PARENT INFO
School Rules
• Follow directions
• Be considerate - no teasing, put downs or swearing
• Keep your hands and feet to yourself
• Respect others, property and our environment
• Be in the correct place at the correct time with the correct equipment
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Term Dates for 2023
Term 1 Tuesday 7 February - Thursday 6 April
Term 2 Wednesday 26 April - Friday 30 June
Term 3 Monday 17 July - Friday 22 September
Term 4 Monday 9 October - Tuesday 19 December
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New Entrant Enrolments
Parents enrolling a five-year-old are required to present a birth certificate or passport and an immunization certificate as well as to complete a health card. This will be explained to you when you enrol your child. The school welcomes pre-enrolment visits to help settle 5 year olds into school. Please contact the office.
Newsletters
Newsletters are shared online every second Thursday via email, they are also posted on this website, the SchoolApp and a link notified via Facebook.
We send regular permission slips and parent information notices home to keep you up to date with what is happening in school as well as coming events. You may occasionally need to ask your children if they have been given one lately. They often lurk at the bottoms of bags until they are unreadable.
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School Hours
8.50am School opens
10.25am - 10.50am Morning Tea
12:25pm - 1.15pm Lunch Break
2.50pm School closes
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Please endeavour to have your child at school on time. Teachers are on playground and sickbay duty during playtime and lunchtime. Please note there is no formal supervision of children outside of the 8.10 am - 3.05 pm time frame, therefore it is very important that children are dropped off and picked up at times as close as possible to the bell time. Students who arrive at school in the mornings prior to 8:10, remain the responsibility of the parent; A bell will ring at 8:10 to signal access to classrooms, prior to this bell all students are to remain on the R13&14 deck or the basketball courts. During school hours’ children are not permitted to leave the school grounds unless accompanied by a parent. If children play on the Playground before or after school, they must be supervised by their parent.
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School Costs
During recent years our Board has, like many others, recognised the necessity of obtaining extra revenue to ensure that our pupils are given a high standard of education. The Board has been delighted with the generosity of our parents in paying these donations. The funds enable the BOT to purchase basic teaching requirements and some extra equipment, ICT equipment, mathematics resources, musical instruments, library books, reading books, other textbooks, and art materials. We also ask parents to pay a classroom learning resources amount of $20 per child, this covers photocopying of worksheets, homework sheets and other class related resources throughout the year. Start of year stationery costs for each classroom are detailed on the Stationery page of this website.
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From time to time the board sets the level of the school donation and advertises it to parents. The amount is set at the November board meeting for the following school year. Payment of the donation is voluntary and parents can claim an income tax credit from Inland Revenue.
A request for the amount is sent to each family at the start of each year or on enrolment, with a reminder mid-year.
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Activity payments are required to cover the costs of optional equipment, experiences, and services that are extra to the school’s curriculum obligations. Payment may also be required for curriculum-based activities that involve a “take home” component for the student to keep.
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For the year donations are: First child $70
Second child (same family) $60
Third child " $50
Fourth child " $40
Fifth child " free
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These can be paid on a term by term basis or at any time convenient to family budgeting circumstances. If payment of any school costs are a concern to you at any stage, please feel free to confidentially inform the office so we can work together to resolve any concerns.
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School Uniform
School Uniform is compulsory for Years 7&8 students. Uniform is available from Uniform Hub in Kamo.
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After School Care Programme
A programme supervising children from 3pm - 6pm daily is available at $4.00 per hour plus $2.00 for afternoon tea. Children must be enrolled to attend and attendance is both casual or regular. If children are enrolled you can notify the school at any time before 1.00pm for children to attend. This is an OSCAR approved programme so eligible families can access Government Subsidies.
Absences
Parents are required to phone, email or use the school app to notify the school office or teacher by 9.00am if children are not attending. This is for safety reasons.
School App
The Maungatapere School App is a portal designed to enable easy and reliable communication between school and home. When you have downloaded the app, you will get regular notices and alerts relating to your child and upcoming events. To download search for “SchoolApp NZ” via the Apple or Andriod app store.
Rubbish Policy
To assist our local community neighbours the school has a policy of children taking any rubbish brought to school home with them at the end of the day. Please ensure children have an appropriate plastic bag or lunch box compartment where they can put their rubbish. We appreciate your support in this matter.
Buses and Road Safety
A comprehensive monitoring system ensures children are travelling on the correct bus walking, after school care lines at the end of each day. If the children have changed travel arrangements it is essential to notify the school by 1.00pm, by sending a note, phoning, emailing or via the school app, to ensure they do not end up in the wrong place. This includes children going home with others. Children who walk home are assisted cross Mangakahia Road after school by the duty Teacher. Parents dropping off or collecting children by car need to use the carpark beside the Playcentre to keep the bus bay free for safe bus access. Parents can park in Corsair Drive and wait, by putting their child on the walkers list. Car line children are not recorded on lists. Children will be assembled on the Room 13 & 14 deck by the basketball court.
Morning drop off zone: parents are able to use the drop of area in the morning only.
After school pickup: parents are required to park in designated parking bays, not in the middle of the carpark drop off zone, and walk into school to collect their child(ren). Moving pickup lines have proven far too dangerous to children’s safety.
Information about buses and bus routes are available from the office.
Otaika Valley Bus Route T1 & T2
Otaika Valley Bus Route T3 & T4
Music Tuition
The school provides the opportunity for pupils to have musical tuition during the school day. We have tutors in piano, keyboard and guitar visit each week. Contact the office if you would like further information.
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Parent Library Books
We have a number of books available for parents to borrow from the school library, these can be withdrawn under your child's name. There are a variety of books on raising children, developmental issues, autism, gluten free diets/recipes and kids activities. A list of available books is available here parent library books.
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Contact Details
Our school has an open door policy. Please phone us on 09 434 6743 or visit if you have any questions or concerns. We welcome your feedback.
Our email address is office@maungatapere.school.nz.
Please see the Enrolment Info page for new entrant information.