Calendar Art

A Westmere School Supporters fundraiser, where your child produces a piece of art in the class and you are able to order cards, notepads, calendars, etc. These make great gifts and are also good value for money. This is an annual event. The orders come into school before the Term 4 holidays.

Camp - Senior school (Years 5 and 6).
A three night sleepover at an approved education facility on even years.

Car Parking

There is no car parking available on the school grounds for parents. There is limited parking on Garnet Road and Larchwood Avenue. We encourage our children to join their closest walking school bus as a way to avoid congestion at our school gates (see the section on Walking School bus for more information). To increase visibility for our road patrols that operate on these roads, please do not double park or park on dotted yellow lines near the crossings or block the driveways of local residents.

Caught in the Act

This is a special certificate awarded to 1 child from each class or 2-3 children from each Studio for demonstrating one or more of our core values. This is given at a whole school assembly.

Clothing and Footwear

Children should be appropriately dressed for the season. We request that you name your child’s items of clothing and belongings to assist with their return. Children should wear shoes or sandals to school each day. There are times during the day where the children must wear shoes i.e. in summer the courts get very hot and shoes are required. Children take their shoes off when working in their Studios. We discourage wearing jewellery or bringing special items to school.

If you wish, you can purchase a school T-Shirt from the office. These are particularly useful for children to wear on school outings and children who represent the school in sporting, cultural or musical activities will be required to wear one.

We also ask that children wear a Westmere sunhat. These can be purchased from the school office for $15. There is information in school newsletters about how these can be customised.

Collection of Children

If there are any changes to the arrangements you have made with your child, please email your child’s kaitiaki teacher and the office. Please also advise the office or the class teachers if your child is being collected by someone different. All playdates need to be arranged with the parents prior to the end of day pickup to avoid confusion.

Communication

You will receive all our newsletters, Westmere School Supporters updates and Studio communication through our 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 office@westmere.school.nz. 

Concerns

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:

o Year 0-2 - Laura Rayner

o Year 3-4 Lottie Jones

o Year 5-6 - Simone Myburgh

o NUONI Maxine Moeke

• Contact the Deputy Principal (Kylie McBeth: Junior School & NUONI, Melinda Downes: Middle & Senior School), then 
  

• Contact the Principal (Rebecca McColgan), then
  

• Contact the Board of Trustees (in writing)
  

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.

Contact details to be kept up to date

Please contact the office - office@westmere.school.nz to notify of any changes to ensure we have the most up to date information. We use email to send you newsletters and school notices. Up to date phone numbers are required to contact you if your child becomes ill etc., during the school day.

Cross Country

Weather permitting! This event is held at Cox’s Bay in Term 2. The children walk down with their studio in their running gear. The races usually start with the youngest children (girls followed by boys) at about 9:45. Then the children run in order of their year groups. Parents and families are invited to watch and support the runners by standing around the course. The children stay with their home teacher before and after their run and then they walk back to school.

Dental Clinic

The Dental Health Service for our local primary schools runs from the Clinic at Ponsonby Intermediate School. All children who are enrolled with the service from pre-school undergo an initial examination and are assessed as being on a 6 monthly, yearly, or 18 monthly follow-up. The assessment is reviewed at every examination enabling a responsive action plan to be in place for each student.

The Dental Van visits our site on an annual basis. Children due for an assessment, according to the schedule, are seen at this time. If further work is required, they are given an appointment to visit the Ponsonby Intermediate School clinic.

If your child is away from school at the time of the visit, the Dental Service will contact parents to make an appointment at the clinic. If you are unclear as to the assessment timetable for your child, please ring the Ponsonby Dental Clinic and discuss this matter with them (Telephone No. 376 6327). Under this service, it is imperative that as parents, you take an active role in ensuring your child’s dental hygiene requirements are met.

Digital Technologies

We currently have ipads and Chromebooks in our studio environments, and we also have touch screen televisions to support the learning.

All staff, students and parents are made aware of the schools Internet Safety Policy and sign a Cyber Safe Agreement regarding their use and responsibilities.

Dogs

For health and safety reasons dogs are not permitted on school grounds. Please tie your dog well away from the school gate whilst you are dropping children off at school or picking children up at the end of the day.

Donations

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. 

Drink Bottles

Please ensure that your child brings a drink bottle to school each day - filled with water only. In the Junior School these are kept in the learning studio so that we can encourage the children to drink from them regularly. As they move up through the school the children keep them in their school bags as they can manage themselves more independently.

Duty Teachers

Teachers are rostered on to a specific area at a specific time. They wear fluro orange vests to make them easy to spot and they carry first aid supplies such as plasters, wipes, etc. The duty teachers cover a specific area and walk around the school supporting the children to make good choices in their play.