School Newsletter Term 4, Week 10

Kia ora,

As we reach the end of the school year, there is a collective feeling of relief and pride. We have crossed the finish line of a marathon year. While it is easy to focus simply on the fact that we made it, I want to highlight how we made it: through Resilience.

This year, resilience wasn’t just about "toughing it out." It was about the positive growth that happens when things don't go to plan. We saw students turn challenges into confidence and setbacks into empathy. We saw them lift one another up and realize that they are stronger than their circumstances.

A Village of Support No one builds resilience alone. Our students have thrived because of the incredible ecosystem supporting them. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the people who make this school what it is:

• Our Board of Trustees and Senior Leadership Team: For your strategic vision and steady guidance.

• Our Teachers and Teacher Aides: For being mentors, bridge-builders, and the heartbeat of our classrooms.

• Our Support Staff: To our Office Team for being the welcoming face of the school, and our Property Manager for keeping our environment safe and cared for.

• The PTA: For your tireless energy in fundraising and building community spirit.

Looking Ahead To Our Students: pack the resilience you built this year in your suitcase for the future. Remember that tough times don’t last, but resilient people do.

I wish you all a safe, restful, and happy holiday. Enjoy the break, recharge your batteries, and take pride in all we have achieved together.

Ngā mihi

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Tony West

Principal

West End School - Te Kura O Urumutu

As the year draws to a close, we say a heartfelt thank you and goodbye to several wonderful staff members who have made significant contributions to West End School. We wish Deana Garstang (currently on Maternity Leave) and Amy Burch (taking leave for her first child) the very best as they focus on their families, and we look forward to welcoming Deana back as she plans to return in Term 3 of 2026.

Congratulations to Georgia Black on her well-deserved promotion to a Senior School Leadership role at Hiwinui, a fantastic next step in her career! We also extend our gratitude to Clare McIllhatton, who has been teaching in our junior class for the past two years, and Katina Hughes, who has been a great addition, teaching for a term in our senior class and then stepping up to support our New Entrants for the second half of this term.

Finally, a huge thank you to our incredible team of Teacher Aides: Karma, Connor, Bella, Bex, and Laella. Each of these staff members has brought passion, dedication, and expertise to their roles, and it has truly been a privilege to have them as part of the West End School whānau. We wish you all the very best in your new adventures!

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Te Wao Nui o Tāne: Estelle Emery

Puāwaitanga: Mackenzie Linton

Tipuranga: Kaywin Way

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Te Wao Nui o Tāne: Luca Dalzell

Puāwaitanga: Mia Smith

Tipuranga: Eliza Jayasuriya

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Te Wao Nui o Tāne: Elizabeth Siano

Puāwaitanga: Aubree Potts

Tipuranga: Charlize Yorke

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Te Wao Nui o Tāne: Sage Hansen

Puāwaitanga: Pippen Le

Tipuranga: Areta Barker-Wharehinga

This week, Room 13 was learning about sound. We looked at what sound is, how it moves through different materials, and what objects make different sounds. We spent a long time exploring all of the different resources in our classroom to see what made sound and we found it VERY difficult to find anything that didn’t make a sound.

The closest things we could find that didn’t make noise were squashing playdough, sitting on cushions, and wiping the whiteboard with a cloth. We discovered that most things, including spray bottles, magnetic blocks, magnets, glue sticks and our own voices make noise. It was lots of fun making noises and using Mana Aotūroa to explore the physical world around us.

On Friday, Tipuranga Team had their fun day to celebrate the end of the school year. We decided to have a disco! We all got a glow stick and then went to the hall. The teachers had put up the black out curtains, so it was dark when we arrived. It was so cool! We danced away to our favourite songs and had so much fun. When the disco finished, we all went and had an ice block. What a great way to end the year!

Room 7 have been exploring the wonderful world of words through a vibrant poetry focus. We have created colour poems, choosing our senses to paint pictures in our minds and then had to meet the challenge of only using that colour to illustrate a picture. We also stretched our thinking with anagrams, using the word dolphins to write about these wonderful sea mammals.

A real highlight was our elephant shape poems. Students crafted poems about elephants, then published them creatively by writing around the outline of an elephant silhouette. The final pieces look awesome.

Throughout this learning, we have shown Mana Aotūroa by taking risks with new vocabulary, presenting our ideas so that they ‘pop’ off the page, and giving things a go even when it felt challenging. We demonstrated whakamana by taking pride in our work, refining our ideas, and supporting one another to create our best possible poems.

Ruma Rua have been learning about the Pacific Islands. They had to use researching skills on the internet and work out how to present their information. Some have completed a poster with information, language of their country and even a poem about their chosen country. Ameihi mahi tamariki mā!

To celebrate the end-of-year proceedings, Room 4 ventured down to Rooms 16 and 17 in a tuakana–teina role. Together, they collaborated and created beautiful Christmas trees. All students enjoyed interacting with their peers and demonstrated wonderful manaakitanga.

On Tuesday our tamariki met their new classmates and teacher for the 2026 school year. We are very excited about the fun and learning in store for next year. Children would have brought a letter home sharing with you their classroom and teacher for next year as well as a stationery list.

Our first day back at school will be Monday 2nd February 2025 starting at 8.50am.

On Friday 30th January, teachers will be available in their classrooms from 9am - 11am if you wish to pop into the class for your and your child to meet the teacher and see the classroom they will be in for 2026. This information will be on the sheet your child brought home from the Meet the Class of '26 day on Tuesday 9th December.

On Tuesday, a team of 20 students represented us at the Manawatu Interschool Athletics. The conditions were perfect, and the children’s behaviour and performance were outstanding. We were proud to celebrate many top-10 placings across the day.

We are incredibly excited to announce the installation of brand new, state-of-the-art basketball hoops on our school grounds! These fantastic additions are the result of the tireless efforts and successful fundraising of our dedicated PTA. Thanks to their commitment to enhancing our students' experience, we now have top-quality equipment that will be a wonderful boost for physical education classes, and adding to morning tea and lunchtime fun. The sound of happy bouncing balls and cheering students proves they are already a huge hit! Please join us in giving a huge shout-out and a massive thank you to our PTA for making this slam-dunk dream a reality!

Term 1: Monday 29 Jan - Friday 11 April

Term 2: Monday 28 April - Friday 27 June

Term 3: Monday 14 July - Friday 19 Sept

Term 4: Monday 6 Oct - Friday 12 Dec

Term 1 for Term 2: Wednesday 26 February 2025

Term 2 for Term 3: Wednesday 14 May 2025

Term 3 for Term 4: Wednesday 30 July 2025

Term 4 for Term 1 2026: Wednesday 8 October 2025

Term 1: Monday 2 February - Friday 3 April

Term 2: Monday 20 April - Friday 3 July

Term 3: Monday 20 July - Friday 25 September

Term 4: Monday 12 October - Friday 11 December

Term 1 for Term 2: Wednesday 26 February 2026

Term 2 for Term 3: Wednesday 14 May 2026

Term 3 for Term 4: Wednesday 30 July 2026

Term 4 for Term 1 2027: Wednesday 7 October 2026

Event Date & Time

2nd Feb - 2nd March 2026

Venue

Skoglund Park and Freyberg Community Pool Palmerston North

Important Times

From 4.30 pm Check-in (New Registrations)*
5.20pm 7-9 years start
6.00pm 4-6 years start
6.30pm 10-12 years start
*Check-in closes 15 minutes prior to each race start time.

Courses

4-6 years: 300m run / 600m cycle / 1 length swim in teaching pool
7 years: 750m run / 1.5k cycle / 25m swim
8-9 years: 750m run / 1.5k cycle / 50m swim
10-12 years: 1.5k run / 3k cycle / 100m swim

RACE DATES

Monday 2nd FEB 2026
Monday 9th FEB 2026
Monday 16th FEB 2026
Monday 23rd FEB 2026
Monday 2nd MAR 2026

https://www.triclub.co.nz/events/2026-i-trid-the-tri-series

It is very important that families register with Kindo, as this is now the only way to register your child for school sports, and ordering PTA lunches.
Below are the links to register.
If you require help please call the Kindo helpdesk on

0508 454 636

New users need this link

Existing users need this link