School Newsletter
5 March 2026

Kia ora e te whānau | Greetings all

Over the next eight weeks, we are excited to share a special Communication Series with you - The BIG 5. While you will have seen our "Balanced Curriculum" before, this series will dive deeper into each component that makes up a Stonefields School balanced education. Our goal is to show you exactly how we balance essential knowledge with future-focused capabilities to ensure every learner can reach their potential and thrive. Keep an eye out each week as we spotlight a different part of the BIG 5, featuring stories and photos from our Villages.

Foundation Knowledge (The "What" of Learning)

This week, we're diving deeper into the first of our BIG 5: Foundation Knowledge. Imagine building a house – you need a strong, solid base before you can add the walls and roof. In learning, Foundation Knowledge is that essential base. It’s the "what" of learning, focusing on the high-quality, structured approaches to English (reading and writing) and Mathematics. These are not just subjects; they are the fundamental tools that unlock every other area of the curriculum and empower our children to navigate the world around them with confidence.

Mastering reading, writing, and mathematics provides our learners with the keys to understanding instructions, expressing ideas clearly, solving everyday problems, and engaging with more complex concepts. When children have a strong grasp of these foundational skills, they are better equipped to access rich information, think critically, and truly thrive in all aspects of their education and future lives. It's about ensuring every child has the essential building blocks for lifelong learning. 

To ensure these essential tools are deeply embedded, our learners engage in a dedicated hour of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics every single day. In our Mathematics sessions, we follow a purposeful structure: we begin with a whole-class introduction to a new concept or big idea, ensuring everyone has a shared starting point. This is followed by a blend of independent practice and collaborative group work, where learners can grapple with new problems together. To truly solidify understanding, we provide regular opportunities for students to transfer their learning to different contexts and tackle further extensions when they are ready to stretch their thinking.

Helping at home - you can see what your child has been learning by checking SchoolTalk.  If specific home learning has been set, you will find it in the 3-3.30pm slot in your child’s SchoolTalk calendar. 

Ngā mihi nui,

Sarah and the team

Foundation Knowledge in Intermediate

In the Intermediate hubs, our learners have been fortifying their foundation knowledge with a fantastic sense of maturity, diligence and determination, which has made for a brilliant start to the year.

Being the eager mathematicians that we are, we know a strong understanding of how numbers work is crucial, so we have been developing our understanding of place value, powers, rounding and scientific notation. We have also been developing our collaboration skills in a maths context through collaborative problem solving and explaining our thinking and strategies to each other. Which sometimes can be just as challenging as the actual maths!

We know that we need to be literate to communicate with each other and to make an impact, and we have been doing just that in our CV writing. Stepping up to apply for new leadership roles meant listening deeply and respectfully when the different roles were explained and then reflecting to decide which role or roles to apply for. Our CV’s were structured to target our intended audience, and they were the first important factor to gain our leadership positions across the school. We developed our understanding of sentence structure and paragraph development so our best selves were reflected on the page.

Year 3-8 Parent Connects 

It's been wonderful to see so many parents this week connecting with your child's teacher! We hope these provided a great insight into your child's first month at school. If you didn't get a chance to meet with your child's teacher, please do reach out and find a time to connect. We'd still love to see you. 

Little Scientists Visit

Our Year 1-2 learners had an amazing time during the Little Scientists event this week, exploring hands-on scientific activities linked to this Term's concept - Phenomenon of Light. They discovered that light travels in a straight line and experimented with mixing primary colours to create new colours and arrange them into a rainbow. We also made our own lava lamps, which was a highlight for many learners!

It was wonderful to see their curiosity, excitement, and scientific thinking in action.

Junior Athletics Day - Thursday 12 March

Athletics Day for Years 0-4 learners will be held on the morning of Thursday 12 March. Parents and whānau are welcome to come along and cheer on your child! Here's all the information you need to know. 

Photolife - Portrait, Hub and Sibling Photos

Photolife will be with us on Friday 27 March to take Portrait and Hub photos, and on Monday 31 March to take sibling photos. 

If you would like your children to have a photo together as siblings, please complete this permission form. 

Friends of Stonefields School (FOSS) 

We are delighted to have three parents keen to get Friends of Stonefields School (FOSS) going for this year, thanks Nadine, Emma and Dana! The purpose of FOSS is to help connect our community. They'd love to hear your thoughts on what events you'd like to see happen. Please take their short 2-minute survey and share your thoughts. They even have a Chocolate prize up for grabs for one lucky survey responder!

WhatsApp Stonefields Families’ Community

New! Connect with other Stonefields School families on WhatsApp.

This parent-led group (run by FOSS) is a simple way to share event info, school community activities, and volunteer opportunities, via WhatsApp. Join the community here  

Please note, this is not an official school communication channel so you won't receive any communications directly from the school via WhatsApp. This is an informal platform for parents to connect with one another. 

Parent Reps Needed

To help better connect our community, we’re looking for two parent representatives per Hub. What does this involve? It’s a light role:

• Help moderate your Hub's WhatsApp group (as needed)

• Share key updates or volunteer requests

• Support Friends of Stonefields School (FOSS) and other hub reps

Interested? You can volunteer for a term or longer and hand it on when you’re ready. 

Email FOSS or contact the school office.

Whakamana Rock launch event - Thursday 2 April

Heads up, we're organising a super fun day on Thursday 2 April to officially launch our Whakamana Rocks. Learners will spend the majority of the day in their Whakamana Rocks, bringing their best together. 

Enrolments 2026 and 2027

Our enrolments are now open for 2026 and 2027 new entrants. If you have a pre-schooler, we encourage you to submit an enrolment form now. This will help give us a clearer picture of the new entrant staffing requirements.   

Congratulations to our 2026 Physical Activity Leaders (PALS) and Sport Leaders

A big welcome to our 2026 PALS and Sport Leaders as they step into their leadership roles. These learners applied through a selection process and have done themselves proud. We are excited to see you lead with confidence, support others, and make a positive difference across our school. Ka pai, team - we know you’ll do an amazing job!

FINAL CALL: Netball Registrations (Year 1-8)

A friendly reminder that Winter Netball registrations close tomorrow, Friday 6 March. 

Be sure to register so your child can be placed in a school team: Register here 

FINAL CALL: AIMS Games Registrations (Year 7-8)

It was so great to see everyone who could make it along to last week's AIMS Games whānau information session and Q&A. If your child is interested in trialing for a team sport, or entering an individual code, please complete the registration form as soon as possible. This not only secures your child’s place in the team trial process, but also helps us gather important information, including interest levels for each team and individual codes, as well as parent support which is essential for coordinating all aspects of participation. Register here

• Registrations close tomorrow, Friday 6 March

• Trials will take place during Week 7 (16th-20th March)

Gymnastics Registrations (Year 3-8)

We are thrilled to welcome back our fantastic coaches, Selwyn students Sophie and Rebecca, for another exciting season of Gymnastics! Our gymnasts train Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school in the school hall, honing their skills and preparing for the Eastern Suburbs Gymnastics Competition, with qualifiers moving on to the TRI-Star Champs.

Registrations are now open Register here 

Flippaball (Year 3-4)

Were looking for 3-4 learners to give Flippaball a try for Term 2. We've previously had teams entered in the league and have a small group keen to continue. You don't need any experience, just an enjoyment for being in water and trying something new. Please see all the details here and register your interest. 

Water Polo (Year 7-8)

Water Polo at Year 7-8 is played in 2m deep water and uses the full 25m pool. A strong level of swimming ability is required. Games are played on Friday evenings, during Terms 2-3. We'd love to hear from any Year 7-8 learners interested in being part of a team. Please contact sport@stonefields.school.nz 

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

• Friday Cafe | Friday 6 March | 3pm

• New Entrant Cohort starts | Monday 9 March 

• Parenting Workshop | Tuesday 10 March | 7pm

• Kapa Haka practice | Wednesday 11 March | 8.20am Te Pou Manawa

• Junior Athletics Day | Thursday 12 March

• Friday Cafe | Friday 13 March | 3pm

• Junior Assembly (Year 0-4) | Monday 16 March | 2pm, Hall

• Visitor Tour | Tuesday 17 March | 3pm

• Kapa Haka practice | Wednesday 18 March | 8.20am Te Pou Manawa

• AUCC Cricket Festival (Y3-6) | Wednesday 18 March

• Whānau Hui and Talanoa | Thursday 19 March | 6pm

• Friday Cafe | Friday 20 March | 3pm 

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.