parents sought to retain their older children at Clover Park Middle School and, after a four year struggle, finally won approval, in 2005 to open the former bilingual unit, Te Whanau o Tupuranga, as a separate designated-character Maori bilingual Years 7-15 secondary school. This school opened in 2006 and major redevelopment of the shared campus began in 2007. The new administration buildings, whanau centre, auditorium, gymnasium, library/information centre, staff centre and technology facilities are all shared spaces with Clover Park Middle School. The impact of the restructuring has been significant for both schools.
Clover Park is a decile one school with approx. 160 students in 2009. Clover Park Middle School enjoys strong community support and parents are actively involved in the school’s activities.
In 2005 Clover Park teachers produced Pasifika bilingual resources for Statistics NZ about the Census. These resources included activities in Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Maori and English activities that were relevant to Pasifika learners. The resources were published by Statistics NZ and distributed to schools throughout the country. They were also trialled by our students prior to publication and used at the time of the Census.
In June 2003 Clover Park Middle School won the national title of the Goodman Fielder Composite School of the Year. This was a prestigious title, made even more of an achievement by the fact that the two other finalists were decile 10, private schools. The award recognised high quality in all aspects of the school’s learning and administration.
For all young people this is a time of personal, physical and emotional change. Often the young person who loved primary school, was never in trouble, starts to take more notice of their friends than they do of their parents.
Children start to struggle with problems of peer pressure and trying to find their own identity. Parents of these young teenagers will often say how much they have changed in a very short time.
Middle Schools cater especially for this age group. The staff at Clover Park Middle School and Te Whanau o Tupuranga are trained to understand the development through this special stage and to help you and your young teenager. Many of our teachers have undertaken extra tertiary study in middle schooling.
Last Updated Saturday, February 06 2010 @ 09:43 PM CST|854 Hits 
