Kia ora whānau,

Tēnā koutou, parents, whānau and friends of Golden Sands School.

It has been a busy and productive term and we have some exciting updates to share with our school community!

Celebrating Our Success: ERO Report 2026

We recently welcomed the Education Review Office (ERO) to our school and we are incredibly proud to share a summary of their findings. The report highlights that our school planning and conditions are driving "excellent school performance".

Key findings from the report include:

Strong Leadership: Senior leaders provide cohesive, effective leadership that supports high expectations and continuous improvement for learner success and wellbeing.
High-Quality Teaching: Learners benefit from high-quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.
Academic Achievement: Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level in reading, while a large majority do so in writing and mathematics.
Inclusive Environment: Learners are highly engaged within inclusive, responsive environments that lead to a strong sense of belonging.
Support for All: Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals.
Collaborative Culture: Teachers benefit from well-embedded collaborative practices and robust processes to reflect on and adapt their teaching.

We are very proud of these results, as they reflect the collective effort of our dedicated staff, hardworking students and supportive community.

Splash into Learning: New Water Play Area

We are thrilled to announce that our brand-new water play area is mostly complete! This fantastic new space is designed to spark curiosity and support learning through play, featuring interactive dams and water pumps that will allow our tamariki to explore the flow of water firsthand.

We are working hard to put the finishing touches on the area and hope to have it officially open for students as early as next week. If not, it will be fully ready for the beginning of Term 2. We can’t wait to see the creative problem-solving and fun that happens in this new space!

Bricks Show

A big thank you to all whānau who supported the Bricks Show recently held in the MPS. We raised over $2000 at this event from entry and raffle sales. Thanks for your support.

Assemblies

Our first school assembly is coming up on Thursday 2 April at 9am. Rutherford Learning Community will be hosting this assembly and I know they are excited to share their learning with you all.

Have a great week everyone and enjoy the Easter break.

Ngā mihi nui,

Melanie Taylor

Principal

Stay In The Loop

We have many ways that you can stay in the loop with everything that happens at Golden Sands School.
Ways to stay in touch:

Hero app - all school communication is through Hero, newsletters, class updates, learning stories etc.
Newsletter - emailed fortnightly
Website - school calendar updated regularly, Parent Portal page, general info
Facebook closed group (request to join) - reminders, sports events, general info
Instagram page - reminders, general info
Sports Info - sports calendar & website page or email sport@goldensands.school.nz

Facebook (Click here to join our GSS Facebook group)

If you have not joined our Facebook group, please search for it and request to join. This is a closed group so you will be asked who the children you are connected to are. We share lots of real-time information here with photos and updates included.

School App (Click here to download our School App)

You can also download our school app. When there is anything new to know about you will get notifications if you have enabled them.

Spotta Crack

https://www.windscreenz.com/school

Do you have a cracked windscreen or know someone who does?

If so, refer to Windscreenz and get some CASH for our school.