We hope this page provides a helpful source of useful information for all Cornerstone caregivers. These are little details that are important in day-to-day school life, but so often are hard to find out.
Download our student and parent handbook for 2024
A to Z of Cornerstone Life
Absences: Children are legally required to be at school from the day they first enrol until they turn 16. If your child is sick please inform the office of an absence by 8.45am on the day or beforehand if you can. Please state their full name, their class and the reason why they are not at school. If you wish to take your child out of school for any other reason, e.g. family holiday, please send a letter to the Principal well beforehand explaining the circumstances. (see Absences page for full details)
After School care: See “Kelvin After School Kids (KASK)” below.
Animals: Animals are not to be brought to the school unless the teacher gives specific permission.
Appointments: If you are collecting a student in Year 9-13 during the day for an appointment, please send a signed note, stating the reason why your child is leaving school early. Students will need to bring this note to the Student Administration Officer at student reception, who will give them a leaving pass to give to their classroom teacher. They will need to sign out when they leave and sign in again at the office when they return to school. If you are collecting a student in Years 0-8 during the day for an appointment, the parent/caregiver will need to sign them out from the student reception. If they are returning to school, they will need to sign in at the student reception upon their return. Alternately you can email the student administration officer (absence@cornerstone.ac.nz) and your child’s teacher to notify them both of the appointment.
Arrival and departure: Punctuality in both arrival and departure is important to ensure the smooth running of the school. Because students will not be supervised before 8.30am, we ask parents not to send them to school prior to this time. Students are not permitted to leave the school grounds during the day unless supervised by their parent/caregiver. Students in Years 1-13 should be collected from school at 3pm, and students in Years 1-3 must be personally collected from the classroom by their parent/caregiver (or by another adult if the school has been informed of this in advance). Staff oversee the departure of students to endeavour to ensure their safety. See ‘car parks’ section below for more info on our Traffic Management system.
Assemblies: Parents are welcome to attend our school assemblies, if they check first if there is space. Certificates are awarded at every assembly. They are held at the following times most weeks (please check the school calendar on the website in any given week as occasionally a full primary or full school assembly may be held on a different day):
- Aroha team (Years 0-2) – Mondays, 2.20pm in Room A1
- Manahau team (Years 3-4) – Mondays, 1.40pm in Room D5
- Tumanako team (Years 5-6) – Mondays, 9.10am in Room C6
- Secondary (Years 7-13) – Fridays 2pm in the Gymnasium on a rotation basis – Middle/Senior school
Awards: See School and External awards below.
Bell times:
Y1-6:
- Class time – 9:00am – 10:50am
- Morning Tea – 10:50am -11:20am
- Class time – 11:20am – 12:50pm
- Lunch – 12:50pm – 1:40pm
- Class time – 1:40pm – 3:00pm
Y7-13 – Timetable runs on a 10-day cycle with 60-minute periods (note * days when Lifelab runs)
- Period 1 – 8:50 – 9:50am
- Period 2 – 9:50am – 10:50am
- Interval – 10:50am – 11:20am
- Period 3 – 11:20am – 12.20pm
- Period 4 – 12:20pm – 1:20pm (Tuesday and Thursday)
- Lifelab – 12:50pm – 1:20pm (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
- Lunch – 1:20pm – 2:00pm
- Period 5 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Camps: The following camps are offered to students each year:
- Year 13 student leadership camp (Term 1, 2023)
- Year 6 camp (Term 1, 2023)
- Year 8 camp (Term 4, 2023)
- Year 9 Activity Week (Term 4, 2023)
- Year 10 camp (Term 4, 2023)
Camps have a learning and outdoor education focus and are linked to the key competencies and learning areas of the curriculum. Parents will be advised of camp costs in advance and will be invoiced for these if they choose for their child to participate.
Car parks: There is a new Traffic Management flier (see below) in effect from Mon19th Aug,2024.
Please help to keep our students safe by following our traffic management procedures when entering, exiting or parking to drop off or collect your child/ren
Roberts Line: Turn left into the entrance gate and turn left out of the exit gate. When dropping off or picking up children always park in a car park, not behind another car. Please, no double parking and no right turns into or out of the car park.
Mihaere Drive: There is a ‘rolling drop off/pick up zone’ on the road, directly next to the large school sign along with a student waiting area. This zone is for the 8.30-9.00am drop off and the 2.45-3.20pm pick up times – it is not to be used as a general car parking area.
The Mihaere Drive car park will be closed between 8.25-8.45am and 2.45-3.20pm. If you need access to the Mihaere Drive car park for a mobility vehicle pick up, please contact the office to make arrangements.
Please be kind to duty staff who may gently move you on if you are caught transgressing.
Download Carpark Guidelines
Car parks at the supermarket: Parents can park in the supermarket car park on Roberts Line and cross over the patrolled crossing to drop off and pick up children, but may not leave their vehicle there for longer than necessary. This has been negotiated with supermarket management.
Cornerstone awards: These are awarded once termly at whole primary and a whole secondary assembly. They recognise students who have exhibited Godly character traits and/or the values that the school espouses.
Dental services: Our school dental service is managed by the Ross Intermediate dental clinic; you will be notified of appointment times so that you can attend these with your child. If your child has dental problems between appointments, please contact the clinic on:
ph. 358 4572.
Extra curricular activities are offered from year to year depending on the availability of staff or suitably qualified volunteers to organise them. We intend to offer:
- Kapa Haka – for students in Years 4-6 on Thursdays after lunch and Years 7-13 on Fridays after lunch.
- Choir for students in Years 4-6, Monday lunchtimes.
- Worship bands for students in Years 5-13.
- Sports including hockey, netball, rugby, football, basketball, tee-ball, badminton, table tennis, futsal, cricket and volleyball. Where students’ needs are not catered for, e.g. we do not have enough students for a team in a particular sport, we organise for our students to play their chosen sport with another school’s team.
- Music lessons. Experienced music teachers offer tuition to students during the school day. The parents of students who choose to have tuition are invoiced termly by their teacher. Currently, students can learn guitar, bass, flute, recorder, vocal, drums or piano. Download and return your completed EPIC Music form to the school office.
Download EPIC Music Academy Application Form (pdf)
Feilding/Bunnythorpe and Ashhurst buses: Cornerstone has a bus service running between the school and the Feilding, and between the school and Ashhurst, each day. Learn more about the buses.
Home-school communication: Weekly school newsletters, regular website updates, the school App, class blogs, team newsletters, email correspondence with your child’s teacher, open door policy, learning and achievement portfolios, parent-teacher interviews, written reports, parent information meetings, consultation meetings, the sports website and sports and school noticeboards are designed to keep you well informed about what is happening at school and in a position to partner with us in educating your child.
Here are some useful articles about engaging with school life.
- How can my whanau be involved in school life? (pdf)
- How can I help with my child’s learning at home? (pdf)
- Communicating your concerns brochure (pdf)
Illness and medication: Parents need to notify the teacher if their child has symptoms of an infectious or contagious disease and keep their child at home. Medication is only to be brought to school if this is essential; if this is the case a parent of the child needs to bring the medication to the school office and to fill in a register of medication form. Parents need to ensure that the school is notified of any health problems that their child suffers, e.g. hearing problems, asthma, allergies.
If a child is absent from school for 5 consecutive days or more, due to illness, the school requires a medical certificate from your doctor.
Kelvin After School Kids: 
Kelvin After School Kids (KASK) provides after school care every afternoon after school (3-6pm) and extra hours for early finishes or Teacher Only days, as required. With enough interest, we will open for before school care as well.
During our afternoons together, we provide afternoon tea, have a prayer time together and spend time helping the children with their homework. Once the homework is completed, we provide a selection of activities: eg indoor and outdoor play and games, baking, art and craft activities and lots of opportunities for creative play. Each term we have a values theme.
Contact: Christina McNeill – 021 357 864 email: christina@afterschoolkids.co.nz
Download an enrolment form for Kelvin ASK here
Library procedures: Classes visit the school library during class time with their teacher and may take out two books at a time. See our Library Page.
Mufti days: Mufti days are typically toward the end of each term. The dates will be announced in the school newsletter and on the website for a few weeks in advance. Students may dress in tidy mufti clothing (clothing guidelines are found in the Uniform section of the website and in the Student & Parent Handbook) and are encouraged to make a small donation the the Cornerstone Fundraising Group (CFG) via MyKindo (no cash on the day please). The proceeds go toward a cause determined by the school missions committee.
MyKindo App Payment System
Payment for most school costs such as: sports team registrations, school activities, mufti days, subway lunches, student ID’s, Cornerstone Fundraising Group (CFG) events, etc are to be made using the myKindo App, which is an essential tool that we use in the school office. You can also use the myKindo App to register your children for any sports teams etc. you choose and to make payment from your myKindo account. Note: The school office does not handle any cash payments.
Direct link to website: myKindo
Parking: See Car Parks above.
Payments: Details regarding invoicing and payment of Attendance Dues (paid to the Proprietor) and other costs, e.g. school uniforms or the cost of extra-curricular trips and camps (paid to the school) are outlined in the relevant sections of our Parent and Student Information Handbook (above) and on our website under school costs.
Personal property: The school expects students to support and uphold the Special Character of the school. No chewing gum, firearms, identifiable gang paraphernalia or knives etc. are permitted. Personal property brought to school is the responsibility of the student and the school will not accept responsibility for any loss or breakages. We recommend that expensive items are not brought to school, e.g. cell phones.
Public Health nurse: A public health nurse visits the school regularly to conduct checks on children’s hearing and vision.
Road patrol: Year 7-8 children together with a teacher control the crossing on Roberts Line each week day morning between 8.30am-9am and each week day afternoon between 2.50pm-3.20pm.
School and external awards: Students at different levels may work toward school and external awards such as:
- Tumanako Team bronze, silver and gold awards
- Year 7-8 Team bronze, silver and gold awards
- Science badges
- CREST (Creativity in Science and Technology) awards
- Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary bronze, silver and gold awards
- UNSW Assessment tests in a range of subjects
- CAM Kiwi Awards (Centre for Assessment and Monitoring)
- SVA Student Volunteer Army awards
School App: The School App allows parents to have instant access to important school information such as the school calendar, student absences, sports information, school newsletter etc. It also provides instant alerts for parents, e.g. the delayed arrival time of a school trip or sports practice cancellations. It is important for parents to ensure they have phone notifications for the School App turned 
on and that they are subscribed to the correct alert groups.
To download the App onto your Apple or Android device, go to the App store and search ‘SchoolAppsNZ’, then search ‘Cornerstone Christian School’.
To set up the correct alerts, please click on the three-line symbol at the top left of the phone screen and then click Alert Subscriptions. You can then subscribe to as many groups as are applicable, e.g. your child’s class, sports teams and so forth.
School teams: For organisation purposes the school is divided into three sections: Primary, Middle and Senior.
Each part of the school is led by a senior leader:
- Primary School (Years 1-6) led by Mrs Raeleen Simpson
- Middle School (Years 7-10) led by Mr Ian Groube
- Senior School: Secondary (Years 11-13) led by Mr Hayden Hewitt
Primary is further broken down into three teams: Aroha team (Years 0-2) led by Mrs Karen Burrows, Manahau team (Years 3-4) led by Mrs Vicki Campbell, and Tumanako team (Years 5-6) led by Mr David Henderson.
Second-hand uniform items to buy/sell: Cornerstone has a Second-Hand Uniform Facebook page where parents and families from our school community can buy and sell their second-hand uniforms. No second-hand uniform items will be sold on behalf through the school office.
Search Facebook: Cornerstone Uniform Exchange
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cornerstoneuniformexchange
Sporting events: 
- Y5-13 Swimming Sports are held at Makino Community Pool in Term 1,
- Y7-13 Athletic Sports are held at the Massey Athletic track in Term 1
- Cross Country is held in Term 2,
- Year 1-6 Athletics Sports are held at school in Term 4.
High performers at these events compete regionally.
Stationery requirements: Primary School (Year 1-6) student stationery for 2025 will be purchased in bulk by school and will be available for students in their classrooms ready to start on the first day of school next year. This means parents and whanau will not need to purchase stationery through the Officemax MySchool system or privately as in previous years. Payment for Primary School stationery will be via the MyKindo app from December. Go to www.mykindo.co.nz to set up an account if you don’t already have one.
Secondary School (Year 7-13) stationery for 2025 is available on Officemax MySchool.
Transport assistance allowance: Families of students in Years 1-8 who live further than 3.2km from the school and families of students in Years 9 or above who live further than 4.8km from the school may, under some circumstances, be eligible for the Ministry of Education’s Transport Assistance allowance. If you think you may be eligible for an allowance please enquire at the school office. If you live close to the Feilding or Ashhurst Bus Route) it is unlikely that you will qualify for the allowance.
Tribes: Your child will be automatically assigned to one of our four tribes. The tribes are our house system for competitions and each has an assigned colour your child should wear on competition days:
- Issachar (yellow),
- Naphtali (blue),
- Asher (green)
- Zebulun (red).
Wheels day: On Wednesdays, Year 1-6 students may bring a scooter, skateboard, skates or rollerblades, etc. to school (no bikes). They must wear a helmet and footwear. On the other days these are not to be used at school, but may be parked in the scooter racks by students who use them to get to and from school.
Year 5-8 responsibilities: From Year 5, students are encouraged to participate in a range of service and leadership roles, e.g. road patrol, duty teacher’s assistant, student council, librarian, sports leaders and tribe leaders. At senior level, student led clubs linked with learning, e.g. journalism club and mechanics club, are operating. Service for learning initiatives are in the planning stage.