Northcote College Start of Year Newsletter - 2026
Northcote College Start of Year Newsletter - 2026
Tēnā koe
Ngā mihi o te Tau Hou | Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing our new and returning students in 2026 and would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to our new whānau of students beginning at Northcote College this year.
We are thrilled with the many and varied successes (academic, cultural, sporting, performative, artistic) of our students in 2025, and we are excited to support the success of our young people this year.
Year 9 students and peer support leaders have the school to themselves on Monday 2 February with a pōwhiri to start the day at 9am. All students are expected at school on Tuesday 3 February for Day 1 of the timetable; Year 9 students begin with digital induction at 9am and students in Years 10-13 begin with a form period at 9.30am.
There are some important things to note to start the year, and at the bottom of this email are key dates for the first half of Term 1 and a link to the 2026 Year Planner.
Uniform Guidelines
Northcote College uniform is worn by students in Years 9, 10, 11 and 12 correctly and with pride at school, to and from school, and at all school functions. Please ensure that your child has the correct uniform and wears it well every day. Uniform items can be purchased from Yarnton’s in Birkenhead. The Uniform Guidelines and the Year 13 Non-uniform Dress Code are on our website here: https://www.northcote.school.
If your child has outgrown their uniform, we gratefully accept any clean, good condition items at Harakeke | Student Reception. If you need help with uniforms, please contact the relevant dean.
Stationery 2026
Your child should bring everything that they need for learning (including a chromebook or compact laptop) for lessons on the first timetabled day (Tuesday 3 February). The 2026 stationery lists are available on our school website, as above and also at: https://www.myschool.co.nz/
Parent Handbooks
Our Parent Handbooks provide an overview of important information about how our school runs and include details about our values, parent portal, communications, operations, calendar dates, and more. Please take note of our Code of Expected Behaviour which includes our ‘away for the day’ mobile phone policy.
Link to Parent Handbooks: https://www.northcote.school.
Road safety
The safety of our students is always a priority. In assemblies and at form time, messages and resources are shared with students to support road safety awareness. 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.
Attendance
Regular school attendance is strongly linked to academic success. Missing school, even for a few days, can negatively impact a student's ability to keep up with coursework, understand concepts, and perform well on assessments. Consistent attendance builds a solid foundation for learning, fosters social and emotional development, friendships, a sense of belonging, and provides opportunities for meaningful teacher-student interactions. If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age.
Our Northcote College Attendance Management Plan is on our website and linked here for you: https://www.northcote.school.
As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance. You must let the school know if there is an unavoidable reason your child is going to be absent for a day or portion of the school term. Our school is committed to supporting you and your child and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance and success. If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school, please talk to us.
Automated weekly emails home
This year, we will be sending automated weekly emails to parents with attendance data for the week and any new published results and NCEA updates, if appropriate. We hope this will support conversations at home about progress at school and strengthen the home-school partnership.
Parent Portal
We encourage you to regularly log in to Parent Portal for important information, including attendance data 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.
Parent-Teacher-Student Meetings 19 & 24 February
We invite parents, whānau and caregivers to the first Parent-Teacher-Student meetings for the year on 19 or 24 February. These meetings are to build learning-based relationships and to help us get to know our learners better. The booking system is online, and an email with the code will be sent closer to the time.
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.
Lockers
Lockers are available for students to hire. To hire a locker, students pay either $15 per term or $40 for the whole year at Harakeke | Student Reception. Eftpos is preferred.
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
Stay in touch
Thank you in advance for your support of our school. We encourage you to stay in contact; if you have any queries, please contact your child’s dean in the first instance.
Year 9 - Aoife Cantwell can@northcote.school.nz
Year 10 - Tom Moore mre@northcote.school.nz
Year 11 - Chadd Davis dvs@northcote.school.nz
Year 12 - Fleur McGhee mg@northcote.school.nz
Year 13 - Sophie Lindfield lnd@northcote.school.nz
Ngā manaakitanga
Vicki Barrie
Tumuaki | Principal
2026 term dates and year planner
The 2026 term dates and year planner on our website for your reference: https://www.northcote.school.
Key Dates for first half of Term 1 2026
Week 1
- Monday 2 February: Peer Support Programme with Year 9 students
- Tuesday 3 February: First day of classes for ALL students - Day 1 of the timetable
9.00am digital induction start for students in Year 9
9.30am form period start for students in Years 10-13 - Wednesday 4 February: Day 2 of the timetable
9.00am digital induction start for students in Year 9
9.30am form period start for students in Years 10-13 - Thursday 5 February: Day 3 of the timetable - normal period 1 start time of 9am for all students
- Friday 6 February: Waitangi Day - school closed
Week 2
- Tuesday 10 February 6pm: Year 9 Parent Information Evening
- Friday 13 February: Class & ID photos
Week 3
- Thursday 19 February 4-7pm: Parent-Teacher-Student Meetings
Week 4
- Tuesday 24 February 4-7pm: Parent-Teacher-Student Meetings
- Friday 27 February: Athletics Day
Week 5
- Monday 2 - Friday 6 March: Noho Marae
Week 6
- Wednesday 11 - Friday 13 March: Year 13 Camp