4th September 2025 Week 8

Principal's Message

Kia ora koutou

We are pleased to welcome Benji who has started in Ruru Iti and joins his sister Charlie at Northland. This week we are celebrating Northland Champ achievements and whakamanawa.   The Artsplash festival was truly inspiring! It was a great opportunity for our younger students to shine on stage at the Michael Fowler Centre and the Opera House.

On Monday night I had the privilege of being in the audience with a number of families watching our Tieke students perform with 12 other schools. They sang nine songs with a mixture of genres and the finale - Thanks to Rose Baty who taught the children the songs and supported them on the night, they all had a great time.

Then on Tuesday at the Opera House, our year 3 children danced with confidence. It was wonderful to  see their enthusiasm, skills and joy as they shared our school whakatauki through dance. A huge thank you to Sylvie and Sienna (Year 8) for their choreography skills and guidance on the night and to Emma M and Emma C for supporting the dancers through rehearsals and the event. What a fabulous group of children, who made us all proud.

Keeping with the theme of performing, I would like to acknowledge two of our parents Stewart and Nigel who spent two weeks in Glasgow preparing for the World Pipe Band Championships on the 15th and 16th of August. They have used Te Kōhanga throughout the year to rehearse and we are proud to have this level of expertise amongst us. The Manawatu Scottish Band played extremely well over four events gaining an overall place of 9th in Grade 1. Congratulations to you all.

The NIWA Science Fair was held at Victoria University on Thursday. We had 21 children from Kākā enter and we are celebrating some amazing results this year. As part of final preparation I asked a number of our Year 7 & 8 a variety of questions to test their understanding, knowledge of the science behind their project and consider how their findings may be useful for the wider community and in the future. 

I was very impressed with their confidence and slight nerves as they prepared so they would be confident speaking with judges on the day. Congratulations to everyone who was selected and to the following who received further recognition at the prize giving on Saturday. 

Finally, if you have any questions or concerns about your child, please follow our process to ensure the right people can address things efficiently: start with your Classroom Teacher as the first point of contact, then the Team Leader/Deputy Principal if unresolved, and finally the Principal if further support is needed.

Ngā mihi

Andrea

New Onesie Day - Wellington Free Ambulance

Friday 12 September - Onesie Day come in your Onesie or PJ's - Gold Coin donation for Wellington Free Ambulance.  We also have one of the Wellington Free Ambulance's coming to school on the Friday morning so students can see the Ambulance and all it does !

New Ruru Performance - The CHAMP Seekers

Team Ruru are practising for a show which they will perform at the end of term:

The CHAMP Seekers. It is a play centred around our school values and should be lots of fun. We look forward to performing for you on: 

• 17th and 18th September at 9am (ish)
• Tickets available from the office   (At this stage a maximum of 3 per Ruru family)
• Koha donation at the door

Repeat - Parent Evenings

We are very pleased to be able to share two parent evenings that are being hosted by Karori Normal School. All schools in our Kāhui Ako have been invited to hear Dr Pau Wood and John Parsons. Tickets are $20 each, and can be purchased through our website:

4 September 2025 - 6pm - Dr Paul Wood will be speaking about Resilience and Growth Mindset: This evening will cover - Not leaving it to chance - knowing the risks and realities for your kids, being proactive in raising resilient and happy humans, laying the groundwork now for future conversations, avoiding ruinous empathy, and building your own "parent support" team.

17 September 2025 - 6pm - John Parsons will be addressing Online Safety: Are you a parent/guardian concerned about how your child uses the internet or mobile phone?

Cybercrime is a very real issue facing families in NZ, but there are easy practical steps to reduce the risk. Karori Normal School invites you to a presentation on the issues associated with the inappropriate use of computers, mobile phones and the internet.

PIES - Parent and School Group update

Pies Pies Pies

The Parent and School Group are taking orders for delicious Doughboys Bakery family pies for the annual pie fundraiser to raise funds for extra school resources. They make a quick and easy dinner for those busy evenings. Pop some in the freezer to whip out when inspiration or time has deserted you.  

Eleven scrumptious flavours are on offer: 

Mince                   Mince & Cheese         Mince & Vegetable

Ham & Egg            Steak                          Steak & Cheese

Steak & Mushroom                                 Chicken & Vegetable 

Apple                    Apricot                        Blackberry & Apple

Allergy information: All pies contain dairy and gluten.

The goal this year is to beat our previous record of 777 pies sold!  Come on, Northland School community, we can do this! If we sold 4 pies per family, the school would raise $2,500. Please consider sharing the campaign link with your friends, family and colleagues as we’d love to raise more!

Open the campaign link here:

This year we’re using an online system called “Raised” for the fundraiser. This allows everyone to go to the fundraising campaign online, view the pie flavours, and order directly from the website. 

Every order will need to have a nominated student allocated. When your friends, family and colleagues order please ask them to allocate the order to your child and their class. Every order will receive an email confirmation of the order.

Please note: credit/debit card transactions are available but may charge a small processing fee, cash and bank transfers are exempt from any fees.     

Orders close on TUESDAY 30TH September at midnight. Orders will go home with the nominated student at the end of the school day, 3pm Friday 10th October. Perfect timing with the weekend if you need to make any deliveries! We will be in touch with families who have ordered 10 or more pies to pick up directly from the school.  

If you have any reusable bags at home or paper bags that we can please use for pie orders, please deliver them to the school office before 8th October.  

Any questions please contact parentandschool@northland.school.nz 

Repeat - 2026 Enrolment

To help us with our planning for next year we do need to know the number of students who will be attending.  If your child is in Year 1 – 7 and is leaving at the end of the year, please let us know as soon as possible.  If you have children due to start at Northland School in 2026 please check with Ann in the office to ensure that we have these details recorded. If you know of children from other families who are likely to start next year, please encourage their parents to contact us. The more information the school has about potential in-zone and out-of-zone  enrolments the better equipped we are to provide the best possible class organisation for the coming year.

Below is a link to the online enrolment form:

Term Dates

The bell rings at 8:50 am. Any student arriving after this time will need to sign in at the office and will be marked late. We encourage students to arrive by 8:30 am to meet with friends and get ready for the day. Lessons will begin at 9am. 

Before School Care available from 7:30 am -8:30 am in the Library. Please email the office for further details, office@northland.school.nz

• Term 3 -  14th July - 19th September
• Term 4 - 6th October - 17th December

• Labour Day - Monday 27th October

Community Notices