New Entrants

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Starting School

Starting school is a huge milestone in a young child's life, and it is vital for their future educational well-being that their first school experiences are positive.

At Hokowhitu School, we pride ourselves in the way we ensure that our new entrant children are warmly received and eased into their school life. Our new entrant room is called Friendly Fifteen. This helps our five year olds know that Hokowhitu School is a happy school, where they feel valued and secure.

We also place great value on working with parents of our new entrants in making this time very successful for the children.

This provides the best possible environment to foster children's learning, as we believe that, for children to learn to the best of the abilities, they firstly must feel happy, and enjoy coming to school.

We look forward to watching your children "blossom" during their time at our school.

The following links explain all about our new entrant procedures.

When can new entrants be enrolled?

What will pre-school visits be held?

What happens during pre-school visits?

What does Hokowhitu School offer new entrant children?

What is needed to enrol children?

Enrolment

You are most welcome to come along and enrol your child at any time, or once they have turned 5 years of age. Children are able to start school from the day of their fifth birthday.

All that you need to do is contact Juls at the Office and she will give you an enrolment form to complete. It would also be very helpful if you could also bring along your child's birth certificate and their immunisation certificate, as these are required for verification of certain information which is required when completing the enrolment form.

To help us with planning and with ensuring that our staffing requirements are correct, we appreciate advance notification of children who will be enrolling at this school. While we particularly need to know names and dates of birth of children who will be enrolling in 2007 and 2008, it is also helpful to have some indication of likely enrolments in following years. Please feel welcome to give us a call to advise us of names of children who will be enrolling here in coming years. We do not have any restrictions on enrolment, and so we can guarantee a place for your child.

School visits

Juls will give you a list of the pre-school visit times which will be relevant for your child. The visits usually take place on a Monday with the children having a maximum of 3 visits before starting School. The visits can be arranged through Juls at the office, or with Trish, our New Entrant teacher. The visiting pattern is as follows and if the set times do not suit you other arrangements can be made for we are very flexible!

Visit 1: 8.50 a.m. to 10.25 a.m. Parents/caregivers are invited to stay during this initial visit.

Visit 2: 8.50 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. Parents/caregivers are asked to leave their child on this occasion so that s/he has time to adjust on her/his own.

Visit 3: 12.30 p.m. to 3.00 p.m. Again we like to see the child coping on their own.

Visiting Schedule for 2008:

For children starting school in March
Visit 1:	February 11th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	February 18th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	February 25th	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in April
Visit 1:	March 17th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	March 26th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	March 31st	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in May
Visit 1:	March 31st	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	April 7th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	April 14th	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in June
Visit 1:	May 12th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	May 19th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	May 26th	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in July
Visit 1:	June 9th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	June 16th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	June 23rd	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in August
Visit 1:	June 30th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	July 21st	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	July 28th	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in September
Visit 1:	August 11th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	August 18th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	August 25th	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in October
Visit 1:	September 8th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	September 15th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	September 22nd	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in November
Visit 1:	October 13th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	October 20th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 3:	October 28th	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m
For children starting school in December,and January/February 2009
Visit 1:	November 10th	8.50 a.m to 10.25 a.m
Visit 2:	November 17th	8.50 a.m to 1.30 p.m.
Visit 2:	November 24th	12.30 p.m to 3.00 p.m

Starting school is a very important event in any child's life and it is also an important "milestone" for you and your family. For your child's transition to school to be a very positive one we do encourage you to bring your child along for each of the 3 visits prior to their starting school. These visits enable your child to become familiar with their new teacher, their class and their new school environment.

During the visits your child will be made to feel very "special" and very much a member of the class. You and your child will also be able to actively take part in the classroom activities. To help your child to settle in and to become a "big school boy/girl" we do encourage you to remain for their first visit and to let them stay at school by themselves for the following 2 visits.

During your first visit Trish will:

introduce you and your child to the class.
take you for a tour of the School buildings and grounds.
talk to you about what your child needs on their first day at School - e.g. Iunch box, drink bottle, school bag and what to include in their lunch box for morning tea and lunch.
issue you with a stationery list (these items can be purchased from any local stationery outlet).
discuss classroom routines.
answer any questions/queries which you may have.

What does our Junior Team have to offer you and your child?

We want your child to experience a warm, accepting and secure environment.

To achieve this we offer:

junior

An experienced, skilled and enthusiastic team of Junior school teachers.
A commitment to providing a nurturing environment that gives your child a great first step into school life.
Up to date Junior classrooms that reflect children's learning through teaching/learning experiences that provide depth across the curriculum.
Small class numbers allowing quality student teacher interactions ( we aim for no more than 23 per class).
A strong emphasis on building foundations in Literacy (Reading/Writing) and Numeracy (Mathematical) skills.
Support networks to ensure that each child's learning and behavioural needs and strengths are being met.

From the Office...

What do I do when I want to enrol my child at school?

Enrolling your child at school for the very first time can be both daunting and exciting at the same time. There are always forms that need to be filled out but our teachers and office staff are here to help you as much as possible.

Pop into the school office and collect the enrolment forms.
Take the forms home, fill them in and return them to school as soon as possible.
When you return the forms to school you should also bring your child's Birth certificate, and Immunisation Certificate. We are required to sight these documents in their original form and we prefer to take copies to attach to the child's enrolment card for future reference. You will not be penalised if you do not have these documents but later on in their school career you may find it useful to know we keep copies. Without these documents we are unable to verify their Date of Birth or Immunisation Status.
Once the enrolment forms are completed and returned to school please discuss with us arrangements for pre-school visits to enable you and your child to become familiar with the classroom environment, teachers and programmes.
The New Entrant Teacher will give you a "New Entrant Pack" which includes various information leaflets and Health forms. Please ensure that both the Dental forms and Health forms are returned to school as soon as possible.

Enrolment procedures are now complete and you can look forward to the day your child begins the exciting journey of learning and growing at their new school.

Happy School Days!