School Newsletter Term 3, Week 2

Kia ora e te whānau,

It has been an action-packed fortnight filled with exciting cultural connections, important learning transitions, and steady growth across our school.

Preparing Our Year 6s for the Next Step

Transitioning to intermediate school is a huge milestone, and we are working hard to ensure our Year 6 students feel confident, excited, and prepared for the journey ahead.

Recently, we were delighted to welcome staff and student representatives from Monrad Intermediate to our school. They spent time chatting with our Year 6s, sharing insights into life at Monrad, answering curious questions, and giving our students a taste of what to expect next year.

Adding to the excitement, our Year 6 cohort also had the opportunity to visit Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School (PNINS) for an immersive introduction to intermediate schooling. During the visit, our students explored the campus, discussed specialised subjects, and got a real feel for the vibrant day-to-day life of an intermediate student.

We are incredibly proud of how maturely our Year 6's represented our school during these visits. They asked thoughtful questions and showed great enthusiasm for their upcoming adventure!

Welcoming Our Youngest Learners

While our Year 6s are looking toward the future, our junior school continues to bustle with new energy! We have had a wonderful time running our New Entrant visits, helping our newest and smallest tamariki get familiar with their classrooms, meet their teachers, and settle into school routines.

Because of this steady growth, we are thrilled to announce that a brand-new Junior classroom will be opening next week! Opening a new space allows us to keep class sizes comfortable, ensuring our newest learners receive the individual support and nurture they need as they start their educational journey. A warm welcome to all the new whānau joining our school community next week—we are so happy to have you here.

Cultural Exchange: Hosting Namiki High School

One of the early highlights of our term was hosting students from Namiki High School in Japan. As part of our treasured annual cultural exchange, the visiting Japanese students joined our Pihipihinga team, immersing themselves in our school culture while sharing their own rich heritage with us.

Our Pihipihinga students were fantastic hosts, teaching our guests local games, practicing language skills, and working together on collaborative projects. In return, the Namiki students shared aspects of Japanese culture, traditions, and school life.

These annual visits offer an incredible window to the world for our tamariki. Seeing our students build genuine connections across cultures, overcome language barriers with smiles and laughter, and show authentic manaakitanga was truly heart-warming. A huge thank you to the staff who helped make this year’s exchange such a memorable success.

West End School - Te Kura O Urumutu

Commonwealth Games Inquiry Learning

As part of our inquiry learning, we have been exploring the 2026 Commonwealth Games and discovering what makes this international event so unique. We learnt that the Commonwealth Games are the third-largest international sporting event in the world, with 74 nations and territories coming together in Glasgow from 23 July to 2 August 2026.

Working collaboratively, we created a stunning display featuring the flags of 56 Commonwealth nations. This artwork sparked many rich discussions as we investigated where each country is located, the continent it belongs to, its capital city, land size, and population. Using a world map, we located many countries that were completely new to us and compared them with Aotearoa New Zealand.

The holidays certainly didn't slow down our TWNOT students! As part of our Matariki inquiry, students were challenged to design and build their own pātaka kai at home.

It was fantastic to see Mana Aotūroa in action as students embraced creativity, problem-solving, and innovation throughout the design process. They experimented with different materials, adjusted and improved their designs when things didn't go to plan, and demonstrated resilience to overcome challenges. Students also communicated their ideas clearly, sharing the thinking behind their designs and explaining how a pātaka kai protects and stores food.

The result was an impressive collection of unique, well-crafted pātaka kai that showcased not only students' practical skills but also their curiosity, perseverance, and pride in their learning. Ka rawe, TWNOT! We are incredibly proud of your creativity and the effort you put into this challenge.