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
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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…
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