Working with schools

We engage with schools in many ways including providing assistance with learning programmes and visiting schools to share information about study here.

School visits and expos

Our liaison staff tour the country twice a year to introduce high school students to the University and to help them plan what to study once they get here.

Check out our school visits and expos page for more information including visit dates.

Outreach programmes

Our outreach programmes support existing curriculum in schools and encourage young people to pursue tertiary study.

Engineering and computer science

Our Wellington Faculty of Engineering runs an active school outreach programme in engineering and computer science that provides teachers and students with resources and information.

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We also provide professional development to teachers in digital technology and technical support in using robotics and physical computing in their classroom practice. Each year we run a three-day Digital Technology conference called Computer Science 4 High Schools (CS4HS) which focuses on applying the digital technology curriculum and enhancing teacher capability. Contact pravin.vaz@vuw.ac.nz for more information.

Science

The University’s science outreach programme supports science education in schools throughout the country.

Our staff and students visit classrooms to share their research and enhance learning. We also provide free online curriculum-linked resources and data sets to support science education at all levels.

The Wellington Faculty of Science holds an annual open day for high school students, and visits schools up and down the country to talk to senior students about preparing for study at Victoria University of Wellington.

A group of students at a primary school watch two people in lab coats perform a science experiment.

Victoria University of Wellington engagement coordinator Thom Adams and Dr Putri Fraser deliver a chemistry module for students at South Wellington Intermediate School.

Chinese language and culture

The University's Confucius Institute works to promote Chinese language and culture in New Zealand. The Institute actively assists schools in several ways including:

the Mandarin Language Assistants (MLAs) programme which places native-speaking language support in local classrooms
running Discover China! cultural days in schools
funding a school principals’ delegation and numerous school trips to China each year
providing language proficiency tests and other programmes.

Māori

The University’s Māori and Pasifika support service—Te Rōpū Āwhina Whānau—offers an outreach programme for schools and community groups. Āwhina runs a range of fun activities during the year that schools can tap into such as 'Tuhono i te Ao' which combines science with Māori and Pacific culture.

Music

The New Zealand School of Music (NZSM) has many school outreach activities that include an Indonesian gamelan workshop for school groups, open rehearsals, and free tickets for school students to NZSM events.

Email nzsmevents@vuw.ac.nz to find out more about these events.

Other outreach activities

Individual departments sometimes run other one-off outreach events or activities. To find out whether the University offers any outreach activities in the subject you are interested in, contact the individual faculty or school.