Kia ora koutou,

I would like to acknowledge the hard work of all the students this term as they enter into the holidays and have a well-deserved break. It has been pleasing to see focus and collaboration occurring in all classes as children work towards obtaining their academic and social goals. The tamariki have benefited from the dedication and support of our fantastic staff as they create an ideal and safe environment for learning to occur. 

Next term we look forward to whole school trips to Zealandia and to Space Place at the Carter Observatory and a ride on the cable car. These EOTC opportunities provide important connections for learning transpiring in the classroom.

As part of our obligations for school health and safety we continually review and manage potential risks around the school. We would welcome any feedback on potential risks you see so steps can be put in place to remedy these. Passing these concerns onto the acting Principal would be much appreciated.

I hope all families enjoy spending time together and reflect on the end of Lent, as we enter into Holy Week.

It is unusual for us not to be able to pray and celebrate the Holy Week Liturgies as a school community in preparation for the Easter due to the school holiday break. We do hope that families join with the parishes for the Holy Week and Easter celebrations during the first week of the holidays. Please keep an eye out for the parish bulletins which will have all of the Liturgy and Mass times advertised.

The Stations of the Cross takes us on a prayerful journey. As we move through the Stations, we take time to pray and reflect on where we see Christ in our world through stories and scripture. We reflect on the final journey of Jesus, leading to his death on the cross.  Here we pray for those in our school, at home, in our community, in our country and across the world, who are suffering today.

Through this Holy Week and Easter Season, may we be reawakened to the hope and new life given to us through Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

From the Board of Trustees

Kia ora and warm greetings from your board of trustees!

We hope that you and your tamariki have had a bright start in term 1 of 2025. The reports we have received during the term indicate that the focus on family spirit, growing with God and love of learning remain strong in our school. We aim to maintain this trend for as long as our school stays open.

The latest we’ve heard on the proposed closure of our school is that the Ministry of Education has completed its report and submitted it to the Minister for a final decision. They have not given a date when the decision will be announced, but we will let you know as soon as we are informed. Our expectation is that it will be sometime next term.

We thank you for continuing to entrust the education and training of your tamariki to our staff. The principal and staff remain committed to giving their best to ensure your tamariki achieve to the limits of their potential. We are happy to receive any suggestions on how we can serve you better, so please pass them on to the principal.

Enjoy the holidays, have a blessed Easter and see you in Term 2!

 We have have been busy in R1 with our research into the Wahine and Gallipoli.  It was really interesting last week when we went to the Wellington Museum and saw the artefacts that had been saved from the ferry.  We were lucky to look around the museum and learn a little bit more history of wellington and the harbour.  We have been talking about what we can learn about next term and looking forward to discovering a lot of new things.

Ms Wylie

One of my highlights has been learning about the donkeys in Gallipoli. They helped carry water and injured people. I have been surprised to learn that so many people died in Gallipoli. We have also been learning about the Wahine disaster and I found out last week that some children died when the ship sunk.  I felt sad when I learned about that.

Penny

  One my highlights has been looking at WW1 and finding out that some of my ancestors were there.  I discovered that one of the statues at the Gallipoli exhibition was my relative.  I found out that they had to eat disgusting food with flies on it.   I felt sad for the soldiers and the hard things they had go through.

Elisabeth

 One of my highlights was visiting the Wellington Museum and finding out more about the Wahine disaster.  I liked looking at the photos of the Wahine and it looked really nice.  Sadly it got caught in Cyclone Giselle and then it started sinking and 53 people died.  This afternoon we are going to the beach where the Wahine sunk.  We won’t be able to see the ship as it got taken away but we can see how close it was to the shore.

Naomi

 One of my highlights has been learning about the Wahine.  I enjoyed trying on the life jacket when we went to the Wellington Museum. I was surprised anyone survived in that because it so big and heavy.  We watched the Wahine movie and I was interested in what they said in the interviews.  It made me feel curious about how the ship was able to drift across the water. 

Alistair

 This week one of my highlights has been learning about Gallipoli.  I was surprised at how many soldiers died fighting in WW1.  The class thought about many families had lost their sons, fathers and brothers. We have watched some clips of the ANZACS landing in Anzac Cove and how dangerous it was. Turks were shooting at them from above.  I enjoyed writing cinquain poems about The Wahine and Gallipoli.

Frances

 Last week we went to Wellington Museum and my highlight was finding out the number of passengers onboard and how long it took to sink.  I got to try on a life jacket and it was very uncomfortable and it felt like I was carrying a bag full of sugar on my back,  I liked seeing the other parts of the museum and pulling the ropes that lifted up the 50kg wooden crates.

This week my class went to the National War Memorial and when we got there we read our Anzac Day  poems. Then we went to Seatourn to look at the path of the Waihine and where it  sunk . We played at the park there and read our poems again.  The drive was long but it was fun.

Ropati

 On Wednesday last week R1 went to the Museum of Wellington. We had a guide that told us interesting facts about The Wahine. I learned that the Wahine was only 2 years old when it sunk. On the Wahine there were 734 passengers and crew and 51 people died. My highlight was watching the movie and seeing the people being rescued.

Kora

 I enjoyed going on a trip going to look at Wahine stuff at the wellington museum. A new thing I learnt was the ship had tilted and people had jump off the sides.  The lifejackets were realty heavy. I saw a cool model of the ship that showing people jumping off the ship.  I also found out that people were helping each other by grabbing the children and putting them in lifeboats. 

Elijah

Over the past two weeks, room 2 have continued to focus on read works with a unit on paintings and artists.  The skill of summarising main points continues to be developed here. For writing, we continue to work on extended sentences so they include more detail through asking who, where, when and why. The children enjoyed our science lesson on making and propelling rockets through using a straw to launch these into the air. Our mathematics focus for next term will be on all children working at the appropriate prime book for their year level.

Mrs Ryan has been helping the children to make their special gifts representing God’s love to share with a friend. It has also been great having Ms Bryce assist with wonderful art works over the term, the most recent of which involved developing painting techniques with a brush. We hope all the children from room 2 enjoy their reward for a great terms work and enjoy the Easter holiday break.

Newsletter Room 4 Term 1 Week 10  

Kindness Tree- Room 4 and Room 2 Tamariki engaged in a circle time activity called ‘The Kindness Tree’. This activity encouraged discussion about the importance of kindness in our daily lives. We talked about compassion, where we notice when someone needs help. Our compassion and kindness help us grow as human beings. We wrote about the kind of things that we do on leaves. Then we put those leaves on our kindness tree, and we could see how more kindness leaves helped the plant grow.   

Wassily Kandinsky art- We looked at and discussed Wassily Kandinsky's artwork. We discussed warm and cool colours. Then we focused on ‘Colour Studies: Squares with Concentric Circles by Wassily Kandinsky. Please have a look at our art inspired by Kandinsky’s art.   

Religious Education- In RE, we learnt that we are very special, and God sees us as a unique taonga. A taonga is a highly prized treasure that is loved and cared for. We talked about a person or item that we considered a taonga. We made a draft of what our taonga looks like, then made taonga from air clay, fusing the draft we created earlier.   

Writing- We have been working on story structure for the last couple of weeks. We discussed the different parts of the story. We discussed the beginning, middle, and end and what happens in each part. We also talked about how stories have characters and a setting. Every story has a problem that the characters try to solve, which helps the story lead to a strong ending. We wrote some remarkable stories using the story structure.  

WELLINGTON CITY LIBRARIES - School Holiday Programme

“The Prehistoric Earth – celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the discovery of dinosaur bones in Aotearoa by diving into 50 fun, hands-on and free events at your local library these holidays, 12 – 27 April! Become a palaeontologist for a day and join a fossil dig with GNS Science, search for ancient DNA strands in geological sediment cores, use Greek or Latin to design your own dinosaur, build your own volcano to simulate an extinction event, learn how to record prehistoric soundscapes, try out a new craft activity, and much more! All events are totally free, but some do require registration as space may be limited at some libraries – visit wcl.govt.nz/kidsholidays for the full schedule.”

***FOOTBALL***

Do you have a 7 – 10 year girl who is keen to give football a go, but isn’t ready to join a weekly team?  Do you want to expose her to all the fun of a team paired with individual growth?  Does she want to have fun and make new friends?

 Then Fantails is for her.

 Onslow Junior Football is launching the Fantails Football programme in your area and registrations are open.

 Designed for girls & coached by girls, Fantails football is where you give football a go.  No football experience is needed – you will get it all here.  

 Onslow is running free weekly Fantail sessions for 7/8 & 9/10 age groups.  The hour-long sessions will introduce the fundamentals of football, encourage friendships and allow girls to fall in love with the game.  

Both sessions will run on Friday, 4-5pm at Nairnville Turf

commencing Friday 9 May.

Register now –https://onslow.org.nz/milo-fantails/ or contact fantails@onslow.org.nz for more info.

***Circus***

"Join The Circus Hub this school holiday, April 14th-24th, for an action-packed programme! Kids aged 5-15 can learn aerials, juggling, acrobatics, and more. No experience needed! Enroll at circus.org.nz/school-holiday-programme and let the circus fun begin!"