Start of Year 2026
Welcome back for the 2026 school year! We hope you had a lovely summer break filled with time with your whānau.
We're really excited to welcome you and your tamariki back to kura next week. The first day of school is Monday, 9th February. As always, we will begin the day with a pōwhiri to welcome new learners and their whānau. All are welcome.
This pānui contains general information, polices and procedures that we are required to notify you about each year.
Attendance, Lateness & Absences
You can track your child's attendance on Hero.
Absences: If your child is going to be away please log their attendance in the Hero app. If they will be away for multiple days please email Anita at the office anita@westmere.school.nz.
Holidays: If your child will be away for a week or more for a family event or a holiday you need to email the principal rebecca@westmere.school.nz.
Lateness: If your child is late to school please make sure they sign in at the office before going to class. The roll is taken at 9am.
A reminder that absences are discouraged. Please book holidays during term breaks and, where possible book appointments outside of school hours.
Bikes and Scooters
We love kids to ride their bikes and scooters to school. It’s a great way to start the day.
Tamariki need to get off their bikes or scooters when they arrive at the gate and walk them in and then out at the end of the day.
Pre-schoolers need to follow the same rules. They cannot ride around the school until after 3:10pm when most people have cleared the area.
Change of Clothes
Our tamariki play outside all year round, no matter the weather, rain or shine. Please make sure your child has a change of clothes in their bag at all times. ALL ages. We don't keep spare clothes at school.
Hats
Bucket hats are compulsory in Terms 1 and 4. These are available for purchase at the office.
Healthy & Litterless Lunches
A healthy food and drink environment helps support a young person's wellbeing|hauora, including their immediate physical and mental growth and development. It also helps establish positive behaviours for the future. Good nutrition can positively affect student behaviour, learning, concentration, and energy.
At Westmere School, we encourage children to bring healthy lunches to school to support their learning and learning behaviours.
We are also a litterless lunch school, which means no wrappers in lunchboxes and that anything left over during the day stays in children's lunchboxes. This is to help you, as parents, know what your child is and isn't eating each day, and to help keep our school clean.
We have found that tamariki eat most when things are simple and are manageable in size, e.g. they will eat a cut-up apple but not a whole apple. They are often keen to get going with playing, so when things are smaller, eating them becomes more achievable.
Children are not allowed lollies or chocolates at school. Please leave these items for after school. They can cause unnecessary disruption and issues between friends.
Junior/Senior Playgrounds
If you are using the playground before or after school, please help the children to follow the school rules. Children cannot climb on the roofs of the huts or on top of the monkey bars on the Junior Playground.
The Senior Playground is built for older children - i.e. things are higher, spaced further apart, etc. Please be mindful of this and supervise children very carefully.
School Policies
All our school policies can be found on School Docs.
https://westmere.schooldocs.co.nz/
Username and password: westmere
Stationery and School Donation
All stationery must be paid for as soon as possible - this is a cost, not a donation. We source stationery at competitive prices so that it is as economical as possible and so children have everything they need as soon as school begins.
Costs and the school donation are listed under the finance button in Hero.
We know some whānau prefer to set up an AP to pay the school donation monthly or weekly. Below are some options for this.
It is also a camp year for all our Year 5 and 6 tamariki so we have also put in an option for paying this throughout the year, so it's not a large sum all at once.
Year 1-6 for donation $520
For payments March to November (10 months):
$52 per month, or
$15 per week (rounded up)
Year 5-6 for camp, provisionally $300
For payments March to November (10 months):
$30 per month, or
$10 per week (rounded up)
Year 5-6 for donation and camp
For payments March to November (10 months):
$82 per month, or
$25 per week (rounded up)
Our bank account details:
Westmere School (Auckland) Board
12-3020-0460008-00
These funds will be held as a credit balance in Hero until charges become due and then used to pay the line item in Hero. Any extra funds received can be used to pay other costs charged. Any remaining balance can sit in Hero until 2027 or refunded for Y6 students.
Student Disclosures & Oranga Tamariki (OT)
If a child raises any issues of concern, e.g. family harm, we are required to report these to Oranga Tamariki (OT). When we report them, OT take over and decide the process from there. We have no control over this process. They do not inform us of their next steps or what the outcome of any follow-up is. It is all kept confidential.
Don’t Sit on a Worry
Worried about something? Don’t sit on it! We don’t want you or your tamaiti worrying. Reach out and let us know. Often we can resolve small worries before they turn into an anxiety. Get in touch with whomever you feel most comfortable with. We encourage you to start with your child’s teachers but we’re all here to help.
Complaints Process
Your first port of call is always your child's kaiako. Then the order is as follows:
Studio Teacher
Year Group Leader
Deputy Principal
Principal (rebecca@westmere.school.nz)
Board (botchair@westmere.school.nz)
Further Information
Day-to-day information can be found on our recently updated website.