Principal's Welcome
Kia Orana Tatou Katoatoa,
Welcome to Apii Te Uki Ou! We are located on the seaside in Ngatangiia, on Rarotonga’s East coast.
We are an independent school that was formed over twenty-five years ago as an ECE in a garage, based on the Montessori model of education. After several moves due to rapid expansion, we are now an ECE (3 years old) – Year 8 full primary school, recently expanding to Year 9. We have 280 students with 30 full-time staff members.
We pride ourselves on our ‘Inclusive Education’ philosophy and have several students with additional needs who are well supported by our team of teachers and teacher’s aides within the school. We have improved upon this support by employing the expertise of a Learning Support Coordinator full time to improve our ability to meet the needs of those who need a little extra to learn.
As a school, we value Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) and this features heavily across our programmes helping learners make sense of their learning by connecting them to real-life experiences.
Like all schools in the Cook Islands, Apii Te Uki Ou enjoys unlimited internet capability and the Board of Governors and school leaders are focussed on consolidating and enhancing our innovative learning environments through generously funding our hardware, software and infrastructure to enable IT integrated teaching and learning programmes.
Currently, all of our classroom teachers are Cook Island, New Zealand or Australian trained teachers and our teaching and learning programmes are always of the highest standard.
Our Te Reo and Cultural programmes are a big part of who we are and we continually feature strongly in all interschool or community-initiated cultural events. We are actively involved in a wide range of sporting activities, and the interschool competitions are always something we look forward to competing in across all codes!
We offer a values centred education aiming to prepare our children with strong academic and social foundations to be competent leaders of the future.
Do drop by and visit if you’re ever in the neighbourhood, you’re always welcome!
Meitaki Ma’ata e Kia Manuia!
Carly Ave, Principal
Meet Our Teachers
Kia-Orana, I am Mrs Noovao.
Mum to Taylah and Alice and wife to Tangata. We love the island life and feel very privileged to be part of the Apii Te Uki Ou community.
I have been teaching for twelve years in a variety of schools.
I am passionate about designing learning to ensure it is social, engaging and caters for individual learning needs. I continually explore practices to ensure the success for all learners. Some of my strengths include classroom culture, communication, literacy, ICT and Inquiry learning. I am looking forward to working with all the classrooms and the amazing team of TA's.
My door is always open, be sure to come and say hi.
Kim Noovao
Deputy Principal
Learning Support
Carmen Dodd
Junior School Assistant Principal
Yr 3/4 Teacher Kukupa
Charlee Lowe
Head of ECE
Teacher Kura
Saireni Pekepo - Poila
Culture and Te Reo
Sophia Panzarella
Senior School Assistant Principal
Yr 9 Teacher Tavake
Brittany Reekie
ECE Teacher Kura
Kia Orana, my name is Panitra Angkeeros and I am a beginning teacher who is passionate about working with the youth of tomorrow. I was born in Thailand but grew up in beautiful Aotearoa. Prior to teaching, I worked as a flight attendant for several years where I got to immerse myself in various cultures around the world. My goal is to create an inclusive learning environment where diversity and individuality are celebrated. There is only one of us on this planet and we should celebrate that! I enjoy scuba diving and snorkelling in my spare time. You will most likely find me in the ocean when I am not inside the classroom.
Jo Shand
Yr 1/2 Teacher Kuriri
Panitra Angkeeros
Yr 1/2 Teacher Kakerori
Jess Fotheringham
Yr 3/4 Teacher Kotuku
Kia Orana! My name is Nic Shand and I am very excited to be teaching at Te Uki Ou School.
I have two sons, Jasper and Freddy and my wife Jo is also a new teacher at the school. I have taught in New Zealand for a number of years as well as Samoa and China. I am keen on sports and enjoy participating in a variety of different activities.
As a teacher I believe in developing strong, positive relationships with all students and their families. I am passionate about teaching with a quality inquiry/topic focus where students have the opportunity to ‘take action’ in their local community.
Yr 3/4 Teacher - Ka'oko
Emily Hatch
Yr 5/6 Teacher Kopeka
Nic Shand
Yr 5/6 Teacher Kikoi
Yr 7/8 Teacher - Kakaia
Tony Jenkins
Yr 7/8 Teacher Kota'a
Hamish Bennett
Support Teacher
