Diamond Harbour School is a hybrid, town-and-country school. It serves a distinct and cohesive community from Port Levy to Teddington, including all the southern bays of Lyttelton Harbour with those from farthest away travelling by school bus.

Lyttelton Harbour is an extinct volcanic caldera which has collapsed and been flooded by the sea. Diamond Harbour School is set on an ancient lava flow at the foot of Banks Peninsula’s highest peak, Mount Herbert. Situated right at the edge of suburban Diamond Harbour, the school has a stunning rural backdrop of paddocks, open space and craggy hills. The north-facing school buildings have views out over the harbour and across to the port of Lyttelton and the Port Hills skyline. 

Diamond Harbour is a state, co-educational, full primary school catering for students from Year 0 (new entrants) to Year 8. We cater for approximately 120 students of diverse ethnic origins. Some children attending the school are second (or even third) generation students. Even though many families have members who commute to work in the city of Christchurch, our community retains some rural characteristics which are reflected in the school. There are networks of relationships between families which are formed and/or maintained outside the school via other community organisations such as kindergarten, play centre, churches, yacht club, fire brigade, cultural and sports clubs. Typically, new entrants already know many in their class and others at school. This is shown in the playground with children of different ages often playing together. There is a Kidsfirst kindergarten alongside the school, which  eases the  transition to school.  Regular visits are made to the kindergarten, the kindergarten children often visit school and we have a buddy system which ensures a smooth transition for all our new entrants. We hold a range of whole school events, including Friday afternoon assemblies and we have an active Parent Hub which supports the school alongside the Diamond Harbour School Education Charitable Trust which provides funding for a range of additional programmes and resources across the school.  

As a school we make the most of our local environment and students are regularly involved in a range of activities helping to care for the environment. We are an Enviroschool, we have a large garden as part of the Garden to Table programme, and we are fortunate to have our own school swimming pool. In addition to our school and local resources, our proximity to Christchurch enables us to take advantage of opportunities to participate in academic, sporting and cultural events in the city.

Apart from our new entrant classroom, Diamond Harbour School classes are composite, which means each class includes students from two or more years, with a range of different levels and abilities. Our classroom teachers are adept at meeting the learning needs of a diverse range of students, challenging and extending each individual to meet his or her potential. A number of other staff and learning support workers are employed at the school to enable the learning needs of all students to be met. Our redevelopment project was recently completed and this saw the refurbishment of the classrooms, alongside the building of a new classroom and a modern administration block. These facilities ensure we are able to provide the best possible learning experiences for all our students.