Kaurihohore School Week One, Term One 2026
Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua," Let our past guide our future
Manaaki te katoa - be kind to all.
Respect - Empathy - Kindness
He aroha whakatō, he aroha ka puta mai
Kia ora e te whānau, nau mai hoki mai, welcome back!
A big welcome to all of our new whānau, we look forward to getting to know you and
your children this year.
We will always endeavour to do our best for you and your children, we look forward to
working together with you in this partnership.
Please ensure all children have a full brimmed hat, or a hat with a flap at the back at
school each day. No caps please. Also ensure their clothes are named and that they
recognise their own belongings. Lost property is an ongoing problem and we really need your assistance to solve this problem.
We look forward to another great year here at Kaurihohore.
Leslee Allen
Minimum Expectations
Over the years, we have seen a real decline in basic behaviours, such as acknowledging the greeting of others, saying please and thank you, showing respect for the needs of others, respecting property etc. This year, we are using these as the foundations of what it means to be a good citizen under the headings Respectful, Ready, Safe. These are basic expectations that we feel children can meet (while it may look differently for some depending on age,needs or abilities.) These then set a framework for what it means to be a Good Citizen and what it means to go above and beyond these expectations.
Every second Friday morning, starting next week, we will have very short assemblies where we can acknowledge a few children that we have seen go above and beyond these expectations.
I will also be reestablishing a student council so that children can have more say in the identification of problems to be solved around the school and to enable them to identify children that are going above and beyond in the playground.
These minimum expectations will also be useful when having conversations with your child’s teacher as they will be able to identify specific areas that your child may need more support with.
Please support us at home by reinforcing these basic expectations with your children.
Devices
We are becoming really concerned about the amount of time children are spending on devices, we are noticing that many of our children are not able to play without the aid of a device and this is very worrying. There is so much research now around the negative impact of devices on young brains. We are also continuing to notice a real decline in language abilities, being able to speak in full sentences, listen for a period of time and knowing the meaning of simple, everyday words are important skills. Language impacts reading, writing, maths and all areas of learning and the amount a child is read to and talked to matters. We understand that lives are busy, but providing time to play without devices (zero device time if possible.) and providing time to talk, listen and be curious about the meaning of words, really matters for our children.
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.
Phones At School
Please note that children are not to bring phones to school. If they need to contact you,
they can come to the school office and phone you from there. If for some reason they
absolutely have to have their phone, they must leave it at the school office and pick it up
after school.
Attendance
Regular attendance is crucial for children to be successful at school, academically,
socially and emotionally. As you may know the government is actively working towards
improving attendance at all schools. 90% attendance is counted as regular, this is less
than five days of absence a term. Data shows that children who attend at least 90% of
time has a greater chance of being successful and happy at school.
The government has set a target of 80% of children attending school regularly.
2025 Attendance Rates:
Term 1 2025 - 65% regular
Term 2 2025 - 72% regular
Term 3 2025 - 48% regular
Term 4 2025 - 62% regular
We are really concerned about the amount of children not attending school regularly and hope that you can help us this year to turn this around.
Please support us by ensuring your child is at school regularly, unless they are unwell. If
your child is going to be away, you MUST let us know. We also are required to have a
reason for the absence as this data is collected by the ministry. Please advise us of their
absence by 9am, you can phone the office, text our cellphone (0275029974) or email
kauriabsences@gmail.com.
Fundraising
We need to raise just over $40 000 this year to cover our budget. Like last year this money covers learning support and staffing, ensuring we have people on the ground to help our children when they need it.
This learning support benefits everyone. We hate relying on fundraising and really wish
that government funding actually matched our needs. Sadly this is not the reality. We
will be advertising fundraisers as they come up and appreciate your support. You can
also donate to the school via Kindo, or if you know any businesses keen to sponsor us,
We are always happy to chat. We are very grateful for your support. Last year we
managed to raise almost $56 800. Raising more allows us to put aside funds towards projects that will benefit the school, like the junior sandpit.
If you have any ideas for fundraisers and are happy to be an integral part of planning and actioning these fundraisers, please get in touch with Dianne.
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
On this day, the whole school travels to the beach. A form came home about this yesterday that needs to be returned.
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 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
Swimming Timetable
School Bank Account Details -
Account 12-3093-0200709-00
Kaurihohore school board of Trustees
Term One - Known Dates
6th of February - Waitangi Day (school closed)
24th February - School Board meeting 7pm (community welcome as observers)
27th February - Beach Trip
2nd April - Last day of term - term awards 2.10pm under canopy
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20th April - First day back Term 2
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Last day of the year - 15th of December 12pm finish
Food for thought…
