Kōkopu Newsletter

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

Welcome to this week’s newsletter. As the winter weeks roll on, it is wonderful to see our school grounds buzzing with so much activity, determination, and community spirit. Watching our tamariki support one another every day truly highlights the magic of Kōkopu School, reminding us what it means to be Growing Together, Learning Forever.

Honouring a Legacy: Trevor Nicholls

It is with a sad heart that we share the news of the passing of Trevor Nicholls over the weekend. Trevor was the Principal at Kōkopu School from 1986 – 2010. He had a profound impact on our school, shaping much of the foundation we enjoy today and leaving behind a strong legacy that we are proud to continue. Our thoughts and heart-felt aroha go out to his family and all who knew him in our community.

Student Learning, School Activities & Community Engagement

What a week we had! It was fantastic to celebrate the official opening of our newly finished pool changing sheds and pump shed with our mid-winter swim. It was certainly chilly, but the energy and laughter made it a blast. A huge shoutout to the brave teachers and parents who took the plunge alongside our students!

We also saw incredible generosity and creativity on display for Daffodil Day. It was quite possibly our best turnout ever, featuring some truly fantastic costumes. Thank you to our school community for supporting such a meaningful cause.

This week marks the end of the running season with the WPPSA Interschool Cross Country taking place on Wednesday for our qualifying runners. While it’s been a cold cross-country season, the warmth with which our students have encouraged and looked after each other has been outstanding. To celebrate everyone's hard work during our training runs, every student received a small prize for their efforts. If you haven't already, be sure to ask your child how they did during our colour runs. They have earned a well-deserved pat on the back.

Property Updates

We have a small amount of funds remaining from the changing shed project. We will be using this to install tiered seating in front of the changing shed, which will provide great viewing for spectators during swimming season and future sporting events.

Ag Day

• Lamb & Animal Care: It is great to see our Lamby Day Care getting so busy! Please remember to register your animals or gardens if you haven't done so yet.
• Animal Changes: If you encounter an issue with an animal and need to swap them out, please let the office know and register your new animal. We also have acknowledgments at Ag Day for animals that may have passed away, so please keep us informed so we can support your child.

Nāku noa, nā,

Yaron Overeem

Principal

Now that students have their animals for ag day can you please register them online.

If you are growing a garden, please register that too. Click the link below.
https://sites.google.com/kokopu.school.nz/agday

Lamb and kid day care is now open in a small pen/paddock set up near the front gate.

Please go to our Ag Day website for more support and ideas. www.kokopu.school.nz/agday

We now have a receipt system for our children who are "Caught Being Good". They are proudly acknowledged and displayed on the staff room window TV and also receive a receipt for their efforts, which they can take home and proudly show to their family!

HELP NEEDED PLEASE

If you can help out with any of the jobs listed below, please email the school office -

office@kokopu.school.nz.

Number of Affiliate / School Volunteers Required:

● 4-6 people to arrive around 5pm and set up

● 2/3 people to take orders from 6pm

● 2-3 runners / table clearers from 6.15pm

● 1-2 person to serve desserts from 6.30pm and replenish platters

● 1-2 dishwashers from 6.30pm

● 2-4 people to tidy up from 7.30pm

On Friday 11th September it is our turn to host the Country Meal at the Mangakahia Sports Complex. This is a fabulous opportunity to fundraise for our school. We need help from our school community to host this event please. We ask that every family provide a salad which can be sent to school on Friday or bought along on Friday evening to the Sports Complex. Everyone is welcome to come along, so get your family members, neighbours and friends to join us for a nice meal and great company.

Check out the menu here:

Our school speech competition will be held on Tuesday 15th of September. Everyone is welcome to come along and listen to the 3 finalists from each year. You will be notified if your child makes it into the finals.

As a reminder, students are not permitted to have cell phones or home devices at school or during school events. This includes sporting events and year 7-8 going to tech.

If a student requires a phone for after-school activities, it must be handed in and stored in the school office upon arrival, rather than kept in their bag.

If you need to get an urgent message to your child during school hours, please call the main office directly, and our staff will ensure the message is passed along.

We have jars of Tahi Bee Honey for sale for $8.00 for 400 grams.

If you would like to buy some honey, pop into the school office with $8.00.

Thank you.

Please come into the school to collect your children at the end of the day.

We have noticed children running out into the carpark to their parents cars and this is a cause for concern. No children should be in the carpark unsupervised.

Please use the designated carpark and don't use the gate at the front of the school.

Term 3 2026

Wed 02/09 WPSSA Cross Country

Fri 11/09 Country Meal Kokopu School hosting at the Mangakahia Sports Complex

Mon 14/09 BOT Meeting
Tue 15/09 Kokopu School Speeches

Wed 16/09 Wacky Hair Day

Wed 23/09 Mangakahia Lions Speech Competition

Thu 24/09 House Day Quiz

Fri 25/09 End of term 3

2026 Term Dates

• Term 1: Tuesday 3 February – Thursday, 2 April
• Term 2: Monday, 20 April – Friday, 3 July
• Term 3: Monday, 20 July – Friday, 25 September
• Term 4: Monday, 12 October – Tuesday, 15 December

Please don't send your child to school with a lunch that needs heating.

Don't forget Lunch Orders are available at school

• Pizza Fusion - Tuesday
• West End Sushi - Thursday
• Titoki Store - Friday

Order for the whole term. Order the night before - or even by 9am on the day. Perfect for busy households and bare pantries. Scan the QR code above to order:

Lyn Moase takes guitar and ukelele lessons on Wednesdays. Please phone Lyn on 0212979437 if you would like to book your child/children in for lessons.

We would love to welcome new members to our PTA. Any help with events on the food stalls would be appreciated. i.e. Swimming Sports, Triathlon etc. If you are interested in joining us or helping out please contact Amy Pugh phone 0211729388.

As a parent at Kokopu School you have access to our free Qustodio – Parent Internet Monitoring App and online safety advice. The Qustodio Parent App is a comprehensive parental control and digital wellbeing app designed to help you manage and supervise your child’s online activities. With over 6 million parents and 24,000 schools worldwide using Qustodio, it stands out as one of the most trusted and best-rated apps on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

· You can learn more about how to set it up here: kokopu.onlinesafetyhub.nz/parent/topics/Qustodio

· Make your free account here: https://www.qustodio.com/en/30-days-school-special/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=OSHub&utm_campaign=kokopu-nz

If parents/caregivers want to visit the website https://kokopu.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm to look over our school policies and procedures, please see the following instructions: Enter the username (kokopu) and password (0179). Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.

Don't forget we are collecting Yummy Stickers. So please collect the Yummy cut-out labels from bags (each cut-out label is worth 10 stickers) and individual Yummy apple stickers. Yummy apples are available from New World, PAK’nSAVE and participating Four Square stores. The more you collect, the more sports gear you get so get going and start collecting your Yummy cut-out labels and stickers now!

Email: office@kokopu.school.nz
Website: www.kokopu.school.nz
Location: 921 Kokopu Road, Kokopu, New Zealand
Phone: 094346765
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kokopuschool