If your child is absent please let the office know or text your child’s teacher/ Mrs Devane with the reason for absence. Please ensure you let us know before 9.30am.

Our whole school assemblies are held once a month on a  Friday at 2.30pm. Dates are in the newsletter. All whanau are welcome to attend these celebrations of learning. We are proud of our tamariki and love showing off their achievements.

Our roll system allows us to send texts directly to parents. You may receive text reminders every now and then from teachers. Please join our Facebook page for other announcements. Newsletters are sent home once a month.

We run clubs every second Friday afternoon from 2pm -3pm. Children are able to choose which club they would like to join. We rely on parents and community members to run clubs, if you can help, please let us know. Some past clubs have been cooking, sewing, crafts, soccer, motorbikes, cycling and building.

We have three breaks during the day and four learning sessions. Breaks are at 10am - 10.30am, 12 - 12.45 and 1.45- 2.00pm

Every Friday morning, the whole school meets and learns about one of our DRIVE values and participates in a tuakana- teina activity.

We fundraise continually throughout the year for various school trips, classroom resources and camp. If you have a fundraising idea or would like to help out, please let us know! We love volunteers!

Please ensure all children’s gear is clearly named. A lost property box is kept.

Should an area of concern arise, you are encouraged first of all to take this matter to your child's teacher. 

If however this fails to bring a solution, you may bring the matter to the Principal.

Matters of a more serious nature may be brought immediately to the Principal.

Our school cat Snowball was found 7 - 8 years ago. She was once wild but now loves to come inside and snuggle in the classrooms. She can be a bit temperamental, but the children love her. We write letters annually to pet food companies to ask for donations of food for Snowball.

Waitotara School has opted into the MOE School Donation Scheme  so we will not be asking families for school donations. We still will continue to fundraise to keep our school van running, for classroom resources, school trips and camps.

All children are required to purchase a plain black bucket hat from The Warehouse or the school office,  and must be worn in Summer. We operate a no hat, no play policy.

9.00am to 3.00pm for all ages. In the interests of courtesy and good school management, children are required to be punctual.
Teachers are available at school from 8.30am - 3.30pm. Children are not supervised outside of these hours. Should there be any incident outside these hours, the school cannot be held responsible.

We receive free school lunches as part of the Ministry of Education’s Lunch in schools scheme. Tiffany Parkes is our kitchen manager and she  makes our lunches onsite. Please inform the office if you would like to opt out of the scheme or if your child has any allergies or food intolerances.

You may order a bought lunch for Friday from the Waitotara Store by bringing in your order by Thursday to school. Senior students pick up the lunches and deliver them on Fridays. Alternatively, you can order directly at the Waitotara store. If your child has  lunch order and is absent on Friday, please cancel your order directly at the shop 06 3465852

Our newsletter is sent home monthly. This contains important dates for the term.

If you live more than 3.2km from and your child is 8 years or less, or you live more than 4.8km (9+ years), and Waitotara School is the closest school to you, then you could be eligible for a weekly allowance. Please see Mrs Tallott in the office for a form.

School uniform is compulsory Monday to Thursday.  Students may wear mufti on Fridays. Our uniform consists of a black polo shirt, black Waitotara School fleece ( order at the school office)  and black shorts/pants/leggings. There are some  second hand uniforms available to purchase at a reduced price - please enquire at the office.

There are many interschool sports events that Waitotara school is involved in such as contributing school sports (with Whanganui schools) and the Super 6 competition. We form teams alongside our cluster schools- Brunswick, Kai Iwi, Ngamatapouri, Westmere, Faith City and Mosston.

We join Kai Iwi and Ngamatapouri schools for our Athletics day and we have our own Cross Country competition before Aranui and Westmere cross country races.

Please keep a lookout on our Facebook page for out of school team sports that your child can join.

lists are available from the office. You will be able to purchase the stationery at Paper Plus or Warehouse Stationery.

Our pool is open in  Term one and Term four each year. 

During term one, swimming is compulsory for all students.

Year 7 and 8 students attend technology at Whanganui Girls College one day a week for two terms a year. 

We work alongside Ngamatapouri and Kai Iwi schools on our technology days. Subjects include hard materials, cooking, science  and digital technology.

We encourage Waitotara school students to show DRIVE values- Determination, Respect, Initiative, Virtue, Empathy. A values award is given out each Friday to two students who show our  DRIVE values.

Wednesday is Junior wheels day where the Junior class can bring in bikes, skateboards and scooters to ride. All other days are available  for Senior students to bring their wheels. Don’t forget your helmets!