New Zealand has a unique concept for educating the emerging adolescent. Students attend a separate two year intermediate school when they are 10 to 13 years of age. Intermediate schools act as a bridge between the primary and secondary systems. At Belmont Intermediate School, students are in a homeroom environment, like the primary school system for the additional support this provides but experience a rotating specialist programme with specialist teachers.
Our school’s vision is Leading Excellence In Intermediate School Education. To achieve our vision we aim to provide a curriculum which is relevant, challenging, integrative and exploratory. We believe that our curriculum is responsive to the needs of our emerging adolescent students and delivers beyond the requirements of the national curriculum.
Students are taught the core subjects of English, mathematics and physical health & wellbeing, along with a strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy skills. In addition, our programmes include a variety of other subjects such as technologies, science, the arts and languages which are taught by our specialist teachers. These specialist subjects help to prepare students for the challenges of secondary school. We also offer an Electives Programme which are short courses covering a wide variety of topics and which give students a taste of the topic. The goal of our Electives Programme is to inspire and encourage students to follow their passion and undertake learning of their choice across multiple disciplines.
Furthermore, each of our international students receives an individualised and tailored ESOL programme as well as individual classroom curriculum support to ensure their success.
Our school considers gifted education and enhanced learning to be an integral part of the class programme and we have numerous avenues to provide such opportunities to our students. You can learn more about our Gifted Education programme here.
Every student receives a mid-year and end of year report based on their progress within the curriculum levels. In addition, international students will also be issued an ESOL report at the end of the year based on their fluency and understanding of English.
Each of our international students is given an initial assessment test when they arrive. The assessments test their English skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Students are assessed again before their mid-year and end of year reports are issued.
Students from six primary schools in the local area feed into Belmont Intermediate School; these are Bayswater School, Belmont Primary School, Hauraki School, Stanley Bay School, St. Leo’s School and Vauxhall School.
After finishing at Belmont Intermediate School students can continue their studies for years 9 to 13 at the following local secondary schools; Takapuna Grammar School (for which Belmont Intermediate School students have preferential entry), Westlake Boys High School, Westlake Girls High School, Carmel College and Rosmini School all of which offer comprehensive international student programmes. At secondary school students will be taught the New Zealand curriculum working towards their NCEA qualifications in years 11 to 13. Depending on which secondary school a student attends, Cambridge and International Baccalaureate may also be offered. For further information about New Zealand qualifications, secondary school and NCEA, tertiary education and quality assurance of education in New Zealand visit NZQA’s website.
To find out more about studying in New Zealand, visit NauMai NZ. NauMai NZ is for international students studying or about to study in New Zealand. It is an independent source with useful information to help you experience our land, lifestyle and culture and navigate daily life along the way.
For even more information visit Study in New Zealand, this is the official government website offering information on a range of courses at universities, institutes and schools. You can also read student stories of real life experiences and learn important information about the costs of living in New Zealand.
