Our School

Puketapu School is one of two full primary schools in Bell Block — our students start from age 5 and stay with us right up to age 13 (Year 8).

Diverse Learners

The tamariki of Puketapu are from diverse backgrounds and all bring their own special character. 

They are trusting and loyal and we are proud of the relationships we have developed, based on mutual respect. Tamariki are encouraged to be who they are and celebrate their uniqueness.

Great Grounds

We have an amazing location, great, spacious grounds, close to the sea and the walkways, allowing us to celebrate and appreciate what is special about the place we live.
Opened in 1980, we are a young school, but we are very proud of our place in our community. Our growing roll means we opened four beautiful new classrooms in 2022.

Our Logo

Our logo tells a story about our school – the shape at the top is our view of our mounga, the majestic Taranaki. The circle represents our whakatauki “Empower All People to be Healthy, Lifelong Learners”, with people, large and small, young and old, working together.

Community

Community is very important to us. We place a high priority on building strong partnerships between the child, the home, and the school. This is clearly demonstrated by the involvement of our families and our community in school life and in the way we interact with other groups within the community, sports, church and marae.

Structure and Groupings

Every student is in several different groups at school:

Class

Every child has a homeroom, which is where they start and finish their day and spend the majority of their time. The homeroom has a mixture of year groups in it and one regular teacher.

Learning Team

Every class is part of a Learning Team, which brings together children of similar ages and year groups and allows the sharing of specialist teacher skills between classes. The four learning teams are Rimu, Tōtara, Kowhai and Kauri.

Year Group

Some activities are specific to a year group, for example, Design Technology Classes are for Year 7&8. Camps are also for specific year groups.

At these times, students may join with children in the same year group from different classes.

Whānau Group

The school has four Whānau Groups, Kakapo (green), Tui (blue), Kiwi (yellow) and Piwakawaka (red).

Each Whānau Group has children of all ages, classes and year groups.

Every child remains in their Whānau Group for their entire time at Puketapu. (Siblings and cousins are kept in the same Whānau Group, too.)

Whānau activities are held throughout the year and everyone (adults included) is encouraged to dress up in their Whānau Group colours and support their Whanau group, especially at events like Triathlon, Cross Country or Sports days.

Your Child’s Welfare

Health, Safety and Welfare

The health, safety and welfare of our students is very important to us. As professionals, we maintain a strict code of conduct and treat all information regarding children as confidential. Where we have concerns, we will contact parents. The school has access to the following agencies for assistance:

Family Worker (SWIS)
Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour
Hearing and Vision Tester
Public Health Nurse
Psychologist
Police Education
Speech/Language Therapist
Special Education Service
Children’s Health Camp


Please contact your child’s teacher or Principal if you wish to use any of these services.

Medical Conditions and Medication

If your child has any special medical condition that you think we should know about, please ensure we do. 

Generally speaking, if a child is on medication for an illness, they should not be at school but if necessary we can administer medication at school. 
No pills, medicine or anything similar should be placed in children’s lunch boxes or bags - please bring the medication to the office so we can ensure it is taken at the correct time.

Inhalers for asthmatic children should be handed in to the School Office so that they are available as required.

Accidents and Sickness

No matter what precautions are taken, it is necessary to be prepared for accidents and unforeseen circumstances. In the case of sickness, the child concerned will be made as comfortable as possible in the sickroom and the parent notified. Minor accidents will be treated at School using the material available in the first aid cabinet in the sickroom.

More serious accidents will necessitate immediate notification of parents or doctor/ambulance paramedics if required.

Family Matters

The School should be advised of any circumstance that directly affects your child, such as the sadness of a family bereavement or separation from a parent for work or other family reasons. Your child will need special consideration in these stressful times.

Please advise your child’s teacher if you are to be absent ie hospital, holiday, work commitments etc, and your child is to be cared for by someone else. This often explains uncharacteristic behaviour from a child.

General Health

The Public Health Nurse is located at Taranaki Base Hospital and is available by appointment to help people by:

listening
helping to find information
providing support while people make their decisions
accessing health and social services and contacts
providing resources – posters, pamphlets, videos etc for groups and individuals.
Along with the school, the Nurse is keen to work together with you to promote the wellbeing and happiness of your child and family while at Puketapu School. The Health Nurse is available by phoning (06) 753 7790 Ext 8772


All children are routinely checked by a qualified Vision and Hearing Technician in their first year of schooling. Further vision and colour testing is carried out in Year 7. If you have any concerns about your child’s vision or hearing, please phone (06) 758 5203.

The mobile Dental Clinic bus, from Te Henui Dental Clinic, attends school twice per year. The dental clinic can be contacted on (06) 757 3405.

Communication & Community Involvement

Children’s education must be a team effort between home and school and this will happen best if the communication between the two is open, honest and frank.

Our wish is for you to find school and staff approachable at any time.

We will do our very best for your children and we need your support to do this best. Please come in at any time and see us if you have any concerns.

Remember too – if you don’t believe all that children tell you about school, we promise not to believe all that they tell us about home!

Student Showcase

A full school, student-led assembly, our Showcase is held usually twice each term, in the local Northpoint Church auditorium.

Parents are welcome to attend to celebrate with us.

Learning Teams each have their own regular assemblies at other times and some of those are also open to parents to attend.

Newsletters

Our newsletters are a very important means of communicating school information with all families. They are distributed weekly on Fridays.

It is an online newsletter, which is sent via our Hero portal, added to our Facebook group, this web site and emailed to many other interested people - grandparents, local businesses and other schools.

If you or any local organisations wish to have items published in our newsletter, please write out the appropriate message or supply an image and we will do our best to include it. Everything adds interest and you are welcome to use this facility.

Facebook

Our school community is invited to join us on Facebook – Puketapu School.Bell Block. This is a closed group, restricted to known members of our school community.

We also have our public facing Puketapu School Facebook page, which is visible to all - https://www.facebook.com/puketapuschoolnp

Parent Teacher Communication

Parents are encouraged to maintain regular contact with their child’s teacher. Good understanding and communication between home and school has excellent benefits to your child’s learning.

There are many opportunities during the school year for this successful partnership to develop; at Head Start Hui, Parent-Teacher-Student conferences, evening meetings, phone calls, informal chats and emails, class trips, homework and parent involvement in school activities.

You are encouraged to approach us any time you have concerns but we also ask you to acknowledge the strengths and successes as they occur.

Student progress is reported to parents via our Hero portal, including a record of progress and a summary of achievement and attitudes and also include ways that you can help support learning at home.

Parent Helpers

From time to time we invite parent helpers to assist in the school in various ways, for example library help, transport, school lunches, repairing equipment etc. Usually these requests are made through newsletters, notices or via our Facebook page.

If you are interested and can help, please let us know.

We do appreciate the considerable help we get from parents and it is all to the direct advantage of your children.

Home and School

Our Home and School is a very energetic group of parents who meet regularly with the following as their aims:

To provide a co-ordinating body for activities where the Board of Trustees requires/requests community involvement, for example, questionnaires, community consultation etc.
To undertake fundraising activities for the school in support of the Board of Trustees budget programme.
To initiate, in conjunction with the Board of Trustees, activities which will promote closer involvement and understanding between the school and the community.


Open meetings are held monthly and dates are published in school newsletters. We welcome all parents to come along and be involved. It’s a lot of fun and very rewarding.

During the year the Home and School coordinates a range of activities, for example, Gala Day, Car Boot & Market Days, Movie Nights, Calendar Art orders and much more.

Recent fundraising has been put towards sports equipment, playground items, special toys and games for classrooms and helping students and families in tough times. Our major project currently is working towards having our school pool heated!

School Facilities & Grounds

We are very fortunate to have excellent grounds and facilities at our school, including a modern and challenging adventure playground, large playing fields and courts.

Swimming Pool

We are proud to have our own school swimming pool.

During the summer, swimming is an important part of the Physical Education programme and children are asked to bring their togs every day.

Our Home & School are currently working to provide heating for our pool to extend the swimming season.

Use of School Grounds

We are happy for you or your children to use the playing area during out of school hours. However no responsibility for accidents at these times is recognised by school authorities. Please remember they are school grounds – keep them tidy and encourage others to do the same.

Many organisations use the grounds during evenings and weekends. Permission for use should be sought from the Principal.

What Makes Us Special?

We are lucky to benefit from a range of programmes and initiatives for our students:

Duffy Books in Homes Programme

The Duffy Books in Homes Programme provides free books to all our students, and their younger siblings at home.

In addition to books, the programme provides Role Model Assemblies, Duffy Theatre and “Caught Being Good” awards.

“It’s cool to read and cool to achieve!”

http://www.booksinhomes.org.nz/Home.aspx

Healthy Lunches in Schools

We are very fortunate to be part of the government funded Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy Lunches in Schools Programme.

This means that every student at our school receives a healthy, nutritious, freshly made lunch, for free, every day!

We are super proud of our Kai team, who work hard to provide delicious, kid-friendly meals which help introduce our tamariki to many different fruits, vegetables and food styles.

Breakfast Club

Supported by our Home and School, Sanitarium and Fonterra, our Breakfast Club operates five mornings every week - providing a free breakfast (or second breakfast!) for any child who needs one. 

It is also a great place to meet up with mates before school starts.

Before and After School Care

Provided by The Lemon Club, we have both before school care and after school care, right here at the school. 

Check out https://enrolmy.com/the-lemon-club for more details

Design Technology

Our Year 7&8 students have access to Design Technology on site, with a specialist teacher instructing them in a range of hard and soft material design and creation processes, gardening and cooking.
Address
25 Dillon Drive,
Bell Block,
New Plymouth.
4312

Main Reception
Phone 06 755-0973
Online
office@puketapu.school.nz
©2022 Te Kura o Puketapu
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