Kia ora koutou,

As we begin this new term, I want to acknowledge the excellent work our staff are doing to effectively implement the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum, particularly in Mathematics and English. These two core areas are being taught with renewed focus—making learning clearer and more connected.

These changes are especially important as New Zealand moves towards a new qualification system that will replace NCEA. The updated curriculum better prepares students for the future of learning in secondary school, where stronger literacy, numeracy, and critical thinking skills will be essential.

By building these capabilities now, we are helping our students gain confidence and success later. The skills they develop in primary school will support their smooth transition to secondary education and set them up to thrive under the new system.

A reminder too that our whole school assembly this term will be Friday 22 August-Week 6 at 2:15pm in the school hall.

We are also look forward to our badminton morning at North Wellington Badminton Club on Monday 25 August.

Ngā mihi nui,

Kerry de Graaff
Acting Principal

Luke 12:32–48 – “Be ready!”
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells His friends, “Do not be afraid, little flock, because God is happy to give you the Kingdom.” What a beautiful message! God loves us so much and wants us to be part of His Kingdom.

Jesus also reminds us to be ready—just like good helpers waiting for someone important to arrive. He says we should keep our lights shining and always be ready to do good.

What does that mean for us? It means:

• Being kind to others
• Helping at school and at home
• Doing our best each day
• Saying sorry when we make a mistake
• Choosing what is right, even when it’s hard

Jesus wants us to live in a way that shows we are ready to love, share, and care. He trusts us to do important things—no matter how young we are!

Newsletter – week 4 / term 3  

Penny      

Gymnastics: In our class we have been doing gymnastics for PE. I know, it kind of sounds  hard , right? We must do composition ideas like speed, height, direction, pathway, theme. timing and relationship (in a pair, pair or group). Then you must do basic Actions like rolling, flight, balance and travel. Last time me Alistair and Elisabeth did a dance that includes those gymnastics things in it. Then me kora and Elisabeth also did a dance last week. Miss Wylie was helping us with choreography and teaching us what to do. Gymnastics Is so fun!

Kora 

On the 30th of July Rm 1 went to Government House, we found out lots of interesting facts. We even saw the Governor General! We also learned that the Governor General is more important than the Prime Minister. This is because she represents the royal family and is like a king or Queen. She is also more important than the prince  or princess if they visit NZ. I really enjoyed my trip.  

Frances 

On Wednesday, Rm 1 went to Government House. We were there almost for the whole day. We looked at the whole place and learnt lots of new things. I found out that one Governor General adopted a cat from SPCA called boots. He was the only one in the whole palace that got away with putting paw prints on the table because he was really cute. I also learnt that Dame Cindy has two sons, two stepsons and two grandsons. She also went to King Charles’s coronation. Lastly, I learnt that the Governor General is more important than the Prime Minister. 

I really enjoyed this visit to the Government House, I hope the others enjoyed it as much as I did. I hope that we will get to go there again soon. 

Elisabeth 

This term we have been doing something called 646. So, it is basically 6 sentences in 6 minutes, but this term we have been doing something different. We have been doing basically 6412 because instead of doing 6 sentences in 6 minutes we have been doing it in 12 minutes [there are boxes on the sheet so 6 boxes and you have 2 minutes for each box ] It's fun doing this and we also get pictures to give us ideas and each day there is a new picture like today [or on 5th Tuesday August which is the day I’m writing this] there was a zebra. Also, if we want, we can add some similes to describe  someone or something by comparing it to something else.  

Alistair  

This week I have a lot of highlights, but I am very excited for week 5 mainly because of going to tech (Makeroom) when we get our screens for a light box. I wonder what it looks like. I hope that Elisabeth will really like the  template me and Penny made it because we put lots of effort into making it  

Something that we all have been doing is the gardening. On Monday we started off  in the library and we made paper pots out of newspaper.  We planted spinach inside of them, I hope that they all grow into lots of big spinach. Honestly, I think that I made the neatest but if you look on the windowsill in R1 then you can see for yourself. 

Room 2 Blurb

Over the past two weeks, the children have begun to explore figurative language in poems to the point they have the confidence and ability to write their own poems. It is great they all have the confidence to share their poems with the rest of the class. Next week, we will be looking at poems using alliteration and rhyme.  For literacy, the children also continue to work hard at moving through the Lexia Core 5 programme so they can reach the next level. I look forward to presenting the certificates as children complete their latest level.

For maths, our focus has been on learning key vocabulary and concepts introduced through the refreshed mathematics curriculum. These key words often come up in our Prime course and practice books and the maths PAT tests. For science, we are starting a new unit next week with room 1 from the House of Science, where we will look at the heart. It has also been pleasing to see the fantastic art-work the children have been completing with Ms King in room 4 and some STEM activities such as constructing balloon rockets. Being able to work collaboratively with younger children also assists with developing our school value of family spirit.

Children are also enjoying our Mandarin lessons with Xiao Chen and respond well to her visual and engaging lessons to assist with developing key vocabulary. We also enjoy the opportunity to use te reo through song, games and activities.

States of matter in Room 4- Room 4 Tamariki explored the fundamental states of matter. The Tamariki were introduced to the dynamic processes of phase transitions. They learnt how stuff can be a solid, a liquid, or a gas.

They also learned about how things can change from one state to another:

• Melting: When a solid turns into a liquid, like an ice cube turning into water in the sun.
• Freezing: When a liquid turns into a solid, like water turning into ice in the freezer.

Otis- I predicted that when we peel the balloons, the water will turn into ice.

Felix- I thought the bigger the balloons were, the longer it would take ice to melt.

Harriet- When we froze the balloons filled with water, I knew that they would turn into ice balls because water and ice are separate things. When you freeze water, it turns into ice.

Shabad- Firstly, we put some flowers and water into the balloons, and then we put our balloons into the freezer. We wanted to find out which balloon melted the quickest, and Felix’s one melted fastest because it was close to the heater.

Tanielu- We put some leaves and water in the balloons and put them in the freezer, and it turned out to be ice balls. My balloon melted and turned into water.

Violeta- When we put water in the balloons, and then when we put them into the freezer, it turned into ice, and then we tested whose ice ball melted the fastest.

Religious Education- In RE, we have been learning about Jesus. We have been focusing on stories about Jesus. We are learning that:

• Jesus was a real person, with a real whānau, who lived nearly 2000 years ago, in another country.
• Jesus was and is a gift from God and was welcomed by his whānau and others as a little baby in Bethlehem.
• We know lots about Jesus’ life from the Bible, and the Church celebrates many of those events at special times each year.
• Jesus is our friend and wants us to know him

Harriet

I learnt that Jesus lived over 2000 years ago so he didn't have electricity or phones. He lived in a stone house which had a flat roof and on the floor there was dirt everywhere.

Shabad

Jesus is our friend. He ate fish, flat bread and some dates. He ate with his clean hands that he washed in the well and 2000 years ago he did not have a fork or knife. They made tools out of wood and stone.

Violeta

I learnt that Jesus did not have electricity and they cooked their food on a fire. Their house had a flat roof and it was made of mud.

His country was very hot so they wore sandals on their feet.

Tanielu

Jesus lived in a brick house with mud in it. He ate eggs, cheese and lots of fish. He helped his mum and dad to get food ready for their dinner, played with his friends, and hugged his Mum and Dad.

Otis

Jesus ate fish, pita bread and dates and pumpkins. He didn't have a house like ours. His house was sandy, but luckily it was a sunny country. They wore white clothes that they made themselves, and they even made their own tools.

Felix

Jesus had a house made of clay that didn't have windows, and they rode on donkeys. They got their water from wells that were in the ground. They cooked their meal on a fire, and they made their own tools like drills and files.

Library News

It’s School Library Week and the children have been enjoying the warmth and comfort of their school library during this chilly Monday.  Bookmark making and creating was enjoyed by many along with reminiscing with Library Lion, who was a firm favourite when Estelle was the school librarian.

There are still overdue books from the school holidays and beyond.  Please help your child look for them and return them.  It is disappointing for the children if they cannot take books out from the library if they have too many overdue books at home.

Seth, Enzo and Leon worked hard filling up the veggie bed with our own compost. Then they covered it over with mulch. Great team work!