If your child is absent for the day or part of the day you need to notify the Office via the school app (see below). You can also call the school office if the internet is not available.
Any unexplained absence will be followed up with a phone call.
Irregular attendance patterns have been identified as one of the major barriers to children's learning and the Ministry of Education provides schools with a number of avenues of support to help reduce unjustified absences and truancy. Children are required by law to attend school unless prevented by special circumstances or illness. It is important that children arrive each day on time.
If your child is away for more than 5 days in a term you will receive a letter from the school notifying you that your child has missed more than 10% of the term. There are different interventions at 20% and 30% absence.
If your child is late, please sign your child into school at the office on arrival, where they will be issued with a late card to hand to their teacher.
Our school day starts at 9am when children need to be at school ready to start the day with bags unpacked and hung up, shoes off and book bags in the studio (if required). Arriving after the bell can cause disruption to the class and make it very difficult for a child to settle.
If you need to pick up your child during school or before 3.00 pm please make sure you sign them out via the office and pick up a ‘signed out’ card.
Children are required by law to attend school when school is open during term time. Any request to take children on a trip during term time needs to be put in writing and emailed to the Principal with the dates and the reason for taking the trip.
In most occasions, your child’s absence will be coded as an unjustified absence. There will be no homework provided by the teacher for children who are taken out of school during term time.
Whole school assemblies are held at 12:30pm on alternate Fridays. The whole school comes together for an assembly in Te Whare Kotahitanga (the school hall) for notices, skits, singing and certificates. They are student led.
All family and friends are most welcome to attend our assemblies! Dates can be found in the school calendar.
A number of children ride to school on a bike, scooter or skateboard. We have bike and scooter racks by the Garnet Road entrance. All children must wear a helmet and lock their bikes/scooters to the rack. We cannot take responsibility for the security of bikes/scooters left unlocked.
We ask that children enter the school through Gate A (Garnet Road) and walk their wheels to the storage area. No wheels are to be ridden on the school grounds until after 3:30pm when the grounds are cleared.
If your child is cycling to school, please ensure that they are aware of and follow the rules below:
Always wear a helmet
Walk my bike on the school grounds
Cycle in the cycle lane or on the footpath giving way to pedestrians
Walk my bike across roads
There are a variety of clubs available to children during lunch times throughout the year. These change each term depending on teacher availability and children’s interests.
Clubs are advertised to the tamariki through the daily notices and/or posters around the school. They are also listed in the school calendar so parents and children know the days they are on.
You will receive all general communication through the Hero app (download it from your app store by searching Hero, once downloaded search Westmere School).
If you have any questions you can email the person who has written the communication or if you are unsure contact office@westmere.school.nz.
We have an open-door policy and welcome discussion with you on matters of interest or concern related to your child. The preferred time for discussions with teaching staff is outside teaching hours and depending on the amount of time required, prior arrangement of a suitable time is appreciated.
In the event of an issue arising, we aim to manage your concerns in the following way:
In the first instance, a concern in relation to a particular Studio, child or that Studio's teachers should be raised with the teacher involved.
In the event that the concern is not resolved, you may choose to follow one of these avenues:
Contact the Teacher's Year Group Leader:
Year 0-2 - Laura Rayner
Year 3-4 Lottie Jones
Year 5-6 - Simone Myburgh
NUONI Maxine Moeke
Contact the Deputy Principal (Kylie McBeth: Junior School & NUONI, Melinda Downes: Middle & Senior School), then
Contact the Principal (Rebecca McColgan: principal@westmere.school.nz), then
Contact the Board of Trustees (in writing: botchair@westmere.school.nz)
In our experience concerns are normally resolved quickly when the concerns are communicated promptly. Whilst we have many support systems in place to ensure concerns are dealt with effectively, please appreciate we value your input in alerting us if you feel a problem exists that requires attention.
Please feel free to make suggestions in writing of ways we can improve our school and let us know of things we are doing well!
Email is always a good way to communicate with us
(teachers first name @westmere.school.nz)
or see the “Our People” section of the website or Contacts in the app.
Any home learning should complement the work being taught in classroom programmes and help to establish study habits.
All students are encouraged to read at home every night. For children still learning to decode the teacher provides a home reader. As children become more proficient, we encourage them to select reading material from home/libraries or class choosing boxes. The Middles and Seniors provide home learning activities via Google Classroom.
We are aware that many children are involved in extracurricular activities after school, therefore we aim to keep home learning commitments to a minimum to work in with these other interests.
Children have access to the library during their booked time slot during the week where they are allowed to take out 1 book. When they return the book they are able to take out another one.
If a book is lost please contact Jo van Dam our school librarian and she will send home an invoice so that we can replace the book if it has not been found after a period of time.
The library is also open some lunchtimes. This is manned by staff on duty and on some days staff who volunteer. If there is no adult in the Library it is not open that day.
Our staff in the school office look after our lost property. Any named items are returned to the child in their class and any unnamed items are placed on the rack in the school office.
The rack is cleared every 2 weeks, the remaining items are donated to charity. Please name all items, this way they can be returned to your child. Any questions please ask at reception.
If children absolutely need a mobile phone for after-school use, these must be switched off and handed to one of their studio teachers to be kept safe during school hours (9am-3pm).
All phones must be named. As a general guideline, we would strongly recommend that phones remain at home.
Suggested contribution per child:
Full payment for the year $500
4 term payments $130
This is a voluntary contribution to your child's education and is the minimum amount we have estimated needed to subsidise government funding. All contributions are tax-deductible and we will issue you with a receipt for tax purposes.
As a Decile 10 school, our funding from the Ministry only meets 75% of our costs to run our basic operations. Many of the extras we provide have been subsidised through fundraising. Our Westmere School Supporters group works hard to subsidise our Ministry operations grant but are working at capacity. Their monies enable us to provide additional equipment and environmental features.
We see annual parental contributions as the most feasible way (and so do most parents) to provide educational opportunities for our children. Please support our school. The Board of Trustees has undertaken a full review of donations in comparison with our neighbouring schools and our current needs.
8.30 am
Doors to the studios open and children can arrive.
Please do not send children earlier than 8:30 as there are no staff on duty to look after them.
9.00 am
First bell rings and gates are closed.
Please come to the main office on Larchwood Avenue if you wish to come into school after 9am.
10.10 - 10.30 am
First morning tea
In order to ensure all children have the correct stationery, we arrange each year for the supplier to provide student's stationery requirements.
In this way, we are able to negotiate a very competitive price that we pass on to parents.
Stationery payments can be made on Hero at the start of the year. During the year extra stationery is sold at the school office.
