What is Special

Our Logo

Otonga Road School is an urban school catering for Years 1 – 6 at the southern end of Rotorua city. It is a high decile school with an approximate roll of 570 children of whom 74% European and South African, 16% Maori, 7% Asian, 1% Pacific .

The diagrammatic representation of our school charter reflects many aspects of our school curriculum and culture, with the mission to “Build strong foundations for our children’s futures”.

At the centre of the logo diagram is the Maori koru motif . Our kaumatua, Te Rangipuawhe Maika, (Chairman of the Council of Wisdom of the elders of Te Arawa) asked for it to be added to represent the children from the four winds of the world coming  to the place of the tangata whenua. We have children from more than 25 different nationalities at Otonga School. It is here they will be nurtured to grow as healthy citizens, grounded with the knowledge of our local customs and a sense of belonging.

The four blades stand for the four directional winds. The name “Otonga” is an anglicised shortening of “tihi-otonga” : the breath from the south or southern wind.  Our aim is to make all families feel welcome, no matter from which part of the world they come.

Otonga holds four core values which are reinforced and explained one per term: respect, cooperation, responsibility and perseverance. Classroom and playground rewards also reinforce those values, as well as student self and peer assessment criteria

Each blade also represents a significant research theme per term: Citizenship and what it means to be a New Zealander and to acknowledge the special place of tangata whenua and the Treaty of Waitangi; Sustainability as an Enviro School; Globalisation -acknowledging our place in the Pacific and the increasing connections with Asia and the world; and Enterprise to learn financial literacy skills.