Start of 2025 Newsletter - 24 January

Tēnā koe

Ngā mihi o te Tau Hou | Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing our new and returning students in 2025 and would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to our new whānau of students beginning at Northcote College this year.

Year 9 students and peer support leaders have the school to themselves on Monday 3 February with a pōwhiri to start the day at 9am. All students are expected at school on Tuesday 4 February for Day 1 of the timetable; Year 9 students begin with digital induction at 9am and students in Years 10-13 begin with a form period at 9.30am.

There are some important things to note to start the year, and at the bottom of this email are key dates for the first half of Term 1.

2025 term dates and year planner

The 2025 term dates and year planner on our website for your reference: https://www.northcote.school.nz/parents/term-dates-and-year-planner

Parent Portal

We have a new look Parent Portal which we hope is more user friendly and helps you and your child access important information easily. To access the Parent Portal, you can use this link https://northcote.school.kiwi/ or click on the top right of our school website banner under Parents and Kindo. The older URL is no longer active.

Uniform Guidelines

We expect the Northcote College uniform will be worn by students in Years 9, 10, 11 and 12 correctly and with pride at school, to and from school, and at all school functions. All uniform items can be purchased from Yarntons in Birkenhead. The Uniform Guidelines and the Year 13 Non-uniform Dress Code are on our website here: https://www.northcote.school.nz/enrolments/uniform-stationery

Stationery 2025

Your child should bring everything that they need for learning (including a chromebook or compact laptop) on the first timetabled day (Tuesday 4 February). The 2025 stationery lists are available on our school website, as above and also at: https://www.myschool.co.nz/northcotecollege

Parent Handbooks

Our Parent Handbooks provide an overview of important information about how our school runs and include details about our values, parent portal, communications, operations, calendar dates, and more. Please take note of our Code of Expected Behaviour which includes our ‘away for the day’ mobile phone policy.

Link to Parent Handbooks: https://www.northcote.school.nz/enrolments/parent-handbook

Parent-Teacher-Student Meetings 20 & 25 February

We invite parents, whānau and caregivers to the first Parent-Teacher-Student meetings for the year on 20 or 25 February. These meetings are to build learning-based relationships and to help us get to know our learners better. The booking system is online, and an email with the code will be sent closer to the time.

School donations and Kindo payments

We are grateful to families who pay the school donation; without these payments we would not be able to offer the variety of learning opportunities our students currently enjoy. All payments to Northcote College can be made in one place with your myKindo account. There is a link to Kindo on the top bar of our school website: https://www.northcote.school.nz/our-school/kindo-payments

Attendance

We are continuing to focus on student attendance. If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance. All students are legally required to attend school every day, and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school. The Government's target is for 80% of students to attend regularly, that is to attend more than 90% of the time.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent for a day or portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or sickness. If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school, please talk to us. Our school is committed to supporting your child and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance.

Road safety

The safety of our students is always a priority. In assemblies and at form time, messages and resources are shared with students to support road safety awareness. Please urge your child to cross Onewa Road responsibly at the lights, particularly if they catch the bus home up Onewa Road after school. Kauri Glen Road becomes very congested before and after school, and with our building construction, parking is very challenging. If you are dropping off or collecting your child from school, we strongly encourage you to use Gladstone Road.

Lockers

Lockers are available for students to hire. To hire a locker, students pay either $15 per term or $40 for the whole year at Harakeke | Student Reception.

Homestay families needed

We are looking for caring homestay families to accommodate our wonderful international students. We have options available for one term, two terms or long term students. Northcote College hosts international students from Asia, South America and Europe. This is a great opportunity to experience another culture. We offer a homestay fee of $400 per week.

For further information please contact our Homestay Coordinator Manny Mauricio at homestay@northcote.school.nz

Stay in touch

Thank you in advance for your support of our school. We encourage you to stay in contact; if you have any queries, please contact your child’s Dean in the first instance.

Ngā manaakitanga

Vicki Barrie

Tumuaki | Principal

Key Dates for first half of Term 1 2025

Week 1

Monday 3 February: Peer Support Programme with Year 9 students
Tuesday 4 February: First day of classes for ALL students - Day 1 of the timetable

9.00am digital induction start for students in Year 9

9.30am form period start for students in Years 10-13

Wednesday 5 February: Day 2 of the timetable 9.30am start
Thursday 6 February: Waitangi Day - school closed
Friday 7 February: school closed

Week 2

Monday 10 February: Day 3 of the timetable - normal start time of 9am
Tuesday 11 February 6pm: Year 9 Parent Evening
Thursday 13 February: Swimming Sports
Friday 14 February: Class & ID photos

Week 3

Monday 17 - Friday 21 February: Marae Noho
Thursday 20 February: Parent-Teacher-Student Meetings 4-7pm

Week 4

Tuesday 25 February: Parent-Teacher-Student Meetings 4-7pm
Friday 28 February: Athletics Day