School Newsletter
23 October 2025

Kia ora e te whānau | Greetings all

Happy Diwali! Thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate on Tuesday, and the celebrations continue tomorrow at our Diwali-themed Friday Cafe. Our Hub 7 learners also had a wonderful experience connecting with Vega School in Guragon, India, to learn about how they celebrate Diwali.

Term 4 is in full gear now! We welcomed 16 new learners to our community at the start of the term. Haere Mai! 

Our Year 8's have started their weekly walk up the maunga as they prepare for the next step in their learning journey at high school. The first of our EPro8 teams competed at the inter-school competition this week, and two further teams will have their opportunity next week to showcase their engineering skills. We also had 12 learners from Years 5-8 take part in the inaugural LitEx competition at Northcote Intermediate. Learners enjoyed incorporating their physical skills with their critical literacy skills at this exciting event. 

Here's a look at this and everything else that's been happening, as well as upcoming events and reminders. 

Ngā mihi nui,

Sarah and the team 

Senior Athletics Day - Wednesday 29 October

Our Senior Athletics Day is next week on Wednesday 29 October at Colin Maiden Park. 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. Here is all the information on what the kids need for the day and where we will be set up. 

We look forward to seeing you there

Fundraising for play equipment

All funds raised will go towards play equipment to surround our pathway. Phase three of the pathway was installed over the last school holidays and we are working with suppliers to install the first of the play equipment before the end of the year. 

We have approx $15,000 left from previous fundraising for this. Quotes from several suppliers have come in around $20,000. We hope the funds raised from our community purchasing these personalised products, will allow us to complete the first installation of play equipment and plan for even more next year! 

Check out the sample products in the office. 

Marimba Festival

At the end of last term, 22 of our Year 5-6 learners took part in the Orff New Zealand Association Marimba Festival. This was a particularly special occasion as it was the 20th Anniversary of the Festival. The Festival brings together schools to play music as one big ensemble. In preparation for the event, during terms 2 and 3 our school Marimba Group worked really hard to learn a set of 10 pieces, which they then performed with the other schools. Our learners had a great time and enjoyed performing to a huge audience and the experience of making music with other schools. 

2026 Enrolments

As we plan ahead for 2026, we'd love to know how many New Entrants we'll have joining our school. If you have a child due to start in 2026, we encourage you to submit an enrolment now. Thanks! 

Learning Achievement Celebration - Wednesday 10 December

Mark the date in your diary! On Wednesday 10 December from 6pm we will be having our 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. For our youngest Year 0 learners, we understand this is a late night and you may choose not to attend. 

Yummy Apple Stickers - Thank You!

A huge thank you to everyone who collected and brought in Yummy Apple Stickers this year! Together, we collected an incredible 4,238 stickers (smashing our 2024 record of 3,534 stickers) an amazing effort from our whole school community! We can’t wait to see what new sports gear we’ll be able to secure. Your support helps keep our students active, equipped, and excited to play. Ka pai, team - let’s keep the momentum going next year by dropping all your completed sheets into the office! www.yummyfruit.co.nz/schools/

• Diwali-Themed Friday Cafe (run by Hub 13) | Friday 24 October | 3pm

• Labour Day | Monday 27 October | school closed

• Senior Athletics Day (Year 5-8) | Wednesday 29 October  

• Friday Cafe (run by Hub 12) | Friday 31 October | 3pm

• Senior Assembly (Year 5-8) | Monday 3 November | 2pm, Hall 

• Tamaki Have A Go Day (Year 3-4) | Wednesday 5 November 

• Friday Cafe (run by Hub 9) | Friday 7 November | 3pm 

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

Merton Road Cycleway Update

Here is an update from Auckland Transport on the Merton Road cycleway works.

We are making great progress on stage 1 of the Merton East cycleway upgrades, and we will be reaching completion of this section over Labour Weekend. 

To complete this stage of the works, during Labour Weekend when traffic volumes are lower, we'll be working on Merton Road during the day and night. On Saturday 25 October, we'll be working from 12:00pm to 11:00 pm. On Sunday 26 October, we will be working from 4:00pm until 3:00 AM on Monday.

On Monday 27th October we will begin stage 2 of the upgrades, this work will focus on the Merton Road/Morrin Road roundabout and is expected to take about 8 weeks to complete.

To minimise disruption, work will take place at night from 7:00pm to 6:00am throughout the week. Please note that no work will occur between 6:00am Saturday and 7:00pm Sunday.

To help you plan ahead, we’ve attached the most up-to-date information about the works, including how to get around while construction is underway. This information is also available on our webpage Links to Glen Innes Cycleways.

After-School Activities and Holiday Programmes

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