Newsletter 23rd June
From the Principal
We have much to celebrate so far this term. In the inter school sports competitions and events your children have really made us proud showing great sportsmanship, manners and enthusiasm. There are many changes happening in education at present and even the Ministry is struggling to keep up with the new government directives, however, we are striving to embrace these changes thanks to our dedicated team of teachers and supportive Board members. I know many families have worked hard at ensuring their children are at school on time, thank you.
School Holidays
School closes this Friday at 3.00 pm and reopens on Monday 14th July at 9.00 am
Attendance Lunch with Mr Kelly
This Friday is the last pizza lunch with Mr Kelly.
Get ready for an exciting new initiative next term! We're introducing a special draw for children who regularly arrive at school on time. These punctual students will have the chance to win a special treat! We'll share more details in Week 1, so watch this space!
Major Art Exhibition
This will be displayed in the hall over the two days of parent interviews. Each class will have a display and each family who comes and views these amazing artworks can enter into the draw for a Botany Shopping Mall Voucher.
Matariki Assembly
On Thursday, 19 June we held a full school assembly to celebrate Matariki. Well done to the Kapa Haka students for their performance and thanks to Mr Abraham and Miss Elder for their support. Room 9 shared a song and Room 17 students shared their pepeha in their own languages. Thanks to the Year 5 Cultural Leaders for MCing the assembly. Mānawatia a Matariki.
Board Elections
School board members are active leaders in our schools. They have an important role of supporting strong professional leadership and ensuring effective teaching for all students through informed governance.
Parents/caregivers and people in the wider community can be parent representatives. School boards need to represent the diversity of their school communities to ensure a bright future for all our children.
The school board elections are the opportunity to vote for candidates who will make a positive difference for children’s education. We need more people willing to use their skills and experiences for the benefit of students!
We are fortunate that most of the board are standing for re-election.
Nominations Open Friday 18 July
Parent Teacher Conferences
Please book your time whether you prefer to conference in person, phone or by Zoom. Link below.
Celebrating Excellence
For our 'Awesome Aotearoa Animals' Inquiry Room 14 made 3D Pop-up fact boards about our favorite New Zealand animals. We learnt so many amazing facts about and enjoyed working collaboratively to create our stunning boards.
Sports News
HPPA Mixed 7-A-Side Football Fun Day – Tuesday 17th June 2025
What an awesome day we had at the HPPA Football Fun Day on Tuesday! Our Year 5 and 6 students showed great sportsmanship, teamwork, and enthusiasm throughout the day. It was fantastic to see so many smiles, brilliant goals, and supportive encouragement between teams.
A huge thank you to all the parents who came along to support and manage teams. Your time and energy made a real difference and helped create such a positive experience for our students.
Although the day was all about fun and participation rather than competition, our students can be proud of the way they represented our school both on and off the field.
Thank you again to everyone involved!
Ngā mihi nui
Mr Daniel WardSports Coordinator
Enviro News
Pest Free Howick hosted their annual Moth Pod and Waste Audit Prizegiving on Wednesday night. The exciting event had our Enviro leaders sharing the new things we are doing in our school, such as the garden working bee, the moth pod competition, and setting up worm bins around the whole school.
There was an astounding 92% increase in moth pods collected this year compared to last year in the whole of our community- how amazing is that! From that, our school collected 16,954! Meaning we came in first place overall in the school category.
It was a fun night filled with celebrations, moth pods, kai, and Pest Free Howicks mascot, Woody the Weed.
Thank you to everyone who helped us with our Moth Pod collection this year. You guys are awesome!
From the PTA
Thanks to all the parents who completed the PTA Parents Survey and have indicated their willingness to help out with events and committee work. The responses we received will help the school and PTA to identify projects and activities that will benefit the teachers and students and help to build school community engagement.
The annual AGM will be held shortly, so the PTA team have been busy updating volunteer lists and reviewing the activities of the previous year for discussion.
The AGM is an open meeting where the PTA activities and financials are reported, and the annual elections are held for the executive committee positions. Don’t get intimidated by the official structure - all are welcome and we are a friendly supportive team that aim to have the most fun we can for the minimum effort!
If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know by emailing PTA@pakurangaheights.school.nz.
HPPA Science Challenge
Liam, Diwan and Kaia were selected from the middle school to attend the HPPA Science Challenge. This was extra exciting as it was held at MOTAT for the first time since the challenge began. The challenges required teamwork and problem solving skills. Some challenges were based on science, technology and some engineering. Highlights included controlling R2D2 with an arm controller and playing top trumps on an old PS2. A favourite science trick was the Cartesian Diver. This is created by filling a bottle with water and creating a diver to float on top. When the bottle is squeezed, the diver miraculously starts sinking to the bottom of the bottle!!!! This is because the pressure increases, compressing the air bubble within the diver, making the diver denser, so it sinks!
Cultural Evening 2025
We are very excited to announce our school will be holding a cultural evening on Thursday 23 October from 5pm until approximately 7.15pm.
This is an extravaganza of cultural performances by our wonderful students and local talent.
The evening will include a cultural parade, dance items, singing, kapa haka performances and much more.
This year, we are having a "picnic in the park" theme, so bring along the whole whanau, picnic blanket, picnic dinner and get ready to be entertained. Arrive early to find a picnic spot. On the night there will be a sausage sizzle, coffee cart, and drinks for sale.
All students are expected to attend and perform on the night. Please let your classroom teacher know ASAP if your child is unable to attend.
More detailed information will be provided to you early next term.
From The Community
Kia ora and greetings from Pakuranga Library,
Attached are the programme outline and poster for the upcoming Matariki July School Holidays at Pakuranga Library (30 June - 13 July). The programme is most suited for and has been designed with primary to intermediate school-age tamariki in mind but younger or older siblings are more than welcome to attend. Parental supervision is highly recommended and assistance would be required for younger tamariki.
All activities are FREE to attend with all materials and resources provided for. However, spaces are limited for specific activities and bookings are essential via EventBrite to help us manage the participant numbers. For more information please refer to OurAuckland as well as on our library FaceBook page.
