Parents General Information 

General Information 

The following information should answer any questions you have about George Street Normal School. If you have further questions or concerns please contact the school. 

Absences: children who are sick  -  going to be late to school -  leaving early

Please ring the school absence line and leave a message or use our school app Hero to advise us of your child's lateness or absence.  If you need to pick your child up before school finishes at 3 p.m. please advise the office team so they can send your child to meet you at the office. 

Assembly

Assemblies are held fortnightly on Fridays at 2.15 - 2.45pm. Each class hosts an assembly during the year and parents are invited to attend.  Information on the actual days are included in the fortnightly newsletter. 

Behaviour

Our School has a Code of Conduct which sets out our expectations under two headings:

We also have clearly defined procedures and consequences for bullying.  We have a very proactive approach to bullying.  If you believe your child is the victim of any kind of bullying, please let the Deputy Principal or Principal know immediately.  

The Code of Conduct can be found in the school’s welcome pack and is also available from the school office.

Bus Trips/Visits

During the year classes may go to various locations in town (museum, art gallery, other schools etc). Information about these trips will be made available by the class teacher. Consent for all trips is requested at the beginning of each year.

Calendar Events

The easiest way to find out what is on in our school and when is by downloading the Hero app.  Alternatively our calendar is linked to this website and you can find out what's happening this way. 

Car Access

Please - NO cars down the Junior classroom block driveway or on school grounds without permission because this puts children at risk. 

Clothing

Please label your child's clothing.  Every term we have a huge amount of lost property that we have to dispose of.  Lost property is located upstairs in the foyer by Room 11 and Room 3.

Counsellors

We are very fortunate to have 2 counsellors working in our school.

Jameisha Sheridan is one of our School Counsellor.  Jameisha works for Catholic Social Services and will be in our school on Fridays. Referrals for students to see her can be made by the child (with parent permission), by parents or at the suggestion of the teacher/principal/deputy principal.  Counselling is not undertaken unless parental permission is given.   Please click here for a permission form and/or referral form when completed please email to the Principal at:  robyn@georgestreet.school.nz


Chelsea Rhyne-Slijkerman is our other School Counsellors.  Chelsea works for Be Heard and will be in school on Tuesdays. Referrals for students to see her can be made by the child (with parent permission), by parents or at the suggestion of the teacher/principal/deputy principal.  Counselling is not undertaken unless parental referral permission is given.   Please click here for a permission form/referral form when completed please email to the Principal at:  robyn@georgestreet.school.nz 

How do you know which Counsellor to use?

Chelsea tends to take referrals that are on the lower end of things whilst Jameisha works with more challenging things.  If you are unsure, please see Robyn, Principal and she will be able to guide you. 

Dental Care

George Street Normal children attend the Dunedin Dental Hub for oral care.

George Street Normal School Policies and Procedures   

Our school policies and procedures are available via School Docs.  Click here if you would like to access them. 

Gifted Education

Please click on this link for further information regarding what is offered for gifted students. 

Health Nurse

The Health Nurse regularly visits the school. Please let teachers know if you have a health concern about your child. All New Entrants are checked by the Hearing/Vision tester.

Injuries/Emergencies

It is super important to ensure your emergency contact details are kept up to date.  Please also ensure those of your additional contact (e.g. partner, grandparent, friend) are updated as we contact these people if we can't reach you.  

Lunches

Our School lunch break is from 12:30pm until 1:30pm. In term 1, we are trialling having the children play for the first 45 minutes and then eat for the last 15 minutes.  We encourage children to eat a larger morning tea to 'tide' them over to the eating part of lunch time. On wet days, children are expected to sit quietly in their classroom and eat lunch until they are released for play.  If the day is fine the children sit outside in defined areas Most children bring their lunch (and morning tea snack) from home but orders for lunches from the Willowbank Dairy can be made before school at the Dairy.  These lunches are delivered to school at 1:15 p.m.  On Thursdays sushi may also be ordered via Lunchonline.  Parents are required to register and set up an account.  This is delivered to school before lunchtime.

Medication

If your child requires medication to be taken at school, please ensure a Medication Administration Authority form is filled out at the school office.

Notices

Newsletters and all other school notices are sent home via our school app, Hero, every second Thursday.  Please ensure our office team has your correct email address. This is our primary way of communicating with you.  If you need help installing Hero, please see our fabulous office team. 

Parent Help at School

Parents, caregivers and extended family are welcome to visit the classroom at suitable times or help with selected programmes identified by the teacher.   For certain activities, e.g. school camp, swimming, a police vet will be required.  Police vetting forms can be found on this link 

Parent–Teacher meetings (Whānau wānaka)

As part of our Te Tiriti o Waitangi journey, we have now hold Whānau Wānaka instead of parent-teacher meetings.  The focus of Whānau Wānaka is to strengthen partnership with our children and their whānau, inviting everyone's 'voice' as we discuss learning and achievement.  These take place in Term 1 and Term 2. Reports are available twice per year (June and December) via our school app, Hero.   We welcome meetings outside these times if there are any concerns.  Please e-mail your child's teacher to make a time. 

Parking

It can be very tricky finding a park near our school especially at the beginning and end of the school day.  We encourage our children to walk to meet the person picking them up after school.  The Dunedin Police have recommended safe routes for the children to meet you.  There are maps showing these routes in our enrolment booklets.  Alternatively we have a pick up / drop off zone outside the front of the main school.  This is well signposted and is a DROP OFF ZONE ONLY (i.e. you cannot park in this space and wait for your child to come out of school).  During specified times cars are not able to park in these spaces and the Dunedin City Council Parking Services people regularly patrol this.  Likewise, on our junior side of the school, parking is also tricky.  We request parents to respect our neighbours by not parking in or across their driveways.  Please do not park in our mobility parks as we have a number of families who need these.  

Road Patrols and Pedestrian Crossings

Road Patrols are on duty 8.30 – 9.00am and 3.00 - 3.12pm. Parents are requested to use the pedestrian crossing at all times. Bikes are walked to the crossing. Staff and volunteer parents act as road crossing supervisors.

School Donation

The George Street Normal School Board asks that each family contribute to the cost of a number of extra and desirable educational opportunities for children this year.

In the past, these have included subsidising the cost of:

Put simply, with your help we can do more for your children.

The amount of the requested donation set by the Board of Trustees is $200 (or $350 for 2 or more children from the same family) per year.  This can be paid in many different ways (e.g. monthly, 6x monthly, lump sum).  Please talk to our office team if you would like to set up a payment method. 

School Entry Assessment

When your new entrant child has been at school for approximately six weeks they will be assessed on a range of tasks making reference to numeracy and literacy.  After this assessment task and other classroom observations parents will be invited to a parent-teacher conference to discuss strengths and areas for development. 

School size and type

George Street Normal School is a state funded, co-educational, contributing primary school with a roll that peaks at approximately 440-460 children each year. We have 22 classes that include four 'Country Model' classes. 

School Stationery

Our stationery lists/ability to purchase stationery online can be accessed via the OfficeMax My School website.  NB:  Kindle classes do not need to purchase stationery online, it is available to purchase from school.  You will need your child's 2024 classroom number when accessing the stationery list/ordering online.

School times

9:00am: School starts 

11:00–11:20am: Morning Interval

12.30–1:30pm: Lunchtime (Children are seated and eat from 1:15 until 1:30pm)

3:00pm: School finishes

We welcome children into our classrooms from 8.30am onwards. Children who arrive at school earlier than 8.30am are invited to attend 'Georgies' before school care (7.45am - 8.30am).  Please see our 'Georgies' page for costs relating to this.  All children must leave school by 3.20pm unless they are actively supervised by a parent or caregiver.  

Special Educational Learning Needs

Our school is well equipped to meet the needs of children with specific learning needs.  Our Deputy Principal, Leanne Stanton, is also our school SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator).  If your child requires additional support please contact Leanne (leanne@georgestreet.school.nz)

Swimming

Each year, all of our children receive swimming lessons carried out by professional instructors.

Sunsmart

Parents are strongly advised to provide children with sunscreen and bucket-style sun hats. Children will be encouraged to wear our School sunhat during terms 1 and 3 as recommended by the NZ Cancer Society.  School sun hats are available for purchase from our school office $12.50

Term Dates for 2024

Term 1: Wednesday 31 January to Friday 12 April 2024 

Term 2: Monday 29 April to Friday 5 July 2024 

Term 3: Monday 22 July to Friday 27 September 2024 

Term 4: Monday 14 October to Tuesday 17 December 2024 


Public Holidays 2024:

Waitangi Day - Tuesday 6 February 2024 

Otago Anniversary Day - Monday 25 March 2024

Good Friday - 29 March 2024

Easter Monday - 1 April 2024

Easter Tuesday - 2 April 2024

King’s Birthday - Monday 3 June 2024 

Matariki - Friday 28 June 2024

Labour Day - Monday 28 October 2024


Winter Weather

In the event of snow falling or possible dangerous ice on streets in Dunedin, there are well-established procedures to follow:

1) If the snowfall is light, schools will open as usual.

2) If the snowfall is heavier, or there is severe frost with icy roads before school begins, our school website and school app messages will be updated as soon we receive information. Alternatively, most local radio stations will broadcast times that schools will open on these winter days.

3) If snow falls during a school day, children will not be sent home early from George Street Normal School.  We will close at the usual time of 3pm.  However, if parents or caregivers wish to collect their children before 3pm, that is quite acceptable.  Please let the office team know before taking your child.