General Information

If a child is injured at school, first aid will be administered by a qualified First Aid staff member in either Junior or Senior school Sick Bay. In extreme cases, where immediate medical attention is required, an ambulance will be called and the parents will be notified immediately. As a result, it is essential parents keep the school up to date with personal, work and emergency contact phone numbers. 

One of the many highlights of our school’s organisation are the opportunities given to students to gain confidence in front of an audience. This includes the class assembly presentation on Friday afternoons.

All classes have a minimum of one presentation assembly per year which parents are encouraged to attend. Parents are also welcome to attend when their child receives a certificate – you will be notified in advance. Assemblies are held in the school hall from 2.00pm and seating space is limited. 

If children are absent for any reason, parents are asked to fill in the online form on the home page of this website or phone the school office by 8.50am.

If your child is absent and we receive no notification, the school will ring you for verification before 9.30 am.

If you wish to collect your child at any time during the day, please send a note to their teacher prior or alternatively check at the office first.

Meadowbank School prides itself on a very high standard of behaviour for all members of our school community. School is where children learn to manage themselves in a context beyond their family unit. There is zero tolerance for fighting, bullying, or any behaviour which excludes children on the playground. We attribute the low level of incidents to our Code of Behaviour and the strong support we receive from parents. Any incidences you become aware of MUST be communicated to your child’s teacher so they can support behavioural change for the child bullying and support the wellbeing for those being bullied. 

CODE OF BEHAVIOUR

At Meadowbank School we:

• Respect other people and their belongings
• Have good manners
• Take care of our school
• Are responsible for our own belongings
• Play in safe places

We allow students to ride bikes to school. The law requires all children to wear a NZSS approved helmet.

It is recommended that they have a suitable locking device. We have a policy of all care but no responsibility in relation to the security of bikes.

Club Meadowbank operates out of the Bruce McLaren School Hall providing before school (7.30am-8.30am), and after school care (3pm-6pm), and school holiday programmes. There are also a range of recreational clubs on offer after school as well. 

The school car parks are for staff only and they are not to be used as drop off or pick up zones between 8am – 4pm.

For safety reasons, parents and visitors are asked to park on the road paying careful attention not to park on the yellow lines or across our neighbours’ driveways.

We aim to maintain a high standard of Teaching and Learning across all aspects of school life. Unfortunately there are times when we may not meet your expectations. Therefore if there is a concern or misunderstanding about the action of the school or an individual staff member, we ask that you follow the school Complaints Policy.

Please first approach the staff member concerned. If you still feel we have not dealt with the matter satisfactorily contact a member of the Management team (Principal or Deputies). If there is still no satisfaction contact the Board.

A full copy of the Complaints Policy can be found here or from both school offices.

Schools are predominately funded by the Ministry of Education but, to provide a full and varied curriculum, schools seek donation contributions from their parental communities. Our school donation provides the following:

• Additional staffing – specialists, support staff and special programmes
• Additional resources – classrooms, learning resources, ICT equipment
• Staff Professional Development – we pride ourselves in keeping our staff up skilled

The donation is a voluntary request and a receipt is issued upon payment. Please note with any payment made towards the school donation before 31st March, entitles you to claim a 33% tax rebate. (Forms are available from IRD).

Compulsory Fees

The following fees are compulsory in order for your child to participate in the following:

• Mathletics (year 2 to Year 4 only)– digital learning programs which can be used at home as well as school
• Maths Whizz (Year 5 & 6 only) – digital learning programs which can be used at home as well as school
• Reading Eggs – digital learning programs which can be used at home as well as school
• Hilton Brown Swimming lessons
• Garden to Table (Year 4 & 5 only)
• Camp (Year 6 only)
• EOTC week (Education Outside the Classroom – Year 5 only)
  Waterwise (Year 6 only)

Parents are invoiced for these fees at the beginning of the year, which can be paid either in full or each term. Please inform the school office if you wish to set up an automatic payment.

If you wish to pay through parent portal please click the button and follow the steps.

When students cause damage to, or loss of, school property or resources through deliberate or thoughtless action, their parents will be invoiced according to the costs of repairs or replacement. 

The Bruce McLaren Hall was opened in June 2006 and has added great value to our school. We chose to name the building after our school’s most internationally prominent past pupil and a person whose achievements and values were worthy of aspiring to.

The hall has a large auditorium with attached community room and kitchen facilities and it is available for hire.

Please contact Jo Badland on (09) 520 3739 or email to organise this – jbadland@meadowbank.school.nz.

Please ensure that your child has a healthy and nutritious lunch packed that is preferably litter free. All lunchbox litter should return home in your child’s lunchbox. Water is the only beverage allowed at school. Your child should bring a filled bottle to start every day. 

We do not allow gum or sweets in school.

We welcome parents / caregivers and community members to join our team of helpers. 

Here is a list of ways which you could assist with the successful operation of our school. Feel free to offer your assistance or maybe suggest some other ideas.

• Parent help in rooms with class programmes        
• Listening to children read 
• Helping with class / group field trips                    
• Coaching of sports teams
• Assisting with the School Production                    
• Helping on Working Bees
• Assisting with Fundraising
• Library work
• Joining FOMs
• Helping with Art and Craft Activities
• Making Teaching resources
• Writing stories with junior students
• Garden to Table Programme
• Assisting with FOMS lunches

A regular homework habit instils self-discipline and reinforces the skills and knowledge learnt at school. It enables parents to share in their child’s learning.

The amount of work set varies according to class level. For Years 1 – 2 we recommend 10-15 minutes per night but for Years 3 – 6 we consider 20 – 30 minutes a night is ample.

The focus is upon, reading, spelling, and basic facts/tables knowledge. Teachers assign weekly tasks which may include Reading Eggs and Mathletics.

School is not a place for sick children and parents will be requested to keep ailing children at home rather than spreading infection. We are a large school but have very limited space in our sickbays. 

Our well-stocked library is used extensively for both class lessons and recreational reading. All students are encouraged to borrow books for both pleasure and research. Computer systems enable students to access library books and learning resources from anywhere within the school. If books are lost or damaged, parents are expected to contribute to their repair or replacement. 

It is essential that ALL clothing including shoes and hats are well labelled which enables us to return items to their rightful owner.  Lost Property is located as follows:

Senior School – Inside the foyer behind Room 29

Junior School – By the Junior Office

It is regularly displayed for students to claim. Parents are welcome to inspect it for missing items. Unclaimed uniform items are given to our second hand shop.

No oral medication will be given by staff without prior written consent from parents.

Should your child require medication to be administered by a staff member while at school, please print off the form below, fill it out and return it to the appropriate office with your child’s medication. All medication needs to be handed to the office for safe-keeping and will be administered as instructed. Containers must be clearly labelled with name, dosage etc.

Administering Medication

No medication should be kept in school bags or desks.

Meadowbank School has a robust allergy policy which can be viewed on SchoolDocs. It is the responsibility of parents to notify the classroom teacher at the beginning of each year of any allergies and to provide medication and/or epipens well within their expiry date.

Due to the danger of potential anaphylactic reactions we do not have shared lunches. Written consent is required for the tasting of any food if it is a part of a classroom topic.

Student mobile phones are to be left at the school office during the school day. No phones are permitted in class in any circumstance. 

Apart from purchasing stationery, there is little reason for students to have money at school. The school accepts no responsibility for money lost by students.

A comprehensive newsletter is emailed to parents and caregivers fortnightly on Thursday. It is also available via the School App as well as in the archive which is available on this website  It is a forum to recognise and celebrate success as well as to inform you about school events / happenings. If you are not receiving your newsletter please contact the school office.

Professional photographers come to school for class and individual photos in February and again in late November for New Entrant classes. Year 6 students will have a group photograph taken during the second visit.  Further information is issued nearer the time.

Our students enjoy physical activity and research shows that physical fitness has a direct link with academic success. All classes have regular fitness and Physical Education lessons. Year 5&6 students have multiple opportunities to represent our school in exchanges with other local schools. These includes athletics, cross-country, swimming and both summer and winter exchanges and field-days. 

Teams play under the school name outside school hours in Netball, Flippaball, Hockey and Miniball (Basketball). Parents are involved in coaching and managing these teams.

There is a compulsory sports uniform top for Year 4-6 students.

Frequent communication on student progress is vital to ensure home and school are working together in the education process. Regular reporting regarding your child’s next learning steps are sent through the Seesaw App.

Besides the frequent informal discussions which are bound to occur in general day to day contact between parents and teacher, our more formal reporting process includes:

Term 1

• Letter from the Class Teacher  –    Meet the Teacher Evening (usually 2nd week of term)
• Parent Teacher Interview

Term 2

• Letter from the Class Teacher
• Mid Year Reports (Y4 – 6 students)

Term 3

• Letter from the Class Teacher
• Mid-Year Parent-Teacher Interviews

Term 4

• Letter from the Class Teacher
• End of Year Reports (Y4 – 6 students)
• Progress reports for Y1 – 3 students are completed on their 6 and 12 month anniversaries of commencing school.

Year 6 students act as road wardens at crossings on Waiatarua and Kelvin Roads. 

We ask that parents cross with the patrols to set an example to younger pupils.  Parents should not park on the yellow lines as this restricts the visibility of our patrols.

To download the free School App, please go to your Play/App Store on your mobile device and choose Apps. Search for ‘School Apps NZ’ and then select Meadowbank School. We use the app to communicate about school events, trips and activities, as well as obtaining permission from you as parents. To make sure you only receive alerts pertinent to you, please ensure you have selected the relevant year groups for your children.

Each Friday, FOMS coordinate school lunches which can pre-ordered through Kindo. These alternate between pies, sushi and a sausage sizzle. Further information can be found here.  

This is an important fundraiser for the school and if you would like to help out please contact the FOMS team. 

Health and Safety regulations regarding care of water quality have restricted the use of the school pool to in-school hours. In Term 1 we contract an outside swimming school to provide students with 10 x 30 minutes lessons for Years 1-6 classes at approximately one third the normal price. New Entrant students have their professional swimming lessons in Term 4. 

PLEASE NOTE – In 2024 all swimming lessons will take place in Term 4 due to construction on the pool sheds.

There are a number of walking school buses which offer pupils a safe supervised walk to school. The walking buses are endorsed by the school and run by parent volunteers. Parents are rostered to walk with the children to school, picking up children at stops along the designated routes. Benefits include reducing traffic congestion outside the school, healthy more active children and a chance for children and parents to get to know others in their local community.

Meadowbank is a Travelwise School which is supported by the Auckland City Council – please check out the links for more information :