As an area school, Hurunui College offers many advantages. We are proud of its family atmosphere where students from Year 0 to Year 13 interact and care for each other.
Our vision is an aspirational learning community where all are empowered to reach their full potential. Students enter Hurunui College to learn and to develop their unique talents and abilities, so that they may leave school prepared to serve and enrich both themselves and their community.
Our College is strengthened by our core traditional values: Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence. These qualities support high academic achievement and promote personal skills required by our local, national and international communities giving our students the foundation for future success in this rapidly changing world.
Please ensure you stay connected with the multiple forms of school communication.
School website - access to the longterm school calendar and general information about the school.
Skool Loop App - pushes out school notices and newsletter, school calendar and can be used for notifying absences - critical mode of communication - download Skool Loop from the app store/google play and select Hurunui College
Edge Student Management System - the parent portal provides access to school accounts, student information, contact information and reporting. Contact the school office if you are unable to access this facility and we can talk you through the process. This is also available via the Edge Mobile App.
Facebook - used only for celebration and pushing out general information and last-minute reminders
Ngā mihi nui,
Principal - Tumuaki Hurunui College
Panui -Term 4 2025
Kia ora koutou parents and whānau
Welcome back to the final term of the 2025 year. It is pleasing to see our students/ākonga return to school, after the holidays looking refreshed and ready for the busy term ahead.
We have three short weeks this term due to Labour Day on Monday 27 October in week 4, Canterbury Anniversary on Friday 14 November in week 6, and our last week of school is week 10, where the last day of school and our school prizegiving is on Wednesday 10 December, 10.00am.
Year 11–13 students/ākonga have four weeks left before going off on study leave. We encourage them to make the most of this time left at school, and seek support from teachers. Our Leavers Assembly will be held in week 4, on Friday 31 October.
Athletic Sports We are looking forward to holding our annual Athletic Sports in week 2, on Monday 13 October, starting at 9.00am in the Hawarden Domain. This is a whole school event which our students/ākonga started practising for back in Term 3. We encourage all parents and whānau to bring a picnic lunch and join us for the day. As usual, we will be looking for parent volunteers to run in the parent relay.
Course Selection Year 11-13 2026 & Implications of Reduced Staffing & Resources In week 8 of Term 3 we held our course selection evening for parents/whānau and students/ākonga who will be in Year 11-13 next year. Thank you to those who attended. Our course selection booklet is available on our school website. It is important that parents and whānau continue to have conversations with their children/tamariki about intended course selections and possible future pathways. At the end of Term 3 we were notified that we have reduced staffing and funding resources for the 2026 year. We plan to manage this mostly through natural attrition for the 2026 year, however, unfortunately, this does have implications for a small number of our Year 11-13 students next year, in particular with the number of, and selection of courses we can offer and teach. The small number of students/ākonga affected have already been spoken to by Mr Turner. I encourage our students/ākonga to continue having conversations with their parents/whānau, teachers/kaiako and DP Mr Turner if they are still unsure about their selections.
Reporting Review Thank you to those parents and whānau who took the time to respond to the reporting review that I circulated last term. We had a very good response and there is some useful information there that will be considered when we review and make changes to our reporting system. We are awaiting further guidelines and directions from the ministry before we make changes to our reports to align with the new curriculum.
Helix - Student Management System Edge, our reporting platform has been rebranded to Helix. The Helix app was launched earlier this year. It is the platform parents and whānau need to access to stay connected with their child’s/tamariki learning. Through the Helix app you can:
view your child’s/tamariki timetables and attendance
monitor academic progress and assessment results by viewing reports
receive important updates and notifications
view the school calendar
access student account and stationery balances
If you have previously used the Edge App, the transition is easy - simply use the same login credentials you used with Edge. In addition to the mobile app, the Helix Caregiver Portal is now accessible via browser on your computer: https://parent.helixsms.co.nz/Loginpage_caregiver.aspx
We encourage all parents and whānau to change over to Helix as soon as possible. If you need assistance, please contact the school office. For more information about Helix, please click on the link below. Helix App for Caregivers 2025 Attendance Regular attendance is a focus for this year. Schools and kura, along with parents and whānau are legally responsible for making sure students/ākonga attend school every day. If a student/ākonga misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss a whole year of school by 16 years of age.
Our school is committed to supporting your child/tamariki to attend school and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance. Our staff care about your child's/tamariki learning, and we do everything we can to make sure your child/tamariki is at school, participating and progressing in their education.
As parents/caregivers and whānau, setting clear expectations with your child/tamariki about why attending school every day is important, and being positive about school and setting good habits would all be helpful in supporting your child/tamariki to attend school regularly.
If you have challenges at home with getting your child/tamariki to school, please talk to us!
Lateness also affects your child/tamariki’s absence record. School starts at 8.45am and it is important that students/ākonga arrive at school before 8.45am.
Parents/caregivers and whānau must let the school know if your child/tamariki is going to be absent for a day or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent.
Please take time to look at your child’s/tamariki absence records on Helix. The Ministry of Education’s attendance aim is for 80% of students/ākonga to attend school for more than 90% of the term by 2030.
Communication A reminder that our main means of communication is through skool loop. If you have not already, please make sure you download the app and If you are having trouble with notifications please contact school in the first instance. Our school calendar outlines upcoming events that both parents and whānau and students/ākonga need to be aware of. It is accessible on skool loop, through Helix and also on our website. Email is another form of communication that teachers/kaiako will use to make contact with parents and whānau. Please make sure that the school has your current email address and phone number.
School Uniform The Hurunui College Board sets the school uniform regulations and teachers/kaiako are expected to enforce this. With the warmer weather I look forward to all students/ākonga wearing our school uniform correctly with pride. Navy Backroad jerseys or similar, and hoodies are not part of the school uniform and should not be worn to school In Term 4, Year 0-8 students/ākonga are expected to wear sunhats as part of the school uniform and we encourage Year 9-13 students/ākonga to do the same. To view the uniform guidelines and to purchase the school uniform, please see our school website. https://www.hurunuicollege.school.nz/prospectus--uniform.html. Thank you to those parents and whānau who continue to ensure their child/tamariki comes to school every day wearing the correct and tidy school uniform.
Positive and Caring School Culture As always, we continue to focus on building and maintaining a positive and caring school culture, through upholding and role modelling our school values of respect, integrity, service and excellence. Our key focuses have been on wearing the correct school uniform, using devices correctly and appropriately, using respectful language and being kind and caring to others.
Parents, caregivers and whānau play a big part in positively influencing their child/ren/tamariki to do the right thing, follow our school rules and expectations, and engage in learning activities at school. We appreciate your ongoing and continued support with this.
We are looking forward to a productive and busy term ahead, finishing with our Prize Giving on Wednesday 10 December, 10.00am, which all parents and whānau are invited to attend.
Nāku noa, nā
Jane Marsh Acting Principal - Tumuaki Hurunui College
