School Terms – 2021
TERM 1 – Wednesday 3rd February to Friday 16th April
TERM 2 – Monday May 3rd to Friday 9th July
TERM 3 – Monday July 26th to Friday 1st October
TERM 4 – Monday 18th October to Thursday 16th December
Public Holidays
Waitangi Day – Monday 8th February
Queens Birthday – Monday 7th June
Labour Day – Monday 25th October
Marlborough Anniversary – Monday 1st November
School Times
Students are welcome at school from 8.30am when staff will be on the premises. The school grounds should be cleared by 3.15pm, unless a sports practice is in progress, or prior arrangements have been made.
Office hours are between 8.30am and 3.30pm on Mondays to Fridays during the school terms.
- 8.30 am – Office opens, bus arrives
- 9.00 am – Classes commence
- 10.30 am – Morning interval
- 10.50 am – Morning classes resume
- 12.30 pm – Lunch time begins
- 1.20 pm – Afternoon classes resume
- 2.50 pm – End of school day
- 3.00 pm – School bus leaves
- 3.30 pm – School closed
Attendance
Students are required to attend school on all days that the school is open. It is very important that students arrive on time for school with enough time to prepare for the day. In the event of your child not coming to school for any reason please ring the school or use the Hero App to let us know by 9am. For student safety, we take a check morning and afternoon and we will contact you if your child is absent without prior notification.
Should your child be required to leave the school during the day, please sign your child in and out at the office.
School Uniform
As part of our enrolment policy at Kaikōura Primary our Board of Trustees adopted our uniform as a compulsory requirement of attendance to foster pride and school identity. Uniform items are listed below.
- Short sleeved easy dry KPS polo shirt
- Navy polar fleece
- Navy shorts/pants/skirt/skort
- Navy bucket hat (terms 1 and 4)
- Navy thermal and navy tights may be worn.
- Shoes – must be practical for school.
All uniform is available from the school office but shorts, skorts, polar fleeces and hats can also be purchased from The Warehouse, Blenheim and online from Schooltex. We only keep limited amounts of uniform so you may need to order ahead of time.
Enrolments
We welcome prospective parents and students to our school. Please contact our office by email at office@kaikoura.school.nz or phone 03 319 5440 and we can walk you through the very easy process of enrolling your child/ren. Enrolments can also be made online through our Hero student management system.
All children wanting to enroll in a NZ school must provide a copy of their birth certificate or passport and to show their immunisation records to date.
Zone Information
Our Board of Trustees is currently in consultation with our community regarding a proposed enrolment zone for our school. Please contact our office for more information.
Starting School/New Entrants
Before new entrant students begin school we recommend four pre-school visits to provide your child with the opportunity to get to know their teacher and get a feel for what school is all about. These take place on a Thursday morning. Please contact the office to make an appointment for the first visit a month or two prior to them starting school.
Lost Property
Student clothing must be named.
Students and parents are encouraged to check through the lost property box located in the office for any lost items. At the end of each term, clothing left in this box is washed and donated to the community Op Shop.
Newsletters
This is emailed to parents every week. This is the main form of communication between the school and home. A hard copy of the newsletter is kept in the foyer of the school office.
Swimming
Our fully enclosed indoor swimming pool is heated and at above 25 degrees Celsius the temperature is excellent for instruction. Swimming is daily in Terms 1 and 4. We do not operate a key system for the pool.
The pool is equipped with a hoist and can be use by people with special needs.
Scholastic Book Orders/Duffy Books in Homes
We are very lucky to be part of the Duffy Books in Homes Programme who’s philosophy behind the programme is simple – to break the cycle of ‘booklessness’. “Kids who can’t read become adults who can’t communicate and that’s a serious disadvantage in a world that operates on the written word”.
Each child receives books of their own choosing throughout the year. These books are given out at Duffy Role Model assemblies. Role models from all over NZ come to our school to inspire our tamariki and their love of reading. We have a performance from the Duffy Theatre once a year and you are very welcome to join us at either of these events.
Scholastic catalogues are sent home to each family. All orders are actioned online and the school receives points which are accumulated and used to buy more resources for school – a very easy way to fundraise.
Transport
We rely on parents and staff members to provide most of the transport to various extra functions and activities that we consider important for the education of the children in the school. Please make yourself available for this activity when you can.
Bus Service
A Ministry of Education funded school bus service operates in the district, Ritchies Blenheim, to bring children to and from school. To be entitled to school transport a pupil must live more than 3.2km from their nearest school. Please enquire at our school office for eligibility.
If a bus pupil is not going home on the bus, they must advise the school office by 2.30pm.
Assemblies
Children look forward to sharing their success with whanau on Fridays at 9am. The senior class takes responsibility for the running of assemblies and classes participate with items such as singing, kapa haka, drama and sharing of their classroom accomplishments. We recognise success in sport, social and academic achievements.
School Fees
We do not ask for school fees. From 2020 our Board of Trustees has opted into the new MOE School Donation Scheme. For more information go to www.education.govt.nz and search MOE Donations Scheme.
