Middle of Term 1 newsletter 2026
Middle of Term 1 newsletter 2026
Tēnā koutou katoa
We are pleased to have students back onsite this week following the Sports Pavilion fire. We are so sad to have lost a heritage building, the oldest building on the school site. We have been very well supported and are grateful to firefighters, fire commanders, and other emergency services who attended the fire, and to the Ministry of Education, contractors, and our community. The fire investigation has found that the cause of the fire was accidental.
Thank you for the feedback on our response to this event. Your feedback will form part of our overall review into our processes and systems. You are encouraged to email your thoughts, positive or otherwise, to office@northcote.school.nz.
In the event of an emergency, such as a fire evacuation, we communicate with whānau via the school website and social media in the first instance, and messages are updated as appropriate. When we are able to access KAMAR, our Learning Management System, we send bulk emails home.
Noho Marae: Monday 2 March to Friday 6 March
We wish our Te Whānau o Te Kākano tauira and kaiako the best for their noho marae at Kupe Waka Centre, Aurere, Tokerau Beach in Doubtless Bay.
Athletics Day: Friday 6 March
You will have received an email about Athletics Day being postponed for a week because of the fire. The day is compulsory for students in Years 9 and 10, and optional for senior students who have registered. The senior timetable will continue. The Sports Department has emailed students about registration for events and other important information for the day.
Careers Education
For all information about careers education, universities, and our Gateway and STAR programmes, please visit our careers website at: https://northcote.careerwise.
Are you (or someone you know) able to host a student/s for work experience? Students work as unpaid interns for one day each week, ideally for 5 - 10 weeks. This initiative is funded by the Tertiary Education Commission and provides a gateway for senior students to experience work opportunities. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further. Please contact Fiona Mackenzie, our Gateway Coordinator at careers@northcote.school.nz for more information.
Literacy and Numeracy Co-requisite
To gain an NCEA qualification at Level 1, 2 or 3, students need to show that they have foundational reading, writing, and numeracy skills. They do that by achieving the NCEA literacy and numeracy co-requisite. Students must pass digital Common Assessment Activities (CAA) in literacy and numeracy, and the first round of these assessments is in May. All students in Year 10 will sit these assessments, and seniors yet to achieve them will have another opportunity. Students and whānau will have received emails with information about this last week.
Exam.net
More and more exams are digital. We ensure a secure and fair exam and assessment environment by using Exam.net. This platform helps support academic integrity and authenticity, including the block of copy-paste functions to prevent transfer of AI-generated text and answer sharing. This ensures that student assessments reflect true knowledge. The platform provides text-to-speech, translation, and extended time for students with special assessment conditions enabling them to succeed.
Parent Portal
We encourage students and whānau to regularly log in to Parent Portal for important information, including attendance data, student notices, and results. To access the Parent Portal, you can use this link https://northcote.school.kiwi/ or click on the top right of our school website banner under Parents & Kindo.
Long skirt uniform item
The new long skirt is now in stock at Yarnton’s in Birkenhead. There was a delay from the supplier; thank you for your patience.
Kia Manawaroa and Matavai e-newsletters
Please see the links below for e-newsletters which are also linked on our school website under ‘Resources’. The monthly pānui have a range of interesting articles and useful information and resources for Māori and Pacific families and caregivers with children in education.
Kia Manawaroa: https://mailchi.mp/education/
Matavai: https://mailchi.mp/education/
Road safety
The safety of our students is always a priority. We have a meeting next week with a Senior Transportation Engineer in the Road Safety Team at Auckland Transport to discuss the safety of students on Onewa Road. Please remind your child to cross Onewa Road responsibly at the lights, particularly if they catch the bus home up Onewa Road after school. The bus stops on Onewa Road after school are crowded, and students are urged to stay as far from the road as possible when waiting for their bus. Kauri Glen Road becomes very congested before and after school, and parking is very challenging. If you are dropping off or collecting your child from school, we strongly encourage you to use Gladstone Road.
School donations and Kindo payments
We are grateful to families who pay the school donation; without these payments, we would not be able to offer the variety of learning opportunities our students currently enjoy. All payments to Northcote College can be made in one place with your myKindo account. There is a link to Kindo on the top bar of our school website: https://www.northcote.school.
SchoolTV
The SchoolTV platform provides schools with an extensive range of wellbeing resources for parents, so we can work together in partnership to ensure better wellbeing for all students. Topics feature interviews with leading youth wellbeing experts and researchers from around the world offering hours of relevant and practical information. Topics include respectful relationships, cybersafety, neurodiversity, anxiety and young people, and many more. Each topic includes a compilation of related resources from key organisations providing a comprehensive stream of content. There is a link to SchoolTV on our school website: https://northcote.nz.schooltv.
Homestay families needed
We are looking for caring homestay families to accommodate our wonderful international students. We have options available for one term, two terms or long term students. Northcote College hosts international students from Asia, South America and Europe. This is a great opportunity to experience another culture. We offer a homestay fee of $420 per week.
For further information please contact our Homestay Coordinator Manny Mauricio at homestay@northcote.school.nz
Thank you for your support of our school.
Ngā manaakitanga
Vicki Barrie
Tumuaki | Principal
Key Dates for second half of Term 1 2026
Week 5
- Monday 2 March - Friday 6 March: Noho Marae
- Monday 2 March - Friday 13 March: hosting students from Shinagawa High School in Tokyo
- Friday 6 March: Athletics Day
Week 6
- Wednesday 11 March - Friday 13 March: Year 13 Camp at Shakespear Regional Park, Whangaparāoa
Week 7
- Wednesday 18 March: catch up ID photos and Year 13 photo
- Friday 20 March: Non-uniform Day, charity for fundraising to be decided
Week 8
- Friday 27 March: School Swimming Sports
Week 9
- Thursday 2 April: School Cross Country
- Thursday 2 April: Progress Reports published on Parent Portal
- Thursday 2 April: Last day of Term 1
Monday 20 April: First day of Term 2, Timetable Day 1