A-Z INFORMATION DIRECTORY

Attendance and Absences

Regular school attendance is important for children’s progress. Please contact the school office before 9:00am if your child is going to be absent. You can do this via email, the school app, or by calling.  If your child is away it is important that we understand the reason for the absence because we need to record this.

Please notify the office in advance if your child:

• Is being picked up by someone else
• Will be absent from or be late for school
• Will be collected early
• Is absent due to a notifiable infectious disease
• will be off the afternoon school bus

If you child is late for school, please have them visit the school office on their arrival so that the attendance register can be updated.

If you would like to remove your child from school during term time for something like a holiday then this needs to be discussed with the class teacher and the Principal.  It is important that we have documentation around this and that there has been consideration around the learning that will be missed during the planned time away.

Assemblies

We have a student run assembly on a Monday from 2.30-3.00 pm.  During this time certificates are given out, we share important messages for the coming week, and it is also an opportunity for whole school singing.

Whole School Assemblies are held each Friday from 2.15-3.00 pm.  These are a combination of general assemblies and assemblies hosted by classes who share recent learning.  We also recognise to students from each class with class awards.

Athletic Sports

Each year we participate with other Putaruru schools in an interschool athletics competition (Term 4).  This is preceded by junior and senior athletic events at School.  For our junior school students the focus is on participation and developing the fundamental skills associated with different events.  This is also an important aspect for our senior students, with the added incentive of selection for interschool athletics.

Interschool athletics is held at Glenshea Park, Putaruru.  This event is only for older students and is separated by gender and age groups within each event-high jump, long jump, shot put, vortex, sprints and 15000 m.

Further details about these events are shared within our school newsletter or notices sent home.

Bank Account

If you are wanting to pay for anything via internet banking our details are: 03-0418-0096222-000.  In the particulars section just enter your child’s name and reason for the payment in the reference section.  Please be aware that the School Support Group have their own bank account details if your payment needs to made to them.

Behaviour

All teachers at Te Waotu School work hard to build positive relationships with children using our school values of respect, responsibility, honesty, kindness, and courage to manage issues and guide decisions.  We have a stepped behaviour management procedure to provide consistency and fairness in the way that problem behaviours are managed.  Parents are contacted if there are serious matters of concern and we encourage parents to contact the school if they have any concerns.

Board of Trustees

The Board’s job is to ensure that everything that needs to be done gets done – legally, ethically, and to a high standard.  It is also the employer of all staff, including the Principal, and sets the overall strategic direction for the school. The Principal is the Board’s ‘chief executive’ and manages the school in line with the Board’s direction and policies.

The Board of Trustees of Te Waotu School is committed to the ongoing improvement of student achievement within an environment that provides inclusive education.

Te Waotu School Board of Trustees is made up of:

• Trustees elected from the community
• The Principal
• A staff elected representative

If you would like to know more about what the Board does, or are interested in finding out how to become a Board member then try talking to an existing member, attending a Board meeting, or visiting www.nzsta.org.nz

Further information can be found on the Board of Trustees page of our website.

Book Club

 Scholastic Book Club keeps the reading momentum rolling all year long by providing children and families with regular access to age-appropriate and affordable books. Our school benefits too! We earn 20% in Scholastic Rewards on all Book Club orders which helps us purchase additional learning and literacy resources. The easiest way for parents to order and pay for LUCKY Book Club is online. Visit www.scholastic.co.nz/loop or download the LOOP apps to get started. Order forms with cash or cheques (payable to Scholastic New Zealand) can be returned to the school office.

Bus Travel

The School office needs to be informed of any changes to the afternoon bus lists-especially if your child is absent or will not traveling by bus on a particular day. Parents/caregivers need to contact the school office to advise of these changes or update the bus lists in the school office up until 3pm each day.

Any arrangements to have a child travel on a bus they wouldn’t normally use needs to be agreed upon by the school first.  With some of our buses operating close to capacity we need to check the availability of spaces.

For those students using our buses they assemble at the hall at the following times: Buses 1 and 2 at 3.00 pm, Bus 3 at 3.15 pm, and Buses 4 and 5 at 3.30 pm.  At these times the roll is checked by the teacher on duty. On wet days children remain in their classes until it is time to assemble in the hall. Bus Monitors are appointed to assist our bus children.  They escort children to the buses, help seat them, and monitor behaviour while on the bus.  If necessary, they will inform the Principal of any behaviour of concern that has occurred and requires follow up.

It is important that you stay with your child/children until the bus picks them up in the morning and be prepared to meet them when they arrive home each day. Please be on the side of the road that they get off.

Children are given high visibility vests to wear until they reach their home. This needs to be worn both morning and afternoon.

Christian Religious Education (CRE)

Christian Religious Education (CRE) is led by volunteers from our local community. Children in Years 2-6 receive one 30 minutes lesson each fortnight. The CRE Programme weaves together Bible stories with values from the New Zealand Curriculum. A typical CRE lesson could include songs, drama, teaching and working from activity books.

Parents have the option of withdrawing their child from this programme.  In order to ensure our records are accurate, we ask that all parents who wish to remove their children from this confirm this annually.  Children not participating in the programme are supervised in the library during this time.

Concerns and Complaints Procedure

Discussions of a sensitive nature involving pupils or staff should be conducted in private and a confidential manner.

Pupil Complaints:

If you have a complaint about a student, you should refer your complaint to your child’s classroom teacher.  If the action or response does not satisfy your concern, please refer your complaint to the Deputy Principal or Principal.

Teacher Complaints:

In the event of a complaint about a teacher, you must first make an effort to discuss the problem with the teacher concerned before you approach the Deputy Principal or Principal.

The full complaints procedure is available on the school website.

Camp

 School camp is an important occasion for students and teachers at Te Waotu School.  Having a camp at the start of the year develops strong bonds and relationships amongst all children attending. Camp is also an important opportunity for our children to develop our school values of responsibility, respect, courage, independence, kindness and honesty; along with additional ones like resilience and perseverance. 

Our teachers work very hard to ensure that the experiences vary from year to year, and are safe and enjoyable for all.  While there is a cost involved it is subsided by fundraising and support from the School Support Group and represents what we believe is great value considering we are away, on average, for 4-5 days.

It is our goal to have all students attending camp and if there are barriers (personal or financial) we ask that you find a time to meet with your teacher to talk this through.

Contact Details

 School contact details can be found on our school website or app.

Cross Country

 Cross country happens every second year in Term 2-with the event last happening in 2018.  Our school cross country takes place over Memorial Park, the School grounds, and adjoining farmland.  The event is separated by gender and age, with different courses depending on the age of the students. Students have the opportunity to become eligible for the interschool cross country event through a decision making process based on achieving a placing in our school event and their ability to be competitive alongside students from other schools.  Interschool cross country is organised and hosted by Te Waotu School using the courses the School uses for it’s own event.

Curriculum

Te Waotu School has a clear commitment to providing quality programmes of work in all areas of the curriculum, but above all, aims to ensure that the quality of its programmes in the core areas of Reading, Writing, and Maths are a priority in each class. Curriculum areas are reviewed and updated regularly as new national curriculum documents are updated and the needs of our school change.

Cybersafety at Te Waotu School

Our school is part of the N4L network set up by the Ministry of Education. This comes with robust filtering, however all children are expected to respect our school rules for internet usage.  A cybersafety use agreement needs to be signed by children and parents on enrolment and annually for our senior children.

We have a number of devices in each class for the specific use of enhancing learning-iPads and laptop computers.  A Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy is available for our older students wishing to bring their own iPads to school.

Donations

At Te Waotu School we do not ask for donations, however we do ask for parent support of initiatives to raise money.  We use the fundraising efforts throughout the year to compensate for this-with the slink run, Great Farming Auction, and the sale of bull calves being the main contributors.

Enrolment

Information can be found in the enrolment section of our school website.

EOTC

Education outside the classroom (EOTC) is the name given to all events/activities that occur outside the classroom.  This could include sports, camps, or visiting places outside the school that may add further value to the classroom programme.

Prior to each trip parents are given information through notices and the school newsletter.   We require permission for all children to participate and the notices sent home have a section for showing this.  Depending on the organisation, there may be requests for parent support, and there may also be a cost involved to participate to cover activities or transport. 

As part of their organisation, teachers prepare risk analysis forms (RAMs) in order to provide a safe experience for all attending. 

Events

Information about upcoming school events can be found within our school newsletter or on our school calendar.

Expenses for Additional Activities

Any cost associated with additional activities (i.e., class trips, school camp, visits, educational touring groups) will be advised via a notice.  Money for these activities can be paid online (our preferred method of payment) or placed in a named envelope and delivered to the school office.  Our bank details are: 03-0418-0096222-000

First Aid / Sickness

Should a child suffer an accident at School, they will be attended to, and if it is felt that medical treatment is necessary then the parent will be contacted.  If children become ill at school, the parents will be notified to come and take them home. All of our office and teaching staff have current first aide certificates.

Flexibuzz

This is the app that parents can use to access information.  Detailed information can be found on our School App page of the school website.

Fundraising

Our main fundraising activities during the year are the slink run, Great Farming Auction, and the sale of bull calves.

Home Learning

 Purpose of home learning:

• To extend and consolidate school based learning
• To develop management skills
• To foster a link between home and school (share current learning)

Home learning helper’s role:

• Take an interest in home learning and support children when needed
• Ensure children do not spend excessive time completing tasks
• Liaise with classroom teachers if there are any concerns

Teacher’s role:

• Set relevant and purposeful home learning tasks
• Acknowledge home learning on a regular basis
• Provide targeted home learning for children with specific needs
• Monitor and support the progress of children completing PRIDE projects (students in Years 4-8)

Targeted home learning options:

• Reading nights-all students
• Reading eggs-students in Years 1-3
• Mathletics-students in Years 4-8
• PRIDE-students in Years 4-8
• Spelling, sight words, basic facts at the discretion of the teacher

House groups

When children are enrolled at Te Waotu School, they are put into house groups with their siblings. Each house has a connection to the past history of Waotu and the school. 

There are four house groups:

• Rongowhitiao (white)
• Simmonds (blue)
• Barnett (green)
• Haszard (red)

Each year these leaders are chosen from our Year 7-8 cohort.  Their role is lead and organise students at events throughout the year.

ICAS Examinations

Students in Years 4 – 8 have the opportunity to take part in Digital Technologies, Science, Spelling, Writing, English, and Mathematics competitions.  We offer access to previous papers to allow students to prepare and this can be connected to PRIDE projects.  These tests take place in schools throughout the Pacific region and are an initiative of the Educational Testing Centre of the University of New South Wales.  The aim of these exams is to allow children to test their ability in the various subjects and to provide children with a test taking experience.  All students receive a certificate and feedback on their performance. Certificates awarded are: High Distinction, Distinction, Credit, Merit, and Participation.  Exams take place between May – August each year.

Library

All pupils spend structured class time in the library each week and pupils are able to use the library during designated lunchtimes. Books are issued during in-school library sessions.  Parents are requested to ensure books are returned to school promptly and in good condition.

Lost Property

Please ensure that all clothing and property is clearly named. The school does not accept responsibility for lost property but every effort will be made to locate lost items. Items not labelled or named are put in the lost property box located in the office area and you are welcome to check through clothing found and not claimed. At the end of each term any unclaimed property is removed.

Lunches

Children are encouraged to have a healthy lunch.

Food:

• With the way our school day is structured we recommend that children have healthy snack food options available for them during brain break and then at morning tea. In addition to this, they need food for their lunch.  Children are not allowed sweets at school.
• A pie warmer is available for heating foods such as pizza, toasted sandwiches etc. Food should come wrapped in tin foil with the child’s name and room number marked clearly on the outside. 
• Choices for purchasing lunch are available on our school website.

Drinks:

• We encourage all students to bring water to school daily. We ask students not to bring fizzy drinks or sports drinks to school.

Meet the Teacher

At the start of the year we provide an opportunity for parents to meet their child’s teacher.  This is an ideal chance to learn more about school and class culture and to build the very important relationship with your child’s teacher.  Parents are informed of this via a notice and information in the school newsletter.

Medication

If for some reason your child requires regular medication, please contact the school.  You will be required to complete a Request to Administer Medication form.  Provide the medication in a labelled container with the necessary instructions for use.  This will be kept in a secure cupboard in the sick bay.

New Entrants

Your first step is to email or ring our school office to inform us of the enrolment-it is best to do this several months before your child turns five.  You will need to fill out an enrolment form, supply a birth certificate, and an immunisation record.  We are a school that operates an enrolment zone so where you live could affect the enrolment process.

Pre-school visits are recommended for all children starting school.  These visits are a great opportunity for you and your child to see what is going on in our new entrant classroom and to for your child to make some new friends before they officially start.

We run three transition to school visits before a child turns five.  The first two visits are from 8.55-11.35 am.  Your child will be able to have morning tea with all the other children and play with them during morning tea time.  The third visit is for the whole morning block.  Should you wish to, they are able to stay and have lunch with the other children.  Parents and caregivers are required to stay for the duration of the visit.  This is a legal requirement since the child has not yet started school.

Enrolment forms and a new entrant information book is available on our school website.

Newsletters

School newsletters are sent home each Monday.  Copies of all school newsletters can be viewed on our website.  Additional copies are available from the school office.

Notices

Copies of all notices can be found on our notices page of the school website.

Parent Support

There are many opportunities for parents to connect with the School:

• Board of Trustees
• School Support Group (SSG)
• Coaching or managing sports teams
• Supervision and/or transport for camps or class trips
• Support of school based activities, e.g., athletics, young farmer competition
• Parent help in classrooms

Please be aware that in order to assist with school camps or transporting students, we require a Police vet to be conducted.  This is all part of the legislation around the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.  This process also involves confirming your identity so there will be documents that we will need to sight.

Pool

School families and community members are able to purchase a pool key to access the pool over the summer holidays.  We require a minimum of 10 families before we will commit to making the pool available.  Pool keys cost $50.

Expectations around the use of the space include:

• Key holders are responsible for the behaviour of their group on school property and in the school pool area.
• Proper swimwear must be worn by pool users-no clothing.
• No soap or like to be used in the school pool as it interferes with the chemicals.
• Children under 14 years of age must be actively supervised by an adult.
• No alcohol or smoking is allowed on school grounds.
• Pool keys are only for the family identified on this form and are not to be distributed to others. Anyone found using the pool without purchasing a key will be asked to purchase one and the original key holders risk losing access to the pool.
• The community use of the School Pool is at the discretion of the Te Waotu School Board of Trustees who reserve the right to withdraw this privilege.
• Contact the school if there are any problems. This includes issues with water quality, equipment and even accidents of a serious nature.  A phone number is displayed on the pool rules sheet displayed in this area.

PRIDE

Perseverance, Responsibility, Independence, Drive, Excellence

PRIDE is an optional home learning opportunity for students in Years 4-8.  This programme is designed to take learning beyond the classroom, to be driven by the student and therefore motivating, and to be facilitated by parents.  It encourages students and parents to engage in academic, physical, cultural, community and family activities and it also encourages self-directed learning. At the end of the year all children who have completed the required number of activities receive a medal (bronze, silver, gold, platinum, or diamond) at a combined schools PRIDE ceremony.  

Production

We have a senior school production every second year. This is an opportunity for children to develop practical drama knowledge and share their learning through a performance.  These are performed at school, usually with 2-3 viewing opportunities.  

Reading Nights

We recognise the individual efforts of children reading outside of school hours with certificates that acknowledge the number of nights that they have read.  Children will be rewarded for every 25 nights of reading that they do.  A night is a minimum of 10 minutes reading for children in Room 1, 15 minutes for children in Rooms 2 and 3, and 20 minutes for students in Rooms 4, 5 and 6.  With certificates being given out for each milestone it is important that children are have their reading signed off by a parent at home on a daily basis.

Reporting to Parents

Reports:

Parents will be provided with a written report mid year and another one at the end of the year. Reports will contain details of your child’s progress during the year and achievement against the Curriculum Levels.  Comments are intended to summarise your child’s strengths and learning needs.

Learning conferences:

Learning conferences are at the beginning of Term 2 and towards the end of Term 3. These are an opportunity for students, parents and teachers to discuss next steps and learning goals.

Informal interviews:

If you wish to meet a teacher for any particular reason during the school year, please contact the teacher for an appointment.

Curriculum meetings:

Opportunities will be given for parents to be informed of curriculum development and other school areas of focus.

School Grounds

Our School grounds are a smoke, alcohol and drug free areas.

School Hours

Children may come into the school grounds from 8:00am.  This is when we can guarantee teachers will be on site and this is also the arrival time of our first buses.  Children need to be collected straight after school unless waiting for the bus.  Any children staying late, by arrangement with the school, are required to wait outside the office for pick up once students on the final buses are called for (3.30 pm).  Staff members will not be responsible for children after this time.

Our school day is structured as follows:

8.55-9.05                              Whole school fitness

9.05-10.05                           First learning session

10.05-10.15                         Brainbreak

10.15-11.15                         Second learning session

11.15-11.35                         Morning tea

11.35-12.35                         Third learning session

12.35-12.45                         Eating time

12.45-1.30                           Lunch play break

1.30-3.00                              Afternoon learning session

School Policies

All areas of the school’s curriculum and management structures are covered by school policies and procedures. These are reviewed regularly and are available for parents to view through the office or the Principal.

School Support Group

The School Support Group (SSG) is a volunteer organisation along the lines of a PTA and is made up of people from within our School community.  The role of the SSG is to provide support for the school with event management and to support the school through fundraising. 

At Te Waotu School the SSG have traditionally helped with school activities such as the tuck shop, swimming sports, athletics day, Grandparents Day, the Very Young Farmer Competition, and running the school discos.  The slink run, pizza and pie orders, food wrap orders, and calf club and auction, are some of the opportunities the SSG use for fundraising.

The SSG hold monthly meetings (with the dates of theses advertised in the school newsletter) and are always keen to welcome new members!

Scooters and Skateboards

Children may bring scooters or skateboards to school to use on a Friday. Helmets and covered shoes must be worn at all times.  The only area children are permitted to use their scooters is the top court.  Due to safety reason, scooters cannot be taken on the school buses.

Special Learning Needs

Teachers cater for the diverse learning needs within through guided teaching opportunities using groups and differentiated activities.  We have skilled Teacher Aides who work with groups of children and we also engage with outside agencies like RTLB and RTLit to support students with learning and behaviour needs.

Sports

Te Waotu School encourages children to participate in sport-to be active, to develop fundamental skills, to contribute as a team member, to play fair and to play for success. Many of our students take part in after school or weekend competitions-participating in either school or club based teams (netball, basketball, touch rugby, cricket, soccer and rugby).  Where possible, we also offer skill development sessions in different sports during class time using external expertise.

It is essential that all sports teams have coaches and managers.  Quality coaching and organisation is important for all children to feel valued and to get the most out of their chosen sport.  Please be prepared to help because without coaches and managers we cannot register teams.

Te Waotu School also participates in Putaruru interschool sports events. This includes interschool swimming, cross country, orienteering, indoor bowls, gymfest, athletics and the winter field day. 

Staff Contact Details

Contact details of all staff members can be found on the staff section of our school website.

Stationery

Detailed information can be found in the enrolment section of our school website.

Student Details

Please ensure that you advise the school office if there has been a change of contact details (address, phone, or email) so that we can update our Student Management System records. This includes all primary caregivers and emergency contacts. Please note that it your responsibility to ensure that the details in school app are kept up to date.

Sunsmart Policy

Te Waotu School has a Sunsmart procedure that makes sunhats compulsory in Terms 1 and 4. Hats are a school uniform black bucket hat and these can be purchased from the school office for $10.  It is important that children take responsibility for wearing and storing their own hats daily.

Swimming

The school pool is used by for swimming in Terms 1 and 4.  All classes have daily swimming times so please make sure your child comes to school with togs and a towel each day.  A bag to put clothes into while swimming and wet gear when finished is also really useful.

It is an expectation that all children participate-swimming is just like any other subject.  If your child cannot swim they need a note for the period they cannot participate.

In Term 1 we have Junior Swimming Sports, hosted at the school pool school with a focus on participation, experiencing a larger event, and sharing new skills with parents.  The senior one also has a focus on inclusiveness with a range of events for swimmers of all abilities, but it also has a more competitive element for the more capable swimmers (and the opportunity to represent the school at the interschool swimming sports).

The school pool is open to the wider community during the school break over Christmas/New Year.  Pool keys are purchased and all users are asked to sign a pool use agreement.

Terms Dates and Public Holidays

This information can be found within school newsletters or on our school website.

Tuckshop

Click here to see what is available to purchase

Please send exact money if paying by cash.

An alternative to purchasing food is to wrap up reheatable food items in tinfoil.  These can be delivered to the hall kitchen at morning tea for heating in the pie warmer until lunchtime.  Please write your child’s name and room on the outside.

Uniform

Children wear mufti at Te Waotu School however we do have a uniform hat that children wear in Terms 1 and 4; and a smart shirt that all children are required to have to wear on important occasions or when representing the school.  Details about the cost of these can be found on the stationery lists.