School Newsletter
15 May 2025

Kia ora e te whānau | Greetings all

You would have seen in our Board Communication last week that 'Values Lived' continues to be an important part of our strategy. 

We have created a framework to illustrate what our Values Lived looks like and to create clarity around the expected behaviours at Stonefields School.

• ‘Whakamana’ is living our values and expectations.  Each value has a series of mantras that highlight the behaviours to be upheld. It communicates what we stand for. This is central to the framework.

• When Values are exceeded we call this ‘Whakanui’, positive reinforcement and acknowledgement of being ‘Whakanui’ comes in many forms e.g. sticker charts, Values certificates, leadership pins etc. 

• When Values are diminished we call this ‘Whakaiti’, when behaviours take time away from one's own or others learning, the values are not upheld, or the safety of self or others is compromised, we use a restorative approach to understanding what has led to the behaviour.  

• ‘Whakaiti’ behaviours are grouped into three phases - minor/moderate, repeated and severe.  Restorative consequences are aligned to each of the phases.

Together, by understanding and living our values, we create a safe and supportive school for everyone.

If you haven't had a chance to, we would love your feedback - please complete this short survey here as we continue to review insights from learners, parents and staff to understand if we are making progress towards our strategic goal.

Ngā mihi nui,

Sarah and the team

Board Elections - September 2025

In September this year, the School community will be invited to elect five parent representatives to become School Board members. Members stay on the Board for a term of three years. Have you thought about standing as a nominee? 

The School Board is the Crown entity tasked with overseeing the governance of the school, with responsibility for:

• Ensuring every learner can reach their highest possible standard in student achievement;

• Setting the school’s strategic direction in consultation with parents, whanau, staff, students, and the wider community; 

• Ensuring the school complies with legal and policy requirements; and

• Overseeing the management of personnel, curriculum, property, finance, and administration.

Here's some further information.  

We welcome anyone interested to come along to the next Board meeting on Tuesday 17 June to find out what it's about. Please contact the Board Secretary for more details. 

Learner Led Conferences

Learner Led Conferences will be taking place across the following days:

• Year 1-6 learners - Thursday 29 May, 2pm-8pm. 

• Year 7-8 learners - Thursday 5 June, 2pm-8pm, and Friday 6 June, 1pm-3pm.

All parents are expected to book a 10-minute time slot to connect with your child's teacher. We also invite parents to spend at least 45 minutes in your child's hub where they will lead you through their hub, showing you what they have been learning, how they are progressing, and involve you in hands-on practical learning experiences. 

Book your timeslot here

Please note, school will finish at 1pm on these days:

• Year 0-6 learners - Thursday 29 May

• Year 7-8 learners - Thursday 5 June 

 If you are unable to pick up your child at 1pm, please book them into Kelly Club. Any children on-site after 1pm are not under the care of the school. 

Turf

We take pride in our school including our Turf. The Turf is open to our whole community to use and enjoy outside of school hours. We need your help to ensure it is being respectfully used and taken care of. We have installed signs around the Turf so everybody is aware of our expectations. If you notice people not being respectful, please feel empowered to speak up, stand up! 

We also have a booking schedule in place to ensure school sports teams have the first right of use. If you'd like to book a timeslot, please contact Ashleigh in the office.  

Staff Only Day  - Friday 30 May

A reminder we have a Staff Only Day coming up on Friday 30 May. Kelly Club will be open if you need childcare. 

Pink Shirt Day

This Friday, 16 May our Intermediate cohort will be taking part in the nationwide Pink Shirt Day to promote acceptance of diversity and to stand up and say no to bullying of any kind. We are asking for a gold coin donation if learners decide to wear pink for the day. All money collected will go to the Pink Shirt Day foundation.

Staffing news 

You will be sad to learn that Rachel Kay from Hub 17, has resigned from her teaching position with us. Her last day with us will be Friday 23 May. We wish her all the best in her new school.  

The Teacher shortage continues to be challenging, particularly in Auckland where a number of schools currently have vacancies. Although we received over 40 applications for Rachel’s replacement, none were of a calibre that we would interview. Getting quality teachers in front of your kids is a priority. With this in mind, we decided to engage a recruiter and are pleased following interviews, that we have offered the role to a very strong teacher who will be immigrating from South Africa to NZ with her family. We're delighted to introduce Wendy Varadhan who will be joining us shortly. Wendy comes with over 10 years of experience teaching senior primary and intermediate-aged learners and has subject strengths in the foundation learning areas.

Have you thought about becoming a Teacher? 

Stonefields has been front-footing a number of initiatives over the years to grow Student Teacher numbers and support them as they enter the teaching profession. These initiatives support community members to complete a one-year Post Graduate Study in Teaching through a school-based initial teacher education programme. This offers you the chance to gain teacher registration in just one year while learning hands-on in a school every day. 

Please get in touch if this is of interest to you.

Visitor Tour - Tuesday 3 June

We have a visitor tour coming up on Tuesday 3 June, 9.15am. This is an opportunity for any prospective parents to gain an insight into what makes Stonefields School so special and our rich learning environments. Book a tour here.  

Thrive Speech & Drama is coming to Stonefields School in Term 2! 

We’re thrilled to announce that Thrive Speech & Drama classes will be starting at Stonefields School on Mondays after school!

These fun and engaging weekly lessons are designed to help children build confidence, develop strong communication skills, and express themselves clearly and creatively — all while having a great time. Students will take part in drama games, storytelling, speech activities, improvisation, and performance exercises. 

More information visit: www.thrivespeechanddrama.co.nz

Term 2 Inter-School events 

Term 2 Inter-school sport events still to come: Sign ups closing soon: 

• Tamaki Rugby League | Y5-8 | Wednesday 11 June

• Eastern Zones Hockey | Y7-8 | Monday 16 June

• Te Ropu Pourewa Ki-o-rahi Y7-8 | Tuesday 17 June

• Tamaki Ki-o-rahi | Y5-8 | Wednesday 25 June

Sign up on the sport website:  stonefields.school.nz/sport 

We understand that football is one of our learners' favourite sports, and we recognise that, unfortunately, not everyone had the opportunity to take part this year. We are currently working with event organisers to advocate for additional team entries in the future - particularly for Tāmaki Football in 2026 - to help ensure more learners can be involved. We know this was disappointing for children who missed out, and we truly appreciate your understanding and support as we work to improve opportunities moving forward.

Netball

We’re thrilled to see the season underway, with our players training hard and giving it their all out on the courts! A huge thank you to the amazing team of parents who are working together to deliver a comprehensive Netball programme and provide such strong support for our teams. Your time, energy, and commitment are deeply appreciated - Thank you! 

This year we have 12 teams, and 90 learners playing netball across all year levels.

Player openings: If you have a learner in Year 1, 2, 3, or 5 and they are keen to join a Netball team, we still have one or two spots available! Please get in touch as soon as possible: sport@stonefields.school.nz 

Netball Uniform feedback

Thank you to the 26 parents who have so far provided feedback on the Netball uniforms. Before making a decision, we really want to hear from as much of our netball community as possible. Please complete the survey which has been emailed to you as soon as possible. Thanks for your feedback!   

Hockey - Help Needed

We’re currently looking for parents to support Hockey training for two exciting initiatives:

Our Eastern Zones Hockey teams, and our new extension sport programme, aiming to establish a regular school Hockey team with weekly trainings. If you have hockey experience or are simply keen to help get this off the ground, we’d love to hear from you! Please get in touch: sport@stonefields.school.nz 

Gymnastics

We’re excited to get training underway for this year’s gymnastics enthusiasts! An email has been sent to all families who have registered - please make sure to check your inbox for important information and next steps.

AIMS Games (Intermediate)

Best of luck to all our AIMS Games athletes as they prepare for the event in September! We’re proud of your commitment and can’t wait to follow your journey in the lead-up to the competition.

Teams: Football

Individuals: Swimming & Badminton

• Senior Assembly (Year 5-8) | Monday 19 May | 2pm, Hall

• Intermediate Camp | Tuesday 20 - Friday 24 May

• Mid-Term New Entrant Cohort Start | Monday 26 May

• Learner-Led Conferences (Year 1-6) | Thursday 29 May

• Staff Only Day | Friday 30 May | school closed

• King's Birthday | Monday 2 June | school closed

• Visitor Tour | Tuesday 3 June | register here  

• Whānau Hui | Wednesday 4 June | 6pm

• Pasifika Talanoa | Wednesday 4 June | 6pm

View our School Calendar to keep up to date with all events

After-School and Community Activities

There are many sports, art, and cultural activities available both on-site and in our community. Check out our Community Noticeboard for more details.

Attendance research

Researchers at the Education Review Office (ERO) are doing some research about school attendance. They want to hear your thoughts about what makes a difference. Please help by clicking on this survey link: Parent and Whānau survey