Newsletter 15th September 2025 - Correction/Update
From the Principal
Term 3 Wrap-Up: Celebrating Our Achievements!
What a great Term 3 it's been. As the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, we're celebrating not just the arrival of spring but also the incredible progress our students have made.
We're particularly proud to report an improvement in student attendance and punctuality. The effort from our families and students to be at school on time and ready to learn has a huge impact. Being here for the start of the day means our students are settled and engaged, helping create a positive and productive learning environment for everyone. Thank you for making this a priority.
This term was also packed with energy and excitement from our interschool events. It was wonderful to see so many of our students representing the school with such great sportsmanship and determination. Whether on the sports field or in the science day, their commitment and teamwork were on full display. A big thank you to our coaches and parent volunteers who made these opportunities possible.
As we say goodbye to the chilly mornings of winter and welcome the sunshine of spring, we're looking forward to an even more exciting final term. Daylight saving starts each year at 2am on the last Sunday in September, and ends at 3am on the first Sunday in April.
So on September 28th put your clocks forward one hour
This Week
Mufti day on Thursday - optional theme is Under the Sea
School Disco Thursday - Juniors 3.30, Seniors & Middles 4.45, please collect your Yr 3-6 students from school at 3pm as usual and drop them back at 4.45pm.
Full School Assembly 9.15am
Reminder
School finishes this Friday 19 September,2025 at 3pm
School opens for Term 4 on October 6th, 2025
Farewell
We farewell Mrs Donna Hitching, Mrs Vicki Vaivai and Mr Daniel Ward. Donna and Vicki are moving to a school close to their homes, as the travel and traffic to and from school has been challenging. Daniel is the new cooking teacher at Pakuranga Intermediate so he can use his training as a chef and upskill the next generation. We thank them for their dedication and service and wish them well in their new adventures.
Welcome Back Next Term
Mrs Claire Stretch our SENCo who has been on maternity leave. Miss Anna Campbell has done an amazing job as Acting SENCo in Claire's absence. Anna will be the teacher in Room 9. Mrs. Margaret Walker will teach in Room 18 for Term 4 as she knows all the students and so the change should be very smooth.
Attendance and Lateness
Every day at school counts. Students coming to school regularly ensures they don’t miss out on important learning and keep up with the learning of their peers. This, coupled with arriving on time, helps set them up for a positive, focused start to their future. Missing even a day here and there quickly adds up and can affect progress, confidence, and connections with classmates. We encourage all families to support their children in being at school as many days as possible and on time each morning – it makes a real difference.
Take a look at the graph below and see how missing even 1 day here or there or consistently arriving a few minutes late could potentially add up to years of their schooling life missed.
Attendance % | If your child misses: | That equals: | Which is: | Over 13 years of Schooling |
90% | 1 day every 2 weeks | 20 days per year | 4 weeks per year | Nearly 1.5 years missed |
80% | 1 day per week | 40 days per year | 8 weeks per year | Over 2.5 years missed |
60% | 2 days per week | 80 days per year | 16 weeks per year | Over 5 years missed |
40% | 3 days per week | 120 days per year | 24 weeks per year | Nearly 8 years missed |
If your child misses: | That equals: | Which is: | Over 13 years of Schooling |
10 mins per day | 50 mins per week | Nearly 1.5 weeks per yr | Nearly half a year missed |
20 mins per day | 1 hr 40 mins per week | Over 2.5 weeks per year | Nearly 1 year missed |
30 mins per day | Half a day per week | 4 weeks per year | Nearly 1.5 years missed |
1 hour per day | 1 day per week | 8 weeks per year | Over 2.5 years missed |
Celebrating Excellence
This term, Room 19 has begun learning about our cultures in preparation for the cultural festival. We looked at all the countries that we come from and tracked them on a map. You can see that we are very multicultural in Room 19! We know that we are made up of lots of different cultures and so we represented this in body and filled it with the flags of all the cultures we identify with. It was fascinating to see all the places we all come from.
We are looking forward to sharing more when we do our passion project next term.
Cultural Club
Chinese Language Week
In week 8 the Cultural Club celebrated Chinese Language Week. Our fantastic Year 5 Cultural Leaders taught everyone how to count to 10 in Mandarin. Then we used black dye to paint the Chinese characters for each number.
Mrs Donna Hitchings
From the Community
