Tokoroa High School
Service Academy
Our Services Academy delivers a military-focused program within Tokoroa High School. The purpose of a services academy is to allow students to stay engaged in learning whilst following their core values, which are:
- Comradeship
- Commitment
- Courage
- Integrity
The academy will help students to gain improved qualifications and help them prepare to move successfully into the workforce or further education and training. The students will be offered experiences that will earn them credits towards their NCEA qualifications. Examples of this are First Aid certificate, outdoor education experiences, and navigation – to name just a few.
Our students enjoy having a robust structure yet they still have an environment where they can be themselves. The Services Academy caters to both a military ethos as well as addressing their academic needs.
The Ministry of Education contracts the New Zealand Defence Force to provide courses for Services Academy students so they can participate in a range of motivating and challenging learning experiences in association with the New Zealand Defence Force’s youth development unit. These include a two-week induction course, a leadership course, an advanced leadership course, a coast-to-coast course, and other outdoor-based activities.
The academy is also involved in the community and assists whenever possible - a task the students enjoy.
Students are also offered the chance to enrol in the Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Awards. This runs alongside the NCEA framework and awards can be earned in three levels – Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The Duke of Edinburgh Awards are recognised world-wide and students have to fulfill definite criteria to gain an award.
The Tokoroa High School Services Academy welcomes new students and the academy works as one to ensure that every academy student gets support; not only from the directors but also from their fellow students.