School Information

Ignite – Innovate – Connect

Attendance

Notifying the school of your child’s absence

Students are not to be dropped off at school before 8:15am.

If your child is going to be absent  you are required to notify the school office. Failure to do this will result in an email or text message being sent via our student early notification system and if necessary a phone call to follow up.

It is important to note that if your child does arrive after the 8.55am bell they must report directly to the school office where a late pass will be issued.

Notification of a students absence must be given every day that the student is away, unless an arrangement has been made with the school.

Absence notification may be done in one of these ways:

If you experience any problems or need further information, please contact the school office on 478 6239 Ext 700.

School Attendance Management Plan

Lateness and High-frequency absences Policy

All children have a right to quality education. When a student develops a pattern of lateness or high-frequency absences, this impinges on that right. It is the role of the parent(s) / caregiver(s) to ensure that their child is regularly attending school on time. The following are the steps that Murrays Bay School has in place to support those children who develop a pattern of Lateness or High-frequency Absence.

Lateness

A pattern of lateness at Murrays Bay School shall be defined as: “When a student has been late 2 or more times over 2 consecutive weeks”

If a pattern of lateness is emerging, it is an expectation that the Deputy Prinicipal will make contact with home to seek a reason and ensure that the student is at school by 8:45am.

Steps on behalf of the school shall be:

  • First instance: Letter home from Deputy Principal.
  • Second Instance: Phone call from Deputy Principal.
  • Third Instance: Second and final letter from Deputy Principal (notification of North shore Students Services being involved in the next instance).
  • Fourth Instance: Referral to North Shore Student Services.

High Frequency Absences

Under the Ministry of Education’s Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) framework, schools are required to respond when a student’s absences reach certain thresholds during a school term. These thresholds are designed to ensure concerns are identified early and that schools work alongside families to support regular attendance.

Please note: 

  • These thresholds apply to all absences, including illness, medical appointments, family holidays, bereavement, and unexplained absences.
  • The absence count resets at the beginning of each school term.
  • The purpose of the STAR framework is to ensure schools identify concerns early, provide support where needed, and help every student attend school as regularly as possible.

Please find the Stepped Attendance Response – STAR link below which explains the thresholds further.

Stepped Attendance Response – STAR

Absence Letter to the Community February 2026

After School Care

Carekids Limited Before & After School Care Programme

The building is on the school site and can be accessed from the driveway.

BYOD & Cyber Safety Agreement

BYOD Device Specifications

We cannot recommend specific devices as each has its pros and cons, but we suggest the following specifications:

  • Keyboard: Included.
  • Brand: Well-known brand, ideally less than 2 years old.
  • Processor: Avoid low-end processors (limited cache memory affects multitasking).
  • RAM: 4GB minimum (higher memory ensures faster performance with cloud apps like Google).
  • Battery & Portability: Good battery life or paired with a portable power bank.
  • Security: Tracking software installed (where possible).

BYOD and Cyber Agreements

 

Digital Device FAQ

  1. Are there discounts on devices?
  • Noel Leeming offers “Cost + 10%” when you mention Murrays Bay Primary (excluding Apple products). We recommend shopping around.
  1. What if my child doesn’t have a device?
  • The school provides loan devices to use in the classroom so no student is disadvantaged.
  1. How much screen time will students have?
  • Teachers control classroom device use. While devices support curriculum delivery, our Science of Learning pedagogy actively focuses on reducing screen time to improve student outcomes.

Important Security & Insurance Information

  • Serial Numbers:Please record your device’s serial number. It is required for police reports if stolen.
  • Insurance:Devices are covered by your personal insurance, not the school’s. Students are responsible for taking care of their devices.

Suggested Websites:

Ministry of Health Wifi Safety Information
Netsafe NZ
Digi-Parenting
Common Sense Media
Touch Typing

 

 

 

Extra Lessons at our school

Murrays Bay Primary School offers a range of optional in-school and after-school programmes for students throughout the year.

These activities provide students with opportunities to develop new skills, explore interests and participate in enriching experiences beyond the classroom.

In School Lessons

Music Hub Guitar Tuition
Music Hub Guitar Tuition

Group guitar lessons during school hours for students interested in learning and developing guitar skills.

Contact:
phil.moore@musichub.co.nz

Piano Keyboard Tuition
Piano/Keyboard Tuition

Piano and keyboard tuition available during school hours for students interested in developing music skills and confidence.

Contact:
cdench2001@yahoo.com

After School Lessons

Little Cooks
Little Cooks

We run weekly classes where kids will learn and practise kitchen skills, making delicious sweet / savoury foods in a fun group environment.

Day: Tuesday
Visit Website

Chess Power
Chess Power

Chess helps develop critical thinking, cognitive function & decision making. These skills help kids through the rest of their life.

Day: Tuesday
Visit Website

Pform.nz
Pform.nz

We are a passionate and experienced team who strongly believe in self-expression and confidence-building through the arts. We’re convinced that acting, dancing and singing are arts that unleash life skills that shape strong leaders of the future.

Day: Wednesday
Visit Website

CNSST Mandarin Lessons
CNSST Cultural Learning Centre – Mandarin Lessons

Mandarin language lessons available after school for students interested in learning and developing conversational language skills.

Days: Monday & Thursday
WeChat: CNSST-NZ-2014
Bricks4Kidz
Bricks4Kidz

Our FUN and EDUCATIONAL LEGO® Robotics STEAM after school classes teach critical developmental skills to create future problem solvers and innovators!

Day: Thursday
Visit Website

Newsletters

School Newsletters are produced fortnightly and emailed to all parents on a Wednesday. Our newsletter is an opportunity to share information about events and activities happening in the school.

Year groups also produce their own newsletters to keep you informed of specific events in your child’s area.

Dental Clinic

Kia ora, Talofa lava, Mālō e leilei, Kia orāna, Bula, Fakaalofa lahi atu – warm greetings to our community.

 

Murrays Bay Primary

Our aim as part of this recovery programme is to deliver equitable service access for our tamariki/children. To do this, we will be increasing the frequency of our mobile dental facilities into and out of schools and focusing on examining and treating tamariki that we have identified as having higher dental needs and are most overdue. This means that tamariki will be seen as most overdue first or those who have significant dental issues that need urgent attention. We aim to see all patients for their dental check up and any required dental treatment.

The Ula Transportable Dental Unit is open 8:00am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday.

Contact phone number: 021 403 793

Nation-wide number: 0800 TALK TEETH (0800 825 583)

After-Hours Emergency Dental Access:

For urgent dental treatment needs outside of our normal operating hours, please contact your nearest dentist and ask if they are contracted to offer free emergency after-hours care for children.

Alternatively, medical care in relation to an urgent dental condition can be accessed through your GP/family doctor or an emergency medical practice. Free 24-hour advice on what to do in a dental emergency is also accessible through Healthline on 0800 611 116.

Free Dental Services for Children Living in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland):

The Auckland Regional Dental Service (ARDS) is funded to provide free dental care to children from birth through to the end of school year 8. Following this, tamariki from school year 9 are transferred to the Adolescent services to continue free dental care up until their 18th birthday.

School Lunches

Lunches – Pita Pit & ezlunch online ordering now also available on mobile using the mykindo app

Children are supervised in their classrooms while eating lunch. The children eat their lunches from 1:10pm – 1:20pm.

Lunches are delivered to school around 12:30pm, student monitors distribute them to the correct classroom collection box.  A classroom representative collects them for the class at 1:10pm.

Android App now available for ordering ezlunch.

myKindo app is now available for iPhone and Android phones. If you like the flexibility of ordering lunch anywhere, anytime then go ahead and download the app!

Access via the app store, searching “mykindo” or by using this link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.tgcl.mykindo

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School Payment Details

Internet banking is our preferred method of payment, no cash is held in the office

  • 2025/2026 Pupil Services Contribution: $150.00
  • 2025/2026 School Donation: $270.00

SCHOOL DONATIONS ARE A VOLUNTARY PAYMENT – the donations along with Ministry of Education Operational Funding are used to assist with overall running of the school including programmes, resources and activities for the students.

(GST content equals NIL).

Family Statements will be emailed on a termly basis.

Internet banking account details

  • Account Name: Murrays Bay School Board
  • Account No. 12 3042 0251645 00

Please note that we require a reference on all internet payments.

Examples of a reference would be:

“Jones Fees”, “Jones Y4 Miniball”, “Jones Readathon”

School Uniform

We have a compulsory school uniform at Murrays Bay Primary School.

It is a very smart uniform and we encourage our students to wear it with pride.

All uniform items and footwear are available to purchase from Janbells Uniforms  – they offer in store shopping or online ordering service.

Click here to view Janbells website for more details.

Parents will be able to choose whether children wear short or long sleeved shirts on any given day.

Children may only wear the official school uniform with Murrays Bay School monogram.

Our sports uniform is compulsory for years 0 – 6. If a student is representing Murrays Bay School in sport a school sports event, uniform is required.

PTA Second Hand Uniform Shop

Our PTA run a second hand uniform shop located at the back of the school hall.

Open on Wednesday’s between:

  • 8:45am – 9:15am
  • 2:45pm – 3:15pm

email  PTA@murraysbay.school.nz

The PTA accept all donations of school uniform. Please drop off all clean items in a bag into the school office.

Girls Uniform

  • Short or long sleeve sky blue polo shirt with school emblem.
  • Navy skort with school emblem or Navy shorts with school emblem or Navy drill cargo pants with school emblem.
  • Navy socks or navy tights.
  • Navy polar fleece jacket with school emblem.
  • Navy bucket hat.

Footwear

  • Black sandals.
  • Black shoes (T-bar, Velcro or lace up).

Boys Uniform

  • Short or long sleeve sky blue polo shirt with school emblem.
  • Navy shorts with school emblem or Navy drill cargo pants with school emblem. (Not recommended for Year 1 boys due to wear and tear on the knees).
  • Navy socks.
  • Navy polar fleece jacket with school emblem.
  • Navy bucket hat.

Footwear

  • Black sandals.
  • Black shoes (T-bar, Velcro or lace up).

Stationery

It is essential that children have the books and writing implements they need to do their studies.

We’ve teamed up with Warehouse Stationery for our stationery requirements, you’ll have the flexibility to purchase in store or online, with delivery and click and collect options available. Click the link to find your stationery pack and enjoy getting school ready!

Stationery is available from Warehouse Stationery Albany.

There are some items that can only be purchased from the school office which is open daily between 8am and 4pm.

Stationery Lists can be downloaded below by clicking on the appropriate year level for your child.

Stationery Lists 2026

Term Dates

Term Dates 2026

  • Term 1 –  03 February – 02 April
  • Term 2 –  20 April – 03 July
  • Term 3 –  20 July – 25 September
  • Term 4 –  12 October – 15 December

Teacher Only Days

  • 02 April 2026
  • 12 June 2026

Public Holidays 2026

  • 26 January – Auckland Anniversary Day
  • 06 February – Waitangi Day
  • 03 April – Good Friday
  • 05 April – Easter Sunday
  • 06 April – Easter Monday
  • 07 April – Easter Tuesday
  • 25 April – ANZAC
  • 27 April – ANZAC observed
  • 01 June – King’s Birthday Weekend
  • 10 July – Matariki
  • 26 October – Labour Day

Term Dates 2027

  • Term 1 –  02 February – 09 April
  • Term 2 –  27 April – 02 July
  • Term 3 –  19 July – 24 September
  • Term 4 –  11 October – 16 December

Teacher Only Days

  • To Be Confirmed

Public Holidays 2027

  • 01 February – Auckland Anniversary Day Observed
  • 08 February – Waitangi Day Observed
  • 26 March – Good Friday
  • 28 March – Easter Sunday
  • 29 March – Easter Monday
  • 30 March – Easter Tuesday
  • 25 April – ANZAC
  • 26 April – ANZAC observed
  • 07 June – King’s Birthday Weekend
  • 25 June – Matariki
  • 25 October – Labour Day