General description
 |
Tuatapere Community College is a state coeducational composite school (ie provides education from New Entrant through to Year 13 pupils).
The Roll
The school caters for around 200 students from year 1-13. About half of the students who attend the college live in Tuatapere, the remainder travel in to the college by buses from the outlying districts.
History of the School
The community desire to retain viable secondary education opportunities led to its decision to merge the Tuatapere Primary School and Waiau College into a composite school in 2002.
The vision of the community is to have a strong and sustainable community college providing a high quality, technology-rich education up to year 13 and beyond, with increasing emphasis on on-line, or e-learning from year 10.
Land and Buildings
The college buildings are set amidst 3 hectares of landscaped grounds and playing fields, which provide a pleasant setting. Learning occurs in spacious, classrooms, backed up with a range of specialist learning areas.
The College and the Community
Tuatapere Community College is located in Tuatapere, on the edge of the Fiordland National Park, New Zealand’s biggest National Park. Tuatapere is an hour’s drive west of Invercargill and an hour’s drive south of Te Anau.
Tuatapere township has a population of around 800 people. There is a medical centre, community library, and a range of cafés and bars. Employment is based around agriculture, timber, transport and tourist industries. The headquarters for the Humpridge track is in the town.