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We are a Rural School with Rural values, tucked away in Western Southland, New Zealand.

​Thornbury School is a U2 contributing, decile 7 state co-educational school. In 2025 we have 64 children, 34% of whom are of Maori descent. Our school has a roll that supports three classrooms and a Principal. The Board of Trustees has a strong commitment to keep this status.

Thornbury School children like to be involved in many community activities. This involves an inter school touch tournament and hockey tournament. We take part in competitions such as the EIS problem solving challenge, a Young Einsteins quiz and have many visiting extra curricular professionals such as Artists and Scientists. Our community fully supports the balanced curriculum that we deliver. We are becoming more involved in our local curriculum through our delivery of Enviroschools and living our Thornbury Rocks (values). This is woven into Te Whare Tapa Wha and the children deliver an assembly every Monday morning to make us reflect on our values.

Thornbury is a small rural town in Western Southland. It is located 11.6 km from Riverton. The majority of the people in the community are involved in farming (sheep, beef, dairy), with some of the children coming from Riverton township. Businesses there include a gift shop/art gallery, and butchery.

We are on the banks of the Aparima River which flows into the estuary, where the Riverton Township is. The Longwoods is also a geographical point for Thornbury. Thornbury children are becoming more aware of our connections to the land through our local stories.

The school lies in beautiful grounds, surrounded by trees and a large playing field. At the back is an area planted out in native trees where our hens reside, and the children play, build huts and create many games in them. Currently we are developing our outdoor classroom to extend our collaborative learning spaces. The classroom vegetable gardens and tunnel house are set up in a sheltered spot behind the main building. We have a strong commitment to teaching our children about caring for our environment and the value of learning the skills of sustainability. We received our Enviroschools bronze award at the end of 2022.

The Board of Trustees, the Staff, the parent community and the community all work very hard together to ensure the school mission. Pride is taken that the school is family orientated and the hub of the community.