9.00am - 11.00am: Block One

11.00am - 11.30am: Morning Tea

11.30am - 12.30pm: Block Two

12.30pm - 1.30pm: Lunch

1.30pm - 3pm: Block Three

Our school van is used for the bus service. Currently the van does two loads in the morning, with the second load arriving at 8.45am.

There are three van loads in the afternoon, with the last load departing at 3.40pm.

Bus stops include the L&P bottle, Arney St and the L&P Cafe, Paeroa; and Mackeytown.

Get in touch if you would like to utilise this service, bus tickets are available for return or one way.

Karangahake School does not require students to wear a daily uniform.

We do ask that all students purchase a school tee shirt when representing the school for any out of school activities paired with their own black shorts or pants.

The school hoodie and tee shirt are available for purchase at the school office. Again this is not compulsory but many children choose to wear it.

Please click here for more information.

Please ensure all clothing is labelled, and a spare pair of clothing is bought to school each day. If your child has lost clothing, please come to school and search through the lost property. Often the lost property is displayed on a Friday for children to check themselves. 

At the end of each year, any unclaimed lost property will be disposed or donated.

Our school qualifies for Ka Ora, Ka Ako (Healthy School Lunches). We receive a great variety of healthy lunches supplied by School Lunch Collective, delivered from Waihi distributers every day. The lunch menu provided in January 2025 is provided below.

We also receive fresh fruit at least every two weeks from 5+ A Day Charitable Trust, that the children eat. There is great variety over the year and the children eat much of the fruit.

KidsCan provide packaged foods like muesli bar, scroggin, fruit cups etc at the start of each term. We distribute these to children who need them, and for events out of the classroom where children often need a snack to keep them going.

There are three classrooms at Karangahake School catering for Year 0 to Year 8 students. Class rolls are between 16-25, and the classrooms themselves are well equipped with furniture suitable to the age groups, with plenty of resources and access to an art room and literacy resource room. Each class is equipped with touch screen interactive TV's, Ipads and the older two classrooms are issued with Chromebooks. While this technology is available, it is important to the teachers to utlise plenty of non-technology strategies.

We also have a teacher aide who support students and staff where required. Break out spaces are provided for small group teaching, reading recovery or for special education services to spend time with children.

Classes use the library and the senior students are given leadership roles as librarians to assist younger students and teachers. The school hall is used for wet lunches, indoor games, rehearsals and assemblies.

If you have a child starting school soon, are new to the area, or just looking for a change, come and have a look around our wonderful school. 

The best way to help you decide if a school is right for your child, is to visit it. Give us a call and come and have a look around, meet our teachers and see what we can offer your child. We pride ourselves on helping your child reach their full potential. New enrolments are always welcome.  

Karangahake School has been instructed by the Ministry of Education to manage its roll to prevent overcrowding by using an enrolment scheme.

Please click here for more information.

Download the Enrolment Form below or contact the office for an enrolment pack.  

School office: 07 8628097 or 

Terry Watton (Principal) 027 562 6438 to make a time to visit or

Email: office@karangahake.school.nz  

If your child is to be absent on any day, please let us know by phone, text, email or via SKOOL LOOP before school. Please give us a call/txt/email, and leave a message stating the child’s name and the fact that he/she will be away and the reason why. We appreciate knowing in advance of any absence (such as an appointment), and it acts as a safety check – we know for sure that any absent child is safely at home, not lost somewhere between home and school. However remote this possibility seems, it is worth guarding against.

The school roll is marked by the class teacher twice daily- at 9.00am and 1.30pm. The office monitors absences at 9.30am each day and will make contact with parents/caregivers if there are unexplained absences.

Parent/caregiver responsibilities:

• When your child is unable to make it to school phone, text, email or message via SKOOL LOOP.

• Avoid scheduling appointments during school hours

• Personally sign students in and out if they need to leave school during the day for any reason.

• Sign students in if they are 10 minutes late

Your child should be a regular and punctual attendee, to help foster student achievement. The Ministry of Education considers regular attendance to be 90%. In a 10 week term, this equates to no more than 5 days absence, for any reason, including illness and other justified reasons.

Family holidays, appointments and meetings should be arranged outside of school term time, whenever possible. If your child is not in school, learning from home as approved by the school, or on a school activity,

they are absent, regardless of the reason. This is true even if the absence is Justified. The Ministry recognises "Justified" absences to include absences due to short-term illness, bus breakdown, accident, road closure, extreme weather, national/local representation, bereavement, and exceptional family circumstances.

Absences can also be "Explained", meaning that you have notified the school, but the absence does not fall within the Ministry guidelines for Justified absences. Explained absences include reasons such as: "mum was too sick to look after her preschool daughter, so her elder son stayed home to help", "our household has a tummy bug, and I'm keeping my son home as a precaution" and unapproved holidays during term time. These types of absence are not recognised as being valid reasons for students to miss school.

Throw away reasons will result in a "Truant" code. Reasons such as shopping trips, day off for a birthday, not feeling like coming to school, having a day off to avoid a school event will be considered as truant.

If a child falls sick during the day we have a Sick-Bay where they can be put to lie down.

Should the child appear to be very unwell or be injured to warrant medical attention, we will call the first priority contact person as soon as possible. If we can not call the first and second priority contacts, we will use the emergency contact supplied at enrolment.

If your child has any medical issues or concerns, this information is captured at enrolment and added to our management system. We will record information on whether medication is held at school and can be administered by staff. Please let us know if new medical concerns arise, so we can be best prepared.

Each Friday, we hold assembly at 2.30pm, parents and caregivers are welcome to attend. There may be performances, notices and awards and the whole assembly is student led. Awards are given for star students from each class, principals award and house points are awarded.

At the end of the year we hold our prize giving to celebrate student success and to farewell our Year 8 Leavers. It is usually an after school event held at the Karangahake Hall, supported by the Karangahake Hall Committee and whanau and the community are encouraged to attend 

Karangahake School have partnered with Officemax to help parents source stationary lists. Officemax have a full list of what is required, however, if you already have some of the items you do not need to purchase them again, and you are free to purchase from any supplier.

Please click here for more information.

If your child is transferring from another school, you will be asked to purchase items only as they become necessary. Generally the books they have brought from their previous school can be used or adapted to use in their new class.

Some items are sold at the school office, and the teachers may request a student to get a new item during class time. If this arises, the mid year and end of year accounts will be issued to the parent/caregiver detailing the stationery items and costs.

Karangahake School does not charge school fees. However, there are often fees and costs that arise, for example, camp fees, sporting fees, special activities, bus fees, stationery and scholastic book orders and fundraising events.

Every term a bus invoice is issued and is expected to be paid by Week 5 of each term. 

Mid year statements are sent home at the end of Term 2, and end of year statements in the middle of Term 4.

Payments are made into the Karangahake School BOT account: 03-1572-0029671-000. 

Payment plans and options can be discussed with the school office.

Twice a term Scholastic New Zealand sends leaflets and order forms for reasonably priced soft-bound books which children and teachers can buy. They are good quality stories, and we recommend them, but it is up to you whether you want to buy them or not. Each time you buy from Scholastic, the School receives bonus points which help us to buy more literacy resources for our classrooms and library.

We are very fortunate to have a great little library at Karangahake School where children can become librarians and help younger children with library activities at lunch times.

Library books are issued for one week. Any outstanding books will be recorded on the student's accounts, and the school will work with parents/caregivers to solve any issues around damaged or lost books.

We have access to a number of skilled, trained and experienced people for all sorts of free information, advice, assessments, support and advocacy. Special Education works in partnership with parents and the child, where possible to match needs with services, and can help in the following areas:

Advice for Deaf Children – Guidance and support with hearing impairment.

Psychologists – Assess educational problems and offer practical advice on learning difficulties, behavioural problems and emotional needs.

Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) - Assisting students' wellbeing, participation and learning by supporting the teachers to develop inclusive classroom environments.

Speech and Language Therapy – Help for children who have problems speaking, understanding language or expressing ideas.

Support Workers in Schools – Work with parents, the school and the children to assist where there are concerns about a child’s social, educational or emotional welfare.

There is a Public Health Nurse who will help and advise on all aspects of child health. The Public Health Nurse help plan vaccinations at school and come in to give advice to students, teachers, parents/caregivers regarding hygiene, illness awareness or any other matter that may arise. 

Every year the hearing and vision technician from the Health Department comes to school and tests all New Entrants, and also rechecks any teacher referrals among the older children. Parents may also request a referral.

If you are interested in the nearest mobile Dental Clinic, please get call 0800 TALK TEETH.