School Newsletter Term 2, Week 5
Friday 22nd May 2026
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A group of students from Te Whare Hononga had an exciting trip to Lollipops Playland, where students enjoyed exploring, challenging themselves, and trying new activities. Throughout the visit, the students demonstrated the school value of whakamana by testing their abilities and stepping outside their comfort zones.
They also showed Mana Aotūroa as they explored the environment with confidence and curiosity. It was a trip filled with fun, laughter, and learning for everyone involved!
Room 16
This term, Room 16 has been focusing on learning more about our school value manaakitanga. We watched a video about random acts of kindness and have had lots of discussions about being kindness heroes at school and at home.
It turns out that not all superheroes need capes, especially kindness heroes! We used whakamana in writing to share ways in which we are kind, and mana aotūroa to create kindness heroes of ourselves.
Tuesday and Thursday were beautiful days to spend time in Te Marae O Hine (The Square). It was sunny and warm, and our classes enjoyed getting out of the classroom to consolidate their learning around the history of this site.
With workbooks in hand we set off in our groups with a parent and roamed from one important feature to the next, looking for clues to fill in our workbooks.
We learned about the pou on and around the Palmerston North Council buildings and how they related to the stories we had read about Te Rongorito and Rangitāne. We saw where the old train station was situated, and we could track where the clock had once sat on top of the old post office building, now in the clock tower. We had a good look at the cenotaph, tracing the story of war through the pictures that surround it, and finding the names of the fallen in the wars in which New Zealanders have fought. One of our favourite places was the rock sculptures. These were sculpted by different artists in the Pacific Rim. We had a good look at the archway and saw how the huia bird was represented in the five feathers of the iwi of this area. There was so much to look at. We are looking forward to sharing our learning with our family next time we walk through.
After a quick bite to eat, we headed for Te Manawa. We had already looked at the big stained glass mural in the foyer and had an educator tell us all about what it meant. Now we headed upstairs to engage in a workshop about the adventures of Haunui a Nanaia. He was a tohunga, a Māori man with special powers. We followed his story as he searched for his wife down the west coast, naming all of our rivers as he went. We had already learned about his story through a book our teacher read to us called, Hau's Revenge, so it was great for us to use our knowledge whilst we played the game of his travels with the educator.
Room 3
Plant to Plate
Room 3 had the opportunity to learn how to plant vegetables, care for the school garden and cook using fresh ingredients.
Plant to Plate was an awesome experience that involved communication skills and maths. We learnt how to follow a recipe, measure ingredients and cook in small groups.
It is very important that families register with Kindo, as this is now the only way to register your child for school sports, and ordering PTA lunches.
Below are the links to register.
If you require help please call the Kindo helpdesk on
0508 454 636
New users need this link
Existing users need this link
