Who is Jean Batten and Why is she so important to us?

Jean Batten, known as 'Garbo of the Skies', was a world famous aviator born in Rotorua, New Zealand.  Although her many record-breaking solo flights were celebrated across the world, her greatest achievement was to fly her plane, the 'Percival Gull', solo from Great Britain to New Zealand in 1936.  The first ever to do this.

Jean Batten School was officially opened on 7 March 1970 by Miss Jean Batten herself.  She forged a relationship with our school, visiting several times right up until her passing in 1983.  Following her death, a significant amount of money was bequeathed to the students of Jean Batten School.  Her one request was the money to be used to recognise excellence in children's literacy.  Today, the legacy money is used to buy prizes for the award winners of our annual reading competitions.

The JBS Aviators meet three times a week for one hour per session.  We are learning to

• be independent learners - own our learning pathway, work unsupervised, be risk takers
• use Google Classroom
• be critical thinkers
• use our voice to express our opinions

The characteristics of a world class aviator such as Jean Batten are what the students of Jean Batten School aspire too.  We are proud of our mana wahine!