August 6th 2025, Week 4
Principal's Message
Term 3 Week 4 2025
Wednesday 6 August
Kia ora koutou
We are certainly enjoying the crisp mornings and lovely days this week. We are really looking forward to the Strike percussion performance this afternoon, I am sure it will be an event that everyone will remember.
Tomorrow we have eighty seven children performing at Whakanui Ahurea Kapa Haka festival with all the schools in our Kāhui Ako. The extra uniforms of T - shirts and dresses arrived yesterday, so Northland Kapa haka is going to look great. Students have been very well supported by Hemi, Lyndsey and Jane during rehearsals and we know they will perform with pride. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff who help coordinate Kapa haka, encourage our children to memorise moves and words in order to reach great heights.
We will be putting on a Kapa Haka performance next Friday August 15th from 2:30 - 3pm in Te Kōhanga so all parents and children can enjoy. We hope to have you join us.
The Year 7 / 8 Science Fair display was a great opportunity for many parents, grandparents, and past pupils to view our projects last week. All students worked very hard right up to the last minute and there was a display from everyone.
The judging was difficult as we had a great number of projects to select from. We congratulate everyone, and in particular the following students who have been selected to represent Northland at NIWA Regional Science fair on 28/29th August.
Reuben, Oscar H, Matthew, Vinnie, Sylvie S, Olivia, Sylvie G, Isobel & Phoebe C, Marni, Holly, Charlotte, Keira, Elisabeth, George, Colwell, Aidan, Cerys, Tyler, Hettie, and Claire. We wish you all the best.
Throughout the school, Te Pae Māhutanga (The Southern Cross), is the guiding framework for our Mahi Rangahau inquiries. In Term 1 teams focused on Identity, Belonging and Relationships. In Term 2 we took a more literal approach to Te Pae Māhutanga and used it to learn about stars and space.
This term Ruru iti’s inquiry is delving into our school's values: kind, curious, confident, active, and creative learners who reach for great heights. They have started to unpack ‘Kindness’ and have shown their thinking through
We have received our attendance data for Term Two from the Ministry of Education. 73% of our children had what is considered regular attendance 90% or above, that is children who missed fewer than 5 days across the term; this is an increase on Term One. 89% of our students were on time to class. A reminder that our school day begins at 8.50 a.m, with teaching programmes starting at 9am. Children who arrive after 9am are recorded as late.
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 - Parent and School Group update
Preparations are well underway for the School Disco on Friday next week (August 15th), the kids are already practicing their dance moves!
Thank you to everyone who has filled out the Northland School Disco permission and contact form, we greatly appreciate it. For those of you that have a child/ren wanting to attend, please ensure that you complete the permission and contact form by 3:15pm on Thursday August 14th. https://forms.gle/
We are starting to firm up plans for the community and fundraising events for the remainder of the school year and wanted to give you a brief update on where things were at for the following events/fundraisers.
Fundraising pies – Pies are coming soon! We have secured a delivery date early in October at the beginning of Term 4. More details will follow in the next newsletter regarding ordering pies and the new online ordering process that is available this year, which should simplify the ordering process.
Quiz night – We are in the process of securing a date and venue and are setting up a small team of people to organise the event. We’ll be in touch with further details in the next newsletter.
If you’re able to help out with either of these events/fundraisers, please get in touch with us at parentandschool@northland.
Thank you to those who have already offered help – we really appreciate you!
REPEAT - Variable Speed Limits Project
Safe Speed Limits Outside Our School.
Wellington City Council is rolling out safe speed limits outside schools across the city, including ours. As part of this programme, a new variable speed limit of 30km/h will operate during school travel times on roads outside our school gates. This change will apply within 150 metres of the school gates, helping to create a safer environment for our whānau as they arrive and leave each day.
You can find more information about the project, including which schools are included and when the changes are expected to happen, on the Council’s website:
REPEAT - Supporting your child to learn Basic Facts
Playing Cards
Numbers before or after
Take a pack of playing cards and remove all the picture cards and the aces. Then shuffle the pack. Turn over one card. Depending on where your child is at with number recognition, they may be able to tell you the name of the number in the card or say the number that comes after or before the number on the card. The idea is to speed up recall of number order so introduce a speed requirement. You can gradually decrease the answer time when the learner is ready - so answer before 5, 3, 2 seconds or dealer wins! Next step - Turn over two cards to make a two digit number - 34. What comes before/after, 10 more, 10 less.
Times Tables
Take a pack of playing cards and remove all the picture cards and the aces. Then shuffle the pack. Choose a times table to practise eg. 3 times. Turn over a card and multiple the number you turn over by 3.
The idea is to speed up recall of times tables so introduce a speed requirement. You can gradually decrease the answer time when the learner is ready - so answer before 5, 3, 2 seconds or dealer wins!
You can also remove some "easier" cards like 2, 3, 5, 10 from the pack if you want to focus on the harder tables.
REPEAT - Netball for Years 1 & 2
Calling all year 1 and 2 future netballers!
If your child could be interested in playing netball for Northland school, now is a great chance to give it a go and see what it's all about.
Sessions started on Monday 21st July and will continue for 4 weeks. It will be held straight after school. Our focus will be having fun and learning basic skills. Sessions will be led by yr 7 Star Helpers, supported by the yr 8 team's coach Claire. Parents/carers are very welcome to come along and participation is encouraged!
Key information:
● Sessions are free and run Mondays, 21st July - 18th August
● Time: 3pm for about 40 mins
● The game is played using soft balls, hula hoops and a lot of laughing
● Two fun festival days held at Cardinal McKeefry School on Saturdays 16th & 23rd August, with a rain date of 30th August.
● To sign up or for more information, see: https://www.sporty.co.nz/northland
If you have any questions, please contact Christina Young on 021 494 039 or email: christinayoungnz@gmail.com
REPEAT - Save the Date – Northland School Disco Friday August 15th
Our school disco will be on Friday August 15th and thanks to Cameron MacEachen of Handy Rentals (and a Northland School parent), this year’s disco is once again free! Koha is welcome if you wish.
We will need you to fill out a permission and contact form, so we know how many students to expect and supervise, and so we will know who will drop off and pick up your child. Please ensure you complete this information. We will have the permission and contact form sent out on Hero later this week.
Handy Rentals are also kindly providing a small bag of snacks for each student, please note this is not dinner and everyone will need to eat beforehand - and make sure to bring along a named drink bottle.
Years 1-4: 5:30 – 6:30pm
Years 5-8: 7 – 8:30pm
Please encourage your children to submit their favourite songs to their teacher who will collate for the DJ, and for those who would like some quiet space, the library will be available throughout both discos. Spot prizes will be given out on the night so break out your best dance moves!
While parents do not need to remain on site, we do need at least 10 parents to supervise both the year 1-4 and year 5-8 disco. For parents whose children would prefer you to stay on site, you're more than welcome to help supervise the disco, or alternatively, you can have tea or coffee in the library and chat with the other parents.
If you're available to help the PTA set up the disco, supervise, and/or clean up afterwards please get in touch parentandschool@northland.school.n
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
- Teacher Only Day - Friday 22nd August (Mathematics curriculum)
Term 4 - 6th October - 17th December
- Labour Day - Monday 27th October
CAMP DATES
- Year 5 / 6 Camp - Term 4 Forest Lakes 28th October - 30th October 2025