F.A.Q.

New Zealand law requires that children must attend school whenever the school is open, unless there are special circumstances such as illness.  A notification using the HERO app advising the school of a reason for a child’s absence is required, preferably before 9.30am on the first day of absence.  The school will make telephone contact if there is unexplained absence.

It is sometimes necessary for parents to take children from school during school hours.  Please advise the class teacher when the child is leaving as this will save confusion or worry as to the child’s whereabouts.

If special circumstances relating to pupils, or custody rulings apply to your child, please advise the Principal.  Copies of appropriate court orders, etc should be made available to the school.

Community wide assemblies are every second Wednesday at 2.30pm. These assemblies celebrate the diversity of learning experiences and achievements throughout the school and bring the community together.  Classes and individuals regularly share their learning.  Parents and members of the community are encouraged and welcome to attend. On alternative weeks we host PB4L (Positive Behaviour 4 Learning) assemblies,  these are dedicated to exploring and learning about our school values and celebrating those students who have exhibited these values.

These are held monthly, usually on the third Thursday, at 5.30pm, either via zoom or in the school staffroom. All parents and community members are welcome to attend. To find out about dates and times please refer to the school newsletter.

The school belongs to the Scholastic New Zealand Book Club which provides a range of graded reading material to schools at reasonable prices.  There are two issues per term.  Children are provided with an illustrated order form to take home.  Books usually arrive about two weeks after orders are placed through the office.  There is no obligation to buy. The school earns points for all books that are bought and this enables us to buy Library books or Teacher resources for the school.

We have a school bus run from Schollum Road, Whangateau to Leigh School (and return).

Children will be eligible if they live at least 3.2 km from the school. Please ask at the school office for information on where the school bus stops and the times.

We currently do not have a bus run from the Pakiri direction, however, your child may be eligible for a conveyance financial allowance if they are at primary school and live at least 3.2kms from school (and are in our school catchment area). Please speak to Principal Kerrin Jamieson about this if you think it may apply to your family.

The School has a set of procedures on Outdoor Education.

From time to time teachers will want to use the local physical environment as part of their planned educational activities.  Parents are needed at such times for supervisory, safety purposes but also to be involved with the children and class programmes.

As a general rule of thumb Outdoor Education Camps or major trips involving overnight stays are confined to the Senior Classes and are usually undertaken once a year. The BOT checks over and approves the RAMS (Risk Analysis Management Systems) forms for all camps or outdoor education trips.

Click on the link to read our Child Protection Policy

Class trips are sometimes undertaken to support classroom learning.  A permission/consent slip signed by a parent/caregiver is required before any child is able to take part in a class trip.

Buses are used wherever practicable and economically viable. 

A parent pupil ratio of 1 adult per 6 children is required for most trips.  Near water or in the bush the ratio is 1:4. Parents are needed and encouraged to come on school or class trips and support this valuable form of extension learning.

The school has a policy on trips and it can be requested from the Principal.

The school has a written policy on complaints. We have an open door policy and encourage open lines of communication.  Any concerns should be directed to the person it directly concerns as complaints are best settled informally.

If a complaint remains unresolved, it should then be referred to the Principal for further investigation. From there, if no resolution is met, then the complaint can be put into writing to be addressed by the Board of Trustees.

If the person complaining does not feel that justice has been done please follow the guidelines in the Policy. Any complaints that relate to the dealings that children have with each other are to be referred to the Principal.

The policy can be found on our SchoolDocs site. See Policy and Procedures section below.

All children are required to sign a Cybersafety Agreement outlining the expected behaviours when using any computer or internet device.  The school has an Internet Safety Policy that is reviewed annually by the Principal and as part of a schedule of policy review by the Board of Trustees.

The Dental Clinic which services our school is attached to Matakana School. The transporting of the children to and from the Clinic at Matakana is the responsibility of the parents.

If parents have any dental concerns or emergency work needing attention for their children, they can ring the Warkworth Primary School Clinic during work hours and make an appointment.

The Boards of Trustees opt in to the Governments Donations Scheme. This means the Boards does not ask students’ families and whānau for donations, except for overnight camps.  The Board may still require payment for items or services that are extra-curricula.

 

A standard enrolment form prepared by the New Zealand Principal’s Federation is used when new pupils enrol at the school.  Parents of 5 year olds enrolling for the first time are asked to bring the child’s birth certificate and immunisation certificate when enrolling.

The school welcomes parents who would like to come and speak with teachers and the Principal about school programmes before enrolment. We will make a time to show you around the school and can usually introduce you to other parents with similar aged children if you wanted to chat informally about the school.

Children attending Leigh Preschool will be invited to do a number of school visits prior to starting to help make the transition easy for them.

Reasonable supplies of first aid equipment are kept in the Sick Bay.  Please advise the school of any allergies your children may have when you enrol, or as they develop them, and send any medication to the school to the class teacher with clear instructions for its use. Members of the staff have NZQA approved First Aid Certificates.  Parents will be advised of any injury or illness that occurs at school.

To protect the children from the harmful effects of the sun during the summer months, the Leigh School PTA will give each child a free sunhat.  This hat remains the child’s property and is kept at school.  If this hat is lost or damaged, parents are required to purchase another hat for their child at their own cost.

Homework consists of reading each night, a maths game/ basic facts practice and a small spelling list.  Please begin to set time aside for reading every night, especially if your child has not been reading in the holidays (10 to 15 minutes is ideal). You may like to revisit the high frequency spelling word lists as well. Please help your children to remember to do their tasks.

 

Start          9.00  am

Interval   11.00 am – 11.30 am

Lunch       12.40 pm – 1.30 pm

Home        3.00 pm

A House System has been in progress for a number of years.  There are four houses: Sharks, Whales, Kingfish, Dolphins.  Each week, term and year the points are accumulated and the winning house rewarded.  Points are gained for positive actions and behaviour plus Sports Day’s achievements etc.

We have an up to date library and purchase new books throughout the year.

A major renovation of the library was completed in 2022. In addition to the large collection of new books we were able to recently purchase (thanks to our wonderful local philanthropists), ‘Access-It’ software has been installed which is an integrated whole-of-school information management system for staff and students. It also provides a great resource for the older children to be able to do research online.

The school strongly encourages children to take home library books to increase their recreational reading. Each class has a weekly timetabled library time in which to choose and return books.  The children may take a maximum of three books out of the Library at a time.

Parents may also take books out of the school library for home reading with their children. 

We encourage children to look after their clothing and take it home at night.  We endeavour to return misplaced articles of clothing as they are found. However, we still end up with a huge amount of lost property that does not get claimed. Unclaimed articles are kept in a lost property bin. Lost Property is regularly during assemblies. Named clothing ensures prompt return. Lost Property not claimed goes to the Hospice at the end of each term.

Parents are welcome to check lost property at any time and this is kept in the administration foyer.

We fazed out newsletters at the end of 2021. Regular and short notifications are now sent out via HERO, Facebook and email.  In addition, school news is printed in the local ‘Leigh Rag’ community newsletter monthly. 

The school values and encourages parent help in classroom programmes.

Parent helpers usually assist in writing, reading and mathematics programmes. However, we also encourage parent help during our regular Friday morning Garden to Table programme. Anyone interested in participating in these programmes is invited to contact the Principal or a classroom teacher.

Our School uses Schooldocs for all its policies and procedures. You will need our School login and password:

Login: leigh

Password: kaitiaki

Please click this link for access to these.

A Public Health Nurse visits the school regularly to support the school with Teacher referred problems.  The Public Health Nurse is available to see parents who may have concerns about their children’s health.

In 2022 we moved to HERO which is a powerful and secure online sharing platform. This platform reflects our curriculum, vision and school values. Parents receive regular and timely updates on their child’s achievements and these can be accessed at any time.

In addition to this, parents are welcome and encouraged to discuss their child’s progress with teachers at any time during the year, and an appointment need only be requested, or call in after school for an informal chat.

There are a variety of inter school sports events on the school calendar for each year.  These events are regarded as official school days and children are expected to attend (usually Year 4 upwards).   The events give the children the opportunity to interact with other children who may come from different social, economic and ethnic backgrounds.  Schools in the district which usually take part are:  Ahuroa, Kaipara Flats, Matakana, Horizon, Snells Beach and Warkworth.  Fixed calendar events are:  Swimming , Netball and Soccer , Cross Country, Hockey,  Athletics and Tabloid Sports.

All stationery is purchased online with Qizzle during the summer holiday period so that students are ready with all of their stationery requirements on day one of the term. To find your child’s stationery list select Leigh School and your child’s year level.

 

The pool has a cover that is used nightly in summer to keep the heat in so it is warmer for swimming – thanks to our wonderful PTA for funding this in 2022.

Keys to the pool are hire out for $60 for the summer for recreational use out of school hours.

Please view our Leigh School Pool User’s Code prior to using the pool. 

 

The Teacher Aide provides learning support within the classroom for children with needs in specific areas. We currently have one highly experienced Teacher Aide – Liz Brown.

It is important that children be brought up to realise the value of a tidy and clean appearance.  Children should look their best and take pride in the school when on a sports outing or a school trip.

Blue polo shirts with the Leigh School logo printed on them are available for purchase through the office or on loan through the school for such events.

It is a great help to staff if all sweatshirts, T shirts, footwear etc are named for easy identification.

The School’s facilities are available to all members of the Leigh Community.  The House of Learning, kitchen space, and Library are available for meetings by contacting the Principal.  We ask that everyone respect our outdoor equipment and take responsibility for their children outside school hours. Dogs are permitted on the school grounds, however must be on a lead at all times.

As teachers cannot be responsible for the safety and security of valuable articles and/or favourite toys, therefore children are advised not to bring them to school.

From time to time the BOT Property Officer will call for a working bee around the school. By having these we are able to save money for the school and get a lot of the odd jobs done during the year. The money that we are able to save enables us to provide extra resources for the children. These are usually held once a term.

This programme provides for one to one oral reading practise with parents or members of the community.  Helpers give 1 hour per week and each child receives 15 minutes reading time, each day that a helper is available. Contact Kerrin Jamieson if you are interested in volunteering for this worthwhile programme.

Each year the school organises at least one major whole school outing (often to Auckland). The trip is usually related to a school wide topic of work.