School Newsletter Term 2, Week 7

Our property journey continues to evolve as we focus on creating functional, sustainable spaces that directly support our students’ learning and connection to the environment. From fresh developments in our outdoor learning spaces to the ongoing maintenance of our core infrastructure, here is where our property journey stands this winter.

The Enviro Area Upgrade & The Power Hour Group

The biggest highlight of this term is the official completion of our newly upgraded Enviro Area. We have transformed this zone to incorporate a beautifully designated learning and teaching space. This outdoor classroom allows our kaiako (teachers) and tamariki (children) to take education outside the traditional four walls, blending practical environmental science with daily learning.

Of course, a dynamic space like this requires dedicated care. We are thrilled to share that our Power Hour group will be completely taking the reins when it comes to maintaining the Enviro area. This enthusiastic team is taking real ownership of the space, ensuring it remains tidy, vibrant, and ready for classes to use.

Propagating the Future: Our Rongoā Garden

The responsibilities of the Power Hour group do not stop at standard weeding and tidying. They are also stepping into the vital role of plant caretakers for our Rongoā garden (traditional Māori medicinal garden). Following our carefully structured school planting plan, the group will be responsible for propagating seedlings over the coming months.

This hands-on process will teach our students the science of propagation while embedding a deeper understanding of traditional te ao Māori practices and the healing properties of native flora.

Infrastructure Challenges: The Great Leaf Battle

While we celebrate these wonderful green additions, our property journey also includes the less glamorous—but entirely essential—tasks of school maintenance. As the winter weather settles in, we continue to battle the constant influx of leaves filling our guttering systems. The mature trees that give our school its beautiful character also keep our property team working around the clock to prevent blockages and water build-up. It is a continuous effort, but keeping our drainage clear ensures our classrooms stay dry and safe.

Thank you to everyone in our community, especially our hard-working Power Hour students, for helping us look after our physical environment as we grow together.

Ngā mihi nui,

.

Tony West

Principal

PLEASE DO NOT TXT OR EMAIL THE CLASSROOM TEACHER.

ALL ABSENCES SHOULD BE ADVISED VIA THE OFFICE.

Please remember to advise the office by 8.30am if your child is not attending school.

You can telephone 358-2465 and leave a message or txt 021 118 0156.

ABSENCES CAN ALSO BE SENT EASILY THROUGH OUR SCHOOL APP and our website.

In both cases please give a reason for absence.

Thank you.

We would love to see you in the hall for a 2.10pm start.

What a fantastic day we had at our West End School Cross Country! We were incredibly proud of all our students, who showed outstanding Whakamana by giving their very best effort in every race.

It was wonderful to see so many whānau members coming along to support our tamariki and to witness students encouraging and cheering each other on throughout the day. The positive atmosphere and school spirit made the event extra special.

A huge congratulations to all students who placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in their races. Certificates will be presented during our Week 9 VIBE assembly.

Most importantly, a massive well done to every student who crossed the finish line. No matter where you placed, completing the course was a fantastic achievement and something to be proud of. Your determination, resilience, and effort truly reflected our school values.

Ka pai, West End School!

Our Jumping June fundraising page is now live and ready to go!

Jumping June is a fun school-wide skipping fundraiser that supports the Heart Foundation while encouraging our tamariki to stay active throughout June.

If you would like to support our kura, please set up a fundraing account and share your fundraising page with your whānau and friends:

Direct student registration link: https://www.jumpingjune.org.nz/register/west-end-school-palmerston-north/defaultregistrationform

Password: westend

To celebrate Jumping June, we will be holding a special Red Dress-Up Day on Friday 19 June. Students are encouraged to come dressed in red and get involved in the fun!

There will be prizes for:

Best dressed
Most creative outfit

At lunchtime, weather permitting, there will be music playing on the courts and students will have the opportunity to show off their skipping rope skills. Prizes will also be awarded for some outstanding skipping performances.

Thank you for your support in helping us raise funds for a great cause while having fun and staying active.

Since Week 5 of this term, West End School has been enjoying going to Power Hour every Wednesday. The Photography group went around during the week and took some photos of what we have been learning in each activity.

Sabreen and Riza: For baking we have been learning how to read recipes, and follow instructions. We learn how to use the equipment safely. We enjoy working together, learning new baking skills and tasting our yummy baking the next day. We are making a recipe book with all of our recipes.

Jury: At Kapa Haka we have been teaching the Tipuranga children new waiata, learning new haka and poi and got ready to perform at the Ora Konnect Whānau Success Day. I enjoy doing the poi the most because you can do some cool things with the poi.

Mehzabeen: For photography we have been learning about changing colours from dark to light and using burst mode. We have taken all of these photos you see now. I enjoy taking photos of my friends and other people.

Max: For Enviro we have been doing bug hunts to see where they live such as spiders, ants, worms. We have also been transplanting vegetable plants like dill, beans, rainbow lettuce and strawberries which came from Plant to Plate. Mr B has done a stunning job of making our Enviro garden look great with an amazing teaching table. I enjoy learning about different types of plants and identifying them by smell. That’s pretty cool!

Liam B: We have been making robots. We have been coding them and using IQ which is a more advanced version of VEX Go where you will be able to grab things with the claw bot. I enjoy building and having fun, and at the end you get to see all the cool things your robot can do.

Ivy Martin: For craft we have been doing paper mache. We used a balloon and made 2 coats of paper to make a bowl. We have painted them and now we are making treasure chests out of egg cartons, using beads and lots of sequins. I like to learn about crafting.

Nia: For Mixed Art we have been experimenting with different art mediums such as pastel and pens. We’ve been working with the contrast of warm and cool colours and doing some weaving. I enjoy being able to make cool pieces of art to show my family and I just love art.

Mackenzie and Mary: For knitting, we are knitting some piggy squares that we will join together to make a quilt to give to charity. I find knitting very relaxing, calm and quiet. You can hang out with my friends and do it at the same time.

Pippen: We have been building a dump truck and making it so that it can tip 45 degrees and putting scrunched up paper balls so it can dump out. We have had to figure out the volume the dump truck can hold. I enjoy designing and creating using the Epro8 equipment.

We have held auditions for our main roles and allocated some of the speaking parts for our 2026 West End Show. We will be starting the process of now getting this Production ready and recording some of the voices towards the end of the term.

If you wish to help out with costumes or props, please reach out to classroom teachers if you can offer some assistance. If you have any questions, please email Dan Minchin dminchin@westend.school.nz and he'll be happy to help.

Last week we celebrated the King’s birthday in Te Whare Hononga. Throughout the week we made crowns and prepared shared Kai. On Thursday we dressed up, cooked and ate our party food while proudly wearing our crowns.

“He rau ringa e oti ai - Many hands will complete the work”.

It has been an exciting time for the students in room 14! Being located by the field has allowed the students a front row seat to watch Mr B work on our School's exciting new project.

The children were delighted to see the concrete mixer at school. Having recently completed science learning about states of matter, this gave so much context to our learning as we saw the concrete poured as a liquid and then set into a solid. Mr B was very patient as he explained to us how the cement powder and water are mixed together. He even gave us our own bucket of concrete to experiment with!

We also used our new knowledge in our writing. Our writing learning focus this term is explanation. Students shared their learning about concrete in their writing. Please see these awesome examples of our mahi. The students have shown whakamana as they write and sound out new words.

Thank you to Mr B for teaching us all these things! We may have some future tradies in Room 14!

Over the past few weeks, we have been learning about ANZAC Day and the Battle of Gallipoli in Türkiye in 1915 during World War One.

We learnt why poppies are worn and given out on ANZAC Day, and how the poppy has become a symbol of remembrance for the soldiers who lost their lives in war. We also discussed the importance of remembering the sacrifices made by those who served their countries.

As part of our learning, we looked at the Cenotaph in Te Marae o Hine, The Square, here in Palmerston North. We learnt that it is a special place where people gather on ANZAC Day to remember and honour those who served and those who never returned home.

In class, we have created our own poppy artwork using paper art techniques. While making our poppies, we showed Mana Aotūroa through our creativity and willingness to explore new art skills. We also demonstrated Whakamana by persevering when our work was challenging and staying focused to create our best pieces.

Room 4 recently had an amazing time participating in the Plant to Plate programme. Throughout the programme, we learned how to use vegetables and fruits from our school garden and from our local community to create delicious sweet and savoury treats.

We had the opportunity to experience both gardening and cooking. In the garden, we planted seedlings and learned about soil, nutrients, and what plants need to grow healthy and strong. In the kitchen, we developed important cooking skills, including how to safely follow a recipe, use knives and peelers, measure ingredients, and prepare a variety of foods.

We enjoyed making many tasty dishes and drinks throughout the programme. Our favourite foods were the sushi and the delicious banana and feijoa cake. We also loved making and tasting the refreshing lemon and orange drinks.

Plant to Plate was a fantastic hands-on learning experience that helped us understand where our food comes from and how healthy ingredients can be turned into yummy meals and treats. We had so much fun learning new skills and trying new foods!

Mānawa Maiea te Mātahi o te tau! Kei te ako matou Matariki me Puanga. We have been learning about the stars of Matariki. Our favourite star is Hiwa-i-te-rangi where we share our hopes, dreams and wishes. Some of our thoughts:

Malachi: I want to do Kapahaka all day.

Storm: I hope to extend my pepeha.

Memphis: I want to learn maths.

Aya: I hope to be a māori teacher

Evalee: I want to learn poi.

WEEK 7

• VIBE Assembly (Puāwaitanga): Friday 5 June
• EPIC Music - Friday 5 June

WEEK 8

• Power Hour: Wednesday 10 June
• Whānau Hui (Pihipihinga): 10 June
• EPIC Music - Friday 12 June

WEEK 9

• Power Hour: Wednesday 17 June
• Plant to Plate (Room 5) - Wednesday 17 June
• PTA Disco - Thursday 18 June
• EPIC Music - Friday 19 June
• Jumping June - Friday 19 June
• VIBE Assembly (Tipuranga) - Friday 19 June

WEEK 10

• Power Hour: Wednesday 24 June
• Matariki Hangi: Thursday 25 June
• EPIC Music - Friday 26 June
• Pihipihinga Noho Marae - Friday 26 June

WEEK 11 - Matariki Week

• Power Hour: Wednesday 1 July
• EPIC Music - Friday 3 July
• VIBE Assembly (Pihipihinga) - Friday 3 July
• Last Day of Term 2 - Friday 3 July

TERM 2 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS: Friday 3rd July - Monday 20 July

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

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