YEARS 4 and 5 CLASSROOM TEACHER — SCALE A, FULL-TIME PERMANENT
The Years That Set the Trajectory
Term 2, 2026 — April 20 Wairakei Primary School 9km north of Taupō
The Age Group That Rewards Great Teachers
Years 4 and 5 occupy a particular sweet spot. The intense foundational work of the junior school is behind your students, and the transition pressures of Year 6 are still ahead. What you have is a class of 8 and 9 year olds who are intellectually ready — for challenge, for independent thinking, for the kind of learning that genuinely excites them.
They're at the age where a teacher, in a year, can leave a mark that lasts a lifetime. The confidence to believe they're capable. The curiosity to keep asking. The habits of mind that carry them forward. That's the work on offer here.
These are the years where good teachers become great ones — because the students are ready to let you take them somewhere.
A School That Backs You Up
Wairakei Primary is a Years 1–6 school of 351 students sitting just north of Taupō, in a village community that takes its school seriously. Whānau here are genuine partners — not in the brochure sense, rather the showing-up, walking-alongside, invested-in-outcomes sense. That changes the dynamic in the classroom in ways that are hard to quantify and easy to feel.
The school is financially stable, the facilities work, and the ERO record reflects what you'd hope to find. Collaborative planning is how things actually happen here, not a meeting agenda item. Leadership listens and acts. When a school is the right size, that's simply possible.
The Location Isn't Background Scenery
Lake Taupō is on your doorstep. The mountains frame your afternoon commute. A Friday afternoon can end on a bike track, a kayak, or a ski field within the hour. For teachers already based in the region, you know exactly what this means. For those considering the move — housing is achievable here, traffic is light, weekends are genuinely restorative, and the teachers who've made that shift tend not to revisit the decision.
A sustainable teaching life and a fulfilling one aren't competing ideas at Wairakei. They tend to reinforce each other.
Who We're Looking For
The specifics of experience matter less than what you do with it. We're looking for a teacher who:
- Holds high expectations for every student and builds the conditions to meet them
- Reads assessment data with real understanding and uses it to accelerate learning
- Builds relationships with students and whānau that are genuine, not transactional
- Brings their own thinking to planning and is open to collegues’ in equal measure
- Understands that inclusive practice is how you design every lesson, not a separate consideration
- Is still learning — and interested in it — regardless of how long they've been teaching
Whether you're an experienced teacher ready for a school that matches your ambition, or a newer teacher who brings energy, thoughtfulness, and real commitment to children, we'd like to hear from you.
Position Details
Position: Full-time, permanent — Scale A
Class: Years 4 and 5
Start date: Term 2, 2026 — April 20
Applications close: Midday, March 14, 2026
Positions like this — the right age group, the right school, the right place — don't come together often. If it sounds like the next chapter, we'd genuinely like to hear from you.
To Apply
Please send a cover letter addressing the position requirements, your current CV, and contact details for three recent referees. A job description is available on request or to download below.
Email: info@wairakeitaupo.school.nz
Queries: Paula Farquhar, Principal · (07) 374 8035
New Entrant Teacher — Scale A, Full-time Permanent
Where Careers Find Their Footing
Term 2, 2026 — April 20 Wairakei Primary School 9km north of Taupō
A Role Created by Growth
This position exists because families are choosing Wairakei. The roll is growing, new entrants are arriving in numbers, and the junior team needs to expand to meet them. That's a good problem for a school to have — and it creates a genuine opportunity for the right teacher.
New entrant teaching is where the most fundamental work in education happens. The children arriving at your door are encountering school for the first time. The routines, the relationships, the early understanding that learning is something they're capable of — you're the person who shapes that. It's demanding, purposeful work, and for the teachers who are drawn to it, there's nothing quite like it.
The children who walk through your door will carry something of what happens in your classroom for the rest of their lives. That's not pressure — it's the reason some teachers choose these years above all others.
The Team You're Joining
The junior team at Wairakei is a team in momentum. There's real energy here — collaborative, purposeful, and moving in a clear direction under leadership that earns its place.
Your Team Leader
Caitlin Bone was appointed Team Leader in 2025. She brings five years of teaching experience, a genuine feel for the junior years, and strengths in The Arts, Hauora, and Te Reo Māori. Originally from Auckland, she made the move to Taupō and found exactly what she was looking for — in the school and the place. She leads with warmth and works hard. The team she's building reflects both.
"Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa — Let us keep close together, not wide apart."
— Caitlin's guiding whakataukī
You'll work within a tight-knit junior team where planning is genuinely collaborative and new perspectives are welcomed. Beginning teachers here are supported, not just managed. The school has a strong culture of professional growth, and the leadership team understands that when teachers are well-supported, students are too.
A Flexible Component Worth Knowing About
This position could include a Classroom Release Time (CRT) component prior to the new entrant class. For teachers already in the Taupō region, that flexibility may be part of what makes this role the right fit. For those considering the move, it's an aspect worth factoring in when you're thinking about how you want to structure your teaching life here.
It's an great combination, and an honest one. We'd rather you understand the full picture before you apply than discover it later.
A School That's Going Places
Wairakei Primary has 351 students across Years 1–6, a strong ERO record, and stable finances. The community that surrounds it — a village with a genuine investment in its school — gives the place a character that's hard to manufacture. Whānau are present and involved. Students arrive knowing school matters.
The growing roll isn't coincidence. It reflects what's happening here. Families in Taupō are making a deliberate choice to be part of it.
Taupō Is Worth Considering Seriously
For local teachers, you already know what's on offer. For those coming from further afield — this is a place where the cost of living is manageable, the commute is short, and the weekends genuinely recover you. Lake Taupō, the mountains, the trails, the rivers. It adds up to something that teachers who've made the move tend to describe the same way: they hadn't quite expected how much it would change the rest of their life outside school.
Caitlin made that move from Auckland. She'd tell you the same thing.
Who We're Looking For
This role is well-suited to a beginning teacher, and we're genuinely interested in applications from recent graduates. It's also open to experienced teachers who are drawn to the new entrant space. What matters most is the quality of your thinking about young children and learning.
We're looking for someone who:
- Understands that relationships are the foundation of everything in the early years
- Creates a classroom environment where new entrants feel safe, settled, and ready to learn
- Communicates with warmth and clarity with children and their whānau
- Is curious, reflective, and open to being coached and growing
- Brings their own energy and ideas to a team that will genuinely engage with them
- Sees inclusive practice as the starting point, not an afterthought
If you're a beginning teacher, we offer genuine support through the induction process — structured mentoring, regular feedback, and a team that understands what that first year in a classroom actually requires.
Position Details
Position: Full-time, permanent — Scale A
Class: New Entrant, with CRT component
Start date: Term 2, 2026 — April 20
Applications close: Midday, March 14, 2026
To Apply
Please send a cover letter addressing the position requirements, your current CV, and contact details for three recent referees. A job description is available on request or to download below.
Email: info@wairakeitaupo.school.nz
Queries: Paula Farquhar, Principal · (07) 374 8035
