Our Kāhui Ako

We are an unique and diverse community of learning. Our geographical community forms the northern part of the Devonport-Takapuna local board. Our schools are all in the decile 7-9 range. We are a culturally diverse community and this is reflected in the ethnic composition of our school.

Demographics breakdown

Our wider community demonstrates their ongoing commitment to the values of our kura and their belief in education as a pathway to future happiness, including education in its broadest sense.

Sport forms a huge part of the life of our community, both during the school week and on Saturdays. Most of our young people take part in sporting activities and many of our parents do too.

Three iwi have tangata whenua status on the North Shore – Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Paoa and Kawerau a Maki. In the 2013 census, there were over 30 iwi represented on the North Shore and nearly 30% of Māori living there.

The majority of students from most of the primary schools and intermediate schools attend the two secondary schools which have a population of around 4500 between them. There are significant numbers of students attending these secondary schools who come from outside our community due to an out of zone ballot system. There is a large number of early childhood providers serving our community and Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has a strong presence with its North Shore campus.

We are an Auckland community: cohesive but mobile, diverse and strong.

Our schools and ECE providers have cohesive, responsive goals. We want, as espoused by Sunnybrae Normal, to be a “connected community of positively engaged learners”, a phrase that embraces us all.

We are located near the beautiful Lake Pupuke, hence our name, the Pupuke Kāhui Ako. Pupuke stems from the Māori verb, pukea, which means to well up, rise or to increase in volume. Lake Pupuke is often referred to as a heart shaped lake.