Kia ora Vogeltown whānau,

Yesterday we celebrated our amazing support staff at Vogeltown School. While schools are often seen as places led by teachers, it is our support staff who also carry a significant workload and play a vital role in the day-to-day running of our kura. They can be the first point of contact for many whānau, the ones called in to fix things, and those who provide crucial support for both inclusion and learning in our classrooms.

At Vogeltown School, we are fortunate to have ten dedicated Teacher Aides who support individual learners and targeted groups, deliver ESOL programmes, and run speech and language sessions. Working alongside them are Suzy, Annie, and Michelle in our school offices, keeping everything running smoothly and Shane, who takes care of our grounds. We are also grateful to Julie Scott, who provides structured literacy support for our developing readers.

Laura Seed looks after our teacher aides and carefully organises them to meet the diverse needs across our classrooms. This requires flexibility, collaboration, and strong partnerships between both teachers and teacher aides and the impact of this is most evident during IEPs, where their initiative and dedication shine through as we celebrate the progress our learners make.

A big thank you to all of our support staff for the important contribution you make to our school—we simply couldn’t do what we do without you!

Hei konā mai (goodbye for now).

Congratulations to all the tamariki who received a principal's award at today's assembly:

Michael Brown, Simone Northcott-Hill, Morgan de Villiers , Archie Brewer, Tuuaga Sione, Jack Perrett, Isabel Wallace, Alba O'Donovan , Ava Ackerman, Charlie Rippey, Tini Anthony, Finn Cowley, Emelia Stirling, Arden Looms, Te Ara Ripeka Rangiwai, Logan Wiid, Emmeline Penberth, Frankie McClean, Jovi Newland, Thomasin Coates, Zaria Wiseman, Harlem French Te Awhe, Hunter Keat, Coby Raxworthy-Crewe, Sophie French, Kevin Tolledo, Lucas Viss, Austin Falconer, Kora Haimona, Mack Cozens.

Ka mau te wehi!

Our Home and School Committee held their AGM this week, providing a great opportunity to reflect on what was a very successful year in 2024. A big thank you goes to Angela, Nicola, and Renee for their work in the executive roles of Chairperson, Treasurer, and Secretary, and to the wider committee as well for their efforts over this time.

The Home and School Committee play an important role in strengthening the connection between home and school, and helping to build a welcoming school community. They give generously of their time to organise events, fundraise for resources, and assist at school events. Their efforts directly benefit our children-whether through new equipment, experiences and opportunities, or simply helping make things run smoothly behind the scenes.

If you’re looking for a way to get more involved in school life, we invite you to come along and join them. It’s a great way to meet other parents, contribute to the school community, and have a bit of fun along the way. Many hands make light work, and having more people involved means the load is a little lighter for all those involved. Everyone is welcome-whether you can help regularly or just every now and then.

Great effort Vogeltown School and to all those who came along to school dressed in pink!

Celebrated annually around the globe, Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against bullying, mobilising their whole school, after a peer was bullied for wearing a pink shirt.

If there is ever a time when your child is feeling threatened or unsafe enscourage them to use their WITS. WITS stands for:

Walk away: walk away from the situation where they feel unsafe or provoked.

I messages: respectfully use “I messages” to let the person let the other person know that their behaviour or words are unkind.

Tell someone: if the situation doesn’t improve seek help from an adult, such as a teacher, as soon as possible.

Stay calm: remaining calm will help the situation getting worse and allow everyone to make better choices.

The sun was shining on Wednesday for our interschool fixture against West End School. Our netball, rugby and football teams had some good practices during the week and were excited for another home game. We are also really proud of how all of the children are respreseting themselves and the school during these fixtures.

The results were as follows:

Netball A: 6-4 to Vogeltown
Netball B: 8-0 to Vogeltown
Football: 2-0 to West End
Rugby: 50-0 to Vogeltown

A big thanks to all those who came down to support our teams. Our next fixture is on Wednesday 4th June vs Woodleigh School, held at Woodleigh.

We’re a place with quite a few staff, so there’s always someone doing something a bit silly-usually not on purpose though! To celebrate the lighter side of life, we have the Turkey Award, and this week the competition was fierce!

This week's lucky recipient is Dani, and here she is receiving her well-deserved award! The details are a little scarce, but whispers around the place suggest it may have involved a staple gun...and a thumb!

We had the children from Room 13 planting seeds the other day, with the help of Bill Clarkson. They planted kohekohe, pukatea, and titoki-filling 10 seed trays in all. This is something they really enjoy doing and is also a great opportunity to learn about the plants.

This is to let you know that we will be holding a Teacher Only Day on Friday 30th May. On this day, school will be closed for instruction. Please note: the following Monday is King’s Birthday.

The focus of this day is for our teaching team to continue deepening their understanding of the new curriculum refresh, including how it will shape teaching and learning within our school.

We appreciate your support in making this time available for staff.

The awesome team at GameChanger have Vogeltown School Hoodies available to order. You can try a sample on for size at their store, which is on the corner of Huatoki and Carrington Street. The link to order is below:

For our Year 6 whānau - please note that enrolments for 2026 open on Tuesday 1st July 2025. We will receive enrolment packs to distribute in the last week of Term 2. All information and dates can be found on the Highlands website - https://highlands.school.nz/zone-info-enrolment/enrolment/

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 2 2025

20 May - National Young Leaders Day in Palmerston North (Class Reps)

23 May - 4 Year Old Friday and Whānau event (tug of war)

26 May - Term 2 cohort entry 2

30 May - Teacher only day - school closed for instruction

2 June - Kings Birthday - school closed for instruction

4 June - Interschool vs Woodleigh (at Woodleigh)

6 June - 4 Year Old Friday

10 June - BOT meeting

13 June - Dads and Lads, School assembly hosted by Room 13

16 June - Kiwi Math Competition, Kiwi Science Competition

17 June - Kiwi English Competition

18 June - Interschool vs Welbourn (at Vogeltown)

18 June - Starting School the VS Way, 5pm to 6pm

19 June - Whānau event (gumboot throw)

20 June - Matariki - school closed for instruction

25 June - Interschool vs Central (at Central)

26 June - Vogeltowner Assembly

27 June - Whole school assembly

27 June - 4 Year Old Friday, last day of Term 2

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! Enjoy the school holidays!

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

The website link to Schooldocs is below.