Mt Aspiring College, Wanaka

Key facts

About Mt Aspiring College

Mt Aspiring College (MAC) is a co-educational state secondary school for Years 7 to 13, located in Wānaka, New Zealand. It is not a faith-based or Māori-medium school.

The school's stated values — whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, tikanga, aroha, ihi and kaitiakitanga — are drawn from te ao Māori and form the basis of its approach to school life. Engagement with te reo Māori and tikanga Māori is embedded across the school, including through kapa haka, speech competitions, cultural workshops, and marae visits. The school is supported by Ngāi Tahu, which provides access to rangatahi wānanga covering whakapapa, te reo Māori, and mahi toi.

The curriculum spans Years 7 and 8 in a homeroom model through to NCEA Levels 1–3 in the senior school, with vocational training, correspondence courses, and tertiary-level courses also available to senior students.

Curriculum and Subjects

Mt Aspiring College covers Years 7 to 13. In Years 7 and 8, students are taught mathematics, English, science, and social sciences primarily by a single teacher in a homeroom setting. They also rotate through a range of other subjects:

• Visual art
• Drama
• Music
• Computing and electronics
• Materials technology
• Spatial and product design
• Spanish
• Te reo Māori
• Food and nutrition
• Physical education and health

Years 9 and 10 prepare students for NCEA literacy and numeracy common assessment tasks, with increased subject choice. In the senior years, students work towards NCEA Levels 1, 2, and 3. In Years 12 and 13, New Zealand Scholarship examinations are available in most subjects, and students may also enrol in tertiary courses including first-year engineering maths, art history, economics, languages and linguistics, philosophy, politics, social work, and speech science. Vocational education and training courses are also available.

One specialist course, Entertainment and Event Technologies (EET), is open to students in Years 11 to 13 and covers technical areas including set and prop construction, stage management, lighting, sound, costume, makeup, and video production. It draws on Level 1–3 Unit Standards from the Event and Entertainment Technology Domain, with students required to cover a minimum of three technical areas.

Co-curricular Activities

Mt Aspiring College offers the following named co- and extra-curricular arts activities:

• Itinerant music programme
• Arts Week — a school event at which students share works across all disciplines
• Rockquest competition
• Stagequest competition
• Choir
• Jazz bands and competitions
• Sheilah Winn Shakespeare competition
• Live and online visual art exhibitions
• Local visual arts competitions
• Festival of Colour — a national arts festival held every two years in April, in which students have the opportunity to perform
• Vocal group

Student Support and Pastoral Care

Mt Aspiring College provides the following named student support and pastoral care services:

• Kaiārahi/Counsellors — Trained guidance counsellors who provide mental health and wellbeing services to students, parents, families, and staff. They offer individual counselling and group or class work.
• Deans — Each of the four houses has a junior dean (responsible for Years 7–10) and a senior dean (responsible for Years 11–13). Deans act as student advocates and support wellbeing and achievement within their house.
• 24-7 youth workers — Provide one-on-one mentoring and group activities, working alongside counsellors, deans, and teachers.
• Stymie reporting platform — An anonymous reporting tool through which students can notify staff of harmful behaviour. Notifications go to the Head of Guidance and the Principal, with follow-up by the pastoral team of deans, deputy principals, and/or guidance counsellors.
• Public health nurse — Provides confidential, free healthcare support to students. Available on Tuesdays from 12pm to 2pm, by drop-in or appointment.
• Sticks 'n Stones — A youth-led bullying prevention programme delivered to Year 7 and 8 students over two terms, with one session per week. Students from all year levels can also join the school's Sticks 'n Stones Advocate group.

Facilities

The following named facility is described in the available school content.

• Library — located on the ground floor of the new building, opposite the wharenui; open Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 3:30pm, including intervals and lunchtime.