Our Story

Established in 1872, Gisborne Central School has been a cornerstone of education in Whataupoko, evolving with our community while honouring our rich heritage. From our early days when the school was a temporary museum of Māori artefacts - to today's vibrant, inclusive environment, we've always placed our tamariki at the heart of all we do. Guided by our values of manaakitanga, mōhiotanga, whanaungatanga, and māiatanga, we continue to foster a nurturing space where every child is known, supported, and inspired to thrive.

The narrative connection to our school is seen as our tamariki beginning their life and learning journey like the Waiteata stream as small and gently finding their way into life, then as they develop the skills they begin to grow and become a part of a larger story in our region. Once equipped with the necessary skills and dispositions, they are led to the ocean to access the world. It's a story of our school developing the child locally to take on the world. Also linking to our new vision of lifelong learners' or 'leamer for life'.

When looking at our school logo you will see Waiteata begins as a small stream near our school (top koru) and moves slowly toward one of our main waterways/rivers in Turanganui called the Waimata (2nd koru) which then feed to Wai-weherua (3rd koru) and then out into Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay) the ocean (4th koru).

The four koru not only symbolise the various waterways important to our location but they also represent our four new school values which help support students on their journey. Whanaungatanga (Relationships & Belonging), Manaakitanga (Respect & Kindness), Mãiatanga (Resilience & Perseverance) and Möhiotanga (Learning & Knowledge). The koru also symbolizes the four school syndicates.

The largest koru curves around as if to look back to the smallest koru. This represents a recognition of where we have come from and what has shaped us along our learning pathway. The colours are based on the school colours of red and blue. There are lighter versions of each in the logo symbol which help to create the feeling of flow, progression and movement.