General Information

Enrolment and Fees

Being a state integrated school we give preference of enrolment to children and whanau with a Catholic connection. We are, however, able to have 10% of non-preference children enrolled at our school. Please see our Enrolment Policy in 'about our school'/'Documents' for more information on this. 

St Francis currently opts into the Government's donation scheme. Because of this, we will not request any donations or fees for curriculum activities apart from those associated with overnight school Camps.

Reporting an absence

If your child is going to be away from school parents/caregivers are to contact the school either, in person, phone 07 868 7655 or e-mail office@stfrancis-thames.school.nz. This is to ensure that everyone is aware of where the child is, safe at home and not missing between home and school. Should there be no contact by the family the school will contact the parents/caregivers to check the whereabouts of the child.

​School Hours

Our school day begins at 9:00am and finishes at 3:00pm. We like all children to be at school before 9:00am so they have time to prepare themselves for the day, but not before 8:30am as this is a valuable time for teachers to meet and prepare for the day.

​Once a child has arrived at school they are not permitted to leave the school grounds until 3:00pm unless parental permission is given directly to a staff member.

Buses

Students attending a Catholic Integrated school are eligible for school transport assistance where there are no bus routes if...

• They are years 1 to 8 and live more than 3.2 km from their nearest Catholic Integrated school. These distances are measured by the shortest public road or pedestrian route from the home roadside gate to the school’s front gate.
• There must be no suitable public transport options. Suitable public transport:

         • Travels within 2.4km of the roadside gate of the student’s home.

         • Travels within 2.4km of the closest appropriate school.

         • Departs after 7am and arrives before school starts.

         • Leaves no later than one hour after school finishes.

         • Does not require the student to change buses more than once.

We have buses that pick children from up the coast, towards Puriri and the Kaueranga Valley. We are currently working on getting a bus from Ngatea for the future. If you would like to be considered for the Ngatea bus route, please give your name and address to the school office.