WHAT OUR SCHOOL IS ABOUT

Our Board is very clear in the direction our school should take and our “Mission Statement” reflects this.  In summary, we concentrate heavily on the 3 R’s and balance this with strong Cultural, Arts and Sports programmes.  Overlay this with a heavy concentration on personal and social skills, and toss in our strong development in Health and Information Technology, and you have the essence of our school.

We are multicultural and proud of it.  We believe that education should reflect our multicultural society.  We are not a “melting pot” school; children are encouraged to stand up and be proud of their background.  Around 10% of our children are bilingual.

We care for our children; each and every one of them.  How?  We accentuate the positive and help children through difficult times.  There are extensive reward systems in place, the ultimate being taken to lunch by the Principal and that applies to up to 60 children each year!

Our school has an excellent reputation both within the local community and in the educational community.  Because of our reputation, we are able to attract high quality staff and we see this as one of the major strengths of our school.

Rata Street is a large school bringing in between 40 and 50 New Entrants a year and ending the year with around 400 pupils.  Under present systems, this gives us a considerable funding advantage as we have good economies of scale.  Hence we are resource rich and maintain 15 - 20 pupil class averages in the Juniors and 25 - 30 in the Seniors.

Rata Street School has a philosophy of constant improvement.  We don’t just want to get it right, we want to get better and better.  We welcome parental input and suggestions.

Where you can go for independent information:

a)  Like any service, one of your best sources is other customers. Talk to present parents.

b)  The Education Review Office are an independent review organisation.  Their reports on our school are available on request, or online www.ero.govt.nz

c)  Strategic and Curriculum documents are available on request.

You are welcome to visit and be shown around the school

Pre-Enrolment Visits

We wish to make your child’s transition to school as easy as possible for you and your child.Four year olds will be able to visit school on Monday mornings for 6 weeks just prior to their birthday. This time will be gradually extended over the 6 weeks

1st & 2nd visits 8.50am – 10.35am

3rd & 4th visits 8.50am – 11.40am

5th & 6th visits 8.50am – 12.50pm

We do welcome and invite you to stay with your child during these visits – particularly for the first 4 visits. This gives you the opportunity to help your child settle into school routine such as toilets, bell times, play lunch etc. If you wish, for the last 2 visits, you may bring your child to class and then leave – picking them up at 12.50pm.

During these 6 visits, you will have many opportunities to meet with the Principal, teachers and support staff and to ask any question.

On one of those visits please come to the office with the child’s birth certificate and immunisation certificate to complete the formal enrolment. The enrolment is carried out first by the Administration Manager and then parents and child meet the Principal.

Starting School

Your child can start school on his/her 5th birthday. Arrive at school on the first day at 8.30 a.m. If not already done so, enrolment details will be finalised. You and your child will then be shown to the classroom to meet the teacher and the other children. You are welcome to stay while your child settles into their first day of school.

To enrol an older child already of school age, complete an enrolment form at the school. Your child can usually start immediately. We will notify the previous school, and have all your child's records sent to us.

Curriculum

Our New Entrant classrooms provide a rich language based programme as well as a strong focus on maths. Throughout the Junior School our main priority is for literacy and numeracy. We balance this with music, art, fitness and physical education programmes.

A visit through our Junior classes will demonstrate to you the creative and caring environment we provide. We make every effort to make our school a safe and happy place for your child to be and give lots of praise and positive reinforcement.