Hampden Street School is an innovative, student-centred school in the heart of beautiful Nelson city.
A great place to learn
We draw from a diverse community and pride ourselves on our close connection with the Nelson South Community and our commitment to delivering a relevant and localised curriculum that makes the most of opportunities to learn around our region. The school leads the way in our region for innovation and future-focused practice. We have a highly skilled staff whose culturally responsive approach to teaching and learning means that every student feels they have a sense of identity and belonging in our kura.
As a 21st century kura we have modern innovative classroom spaces, technology readily accessible to all students and teaching and learning programmes that put students at the centre and encourage student agency. All classrooms at Hampden Street are at the Ministry of Education’s Innovative Learning Environment standard.
Fun programmes such as STEM, Genius Hour, Whole School Discovery and Passions ensure high student engagement, plus an opportunity for students to follow their interests and passions and work collaboratively with like-minded peers in a collaborative way.
Literacy and Numeracy are foundational to learning at HSS. Our teachers are highly skilled in teaching these key areas, including structured literacy which is embedded across the school and the culturally responsive DMIC maths approach.
The school has wonderful facilities with a large hall, tiger turf, courts, fun and accessible playgrounds, a stunning outdoor classroom a scooter track and two beautiful heated pools.
Our learning programmes cater for Year 0 - 6 students.
Our STARS Values
From community, student voice and staff consultation, we have identified what we consider to be the five key Learner Qualities that best reflect our vision for our students. They are our interpretation of, and are linked to, the Key Competencies, Values and Principles in the NZ Curriculum. Each of our Learner Qualities has been defined and rubrics developed by staff and students so they can “live” them within the classroom.
Our STARS values guide our programmes and our Strategic Plan focuses our planning and programmes.
Currently our strategic plan focuses include providing a localised curriculum that is relevant to their world and has a connected pathway through their learning journey. We want our HSS students to be engaged, agentic, bicultural citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand. They will experience mauri ora and a sense of belonging.
School Vision
Hampden Street School is a great place for students to become confident in themselves, strong in their cultures, curious in their learning, empathetic to others and flourishing in their lives.
Hampden Street Students Reach for the ………
S – Strive for Success - Ekea te taumata
T – Take Initiative - Rangatiratanga
A – Actively Collaborate - Whanaungatanga
R – Respond creatively - Mōhiotanga
S – Show Empathy - Manaakitanga
Culturally Responsive Practices
Hampden Street School has enthusiastic staff and well-developed and culturally responsive programmes that cater for the range of students within each year group.
We make the most of our local environment and are committed to engaging with the 8 iwi in Te Tauihu in our commitment to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi and exploring an authentic local curriculum. Hampden Street is proud of the strong relationship we have with our kaitiaki iwi, Rangitāne o Wairau.
The arts and culture are an important feature of our school. Our Kapa Haka group, Te Kakano is very popular with our students. They perform regularly at school functions and in the wider community. We also hold mihi whakatau welcome ceremonies twice termly to welcome our five year olds who are starting school. Our annual Matariki Celebrations brings our community together.
Taking Opportunities
Each tamariki is encouraged to strive to meet their potential and challenge themselves to build their skills across the curriculum and in a wide range of ever-evolving EOTC opportunities, sports, performing arts and lunchtime clubs.
We see the environment and the outdoors as very important and we have a wonderful school camp programme that extends from Year 3 to 6. The Year 3-4 students do a two day camp in the Wakefield/Brightwater area in one of the established camp facilities, whereas our seniors go a little further afield and do a two year programme alternating in the Abel Tasman and the Marlborough Sounds. These amazing four day camps not only share these special parts of our region with the children but also are wonderful class bonding experiences.
Another wonderful event is our bi-annual whole-school production. Staff and students always work very hard to produce a show that highlights the arts in our school. Hampden Street’s Got Talent is an annual highlight. It gives our students a chance to share their talents. The rock band, the choir and our weekly itinerant music programme are further features of our extensive arts programme. In 2024 we introduced a specialist performing arts programme. Each class receives a 1 ½ hour block of drama, dance or music every fortnight lead by a specialist teacher.
Staying Connected
At Hampden Street School we put our students at the centre of all that we do. The most important feature of this school is our commitment to always place our ākonga first. It is our core business and we believe every ākonga should feel happy and safe at school and has the right to achieve. Good relationships between kaiako, ākonga and whanau are key to success.
We have well-established School / Home Communication – our fortnightly newsletter provides news and information about what’s happening at school, this website, our facebook page and class Seesaw pages provide up to date notices and school information on a daily basis. For information on how to connect to your child’s Seesaw page please contact your child’s teacher.
Hampden Street School has an “Open Door” policy and when parents have concerns or questions we encourage them to talk to the class teacher, DP or the Principal.
Whanau support is key to ensuring the best education for our tamariki. We value our whanau and ensuring you have the information you need to ensure your tamariki can benefit from all the wonderful opportunities at Hampden Street School in their time with us.