Administration Matters

THE SCHOOL DAY

The Kaipara College school day commences at 8:45 AM and concludes at 3:00 PM.

Pānui 2025

Click on the image below to read the 2025 Special Pānui containing all the information you need to know to start the 2025 school year. 

   Guidelines for Purchasing a Device

Loan of School Devices 

From 2025 we will no longer offer day loans of student devices, and the onus will be on the student to bring their chromebook to school fully charged and ready to use. Teachers will offer paper copies of work for students who have forgotten their chromebook or forgotten to charge their chromebook overnight.

Security

The school will NOT accept any liability for the security of devices at school.  Devices are at school entirely at the student’s risk.  We have device lockers available for students to rent at $10 per term ($30 per year). Payment and keys are available from the Student Centre.

MOBILE PHONES

As per legislation introduced in 2024, students may bring mobile phones to school but they must be off and in the student’s bag throughout the day, unless the teacher requires students to use phones for a specific educational purpose. This rule applies at interval and lunchtime too; however, we do grant students a 10-minute window to check their phones at the start of lunchtime but they must come to the Quad to check. 

What happens if students are caught using their phone? If a student is caught using their phone they are sent to the Dean who impounds the phone. 1st incident per term: the phone is impounded and the student collects it after 3pm from the Student Centre Office. 2nd & 3rd incidents onward: caregivers/emergency contacts must pick up the phone from the Front Office. A whānau meeting may be requested. To ensure the phone goes to the correct individual the following process will be followed: IMPORTANT: Only caregivers/emergency contacts registered with the school will be able to pick up the impounded phone. Persons collecting the phone must show ID Caregivers/emergency contacts collecting phones will be asked to sign to confirm collection on the phone impound ticket. Timing for Collecting Phones: 8am - 4pm on weekdays.  Collection is not possible on weekends.

Can I get an exemption for my student?

There are certain exemptions available on the grounds of health or learning support needs; however applicants must meet very strict criteria and provide robust proof of requirement. To request an exemption, please contact [email protected]

How can I get in touch with my student in an emergency?

Parents and whānau can support the school by not calling or messaging the students during the school day. If you need an URGENT message given to a student, you can contact the school Student Centre on 09 420 8640 ext 810.

Can I get an exemption for my student? There are certain exemptions available on the grounds of health or learning support needs; however applicants must meet very strict criteria and provide robust proof of requirement. To request an exemption, please contact [email protected] How can I get in touch with my student in an emergency? Parents and whānau can support the school by not calling or messaging the students during the school day. If you need an URGENT message given to a student, you can contact the school Student Centre on 09 420 8640 ext 810.

Uniform Code

Some extra notes and guidelines on our uniform and personal grooming:

• Only school sanctioned items (listed above) are to be worn as part of the uniform.
• Year 13 students are permitted to wear ‘Number Ones’.  I.e. a matching navy coloured suit set (pants/skirt) with white blouse/shirt.
• Extremes in personal presentation or adornment that might be considered incompatible with our uniform standards, or is considered a safety issue, is at the discretion of the principal.
• Undergarments (eg. thermals) are allowed to be worn, but must not be visible.
• When wearing the school hoodies the 'hood' must be down at all times.  The school shirt or blouse must be worn under the hoodie.  Students can wear either the school hoodie or one of the school sanctioned sports' hoodies.
• Students may wear plain navy blue or plain black waterproof jackets to and from school.
• Skirts (knee length) are to be worn at knee length.
• One small nose stud is permitted or one nose ring is permitted.
• Make-up is not to be worn.

Where to buy

The School Uniform Shoppe has a shop onsite at Kaipara College where uniform items can be purchased and ordered.  

The shop hours during term time are:

Monday 8:00 - 9:00am (before school)

Wednesday 3:00 - 4:30pm (after school)

Tuesday & Thursday 1:15pm - 2:00pm (school lunchtime)

The uniform shop is located near the school reception.  Uniforms can also be purchased online at www.theuniformshoppe.co.nz and collected from the on site shop although visiting the uniform shop for a fitting first is recommended.

The Uniform Shoppe is not open during the school holidays except for the special summer holiday opening hours shown below.

Uniform Shoppe Summer Holiday Opening Hours

Purchasing Online

Uniform can be purchased online at www.theuniformshoppe.co.nz and collected from the on-site shop, although visiting the on-site uniform shop for a fitting first is recommended.

Methods of Payment

Eftpos, Credit Card, Cash and layby with a small deposit, are available at the shop. Quotes for Income Support can be given. Please note, The Uniform Shoppe is an independent supplier, separate to Kaipara College so payment is made directly to The Uniform Shoppe and not to the school.

METHODS OF PAYMENT

There are several options for making any payments to Kaipara College.  If a payment is being made manually, this can be done by visiting the Student Centre in the main Administration building, between 8:00am and 3:30pm, Monday to Friday.  Cash and EFTPOS payments are accepted.

For electronic payments, please use the following account:

Kaipara College Board 12-3139-0002717-00

Please ensure you include your student's name and the activity, event or other purpose of the payment.

Financial Assistance

If you require financial assistance from Work and Income for stationery requirements or uniform costs for the following year, please make an appointment with Work and Income by calling 0800 559 009 prior to the start of Term 1, to avoid delays.

SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORT

The Ministry of Education provides school transport assistance to help parents overcome barriers to education and meet their responsibility to get their children to school.  The Ministry may provide assistance where distance and/or accessibility may be a barrier for students attending the closest school they can enrol at.  School transport assistance is usually a place on a school bus and school bus transport in the Kaipara area is provided by Ritchies Transport.

Eligibility

Students must meet all three eligibility criteria in order to access school transport assistance.  Having met the Ministry’s eligibility criteria, students are eligible for one school bus route only, that which directly services the student’s residential address.  Students are not able to swap between school bus routes based on convenience or to travel to alternative locations.

Criteria 1

The school must be the closest state or state integrated school the student can enrol at.

Criteria 2

Students in years 9-13 must live at least 4.8 kilometres from the school, over the shortest public road or pedestrian route from home roadside gate to the school’s front gate.

Criteria 3

There must be no suitable public transport options.

“Suitable” public transport must travel within:

• 2.4 kilometres of the roadside gate of the student’s home, and
• 2.4 kilometres of the closest appropriate school.

The student:

• won't have to be picked up before 7am
• can get to school before it starts
• can be picked up no later than 1 hour after school finishes
• won't have to change buses more than once on a journey

Travel on School Buses

• Students travelling on school buses are under the authority of Kaipara College.
• At all times, students are required to follow, without question, the directions of the bus driver.
• The school and the business operating the service have the right to remove travel on school buses from any student who misbehaves or puts themselves or others in danger through unsafe behaviour.
• If a student is removed from the school buses, then it will be the family’s responsibility to transport the student to and from school.
• The student will also NOT be permitted to board any chartered buses for the period set.  This includes exclusion from school trips due to inappropriate or unsafe behaviour.

All parents and caregivers are required to agree to the following school bus contract as part of their student's enrolment process.

On enrolment, students will be assigned bus routes, based on their primary residential address.

On the first morning of the school year, any students in Kaipara College uniform will be picked up by the Ritchies Transport school buses which travel the routes identified over the page, whether students are standing at a designated stop or not.  After school on the first day, students are assisted to their correct buses by staff.

Late or Delayed Buses

Please make sure you are at your bus stop at least five minutes before the expected arrival time of your bus.  Breakdowns and delays are rare, but they can happen.  Ritchies Transport advise the College as soon as they can.

If you are concerned about the late arrival of a bus, or have any questions about school bus services or eligibility please contact the school in the first instance.

Bus Bay Map

Click here to view bus routes

STAYING IN CONTACT

Keeping parents and caregivers and our wider school community is extremely important to us and there are a number of ways we do that. As much as possible we will stay in touch with you electronically. Your student's mentor, dean or teacher may contact you directly and the school will send out emails and other information to the details we have on file for you. It is vital that you advise us if your contact details change for any reason, whether you change addresses or update your mobile number or email address. You can send new or updated contact information to [email protected] at any time.

SchoolAppsNZ

SchoolApps is a simple, effective and convenient mobile app for communication between school, students and whanau. You can receive school notifications directly to your phone, let us know if your child is going to be absent, access the parent portal, daily notices and the school calendar, as well as contact staff directly.

There are three easy steps to access School Apps:

• Download for Apple iOS Download for Android

• Select Kaipara College as your school

• Choose the alerts you would like to receive

School Website

On our site you will find useful information from across the school as well as contact details, access to the parent portal and information for parents of senior students on senior course selection.

Caregiver Portal Real time information about the College, your child’s progress and the school’s daily notices as well as electronic permission slips can all be located through the parent portal, accessed via the school website. It is our way to communicate immediate and accurate information home. Parents and caregivers will be issued with a logon and password to the portal. These will be made available to all new parents at the start of the 2024 school year.

Social Media

We utilise Instagram to communicate with our school community about events, successes and important details about day to day school life.

Kaipara College Instagram page (designed for students)

There are also a number of Kaipara College sports, cultural and other extra-curricula activities that communicate through Facebook. Just search Kaipara College in your Facebook search bar.