1. How do I find out about enrolment?
Go to our website Enrolment page.
Or call into our office for an enrolment pack.

2. Where do I find out about after school programmes?
There are several options for after school care.
• Fernandos – before and after school care based at school
• Youthtown – after school care based in Nelson Street – a bus collects children at 3.00
For more information click Here. 

3. Why do we pre-enrol and when?
Pre-enrolling your child helps us plan our classes and how we allocate teaching staff across the school. Our pre-enrolment numbers are part of the data we submit to the Ministry of Education in our March and July roll returns each year. The Ministry of Education use this data to fund both our operational grant and our staff component. The earlier you can pre-enrol your child, the better informed we are.
For more information click Here. 

4. What age do students start school?
In New Zealand most students start school on the Monday after their 5th birthday. Prior to your child’s birthday, we invite you to come into school for 4 Wednesday morning visits with your child. These take place between 9.00 – 10.00 am. You stay with your child while they participate in classroom activities and you have the opportunity to speak to your child’s prospective teacher. These induction visits are really valuable and help with a smooth transition for your child into school. Please book these through the office. Legally, all children must be attending school once they turn 6 years old. 

5. How do I find out about the school zone?
Please visit this page for the Freemans Bay School zone.

6. What is the Out of Zone Ballot Policy? 
If you are interesting in enrolling your child at Freemans Bay School but live out of zone you can obtain more information by clicking Here.

7. What is in the Stationery Pack?
The stationery packs are given out at the beginning of each year, or on enrolment.  Each of the teaching teams has its own pack, but generally it contains the exercise books, pencils and other items your child needs for their learning. Included in the cost of the stationery packs are fees for school activities and programmes, Mathlectics and Reading Eggs, and our photocopying fee. Mathletics and Reading Eggs are password-protected computer based programmes that are accessible both at school and at home. Different functions within these programmes allow your child’s teacher to set learning tasks specific to your child’s needs. Our photocopying fee covers the cost of photocopying teaching resources throughout the year.

8. Where do I find out what are the Term Dates and public holidays? 
Term dates and public holidays can be found Here.

9. How do I order lunch?
For information on lunch orders please click Here.

10. What is Feed and Read? 
The Feed and Read timetable provides a standard time where teachers read to their class and children are required to eat vegetable sticks or fruit and to drink water.  

One purpose of Feed and Read is to promote regular eating of fruit and vegetables and drinking water to sustain good energy for learning. The Ministry of Education requires that schools promote healthy food and nutrition and the Feed and Read initiative is one way that we can do this.  

The other purpose of Feed and Read is to timetable a regular time for teachers to read aloud to their students. The importance of reading aloud to students of all reading levels and the impact this simple practice can have on increasing students’ reading levels has been well-documented.  Research says that reading aloud to students at any age builds students’ reading levels by exposing students to texts above their current reading level, creating collaboration, and modelling fluent reading.

11. What time does school start and finish?
School starts each day at 9.00 am and finishes at 3.00 pm. 

Our timetable is as follows:
9.00am  Block 1 (2 hours 10 mins)
Feed & Read –  any time during Block 1 when there’s a natural break
11.00am Morning Tea
11.30am Bell rings to go back in class
11.30am Learning Block 2 
1:00pm Lunch play
1:35pm Lunch eating 
1.50pm  Bell rings to go back in class
1.50pm  Learning Block 3 
3.00pm  End of school day bell

Students are welcome to come to school from 8.30am. Prior to 8.30am teachers are attending meetings and preparing for their day ahead, so are unable to supervise students. All students are to be picked up before 3.15pm. 
If your working hours extend beyond our school timetable, please enrol your child in one of the before or after-school programmes. The information can be found Here.

12. Which year level will my child be placed in?
In New Zealand, students are placed with their peer group (students of the same age). This is irrespective of their academic ability. We cater for academic needs within the class programme, and where appropriate through support groups. The Ministry of Education year group designation is based on 1st July birthdays. This means students with a birthday prior to 1st July will be in the year groups above students with a birthday from 1st July. We believe it is important for students’ social development to be with their peer group. 

13. How can the school help my child learn English?
The Ministry of Education allocates funding to help students with minimal English. Through our Learning Support department we run a variety of programmes to help students build their English ability. The programmes are based on the language of the classroom programmes across the curriculum and are run by trained English Language Assistants. We also encourage families to keep their home language and culture alive, as this is the central aspect of a child’s identity