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 are regularly asked to make recommendations on devices, unfortunately we are unable to do this. All devices have their pros and cons and you will need to decide which one suits the needs of you and your child/ren. However, we are able to outline a list of specifications that should be considered when making this decision.

We have listed this information below:

  • A device that has a keyboard.
  • A device that is a well known brand.
  • Avoid a cheaper  processor (has limited working cache memory so cannot do multiple things at once).
  • 4GB RAM minimum. We use Google applications which are cloud based, but good memory means the device responds faster with other applications.
  • A device that is portable and holds its charge (portable battery chargers are an option so that when a device runs out of battery, students can charge them. Then they just need to charge their portable battery each night.
  • Preferably a device that is less than two years old.
  • A device that has installed a tracking application where possible, in case the device gets lost.

BYOD and Cyber Agreements

BYOD FAQ

1. Has the school made any enquiries with computer companies to bulk order devices at a cheaper rate than current retail?

Noel Leeming has a deal with schools that they will charge “Cost plus 10%” if you state the school your child attends / will attend.  This does not usually apply to Apple products and we recommend that you shop around for the best deal at the time.

2. Can you please advise how the school will ensure that children will not be disadvantaged if parents are unwilling to or unable to purchase a device? Will the school be able to ensure enough devices if a significant number of children across each year are without a device?

The School will provide devices for loan in these situations.

3. I would be interested to know how much time per day the students would spend on their devices?

The teacher will let the student know when it’s okay to use their device. There will be times when it is not appropriate, or when it is not needed for that particular piece of learning.

The teacher has the final say over the use of student devices in the classroom.

It is very IMPORTANT that parents record the serial number of all devices they allow to be used at school. If the device is stolen at school the serial number is vital to establish a police incident report to establish parents insurance claim.

It is also important to note that your personal insurance would cover any damage or loss of a device – not the school’s insurance.  While we go to every endeavour to locate any device that goes missing or investigate damage, it is the child’s responsibility to take care of their device.

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

1-1024x724
2-1536x1086
3-1536x1086
4-1536x1086

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