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1/7 Kōkopu School Kia ora and welcome to all of our students and whānau About Kokopu School Ag Day Info Kōkopu School - Since 1884 Ki Te Ako me te Mahi - To Learn and Serve Kōkopu School is a dynamic school just 15 minutes west of Whangarei catering for students in Years 1 to 8. Our school has a strong community spirit and a friendly rural family atmosphere. We offer a wide range of exciting and inspiring learning experiences while developing tuakana teina relationships across the school. Our vision, "Growing Together, Learning Forever," and values are central to the teaching philosophy and organisation of Kōkopu School. We provide a creative, safe and exciting school environment. With small class sizes and high expectations of achievement, positive behaviour and working together. We have a strong tradition of academic, artistic and sporting success. Our students are encouraged to be ‘country kids’ through practical activities where they are challenged as risk-takers in a supportive and safe environment. Our Tuakana Teina focus (older students working with younger students) develops children that are caring, empathetic and respectful of others. Please feel welcome to visit our school to meet us or just to have a look around. Respect for Others Tuakana Teina - PB4L Students will build lasting Tuakana Teina relationships so that they will be connected, feel cared for and show leadership, Respect for our Environment Students learn important ideas about living in a rural area with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and becoming kaitiakitanga. Respect for Ourselves Students have high expectations of their learning and behaviour. We ‘Learn and Serve’. Keep in Touch Newsletter School App FaceBook

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Enrolments We welcome new students and their families to come and visit our amazing school. Give us a call, email or drop in and we will be more than happy to show you around and meet with our principal and teachers. Kokopu School is a full primary school catering for students in years 1 - 8. (Including intermediate) We have no zone attached to the school and we have students that come to us from all around our local area and further afield. Whether it is your 4-year-old or you are a new family to our area, enrolling as soon as possible helps us plan our staffing and roll for the year. We have full enrolment packs available at the school office or you can use the below online form. Please get in contact with us regardless. Enrolment form instructions Click on the “enrolment button” below. Complete form including all mandatory fields Select “Go to Part 2” which will automatically save the form When the online enrolment form is complete, please bring in your child's birth certificate and immunisation status so we can retain a copy. Enrol Online Here Additional Documents to sign. You can print these at home or get copies from the school office. After School Care Registration Cyber Safety User Agreement Media Release Form Additional information You can print these at home or get copies from the school office. Parent Info Booklet Stationery Year 7-8 Program Community Playgroup PRE-SCHOOL VISITS It is advisable that your child has at least two pre-entry class visits to familiarise them with their new learning environment, teacher and classmates. Please make contact with the classroom teacher to organise your visits. On the first visit, you are encouraged to remain with your child in the classroom in order to observe how the class functions. This will enable you to better support your child with their transition to school. During your next visit, you are welcome to pop in and out of the classroom. The staff room is available for you to have a cup of coffee. It is preferable to include at least one morning tea in these visits to introduce your child to the associated routines and play environment. PREPARING FOR SCHOOL In order to cope with the challenges of school life, it is important that your child develops independence in managing themselves and their belongings. You can help with this by ensuring they know how to: Use the toilet (and urinal for boys) and wash their hands Blow their nose Dress themselves Put school shoes on and off (please avoid shoes with laces unless they are self-tying ones) Manage lunch without help Recognise and manage their own belongings Pack and carry their own schoolbag Follow simple instructions Sit and listen for short periods of time (approximately 10 minutes With regard to literacy and numeracy, if your child can hold a pencil correctly, recognise their own name and write it, recognise the names and sounds of some of the letters of the alphabet, count and recognise some numbers, this is a bonus and will be further developed at school.

Reading How You Can Help at Home Research shows that the single most effective way to improve a child’s reading ability is by reading! It is recommended that Primary aged school children should read at home every day for 20 minutes. This time should be an easy and fun process, not one which creates a daily battle. The easiest way for this to happen is to make reading an enjoyable experience for all involved by mixing up the reading that takes place. This might include: Your child(ren) reading to you You reading to your child(ren) Taking turns to read a page each Your child(ren) reading silently Your child listening to an ebook At Kokopu School we use the better start literacy approach in our junior school. It is based on learning to sound out letters, groups of letters and whole words. Click the link to see online versions of the Better Start Literacy readers your child will bring home. On the back pages are extra activities and ideas you can do at home. Storytime (formerly Children’s Treasure Chest) has hundreds of New Zealand’s best children’s stories by some of our most celebrated writers including Lynley Dodd, Joy Cowley and Tessa Duder. The collection is organised by topic, title and listening age so you can easily find the right story for your little ones (or they can find it for themselves!) Listen to the full collection on our dedicated Storytime website Read the NZ School Journals online. These are the same journals that our students use at school. They are full of interesting article, stories and poems. Search for something of interest or a year. Online version are from 2016 onwards. YEAR 1 Make reading fun Reading at home should be fun and easy. It should be something you both look forward to and a time for laughter and talk. Share the reading, take turns or see whether your child wants to read or be read to today All children like to be read to, so keep reading to them. You can read in your first language Visit the library together and help them choose books to share Read emails from family or whānau aloud Play card and board games together. Here’s a tip: talk a lot to your child while you are doing things together. Use the language that works best for you and your child. Talk about reading Ask about the sounds of letters and groups of letters. Eg sh, tr, mop, top, pop… Talk about pictures in books Sing waiata and songs, read poems and make up rhymes together (the funnier the better) Be a role model. Let your child see you enjoying reading and talk about what you are enjoying Point out words on signs, shops and labels Play word games like “I spy” and “Simon says” Make it a special time together Reading is a great chance for you and your child to spend special time together. Make reading: quiet and relaxing a time to sit close to your child 10–15 minutes without interruption, away from the TV an enjoyable, interesting and special time a time to praise your child for making an effort Here are some tips: if your child is stuck on a word wait a few seconds, give them a chance to think. If they are still stuck, help them to try to work the word out by saying, “read the sentence again and think what would make sense”. Ask “could it be …?” (and give a word that might fit). The pictures also help them check they have got the right word. If they still can’t work out the word, tell them and praise their efforts. Remember, reading should be fun. Help your child to link stories to their own life. Remind them about what they have done when a similar thing happens in the story. YEAR 2 Make reading fun Reading at home needs to be fun and easy. It should be something you both look forward to, a time for laughter and talk. Find a comfortable, quiet place away from the TV for the two of you to cosy up and read for 10–15 minutes If you or your child start to feel stressed, take a break and read the rest of the story aloud yourself – keep it fun Make some puppets (from old socks or cardboard tubes, or use cut-outs on sticks etc.) that you and your child can use to act out the story you have read. Or dress up and make it into a play Play card games (you can make the cards yourself) Read songs, waiata, poems and rhymes and sing them together, too. Here’s a tip: when they are reading, your child will still be coming across words they don’t know. When this happens, you could remind them to think about what they already know to do when they get stuck. If that doesn’t help you might ask “What word would make sense that starts like that?” or “What do you know about that word that might help?” If they still can’t work it out – tell them the word and praise their efforts. Take your child to the library help them choose books to share find other books by the same author or on the same topic (or look for more information on the web – you might have to be the reader for this one). Here’s a tip: help your child to link stories to their own life. Remind them about what they have done when a similar thing happens in the story. Talk about reading Talk about the story and the pictures, other stories you have read, and experiences you have both had that are like those in the story Sometimes you can be the listener, sometimes the reader and sometimes you can take turns. They might like to read to the cat, the dog, their teddy or a big brother All children like to be read to, so don’t stop reading to them no matter how old they are Encourage your child to read all sorts of things, for example, the TV guide in the newspaper, street signs and food labels. Simple recipes are great and you get to eat what you’ve read about, too! Here’s a tip: talk with your child all the time and give them time to talk with you. You can use your first language. YEAR 3 Make reading fun Have fun singing along to karaoke songs or playing board games together Read to your child every day. You can use your first language Have a pile of reading materials available. For example, library books (non-fiction and fiction), kids’ cookery books, simple timetables, newspapers and magazines, catalogues and any other reading that supports your child’s current interest Encourage your child to retell favourite stories or parts of stories in their own words. Play card games (you can make the cards yourself) and board games together. Here are some tips: when they are reading, your child will be working at solving unfamiliar words by themself. If they need help you could ask them to work their way across the word looking for things they know that might help. At this level, reading involves bringing everything they know together to solve problems and build understanding. If they can’t work it out, tell them the word and carry on with reading. If you or your child starts to feel stressed by what they’re reading, take a break and read the rest of the story aloud yourself. Keep it fun. Make it real Reading makes more sense if your child can relate it to their own life. Help them to make connections between what they are reading and their own lives and experiences. For example, “that’s a funny story about a grandad. What does your grandad do that makes you laugh?”, “We saw a big mountain in that book, what is our mountain called, and where did the name come from?” Look for opportunities for your child to read wherever you are, for example, signs, advertising billboards, junk mail, recipes Show your child that reading is fun and important to you by letting them see you reading magazines, books, newspapers. Find out together Visit the library often and help your child to choose books about topics that interest them Talk with older people or kaumātua in your family about interesting stories and people from your child’s past that you could find out more about together Ask your child questions (and support them to find the answers) to widen their reading experiences. For example, “What’s the quickest biscuit recipe?”, “What time is the next bus to town?” Help your child with any words that they don’t understand. Look them up together in the dictionary if you need to. YEAR 4 Read and talk together Get your child to tell you about what they are reading. Who is their favourite character and why? Is there anyone like that in your family? What do they think is going to happen? What have they learnt from their reading? Does it remind them of any of their own experiences? Help your child with any words they don’t understand – look them up together in the dictionary if you need to Read recipes, instructions, manuals, maps, diagrams, signs and emails. It will help your child to understand that words can be organised in different ways on a page, depending on what it’s for Read junk mail – your child could compare costs, make their own ‘advertisements’ by cutting up junk mail or come up with clever sentences for a product they like. Here’s a tip: talk a lot to your child while you are doing things together. Use the language that works best for you and your child. Read with others If your child has chosen something to read that is too hard at the moment, take turns and read it together Reading to younger brothers or sisters, whānau or grandparents will give your child an opportunity to practise reading out loud Encourage other family members (Aunty, Grandma, Koro) to read to and with your child Playing board games and card games is important, too Choose games that everyone wants to play. Make them challenging, not too easy. Here are some tips: keep the magic of listening to a good story alive by reading either made-up, retold or read-aloud stories to your child – with lots of excitement through the use of your voice! When they are reading, the most common difficulty your child is likely to have is working out the meaning of new words, phrases and expressions. To do this your child will use their knowledge of words and word patterns (eg prefixes, suffixes and root words) to help build meaning. You may need to remind your child to read back and forward for clues to help their understanding of what they are reading. Talk with your child about the meaning. Take your child to the library Help your child to choose a variety of books they want to read Help them look for books about topics they’re learning about at school Get your child to choose a book that you can read to them (listening to you read helps them with their reading) Encourage your child to retell favourite stories or parts of stories in their own words. Here’s a tip: help your child link stories to their own life. Remind them about what they have done when a similar thing happens in the story. YEAR 5 Talk about their reading Ask your child what they are reading and talk about their ideas: What is the ‘picture’ they have of particular characters? Are there people like that in your family or whānau? What do they want to find out from the book? What are the important messages? What do they think is going to happen next? What else do they need to know to understand the story or topic? Talk about books on similar topics. This helps your child to pull together ideas from different places Talk about different types of stories that are read or spoken. Newspaper articles, internet sites, whakataukī (proverbs), comics, bible stories, songs, waiata or novels will each have different points you can talk about together. Find a newspaper article you’re both interested in and talk about what it means to each of you Help your child to share their thinking. Get them to share opinions and talk about why they think that. Listen, even when you don’t agree with their ideas. Here’s a tip: give your child space and time to read. Reading longer books they have chosen needs plenty of time. Read together Find out information together from different places. For example, manuals, dictionaries, the Internet, magazines, television guides, atlases, family tree information, whakapapa Play games that involve reading in a fun way Encourage your child to read to others Younger brothers and sisters, whānau or grandparents are great audiences for practising smooth and interesting reading out loud Visit the library regularly. Help your child choose books they’re interested in (about hobbies, interests or who they are and where they come from) or encourage them to get books out that are about what they are studying at school. They may need you to help by reading to them, as well Find books of movies or TV programmes. It can help your child to learn different ways to tell the same story if they read the ‘stories’ they have watched. Here’s a tip: help your child to link stories to their own life. Remind them about what they have done when a similar thing happens in the story. Be a reader yourself Talk about what you are reading and why you are enjoying it or what is challenging about it. Read a book to your child that they might find difficult but want to read, and talk about it as you read. Use your first language whenever you can – it can help your child’s learning Read the same book or magazine as your child. You can then share your ideas about what you have read. You could talk about why the authors made the choices they did when writing the story. Here’s a tip: keep the magic of listening to a good story alive by reading either made up, retold or read-aloud stories to your child – with lots of excitement through the use of your voice. YEAR 6 Make reading fun Have discussions together about books – read the books your child is reading Encourage Internet research about topics of interest – notice what they are keen on Make your home a reader-friendly home with plenty of books, magazines, newspapers that everyone can read – look for books and magazines at fairs and second-hand shops. Ask your family or whānau if they have any they no longer want Share what you think and how you feel about the characters, the story or the opinions in magazines and newspapers you are reading. It is important that your child sees you as a reader and you talk about what you are reading. Here’s a tip: encourage your child to read every day. Make reading fun and praise your child’s efforts, all the time. Read together Reading to your child is one of the most important things you can do, no matter how old they are. You can use your first language When you are reading to your child, you can talk about words or ideas in the text that your child might not have come across before Children are often interested in new words and what they mean – encourage them to look them up in a dictionary or ask family/whānau about the meaning and origin. Here’s a tip: keep the magic of listening to a good story alive by reading either made up, retold or read-aloud stories to your child – with lots of excitement through the use of your voice! Keep them interested Help your child identify an author, character or series of books they particularly like and find more in the series or by the author Talk about the lyrics of songs or waiata, or the words of poems your child is learning, and see if there are any links to who they are, and where they come from Think about subscribing to a magazine on your child’s special interest, eg animals, their iwi, kapa haka or sport, or check out the magazines at the library, or on the Internet Go to your local library to choose books together. These might be books your child can read easily by themself. They might be books your child wants to read but are a bit hard – you can help by reading a page to them, then helping them read the next one Play card and board games together – the more challenging the better. Here’s a tip: be a great role model. Let your child see you enjoying reading – whether it’s the newspaper, a magazine, a comic, a cookbook or a novel. Read in the language that works best for you. YEAR 7-8 Make reading fun Play card and board games and do complicated puzzles Help your child to follow a recipe and cook for the family Encourage your child to read and follow instructions for playing a game, making or using a piece of equipment, or completing a competition entry form. Remember their reading doesn’t have to be a book – it could be a magazine, comic, newspaper or something from the Internet. Here’s a tip: talk a lot to your child while you are doing things together. Use the language that works best for you and your child. Talk about it Ask your child to talk about parts of a story they liked and why Talk about the key facts, characters, plot, setting, theme and author’s purpose Have them retell the main ideas or describe characters, events or facts they were interested in Ask them to show you where the story supports their thinking Be a role model. Show you read for a variety of reasons; eg to compare products advertised in brochures, to be informed on current issues, to find a phone number or a bus timetable, to relax etc Try reading the same book as your child so you can talk about it together Talk about the TV show you are watching. What were the main ideas? Talk about the order events happen in – practising this skill is important as children can find this difficult to learn. What did they like/dislike and why? Here are some tips: encourage your child to read every day. Make reading fun and praise your child’s efforts, all the time. Help your child to link stories to their own life. Remind them about what they have done when a similar thing happens in the story. Read to your child Just because your child can read doesn’t mean that they don’t enjoy listening to someone else reading. It could be a non-fiction book on a topic they like, a magazine, a newspaper, a short story or a longer book read in instalments. It could also be a more difficult book/article that your child needs your help to read and understand You could also listen to audio stories together – you can borrow these from the library or download from the internet Encourage your child to read the lyrics to their favourite songs, waiata or haka. Talk about why the composer wrote the song. What were they trying to say? Search the internet for more information Here’s a tip: keep the magic of just listening to a good story alive by reading either made up, retold or read-aloud stories – with lots of excitement through the use of your voice. Keep them interested Find books or magazines about your child’s interests. Reading about their favourite sport, player, team or kapa haka group or an issue they are interested in will help them to be an expert on a particular subject Find books that relate to TV shows or movies they know, or the area they come from. Knowing some of the ideas, characters or ancestors/tīpuna before you start reading can make it easier to understand a book. Talk about how the book differs from the TV show or movie and how it builds on what they already know Join the library and visit regularly to help your child choose books that interest them – you may want to encourage your child to read different types of books including non-fiction stories. Here’s a tip: be positive whenever your child is reading, no matter what they are reading. Respect your child’s opinion as it shows they are thinking about what they read.

Job Positions Kokopu School - Teacher Aide Job Position 2023 12-20 hours per week Fixed Term Closing Date Friday 28th of May 2023. Starting Mid Term 2. ​ We are seeking a person to join our wonderful teacher aide team and work one-on-one with one of our amazing learning support students. ​ Key Criteria Applicants should have excellent communication skills, shows initiative, be adaptable, patient, and show a relational approach to working with students who have extra needs. Teacher aide or a history of working with children is an advantage. ​ Job description This position will involve working with a young student funded by the Ministry of Education. The hours of work are dependent on this funding. ​ Job Responsibilities Support students with daily classroom routines Implement an individual learning program. One on one. One to one support for specific learning areas in class Behaviour monitoring and support Setting up and monitoring visual timetables Work closely with specialist teachers and agencies. Work closely with families General classroom teacher aide support ​ ​ If you are interested in this position, please apply by using our online application form. Also please send a letter of application and CV to principal@kokopu.school.nz by Friday 28th of May 2023. Application URL: www.bit.ly/kokopujob Application QR CODE: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ For more information about school please go to our website www.kokopu.school.nz

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School Map

Term Dates and Bell Times 2023 Term Dates Term 1 – Thursday 2 February – Thur 6 April Term 2 – Mon 24 April to Fri 30 June Term 3 – Mon 17 July to Fri 22 September Term 4 – Mon 9 October to 15 December ​ 2024 Term Dates Term 1 – Monday 5 February – Friday 12 April Term 2 – Monday 29 April to Friday 5 July Term 3 – Monday 22 July to Friday 27 September Term 4 – Monday 14 October - Friday 13th December ​ Bell Times Start of Day 9.00am 1st morning break 10.20am to 10.35am 2nd morning break 11.35am to 11.50am lunch break 12.50am to 1.30pm End of day 3.00pm

Strategic Plan To view our School strategic plan please click on the button below: Kokopu School Strategic Plan 2023 Please click below for our annual finacial report. 2022 Financial Report

Kokopu School History The following was compiled for the 105th Jubilee in 1989 ​ In 1912 there was one school situated between the Kara and Kōkopu districts. It was situated on Mr M. McKinley's property at the Kōkopu end of McKinley Road. Children from both districts attended the one school. This school was then moved to a site adjoining the Kara District Hall, and a teacher's dwelling was erected as well in 1913. The Kara residents decided to work timber from Mr Henry Cleary's property (later to become Colonel Wood's property). Mr F Watts was the carpenter. He married Miss Cope, and her brother was one of the timber workers. Some time after the project was started, Mrs Watts died suddenly. A messenger was sent to the timber workers to relay the news, only to be met by the workers carrying out her brother's body. He had been killed earlier that morning when a log rolled on top of him. When a tragedy like this happened on those days, the relatives were shown great respect. It was some time before the work continued. Nor was the completion of the work without its problems! William and Henry Wrack were the wagon men employed to cart the logs to the mill and the timber back to the building site. (These two brothers have streets named after them in Kensington, Whangarei. Wrack Street and Henry Street) While one of the brothers was jacking logs on to his wagon, the jack slipped and speared the upper part of his arm. The jack had to be dismantled and he was taken to hospital in Mr Nobe's wagon. The buildings were finally completed in 1913. Mr Brennan came to teach in the Kara school on it's new site. Kokopu School was opened on February 2, 1914, with Mr Kruger as the first Headmaster and a roll of thirteen pupils. These children came from the Guignier, Leca, Snelgar, Waymouth, Kokich and Baker families. At first is was a part time school with Kara. The six days a week were shared between the two schools. This meant that pupils often had to attend school on Saturdays! ​ In August, 1914 the Great War broke out. This took all the young men from the valley including the Kara school teacher. Twelve men left during the war period. They were Donald Stuart, Melven Cleary, Jack and Charlie Nelson, Willie Dent, Harold, Ned and Henry Smith, George and Charlie Matthew, Bert Attwood and William Miller. The Matthew brothers failed to return home. During this time, Mr Kruger came to teach at the school, but because he was a German, problems arose through prejudices on both sides, and he had to leave the district. During Mr Kruger's term at the school it was changed to a half time school, three days at Kara and three at Kokopu, taught by the same teacher. This state of affairs remained for over twenty years. The next teacher was Mr Izod, a middle-aged man who had been a good athlete in his younger days. He played games with the children. It took a number of good strong boys to stop him from making a touchdown when he had the football in his hands. He had a big beardie dog who joined in the game too. The dog was really good in a tackle! He beat the boys for the ball! It was a sad day for the children at the end of 1918 when the teacher and his dog left the school. This was the end of the war. The soldiers returned with the plague aboard the boat. Donald Stuart returned home a very sick man. He stayed in Kara with his mother and brother, Murdock, for some time, then was admitted to hospital and died on Easter Monday, 1921. The next teacher was an Irishman by the name of Michael Daniel Regan. He came to teach the children, but had an alcohol problem. Many a morning the children arrived at school and found that there was no teacher to teach them. One morning a prefect sent the children home and a week later there was an enquiry held by an education board official, the school committee, and the teacher and the children. It ended with the teacher being dismissed. ​ At the end of 1919, Lewis Cheeseman came to teach. He was from a well known family in the north. His wife died suddenly and a relieving teacher took over for a short time. His name was Mr Oswald Guest, and he was single. He left early in 1921. The next teacher was the first lady teacher that the school had ever had. She was Mrs Dyer. She had three sons and two daughters. Her husband was a Wayby farmer. Val(Pip), her youngest son, has been teaching school for many years at Tikipunga. In 1925, Mrs Dyer gave up teaching through ill health. She was succeeded by another lady teacher, Mrs Lennane. Her husband was a farrier and he took over the blacksmith's shop in Maungatapere for a time while his wife taught the two schools, Kara and Kokopu. ​ In 1928, Mrs Lennane left and Mrs Brewer came. Her husband was a farm hand and proved a valuable asset to the district. The Depression in 1930 made things very hard for those leaving school because there was no work available. The local farmers were self sufficient, growing their own meat and vegatables, but many of the older identities remember the townsfolk who were forced to seek work, food, and shelter for their families in the country. In the early 1930s, Mrs Brewer left and Miss McDonald taught for a short time. She was succeeded by Mr Jim Wilson, who rode his motorbike out from town each day. The Kara school was closed down in April 1937 and about this time the original Kokopu school was moved to Waiotemarama and a larger school was brought from Maungatapere. ​ World War Two began is 1939, taking young men away from the district once again. Mr W. Attwood's son, Tom was killed in action. During the war years, there were two more lady teachers, Mrs Kokich and Mrs Spehr, and at the end of the war the children were taught by a Returned Serviceman, Mr Neville Ward, who had served in the islands. In 1942, the Kara school house was brought to Kokopu and in 1950 work was begun on the Kokopu Block. A road was put through from Kokopu to Maungatapere and called the Kokopu Block Road. Returned Servicemen were settled there in 1952. The Kara school was put up for tender and purchased by the Dent brothers, who removed it on to their property. The Education Board recommended that the Kokopu school have a new school built and playing fields brought up to standard, with a school bus taking secondary children to the main road to connect with another into Whangarei, and returning, picking up primary school children and bringing them to Kokopu. Peter Buisman, a local farmer, drove this bus for twenty three years. School History 1958-1989 These 31 years have witnessed a variety of changes in the school and Kara-Kokopu District. In 1958, two brand new classroom were opened, and thanks to community involvement, the learners swimming pool was also built and opened. The original school house, constructed with upright weather boards, was replaced in 1959 when a new house was erected on the present site, west of the school. The original house can be seen near the road about 3 kms east of school. The school roll has fluctuated dramatically, being a 2 teacher school in 1958, increasing to 3 teachers in 1963 for 2 years, then levelling out a 2 teacher school until 1985, when the roll exceeded 50 pupils, and a 3rd teacher was again employed. A new classroom was transported from Auckland in 1986 and resited at Kokopu, testimony to an expanding community. A contributing factor to the increase in the school roll has been to subdivision of traditional farms on Kara Road, allowing greater diversification into horticulture. In conjunction with a growing community there have also been vast improvements to roads in the district. The Kokopu Block Rd was sealed in 1987 and later Kokopu Rd was sealed from the intersection with Block Rd to as far as the school. Kara Road is due to be sealed this year. ​ Children in the district have been transported to school by bus. The days of Peter Buisman driving the Departmental Bus have gone, with a private company contracted in 1980 to take over the run. It was very convenient in those days when the bus was parked in the bus shed next to school, as the teacher was able to drive the children to sports days and take cultural and educational trips without having to rely on parents for transport. ​ Improvements made around the school include erecting a flying fox, fencing the top field so the children are able to play without the worry of standing or landing in sheep manure, planting trees, shrubs and gardens, improved drains, a new water tank and an upgraded water pumping system which has allowed the teacher time to "teach" rather than call on his small motor expertise down by the river. A new administration block with library facilities was installed in 1981 and a covered walkway built to link it with the old staffroom which is now used for storing teaching resources. A skyline garage was erected in 1980 and to complete the compliment of buildings, our third classroom was resited in 1986. Teaching aids used in the classroom have kept pace with technology, making the classroom a more interesting place for learning. From the early 1970's equipment such as Over Head Projectors, listening posts, film and slide projectors, cameras, calculators, video camera and TV monitor and most recently a Commodore computer have all been acquired. These improvements have been subsidised by the various school committees, from funds generated by the "Working Bees". Up to the present day, the children have all had their part to play in cleaning the school, however in 1986 the cleaner's hours were increased from 5hrs per week to 15hrs, so a cleaner had to be employed to vaccum, dust and clean windows, floors and toilets. The grounds and building exteriors have continued to be maintained by parents at the "Working Bee". ​ Many of the traditional school events have continued to be highlights on the school calendar. Picnics have been held at various beaches including Ruakaka, Ngunguru, and Wellington's Bay. The Calf Club Day is still enjoyed by children and adults. The Sports Days with other small schools in the district have been a feature, as has the annual cross-country meeting. Of course the dances at the Kara Hall have provided much enjoyment over the years, and the charm that the hall gives that little bit of "magic" to the popular end of year concert. Added to these have been the Guy Fawkes evening, and the annual School Camp which has been a popular highlight for senior pupils since 1975 when the children visited Port Waikato. Throughout the past 105 years the school has enjoyed a close working relationship with the community, giving a firm basis for a well rounded education. The extended-family quality of the school reflects the close-knit community spirit and this has ensured a memorable association for past, present and future pupils, parents and teachers.