VOGELTOWN SCHOOL TE KURA O HUATOKI
WEEK 1, TERM 3, 2026
Our wider curriculum learning this term is focussed on The Arts, providing students with exciting opportunities to create, perform, and express themselves.
During the first half of the term, our Taranaki and Huatoki teams will be exploring the Visual Arts strand of the New Zealand Curriculum. Students will investigate how artists use ideas, materials, and techniques to communicate meaning while developing their own creativity through a range of visual art experiences.
Our Paetoki team will be part of our much-loved Build a Business programme, doing a condensed version during the first part of the term. This unit is based on the Technology learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum, where students follow the technological process to identify opportunities, develop ideas, create products, and evaluate their outcomes. Along the way, they will strengthen their collaboration, problem-solving, and enterprise skills as they work together to create products for sale.
Later in the term, all three teams will shift their focus to Drama as they prepare for their team productions. Each team will develop its own performance, giving more children the opportunity to take to the stage while allowing performances to better reflect the interests, and strengths of the children. We look forward to sharing these performances with our community early in Term 4.
We're looking forward to another exciting term of learning. If you have any questions about what is in store for your child, please start by talking with their classroom teacher.
Reports were sent home to all parents and whānau on Tuesday. You will notice a few changes to the format as we align our reporting with the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum and the reporting expectations now in place for all schools.
The reports now include:
- An overall judgement using the progress descriptors Emerging, Developing, Consolidating, Proficient, and Exceeding.
- A summary of your child's strengths, next learning steps, and ways you can support learning at home.
- Standardised assessment results (where applicable).
- A table showing your child's progress over time.
- Attendance information.
Achievement decisions are based on a range of evidence, including classroom work samples, teacher observations, learning conversations, and assessment information. While assessments provide valuable information, they are only one part of the overall picture.
As we continue implementing the refreshed curriculum, we are taking a measured approach. This means teachers have not yet reported on every individual curriculum element. We plan to introduce this additional level of detail in end-of-year reports once teachers have had more time to build a shared understanding of the new curriculum and ensure consistent judgements across the school.
Our learning conferences are the perfect opportunity to unpack your child's report, celebrate their successes, discuss next learning steps, and ask any questions you may have. We encourage all families to attend so that, together, we can continue supporting every child to thrive.
This week we were delighted to welcome our newest students and their whānau to Vogeltown School: Thea Carter, Leviticus Raison, Agum Gill, Elliott Johansen, Breanna Te Riini, Mayar Elmezughi, Amaiyah Papara, Odin Szekely, Abrar Tawhid, Adeline Almeida, Mika McLean, Elwyn Hollis, Jasper Meredith, Brianna Catchpole, Benjamin Haskell, Abdul Ibrahim, Miqdad Ibrahim, Fatima Jakariya, Yethuli Kalutara.
We also formally welcomed Miss Montana Bennett, Miss Sophie Cleaver, and Mr Simon Gibson as members of our staff. It is wonderful to have them as part of the Vogeltown team.
Our pōwhiri is a special way of bringing us together as one community and reflects the values of manaakitanga, and belonging that is so important to our school.
A particularly special part of the ceremony is wrapping our newcomers in the Korowai o Manaaki - our cloak of care. This taonga (treasure) is reserved for special occasions, and when it is placed around someone's shoulders, we are gifting them the aroha of all those who have worn it before. It is our way of saying, you belong here.
A huge thank you to all of the students who contributed to making the pōwhiri such a special occasion. Whether you greeted our visitors at the gate, performed the karanga, spoke in te reo Māori, or proudly took part in the haka pōwhiri, you represented our school wonderfully.
A special thank you also to Mrs Webling, who has taken on the responsibility of leading our pōwhiri following Mrs Pretty's departure to begin her Australian adventure!
Bookings are still open for our Learning Conferences on Wednesday 29 July and Thursday 30 July. School will finish at 3:00pm as normal on both of these days.
You can book using the Skool Loop app. Simply open the app, choose Vogeltown School, then select Bookings and follow the prompts. If you require assistance with your booking please contact the senior office who will be happy to help you. Please note that learning conferences with Miss Cleaver and Mr Gibson will have a slightly different focus, as they have only recently begun teaching at Vogeltown School.
Learning conferences are a valuable opportunity to celebrate your child's progress and discuss their next learning steps. To make the most of your time together:
- Read your child's report before the conference and note any questions.
- Talk with your child about what they are enjoying, what they are proud of, and any challenges they are experiencing.
- Ask about your child's strengths, next learning steps, and how you can best support learning at home.
- Raise any questions about your child's wellbeing, friendships, or engagement at school.
These conversations provide a valuable window into your child's learning and help strengthen the partnership between home and school. If you feel more time is needed, we are always happy to arrange a follow-up meeting.
We are keen to ensure any issues or concerns are resolved at the lowest level possible. Anyone who has one should raise it as soon as possible with the most appropriate person. This is usually the staff member directly involved.
Simply contact the person involved to arrange a time to discuss the matter privately. Indicate what the concern is about and let them know if you’ll bring a support person to the meeting. Be prepared to listen to different points of view and try to work towards a resolution. In some cases, finding a resolution may require another meeting and/or involve senior management.
If you have a concern about a student who is not your child, our school policy is that you contact the school rather than approaching the student or their whānau directly. Please speak with an appropriate staff member, share what has happened, and we will take some time to look into the situation and get back to you.
New Plymouth District Council have invited us to take part in the Taranaki Milk Top Challenge!
This challenge is aimed at collecting milk bottle tops and recycling them instead of them going into landfill.
We encourage all tamariki to bring in clean milk bottle tops to the junior or senior office. The schools with the highest weight of milk tops per student will win some great prizes!
Please note we cannot take any other lids - no soft drink / juice lids, or any other bottle lids.
Thank you for your support!
Congratulations to the tamariki who received a principal's award at today's full school assembly:
Breanna Te Riini, Leviticus Raison, Praise Sione, Mac Davis, Oliver Meyer, Jack Perrett, Ariah-Jay Benton, Rylee Darbyshire, Brianna Catchpole, Leo de Beer, Neve Lepper, Remi Russell, Alba O'Donovan, Keiran Dalleg, Sebastian Hotter, Zavier Steer, Ashton Barraclough, Felicity Donovan, Yethuli Kalutara, Archie Hedley, Emily Bush, Ruuana Repia, Nuraan Elmezughi, Curtis McDonald, Edie Selby-Dunford, Joshua Robins, Jack Webling, Aeva Dalleg, Harry Hunt, Marlee Shotter, Hanna Rose, Theodore Allen.
Ka mau te wehi!
It is important that we know if you have a child starting school sometime in the remainder of this year. This will allow us to put organisation in place for new students - especially for those beginning school, and to understand our predicted roll throughout the year.
You can do this by contacting the office to confirm that we have your child on our records, or by completing an enrolment form (which can be collected from the school or downloaded off our website).
If you know of anyone else living in zone that may be looking to enrol then please share this message with them.
TERM CALENDAR
Put all these dates in your diary or your phone! Remember we will put all updates on Facebook, Skool Loop and Seesaw.
TERM 3 2026
28 July: Interschool rugby semifinal vs Stratford Primary, kick off 12:00pm (at Stratford)
29 July: Learning Conferences, 3:15pm to 7:00pm
30 July: Learning Conferences, 3:15pm to 6:15pm
31 July: Red Nose Day (dress in red, gold coin donation appreciated)
4 August: BOT Meeting, 6:30pm
10-14 August: Aotearoa School Library Week
11 August: Interschool vs Central School (away) - Carrington Shield
12 August: Book Character Dress Up Day
24 August: Cohort Entry #2 starts
25 September: Last day of Term 3
Thank you for the ongoing support of Vogeltown School, we really appreciate the efforts everyone makes to ensure our kura is such a great place to learn and work!
On behalf of the Vogeltown team, ka kite ano! Have a great weekend!
The VS team
Email: office@vogeltown.school.nz
Website: www.vogeltown.school.nz
Location: Vogeltown School Huatoki Street, Vogeltown, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Phone: (06) 753 6843
Our school policies, like many schools, are now in an online system through a portal called 'Schooldocs'. Any time you want to bring up a school policy, just log in to schooldocs and you can access the policies.
The login is: vogeltown
The password: huatoki
Website link to Schooldocs.
