VOGELTOWN SCHOOL TE KURA O HUATOKI
WEEK 6, TERM 2, 2026
The farmer and the donkey
One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway — it just wasn’t worth the hassle to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all of his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realised what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down.
A while later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer’s neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
There is a powerful message in this story for learning and life. At times, learning can feel hard, frustrating, or overwhelming. Mistakes, setbacks, challenges, and even criticism can feel like the dirt being piled on top of us. However, growth often comes from how we respond to those moments. Successful learners are not people who never struggle - they are people who keep going, adapt, and use challenges as opportunities to move forward. Every mistake teaches something, every challenge builds resilience, and every step forward helps us grow stronger, more capable, and more confident. Like the donkey, we can learn to shake things off, step up, and keep moving forward.
We are delighted to announce that Mr Simon Gibson will be taking over as the teacher in Room 10. As a school, we are looking forward to welcoming Simon into the Vogeltown School community. We are confident he will be a wonderful addition to the team and will continue the great work started by Rachel.
Kia ora koutou,
I’m really excited to be joining the Vogeltown School community this year and introducing myself to students, parents, and whānau. I am heading into my 10th year of teaching and have spent the past two and a half years teaching in North Queensland, Australia. In my most recent role, I have also worked as a team leader, supporting both students and staff across the school. Before moving to Australia, I taught in Taranaki, where I also grew up as a child, so it feels very special to be returning home and becoming part of the Vogeltown School community. I have a real passion for teaching and creating a classroom environment where students feel calm, supported, and confident to challenge themselves. I value building positive relationships with students and whānau and aim to bring a calm, consistent, and encouraging teaching style to the classroom each day. Outside of school, I enjoy football and surfing, and I’m looking forward to getting involved in the wider school community and getting to know everyone throughout the year.
Schools across New Zealand are making changes to reporting to align with the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum and updated Ministry of Education expectations. The aim is to provide parents and whānau with clearer, more consistent information about how children are progressing and achieving at school.
Reports will now include some common features across schools, particularly in reading, writing, and mathematics. These include:
- Progress descriptors to show how your child is progressing in relation to year-level expectations
- Information showing progress over time
- Information about what the child can do
- Next learning steps
- Ideas for supporting learning at home
- Assessment and attendance information
You may notice that achievement is described differently as well - using the progress descriptors of Emerging, Developing, Consolidating, Proficient, Exceeding to describe achievement. When deciding these, teacher judgements continue to be based on a range of evidence gathered over time, including classroom observations, work samples, conversations with students, and assessment information.
This is a reminder that we have another teacher only day at the end of this term:
- Friday 3 July - Last day of Term 2 - Mathematics Teacher Only Day (school closed for instruction)
The learning for teachers on these days will focus on strengthening their knowledge of the new mathematics curriculum, deepening their understanding of the science of learning, and unpacking the different strands of mathematics in detail.
These days are an important part of ensuring our staff are well equipped to deliver high-quality mathematics teaching for all learners.
We love celebrating the individual efforts of our children who are reading outside of school hours. It’s been fantastic to see so many of our tamariki earning certificates!
We award certificates for every 25 nights of reading completed. These certificates are handed out during syndicate assemblies, with special recognition given in whole school assemblies to milestone achievements like 100 and 200 nights.
A night is a minimum of 10 minutes reading for children in the Taranaki syndicate, 15 minutes for children in the Huatoki syndicate, and 20 minutes for students in the Paetoki syndicate. With certificates being regularly given out it is important that children are having their reading signed off by a parent at home on a daily basis.
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 long 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.
