Starting school is an exciting time and an important milestone in your child’s life and maybe also your life – particularly if this is your first child to come to school.

We look forward to working with you and your child to make the transition from preschool to school a positive experience.

The staff at Kāretu School welcome you, your family and your five year old, and recognise the importance of a smooth transition into school.

At Kāretu School we have an open door policy and see communication between home and school as an integral part of your child’s learning. If you have any questions, please come and see us so we can discuss these.

If this is your first child at school often it is new for you as a parent as well as so much has changed perhaps since you were last a student. Some children are comfortable and gain confidence quickly while it is natural for some to take a little longer to settle into school life.

We recognise that children bring many different skills and experiences to school with them so along with the literacy and numeracy skills that are focused on in the first year, we encourage the children to begin to develop the key competencies through our school programmes. These are the skills identified in the New Zealand Curriculum that they will need to be successful life-long learners. Thinking, Relating to others, Using language, symbols, and texts, Managing self, Participating and contributing

ENROLMENT (See Below - Enrolment Scheme and Zone Map)

When your child is enrolled, you will be asked to fill out some forms and details will be entered into the school’s student management database and the national database ENROL.

It is important that you have at least two emergency contact telephone numbers listed. Please inform your child's teacher of any illness or medication and supply the appropriate medicine.

Let the school know of any custodial arrangements or any changes of circumstance.Non-custodial parents may request a copy of all correspondence about their child.

NEW ENTRANT PRE-ENROLMENT

Once your child has reached the age of 4 years 6 months you should be considering a transition to school. After consultation with the year 1 teacher and the principal and depending on numbers of pre-schoolers, Karetu School invites parents to bring their child to school one morning a week for orientation. We keep a waiting list for places on this programme, so please contact us to see whether a place is available. Priority will be given to children who are due to start during the current term or at the beginning of the following term.

NB: Parents/caregivers are asked to accompany their child to school during this time.