School Newsletter
Term 4 - 15 October 2026

Kia ora e te whānau | Greetings all

Welcome back to Term 4! We welcomed 15 new learners to our community this week. Haere Mai! 

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful, tank-filling break and feel refreshed for the final term of the year. Visiting the Hubs this week, it was fantastic to see how quickly our learners have settled back into their routines, showing great determination and building their learning capacity right from day one.   

We have an action-packed term ahead filled with many rich learning opportunities. For many of our learners, they will be working towards an end-of-term showcase to share their learning with you. Look out for details in tomorrow's village comms. We will also celebrate Diwali, the Manaiakalani Film Festival, a Kapa Haka Festival, and our Year 2-8 learners will be building confidence in the water during our swimming and water safety sessions. 

In sports, our learners have the opportunity to take part in volleyball, touch, athletics, and basketball. 

Our Year 8's have started their weekly walk up the maunga as they prepare for the next phase in their learning journey at high school. This is a chance to reflect on their time with us and prepare for the step up to high school.  

It promises to be a vibrant final term of connection, growth, and community; thank you for your continued partnership as we make Term 4 a fantastic success! 

Ngā mihi nui,
Sarah and the team

El Niño 2026

As you will be aware, New Zealand is expected to feel the impacts of a very strong El Niño weather event over spring and summer of 2026/27. We're keeping a close eye on this and planning for any potential impacts on our school. To help us prepare, we strongly recommend that your child brings a WELL-NAMED drink bottle each day and a small bottle of sunscreen in their bag. Children will be encouraged to reapply their sunblock each day before going out for lunch. 

Swimming - Years 2-8

We are pleased to be partnering with CLM Swim Magic to provide swimming lessons/water safety as part of our PE curriculum this term. Swimming is an essential life skill, helping our tamariki build water confidence and develop important water safety skills. Please check your Village Comms for dates and more details.

Property update

Whilst the kids have been enjoying a break, Ray has been flat-out coordinating many property improvements:

• Additional bag racks have been installed so no more bags on the ground 

• The heating system in Hubs 5-9 has been improved

• Autex panels have been updated around the school

• Vinyl name stickers on Hub doors have all been replaced  

• Repairs to the roof and backflashing have also taken place

Thanks Ray! All of these were funded from the Ministry of Education 10-year property funds we received. 

EPRO8 Engineering Challenge 

This week, all Year 5–8 learners had the exciting opportunity to take part in EPro8, a fast-paced engineering challenge. Participants were tasked with building a fishing rod, a swinging carousel, or a pedestal fan using a range of materials such as bolts, metal rods, and axles. For those who are keen to pursue this further, there will be two teams from both Year 5-6 and Year 7-8 selected to represent the school at an inter-school competition. 

Year 5-6 Rotoroa Island 

In Term 4, our Year 5-6s will be visiting Rotoroa Island again thanks to Rotoroa Island Education Programme. This has been a real highlight for those who attended in 2023 and 2024. Please see your email for all the details. Don't forget to complete the permission form for your child to attend. 

Senior Athletics Day - Wednesday 4 November

Our Senior Athletics Day will take place on Wednesday 4 November. All Year 5-8 learners will be involved in a variety of events including Sprints, Shot Put, Discus, High Jump and more at our fun activation stations. Whānau are warmly invited to come along, cheer on our athletes, and be part of this energetic day. Learners will spend PE time this term learning the different track and field disciplines. 

Intermediate Winter Uniform Options

Hello everyone! As part of my student council project, I have been working on adding more winter uniform options for the Intermediate cohort. I surveyed the Intermediate learners last term to get their thoughts, now I'd like to hear from parents. It would be amazing if you could all fill out this survey so I can get parents' voices on this. Thank you!

Nanditha

Photolife Team and Group photos

If your child was involved in the team and group photos last term, don't forget to submit your order with Photolife. You will have received a keycode from Photolife to order, please check your emails. Orders placed before Sunday 25 October will be delivered free to school a few weeks after this closing date. 

Learning Achievement Celebration - Wednesday 9 December

Mark the date in your diary! On Wednesday 9 December from 6pm we will be having our annual Learning Achievement Celebration, held at Sacred Heart College Auditorium. This is an event for the whole school community to celebrate all learners' achievements this year. All learners Year 1-8, and whānau are expected to attend. 

After-School Activites | Term 4

Looking for an after-school activity? We have a number of activities and clubs available on-site after school:

• Mondays: Creative Art Workshop and Thrive Speech & Drama

• Tuesdays: Clay Art Club 

• Wednesdays: Bricks for Kids

• Thursdays: Eastern Suburbs Football Program  

• Every day: Kelly Club before school and after school care 

Local Clubs and other opportunities

Please also visit our Community Noticeboard for notices on local clubs and activites

We’ve hit Term 4 running, with an action-packed schedule ahead! Congratulations to our EZ Volleyball Boys team, who represented Stonefields School against 11 other Eastern Zones schools today. Winning all five of their pool-play games, they powered through to the semi-finals and secured an impressive 4th place finish overall! Ka pai, team! Next Thursday, it’s the girls’ turn to take the courts - we wish them all the very best!

Our Year 5-6 Basketball Thunders are back working hard on the courts, alongside our Year 7 Summer Netball team, as captured in the photos below.

Next Wednesday, six teams (60 learners) will head to Tāmaki Touch Rugby for a fantastic day of games and fun!

Looking ahead to Week 4, our Senior Athletics Day will be held at Colin Maiden Park. Due to ground works, our exact location will be slightly different this year. We’ll share further details over the coming weeks. Save the date: Wednesday 4 November! We love having whānau and supporters join us to cheer on our tamariki, so we hope to see you there!

Term 4 Sport

• Eastern Zones Volleyball Y7-8 | BOYS Thursday 15 October | GIRLS Thursday 22 October

• Tamaki Touch (Y5-8) | Wednesday 21 October 

• Senior School Athletics Day (Y5-8) | Wednesday 4 November

• Eastern Zones Athletics (Y7-8) | Thursday 19 November (Pre-qualifiers)

• Tamaki Athletics (Y5-8) | Wednesday 25 November (Pre-qualifiers) 

Visit the sports website for sign ups and more: Stonefields.school.nz/sports 

Sports Coaching

Term 4 enrolments are still open, alongside casual attendance options. Please note that if your child chooses to participate on a casual basis, the session will automatically be billed to their Kindo account. If your child would like to participate on a weekly enrolled basis and receive priority access to sessions, we encourage you to complete the registration form below. We look forward to seeing our learners out there developing their skills!

Sports Available: Netball | Basketball | Rippa | Volleyball | Hockey

Coaching Schedule: sports website 

Register Now: Extension Sports and Coaching Enrolment Form

Basketball: Year 5-6 Competitive Basketball Team for 2027

Is your keen basketballer in Year 5 or 6 in 2027? Building on the success of our 2026 team, we are looking to assemble another competitive Year 5-6 Stonefields School Basketball team for 2027, led by parents Robin and Jon, with coaching support from Rino. The main team will consist of 8 players and represent Stonefields in a full-year inter-school tournament:

• East Auckland Primary School Tournament - Underdog League

• Venue: Pakuranga College

• Game night: Thursdays during school terms

• Time: Between 6:15-8:30pm, depending on the draw

If there is wider interest, there may be an opportunity to form a second team and/or enter additional tournaments, provided there are parent volunteers available to help manage each team.

Team Selection: Player selection will be based on observations during Term 4 basketball sessions, considering skill and experience, attitude and willingness to improve, teamwork, and overall team fit. Y5-6 team practices will be held Tuesday mornings before school and Wednesday afternoons after school. Selected players will be expected to attend most practices and competition games throughout 2027.

If your child is interested but unable to attend the Term 4 sessions, please get in touch so we can look at arranging another opportunity for a skills assessment.

We look forward to lots of interest and seeing our next generation of basketballers take the court! 👉 Register your childs interest here

Winter Netball 2027 Registrations Are Open!

Get organised for the year ahead! Registrations for our 2027 Winter Netball season are now open. If you’re keen to get a head start, please register using the link below.

Netball Skills Sessions - Term 4, and Term 1, 2027

We’re also planning specialist netball skills sessions this Term (7-aside) and Term 1 next year, including:

• Term 4 7-aside: Current Years 6-8 players (Friday mornings)

• Term 1, 2027 Years 5-6: Skills development sessions (Friday mornings)

• Term 1, 2027 Years 7-8: Skills development sessions (Tuesday mornings)

Please register your interest now so we can confirm numbers and ensure these sessions go ahead. We look forward to helping our players build their skills and confidence on the court!

👉 Winter Netball and Skills Sessions Registrations 2026-2027

You can also register for Netball Skills via coaching enrolements 👉 Term 4 Sports Coaching

AIMS Games 2027 Expressions of Interest Are Open!

Our 21 AIMS athletes had an amazing experience at the 2026 AIMS Games, and we’re excited to offer this fantastic opportunity again in 2027!

If your learner is passionate about sport, have a chat with them about getting involved. We welcome expressions of interest from learners keen to trial for our AIMS 2027 tournament teams or participate in individual sporting codes. We can’t wait to see what next year brings!

👉 AIMS Games 2027 Expressions of Interest

For more information about all sports opportunities, please visit: stonefields.school.nz/sport 

• Friday Cafe (run by Hub 8) | Friday 16 October | 3pm 

• Senior School Assembly (Years 5-8) | Monday 19 October 

• Year 4 Chromebook Parent Information Session | Tuesday 20 October | 3.15pm 

• Kapa Haka practice | Wednesday 21 October | 8.20am Te Pou Manawa

• Friday Cafe (run by Hub 7) | Friday 23 October | 3pm 

• Labour Day observed | Monday 26 October | School closed 

• Stonefields School Board Meeting | Tuesday 27 October

• Kapa Haka practice | Wednesday 28 October | 8.20am Te Pou Manawa

• School Discos | Friday 30 October | Junior 5pm-6pm, Senior 6.30pm-7.45pm

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

Community Activities

There are plenty of sports, art, and cultural activities available in our community including school holiday programmes. Check out our Community Noticeboard for more details.