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The A-Z of MBS

The Answers You Need

Absence
New Zealand law requires children from the age of 6 to be present at school except in special circumstances such as illness etc. Parents must notify the school if their child is absent stating the reason by 8.55am each day. If a child is absent and the school has not been notified we will contact parents to confirm the child is safe.  If a child enrols at 5 years of age they are expected to be in school full time.

After School Care
An OSCAR accredited after school programme operates upstairs in the Recreation Centre.  Ka Pai Butterfly is run privately and you can contact Anita directly on 021 330 191 or anita@kapaibutterfly.com to organise after school care.

Access to Children
Please notify the Principal if you have a special custody arrangement or if there are any changes to this. A copy of the custody agreement must be provided to the school office.

Any parents wishing to take their child out of school before the end of the day must first visit the school office to sign them out. Your child/ren will be called to the office to meet you for collection.  No student will be allowed to leave the 
school grounds with a parent/caregiver unless they have first been to the office.

Accidents at School
Parents will be advised of any injury to children where staff consider the injury sufficiently serious. Parents must provide the school with emergency contact numbers.

Assemblies
Whole school assemblies will be held on certain Friday’s at 1.30pm with the aim of children being able to present aspects of their programme.  All parents are welcome to attend whole school assemblies or syndicate assemblies. Assembly dates are published in the school newsletter and on the school calendar.   Awards are given at these assemblies in recognition of student achievement.

Students share their learning at these assemblies and we encourage parents to come along and watch even if your child is not performing.  The school principal also speaks and will update any issues or notices to parents​.


Brain Break
This is a short 5 - 10 minute break at 10:00am during lessons in the morning session. Please ensure your child has appropriate healthy snacks, i.e. a small piece of fruit, cubes of cheese etc.

Buses
Children are eligible to travel by bus if they are:

(a)  under 10 years and live more than 3.2kms from school.
(b)  10 years and over and live more than 4.8kms from school.

Pupils who travel by bus should not travel home by other means unless parents have advised the school about such a change prior to 2pm in the afternoon.   The school bus service is funding by the MOE and should not be used to transport students to play dates, after school sports and the like.   The use of school transport is a privilege, not a right, and the Ministry of Education may withdraw that privilege at any time. For more information on the bus service, please ask at the school office.    If you child travels on one of the late buses in the afternoon, please pack extra food for an afternoon snack while they wait. 


Camps and Class Trips (Education outside the Classroom EOTC)
Consent and information forms will be sent out prior to trips and written parent permission must be given before children are taken out of school. Preschoolers are not permitted on any school trips. 

Payment may be made online via Kindo or into the following bank account: 12-3094-0106669-01. Please clearly state name of child and reason of payment in reference areas.


Contact Information
Please inform the school office immediately if your contact details change.

Cyber Safety
On enrolment each child is issued a Student ICT Agreement form which needs to be signed and returned before children are allowed computer access.

Dentistry
A complete dental service is available at certain times during the year.    Please call 0800 MY TEETH for service schedules and any information.

Donation
MBS has signed up for the Ministry of Education Donations Scheme so will no longer be asking for school donations.  

Emergencies
Earthquake, fire and tsunami drills are practiced regularly throughout the year and a report is provided to the Board of Trustees.

Enrolments
An online enrolment form is available under the enrolment tab.  Please complete this and bring in any other information required to complete the enrolment process  i.e.  immunisation certificate, birth certificate, proof of address etc. 

Enrolment Scheme
Mangawhai School has an Enrolment Scheme. Information is available at the school office and on our web site.

First Aid
Basic supplies of first aid equipment are kept in the sickbay located in the school office in case of accidents.  All teachers and staff undergo regular first aid training and have completed a course of instruction in CPR and First Aid for the school environment.  

Fundraising

Mangawhai Beach School has an active parent body FOMBS (Friends of Mangawhai Beach School) which meets regularly to organise a variety of social and fundraising events each year.  Volunteers are welcome to join at anytime.
Parents are asked to support all fundraising activities and can do so by supporting FOMBS events and key fundraisers such as our Colour Fun Run and annual Golf Tournament.   If you would like to be part of our fundraising team, please contact them here: fombs@mangawhaibeach.school.nz 

Health
The school requires parents to complete a medical form annually. These are held in the sickbay and will be taken on trips or events your child attends. Please note it is the parent’s responsibility to update us on any changes in medical conditions. Hearing and Vision testing is carried out by a team from Northland District Health. Parents are notified after their child has been checked. For any other health concerns including speech please contact your child’s teacher, SENCO or Public Health Nurse on  09 4304101.    Any medication that needs to be administered to children must be prescribed to that child and in original packaging. The school cannot administer medication that has expired so please keep medication current. Written instruction must accompany the medication and handed to the school office.

Homework
Each classroom teacher will provide information with regard to homework expectations at Parent Information sessions held at the beginning of Term 1. Whilst the detail/content varies from room to room, homework will be given on a regular basis to support classroom programmes. Parents are urged to provide time and a suitable situation for children to complete reading and/or written work and to maintain regular contact with the class teacher to ensure standards are acceptable.

House and Whanau Group
Every student will be assigned a house upon arrival. We have four House Groups – Kingfish, Marlin, Mako and Tuna.

Each House Group has a different colour. When the school has a sports day sometimes the students are asked to dress in the appropriate house colours. The colours for each house are:

Kingfish – Green 
Mako – Yellow 
Tuna – Blue 
Marlin – Red 

Sports shirts are available for purchase through Kindo and dispatched home via the school office.


Information Centre/Library
The Information Centre is a very important education resource for the school. It encompasses our library and information technology unit which are always evolving to meet changing needs.

The school has a part-time librarian to catalogue, shelve and maintain our library, or to arrange for parents to help with these tasks. Parents are asked to oversee
the safety of our collection by checking that all books bought home are returned to school in the child’s book bag to keep them away from food and drink.

Books come from two sources.

(a)  Books purchased from Ministry of Education grants
(b)  Books purchased from local fundraising


Information morning for new families
The school holds a new parent information morning once a term. These will be held in the third week of the term, and dates will be published in the school newsletter. All new and future parents to our school are welcome to join this meeting. Any questions or queries that are not answered on our parent information page on the website can be answered at the school office by phoning  09-431-4385.

Kapa Haka and The Arts
Students have access to Ukulele Group, Kapa Haka Group, Choir, Enviro Group just to name a few. Please see the office for more information regarding these groups.

Kindo School Shop
Kindo school shop is our preferred method of payment for all school related charges.  Click here to register/log in. 

Lost Property
Parents need to ensure that all property is clearly named.  A lost property box is kept outside Room 1. At the end of each term unclaimed articles will be given to charity.

Lunches
Parents are asked to provide a bottle of water and a balanced morning tea and lunch for their child.   If your child has insufficient food for the day, the office will phone you to bring more food to school.   Some students have food allergies so we discourage the sharing of food between students.   We also ask that no cakes are brought in to be shared with the class on a birthday.    

Mobile Phones
Mobile phones are not permitted at school.    If a student brings a phone to school, it must be handed in at the office to be locked away for the day.    Any abuse of this rule or inappropriate use of a phone during school time will result in confiscation.   The school will not be held responsible for any device not handed in that might be tampered with or stolen.

Money
All payments for uniforms, activities or curriculum related charges, should be made through Kindo.    If you are enrolling a child/children for the first time at our school, we can try on uniforms at the office and you can make payment at that time.

Newsletters
Parents will be informed of school events at regular intervals. School newsletters are emailed to parent contacts.    The fortnightly newsletter is posted on Hero and extra copies left at the school office.

Office
The office is staffed between 8.00am and 4.00pm daily.  If the phone goes unanswered it is because we are busy so please leave a message on the answer phone. The school has a photocopier which is available for public use. Charges are set at 20c per black & white copy and $0.50c for colour, with a discount for large runs.

Parking
Parking is available for parents and visitors on the road outside the new classroom block or in the car park outside the Recreation Centre where the drop-off and pick up area is.   Reserved staff car parking is to the side of the administration block.  While the weather is nice, we encourage walking (or cycling for 10 year olds and older) in order to keep traffic congestion to a minimum outside the school.

Parent Help
The school encourages parents to contribute to school programmes when appropriate.  Parents may be asked to assist as tutors in Reading, Mathematics or Language, or to act as resource people in a variety of curriculum areas. Anyone interested in participating in the parent help programme is invited to contact the classroom teacher. All classroom helpers must sign the Mangawhai Beach School Parent Help document and be Police Vetted. All parents must report and sign in at the school office where they will be issued with a visitor’s badge.

Property Manager
The school has a fulltime Caretaker/Property Manager.   He is usually in the school grounds from 7.30am-2.30pm daily.

Police Vetting
It is a Health & Safety requirement that any parents accompanying children on a trip/camp or parent helping at school be police vetted. There is a charge of $10 per vet form processed from the NZ Police so the school will ask parents to pay for their police vet check which is valid for three years.

Reporting to Parents
Term One: Goal setting and Classroom visits
Term Two: Mid Year Reports / Student Led Conferences
Term Three: Student Led Conferences
Term Four: End of Year Reports

Electronic School Interview bookings are used www.schoolinterviews.co.nz


Rubbish - Zero Waste
Mangawhai Beach School has a zero waste policy. Any rubbish must be taken home by the children at the end of the day but food scraps can go in our compost bins.

School Hours
School commences at 8.55am daily and concludes at 2.45pm.

8.55am - 10.30am Block One
10.30am – 11.00am Morning Interval
11.00am - 12.30pm Block Two
12.30pm - 1.15pm Lunch Break
1.15pm - 2.45pm Block Three

If children are not collected from school by 3.00pm the duty teacher will attempt to contact parents.
Term dates are published in the school notices.

Student Code of Conduct
At the beginning of the year a Student Code of Conduct form will be sent home with each child for parents to discuss with their child, sign and return to the school. Staff keep a record of incidents and the School Behaviour Management Procedures are implemented. A copy of the Behaviour Management Procedure is available at the school office and online.

Stationery
A small supply of stationery is kept at the school office for children during the year. At the start of each year stationery sales are available online through OfficeMax MySchool.  For new enrolments during the year, stationery lists and prices are available from the school office to order online.

Swimming
During the summer season each class is timetabled for swimming. We aim to teach children to be conscious of water safety and to be able to practice basic swimming skills. It is important that all children take full part in the swimming programme. Very often the children who need tuition most – are the ones who avoid swimming. If a pupil is not to take part in the swimming lessons, a note to this effect must be provided by parents. We follow a Swim Safe Programme designed for New Zealand schools. All children must wear swim caps.

Transport Arrangements
Parents must advise the school of any change in travel arrangement particularly if it concerns buses. Parents must call or send a note informing the office of the change by 2.00pm so the child can be notified if required. Children on early buses board when the bell goes and those on late buses assemble outside rooms 1-3 for a roll call.   Students who walk to meet their parents disburse when the bell goes and those being picked up in the car assemble in the Rec Centre foyer at the end of the day.

Uniform
Mangawhai Beach School has a compulsory uniform. Our standard uniform may be worn all year round. Uniform items are available for purchase from the office.  Please read the Uniform Policy as there is a strict code of uniform requirements. All items should be clearly named.    The uniform consists of the following:

*  Blue Polo shirt, short sleeved (winter weight and summer weight), with Mangawhai School logo;
*  Blue Polar fleece jacket, long sleeved, with the Mangawhai School logo;
*  Black shorts/cargo pants/skorts;
*  Black sun bucket hat/cap (Hat Policy will apply).

* Black beanie.
 

Black long sleeved skivvies may be worn under the polo shirt for extra warmth.    Black stockings / leggings may also be worn under uniform.

Predominately BLACK footwear is to be worn. Socks and shoes are not compulsory. However, if they are to be worn, shoes and socks must be black.

The Year 7/8 students have a slightly different uniform in the form of a black/blue/grey polo tee shirt and a black/blue hooded sweatshirt.


Uniform Presentation

  • There is to be no jewellery – apart from: watches, plain ear studs and sleepers and the wearing of any additional jewellery on religious or cultural grounds. This must be tucked into clothing for safety reasons

  • No coloured nail polish to be worn

  • No adhesive tattoos

  • Long hair and fringes to be fastened back

  • Hair colour to be natural colour. 

  • No makeup


Valuables at School
As teachers cannot be responsible for the safety and security of valuable articles that students bring to school. Please leave them at home.

Visitors to School
All visitors must report and sign in at the school office where they will be issued with a visitor’s badge. Visitors must make prior arrangements with classroom teachers. 

Wet Weather
School does not close early on wet days. We recognise that in an increasing percentage of families, both parents go out to work, and that any early closing of school might seriously inconvenience parents or their employer. Parents arriving in cars on wet days are warned to drive with extreme care when turning into school driveways.  

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