Our School

Birkdale Primary School is a culturally diverse contributing school (Year 1 to 6) on Auckland’s North Shore. 

We are the oldest school in the Birkenhead area having been established in 1894 when the area was Auckland’s market garden. Strawberries were the principal fruit grown in the area. Locals of the area valued education and saw it as the way to the future for their children. Early records show the fight they had with the Auckland Education Board to establish a school on its present site. Over the years, the site has grown and the original classrooms were replaced with more modern classrooms in the 1960’s and 70’s. Durham Hall, named for a long serving Board member, was developed from a 1940’s “sunshine” classroom and is the oldest building on site. It is now protected under an historical protection order put on it by the North Shore City Council. 

In 1986, Birkdale once again recognised and listened to the needs of their community and established ‘Te Puāwaitanga’ – a Level 1, full immersion learning pathway where students learn in te reo me tikanga Māori. We’re proud to be the only mainstream school on the North Shore that currently offers this opportunity.

Now, as then, education is seen as the way to the future. Birkdale Primary is focused on preparing students for tomorrow’s world. We are focused on building a local curriculum that is empowering and allows learners to be self-determining through confidence in who they are and what they can do. We understand that an important part of a strong foundation to learning is being literate and numerate; we equally believe that being culturally located and being able to communicate to, collaborate with, and care for others is essential for successful lifelong learning.