Kōkopu Newsletter

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

What a fantastic few weeks we have had at Kokopu School! The energy around our school grounds has been vibrant, and it has been an absolute joy seeing our tamariki live out our motto, Growing Together, Learning Forever, in everything they turn their hands to.

Celebrating Our Students & Community Spirit

A massive congratulations to all of our students who ran in the Taniwha Challenge! Thanks to your incredible running, determination, and combined effort, we won the Taniwha Shield this year! Seeing our runners push through and give their absolute best was a wonderful reflection of Respect for Ourselves.

I would also like to extend a huge thank you to Te Horo School for continuing to organise this fantastic event. It is not easy to cater to everyone, but they always manage to pull it off, even in the rain! We are so grateful for our wider community partnerships that make these experiences possible for our tamariki.

Back in the classroom, the learning has been equally impressive. Students have been hard at work preparing for their upcoming speeches. Across all year levels, our teaching staff have put a lot of focus into transactional writing, particularly persuasive writing. It has been great to watch students find topics they are genuinely passionate about, research them deeply, and craft compelling arguments to convince others. This process is a key part of building confident, articulate learners who can share their voices with others.

Strategic Goals & Staff Shout-Out

• As we progress through our Strategic Plan, our commitment to strengthening digital safety and citizenship across our learning environment remains a top priority.
  Qustodio Parent App: Don’t forget about our free Qustodio Parent App that enables you to monitor your children’s devices. It is provided by the same online safety team we use for our school system. As a parent myself, I know how challenging it can be to manage screen time and keep our children safe online. I highly recommend installing this tool to help manage devices, track online activity, and access expert safety advice. You can download it directly here: Kokopu Online Safety Hub.

https://kokopu.onlinesafetyhub.nz/parent/topics/Qustodio

Winter Bugs
We had almost 20% of our students away last week with winter bugs, colds, and flu. These seasonal illnesses are currently affecting both students and staff. If your child is showing any symptoms or feeling unwell, please keep them home so we can prevent passing illnesses around our school community. Thank you for your support in keeping everyone healthy!

Thank you all for your ongoing support, encouragement, and partnership. Enjoy the rest of your week, and keep warm!

Nāku noa, nā,

Regards

Yaron Overeem

Principal

Our school cross country is happening tomorrow Tuesday the 18th of August. Everyone is welcome!

We will start about 9:15am.

Timing of the races is difficult to determine. A list of race order is below.
Parents are welcome to participate in the “masters Race” in the afternoon,

Race Order -(Age at 1st of January)

Years 1-3 only

· Preschool race – 200m

• 4 Year Old Girls 900m

• 4 Year Old Boys 900m

• 5 Year Old Girls 900m

• 5 Year Old Boys 900m

• 6 Year Old Girls 900m

• 6 Year Old Boys 900m

• Y3, 7 Year Old Girls 1200m (No year 4’s)

• Y3, 7 Year Old Boys 1200m (No year 4’s)

Year 4-8

• Y4 7 & 8 Years Girls 1700m

• Y4 7 & 8 Years Boys 1700m

• 9 Year Old Girls 2000m

• 9 Year Old Boys 2000m

• 10 Year Old Girls 2000m (Timed)

• 10 Year Old Boys 2000m (Timed)

• Masters/parents Race 1700m (Timed)

• 11 Year Old Girls 2400m (Timed)

• 11 Year Old Boys 2400m (Timed)

• 12+ Year Olds Girls 2400m (Timed)

• 12+ Year Olds Boys 2400m (Timed)

Now that students are starting to get their animals for ag day can you please register them for the day. 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

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.

The PTA will be running raffles on the night and need donated items please. See the notice above.

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

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

office@kokopu.school.nz.

It was tremondous for Kokopu School to win the Taniwha Shield this year.

Congratulations to all the children who competed in this gruelling event. All of you made a marvellous effort.

The following children placed in their respective events.

1st - Harlow Schraag, Ryan Heasley, Theia Waterhouse, Soren Weavers, Caeden McMurchy, Indi Weavers.

2nd - Harper Schraag

3rd - Ayla Fleming, Lucy Dudley, Nova Weavers, Journey Wickman, Khan Clapperton, Jakya Wilson, Harvey Woods, Cooper McBeth.

Thank you to our Kokopu mathex teams who competed in the event last week. Although no teams placed it was a great to see you trying your best. A huge thanks to the parents who supported us by transporting the kids.

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.

Please note, we have moved our school speeches to the 15th of September.

Term 3 2026

Mon 17/08 BOT meeting

Tue 18/08 Kokopu School Cross Country

Wed 26/08 Girls High Enrolment Interviews (held at Maungatapere School)

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