School News - Week Five

 

Kaurihohore School Week Five, Term One 2026

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua," Let our past guide our future

Manaaki te katoa - be kind to all. 

Respect - Empathy - Kindness 

Kia ora e te whānau

It is hard to believe we are already at Week Five. Classrooms are busy, and teachers are working hard to meet the needs of every student. As this is a nine-week term, there is even less time to fit everything in!

We had a fantastic day at the beach. What a lovely way to celebrate the end of summer. This year we had wonderful support on the day, which helped everything run smoothly. Taking the whole school to the beach is very different from a family outing, and we really appreciate you following the rules we need to have in place to ensure everyone’s safety.

It has been a busy time around school. Our children are very lucky to have wonderful opportunities such as EPro8, STEM Week, and swimming sports. Over the next two weeks, all classes will take part in WaterSafe sessions (the heat pump is now on in the pool). In a few weeks, the senior classes will enjoy Bikes in Schools and take part in beach education. A huge thank you to our staff for ensuring these opportunities are available. A lucky group of Year 6 students have also been learning about bees. Thank you to Dianne for running this programme.

You may have seen the link to our survey about the Halloween fundraiser and fundraising in general. After four years of taking a leading role in this fundraiser, many of our organisers are stepping away. That is completely understandable, and we sincerely appreciate everything they have done. Halloween was always intended to be a parent-run event, and we now need to understand what level of support we are likely to have in the future.

Before Halloween, we had the school gala. This ran from 2013 until 2017 in various forms, but it was a huge responsibility for staff and for me personally. While the gala was popular, it was very weather-dependent. Due to the amount of work involved, the declining help both before and on the day, and the impact of the weather on its success, we made the difficult decision to end the event.

Halloween was suggested as a great alternative and has been very successful over the past few years. However, like the gala, it has gradually become more reliant on staff, as volunteer support has decreased each year. Like many events, it often depends on a small group of very hard-working volunteers. When those people step away, it can be difficult to replace them.

We currently have 44 responses to our survey. We would love to receive 100 responses to get a clear picture of what our community wants and how people feel they may be able to help. If you have not yet completed the survey, please take five minutes to do so. The information will be very valuable as we plan for the future.

Sometimes it is difficult for schools like ours to rely so heavily on fundraising while others receive more funding and do not have to do any fundraising. However, that is our current reality.

If you would prefer to make a donation instead, you are very welcome to do so. Donations can be made through Kindo, or by seeing Dianne or Shelley in the school office.

Link to our survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScVjHxFgn2VDGNcskT-8LL5ImT_7MhduAHO4OP8jX8jLt5iVg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100316050985866846069

Leslee Allen

Pick up and Drop Off

Please do not drop children off before 7.45am.  Please pick children up by 3.20pm at the latest as the intermediate bus usually comes by 3.15pm.  

If your child can not get themselves into the car independently, please park and come in.  If they have a bike to put in the car, please consider parking and coming in to avoid holding up the line.  When pulling up in the line, please go as close as you can to the end of the yellow lines, this means we can fit more cars into the line.

Assemblies

This is an assembly week.  The school will assemble just after nine under the canopy to listen to notices.  At this time we will also hand our our ‘above and beyond’ certificates.  You are welcome to join us.  Following this assembly, classes spend 15 minutes cleaning up their designated areas.

Fundraising

Please let Dianne know if you are keen to sell chocolates (this is optional) in person, or by returning your form.

A bulb flier also went home for those interested in purchasing bulbs, this is always a popular one, so ask family and friends and get your orders in if you are keen.

Donations

We know that some people prefer to give a donation and you can do this via KINDO.  If you are not sure how to do this, please see Dianne or Shelley in the office.

Toys

Please ensure children keep toys at home, unless they are specifically bringing them for class sharing.  Toys are easily broken or lost and this causes a lot of upset, they are best left safely at home.

Chewing Gum/Lollies

Please refrain from sending these along to school.

Water

Please ensure children just have water in their drink bottles. 

Parent Information Blog

This can be found linked to our main school blog site https://kaurihohoreschool.blogspot.com/

 Included on this site are articles and links that you may find helpful.  I will be making some videos over the year to help you understand how best to assist children get started with their journey in literacy and numeracy because the first three years are such an important foundation for later progress.

https://kaurihohoreparentinfo.blogspot.com/

Enrolments

We currently have positions in year 3 and 4 available for any out of zone students, if you know of anyone with a child in this age range, please let them know to come and speak with Shelley in the office.  

Contacting Us

You can find all staff emails on our blog page under the tab ‘our staff,’ however the best

way to contact your child’s teacher is via seesaw message. Teachers will endeavour to

answer when they have time during the day, however please don’t expect replies to

messages or emails after 5pm. We will respond the next day as soon as we can. 

Please refrain from using Facebook messenger, or our personal phone numbers

to contact us.

Our school blog is kaurihohoreschool.blogspot.com you can find old newsletters etc here.

Office emails are:

Shelley- admin@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Dianne - reception@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Enrolments - kaurienrolments@gmail.com (managed by Shelley and Leslee)

Leslee - principal@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Reporting Absence - kauriabsences@gmail.com

If you have questions or concerns, please direct these to your child’s teacher as soon as

you can, so we can nip anything in the bud before it becomes a bigger issue.

KINDO

Kindo is an app that allows online payments for items at school like pizza days etc. If

you go to the links below to either create an account, or log in. These links are also at

the top of our school blog site.

Create and account.

https://shop.tgcl.co.nz/shop/flow_join.shtml

Log in

https://shop.tgcl.co.nz/shop/index.html

School Bank Account Details -

Account 12-3093-0200709-00

Kaurihohore school board of Trustees

Term One - Known Dates

Week Five - Six - Watersafe sessions at school

24th March - School Board Meeting - 7pm (observers are always welcome.)

27th March - Beach Education at Ruakaka Year 5/6

2nd April - Last day of term - term awards 2.10pm under canopy

—--

20th April - First day back Term 2

—---

Last day of the year - 15th of December 12pm finish

Food for thought…

School News - Week Three

             Kaurihohore School Week Three, Term One 2026

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua," Let our past guide our future

Manaaki te katoa - be kind to all. 

Respect - Empathy - Kindness 

Kia ora e te whānau

Our first term back has gotten off to a great start.  Classes are settled and timetables are busy.  This week we are lucky to have Harko Brown back to run Ngā taonga tākaro with classes along with running some professional development with staff.

All classes have introduced the ‘minimum expectations.’  On Friday we look forward to recognising some of the children who have been going above and beyond these.

It was great to get started with kapa haka last week. This will happen again on Thursday, however we have split our junior classes (1-5) up so that they will go every second week instead of every week.  This Thursday we invite you to come along after school to meet Te Aroha and Reo, this meeting will be held after school in Rūma Kotare (4).

Our annual beach picnic is coming up next week.  If you have not returned a permission form for your child, please do so.  If you are only transporting your own child, you will still need to come to school for the roll and initial briefing.  More detailed guidelines will be sent out next week.

I wanted to say a big thank you to Doug Livermore who refurbished the ‘bus’ that children love playing on, we appreciate you giving time up in your weekend to do this Doug.  As a small, rural school with very limited finances, we rely on the kindness of others, thank you Doug.

Last week I put out a quick update, in that update I talked about the school grounds.  Hopefully most of you know that we do not have a caretaker, so it is largely up to classes and staff to look after the grounds.  If you have any spare time (even while waiting at the end of the day) we really appreciate any weeding you are able to do.  We have appointed a part time gardener who will be doing eight hours a week, she is making inroads into the weeds and the areas she has managed to get to already look much better, it will however take her a very long time to get on top of our vast grounds and this is not something we would expect her to do on her own.  

Last week the bikes were serviced, our school bikes are put out once or twice a week for children to use,  most children will have a helmet at school, but they are welcome to bring their own.  Children are also welcome to bring their own bikes to school.  They are also welcome to bring scooters etc, but must have a helmet.  

Children are also welcome to bring their own balls to play with, please understand they do bring these at their own risk and it is a good idea to name them clearly.

Our PE shed is not open during break times and is only available for class use.  In the past we have tried opening it in break times, but gear was broken or lost.  We just don’t have the resources to be able to do this and it is incredibly sad to see perfectly good equipment ruined.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Leslee Allen

Pick up and Drop Off

 Children can be dropped off from 7.45am, not earlier, they need to wait in the

courtyard until the bell rings at 8am.  We do prefer that children come after 8am when there are more staff on site.   Please note that the office does not open till 8am.

Our bell rings at 2.55pm each day and classes endeavor to be down at the courtyard by this time.  Children in Rooms 1 - 4 are often out earlier at 3.50pm.  Children need to be picked up by 3.15pm.  If you are running late, we appreciate a phone call.

Please use the pick up line safely, do not block the entrance to the main car park and do not park in the pick up line at this time.  The staff car park is available for use at the end of the day, if there is space, but please do not park over the entrance to this car park as staff are often needing to get away to appointments or meetings after school.

Most of all, please be patient and watch for children at every instance.

Assemblies

We hold a short assembly every second Friday, on alternate weeks from the library bus. Our next assembly is this Friday just after roll call.  At this assembly we will hand out certificates to children who have been seen going above and beyond.  After this, all classes will go to their areas and do some cleaning up in the gardens.  You are very welcome to join us.

Attendance

It is important that children are at school when they are well.  If your child is not going to be at school, please ring in before 9am, we require a reason for absence as part of our record keeping for the Ministry of Education.  Dianne often spends up to an hour ringing whānau to find out where children are, she has much better things to do with her time, so we ask that you let us know before she has to make a phone call.

Fundraising

Yesterday a form went home about chocolate selling.  We ask that if you are able to sell chocolates as part of this fundraiser that you get this form returned to the office.  Like all of our fundraisers, participation is on an opt in basis, we understand you will not be able to take part in every single one and understand if certain fundraisers are not for you.

A bulb flier also went home for those interested in purchasing bulbs, this is always a popular one, so ask family and friends and get your orders in if you are keen.

Donations

We know that some people prefer to give a donation and you can do this via KINDO.  If you are not sure how to do this, please see Dianne or Shelley in the office.

Toys

Please ensure children keep toys at home, unless they are specifically bringing them for class sharing.  Toys are easily broken or lost and this causes a lot of upset, they are best left safely at home.

Chewing Gum/Lollies

Please refrain from sending these along to school.

Parent Information Blog

This can be found linked to our main school blog site https://kaurihohoreschool.blogspot.com/

 Included on this site are articles and links that you may find helpful.  I will be making some videos over the year to help you understand how best to assist children get started with their journey in literacy and numeracy because the first three years are such an important foundation for later progress.

https://kaurihohoreparentinfo.blogspot.com/

Property

Over the holidays we ticked off a lot of Ministry funded projects.  These projects were the new Gaga pit, the replacement to the seats outside Room 4 and 5, the replacement to the step outside of the discovery shed and the refurbishment of the old toilets into a ‘chill out’ space and resource room.

Scheduled to happen soon is an upgrade to the current septic system, which we have been waiting for, for a very long time.  Plans are also underway for a refurbishment of Room 9.

Over the holidays we suffered damage to the asphalt in the pool car park area, the asphalt lifted due to a broken pipe becoming blocked and causing water to push the asphalt up, hopefully this will be repaired soon.

When it comes to property, the Ministry of Education allocates us some money for five years that can be used for buildings (this does not include painting.)  This money is not available to be used for anything else and this means any other project we want to make a reality needs to be achieved through fundraising and grant funding.

Currently the two projects that we would like to get completed through grant funding and fundraising or the refurbishment to our top playground and a creation of a junior sandpit area adjacent to the native bush.

Other projects we would love to do, but do not currently have the funds for are to increase seating around the school, seal the lower court area and upgrade the bike track and native bush track.

Enrolments

We currently have positions in year 3 and 4 available for any out of zone students, if you know of anyone with a child in this age range, please let them know to come and speak with Shelley in the office.  

Contacting Us

You can find all staff emails on our blog page under the tab ‘our staff,’ however the best

way to contact your child’s teacher is via seesaw message. Teachers will endeavour to

answer when they have time during the day, however please don’t expect replies to

messages or emails after 5pm. We will respond the next day as soon as we can. 

Please refrain from using Facebook messenger, or our personal phone numbers

to contact us.

Our school blog is kaurihohoreschool.blogspot.com you can find old newsletters etc here.

Office emails are:

Shelley- admin@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Dianne - reception@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Enrolments - kaurienrolments@gmail.com (managed by Shelley and Leslee)

Leslee - principal@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Reporting Absence - kauriabsences@gmail.com

If you have questions or concerns, please direct these to your child’s teacher as soon as

you can, so we can nip anything in the bud before it becomes a bigger issue.

Beach Trip - 27th February - Whangaumu Bay

On this day, the whole school travels to the beach. A form has come home about this.

For this trip to go ahead, it is absolutely crucial that we have the necessary supervision

to do so. While it can often seem that we have too many cars, it is needed. We need

people prepared to come to the beach and supervise a small group of children in and out

of the water. If you feel your child would struggle on this day, then we ask that you come along to supervise them yourselves. If you feel going to the beach with the whole

school will be too much for them, please let us know that they will not be coming along. It

is a huge responsibility to take the whole school to the beach and we can not do it

without your support. 

You must meet us at school, even if you are simply taking your own child, so we can do the roll and ensure all children are accounted for. You are more than welcome and encouraged to carpool on the day, as parking is very limited. 

The beach trip is a great way to get to know teachers and other whānau.

Please return your forms ASAP.

KINDO

Kindo is an app that allows online payments for items at school like pizza days etc. If

you go to the links below to either create an account, or log in. These links are also at

the top of our school blog site.

Create and account.

https://shop.tgcl.co.nz/shop/flow_join.shtml

Log in

https://shop.tgcl.co.nz/shop/index.html

School Bank Account Details -

Account 12-3093-0200709-00

Kaurihohore school board of Trustees

Term One - Known Dates

24th February - School Board meeting 7pm (community welcome as observers)

23rd Feb - 25th - STEM week Rooms 7,8,9

26th Feb - Zone Swimming - Year 5-6 (those selected)

27th February - Beach Trip

27th March - Beach Education at Ruakaka Year 5/6

2nd April - Last day of term - term awards 2.10pm under canopy

—--

20th April - First day back Term 2

—---

Last day of the year - 15th of December 12pm finish

Food for thought…

 

An Update

Kia ora e te whānau,

Over the holidays you may have noticed our school grounds have become quite overgrown as we do not have a full-time caretaker. Classes are responsible for maintaining designated areas, while our contractor handles the mowing and limited maintenance.

Since classes are not present during holidays, the weeds get an opportunity to grow.

To address this, we've hired a part-time gardener for eight hours a week to assist with weeding. However, maintaining our large grounds requires many hands. As a small rural school with a limited budget, we rely on volunteers. If you have spare time, we would appreciate any help with weeding. Even 10-15 minutes before pickup time can make a difference.

Assemblies

Starting on the 20th, we will hold a short assembly every second Friday straight after the roll. During these assemblies, we will:

• Sing the school waiata
• Present certificates for students demonstrating respect, readiness, and safety
• Announce important notices from the school council
• Provide reminders to students if needed

You are welcome to attend. After the assembly, classes will proceed to their areas for weeding and cleaning, this could be something you could join in with if you have the time.

Kapa Haka

Kapa haka sessions will begin this Thursday for the entire school:

• Rooms 1–5: 1:30pm – 2:00pm
• Rooms 6–9: 2:00pm – 2:30pm

You are welcome to join us every Thursday. Our senior students can also join a pōwhiri group of 15-20 children that meets weekly, they are currently putting their names forward to be considered.

Upcoming School Beach Trip

Our beach trip is scheduled for the 27th of February. Please return permission forms to the office as soon as possible. This trip is a great opportunity to meet other whānau and your child's kaiako. We hope you can join us.

Tākaro with Harko Brown

We are excited to welcome back Harko Brown next week to run tākaro sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. These were a hit with the children last year, and we look forward to his return.

Bee Group

It was great to see this group start up again this week. If your child is part of this group, please remember that they need gumboots.

We are thrilled to be back at school, which has started well, with classrooms happy and settled. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s teacher.

Thank you for your continued support.

Leslee Allen