Friday 13th November 2026 Newsletter
Friday 13th November 2026
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Kia Ora Parents & Whānau,
Another busy week at school, with plenty of sport and production activities keeping everyone on their toes!
Our students enjoyed their swimming lessons this week, along with a visit from Stu Brown from Active Southland.
Our Year 5 and 6 students also took part in the Northern Cup at Mossburn, competing in football, cricket, hockey and ki-o-rahi. The students demonstrated excellent behaviour throughout the day, and all three teams played really well. We are very proud of their efforts!
Meanwhile, production preparations are well underway, with all students and teachers working hard on learning lines, preparing props and practising songs. There is lots happening behind the scenes, and excitement is building!
We hope you will be able to join us for one of our performances on Tuesday 24th November at 1.00pm or 5.30pm. As our production is being held outdoors, we have a reserve date of Tuesday 1st December should the weather not be suitable. So, bring along your deckchairs and picnic rugs, settle in and enjoy what promises to be a fantastic outdoor show. We look forward to seeing you there! Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
Mihi mahana,
Andrea Holt
WELCOME
We would like to express a very warm welcome to Sinaya to Balfour School. Sinaya recently turned 5 and has joined Mrs McLean, Mrs Robb and the ever cute class of Tui! We hope you enjoy your journey at Balfour School.
PRINCIPAL'S AWARD
Mele - for being a thoughtful and considerate young person with a very big heart. You consistently look out for others, you are supportive and you use kind words. We are lucky to have you in Tui.
Jacob - for taking pride in your personal grooming and making a great effort to keep yourself neat and well-presented.
Elise - for your diligence, tidiness, attention to detail, honesty, kindness and helpfulness.
CLASS CERTIFICATES
Sinaya - What a fantastic start to your school journey Sinaya. You have been amazing.
Luca - for demonstrating outstanding mathematical skills and consistently producing work of an exceptional standard.
Alfonsina - for showing a lovely character through your kindness, respectful attitude and consistently using excellent manners towards others.
Bjorn - for adaptability and reliability especially in prop-making.
Albie - We are so proud of you and your amazing singing, listening carefully and following instructions and bringing awesome energy to the stage.
Waelyn - great writing in your assessment.
BIRTHDAYS
Birthday wishes this week to Sinaya.
We hope you had a fun birthday celebration.
Happy Birthday also to Mr Krishna for tomorrow.
We hope you have a fun birthday celebration too!!
PARKING OUTSIDE SCHOOL
A friendly reminder to all parents, caregivers and visitors that the bus bays must remain clear between 8:00am and 9:00am, and between 2:00pm and 3:00pm each school day. These areas are designated for school buses during student arrival and departure times. Please do not park or stop in the bus bays during these times, even for a short period. Thank you for your cooperation in helping us keep our students safe and traffic flowing smoothly.
HEALTHY LUNCHBOXES
A friendly reminder to please ensure your child brings a healthy, nutritious lunchbox to school each day. Having a good variety of food helps keep our students energised, focused and ready to learn throughout the day. We encourage plenty of healthy options, including fruit, vegetables, sandwiches and other nutritious snacks. We discourage chocolate bars and lollies in lunchboxes. Please make sure your child has enough food to keep them going, especially on busy days filled with learning and physical activities. Thank you for your support in helping our students develop healthy eating habits!
POOL ACCESS REMINDER
A reminder to all families using the school pool to please ensure you enter and exit through the pedestrian gate, rather than the vehicular gate. On a few occasions this week, the vehicular gate has been left open after use, which creates a potential safety risk for our children. It is important that we keep this gate closed at all times to help ensure the safety and security of everyone using the pool and school grounds.
BUS CHANGE REMINDER - PLEASE READ - PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL BUS CHANGES TO THE OFFICE
To help ensure your child's bus arrangements are communicated safely and in a timely manner, please do not email bus changes to the school. Emails are not always checked during the afternoon and there is a risk that important messages may be missed. If your child has a change to their usual bus plans, please send a text message or phone the school office instead. This ensures we receive the information promptly and can pass it on to the appropriate staff member before the end of the day. Thank you for your cooperation in helping us keep all students safe and accounted for at dismissal time.
CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS - TERM 4
Tuesday 24th November - Production 1pm and 5.30pm
Tuesday 1st December - Production reserve date
2nd - 4th December - Y3/4 camp - Omaui
Monday 14th December - Leavers ceremony
Monday 14th December - School closes 12.15pm
TERM DATES 2026
Monday 14th December - last day of Term 4
Tuesday 2nd February 2027 - Beginning of term 1
BOARD MEETING DATES FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR
TERM 4. - 9th December - 7.00pm
ASSEMBLY
Assembly is held on Friday mornings at 9.00am. Everyone is welcome.
You will receive a text message if your child is receiving a certificate, except if it is for a birthday certificate where we will presume you know they will automatically be receiving a certificate.
When we message to tell you your child is receiving a certificate can you please keep it as a surprise for them. Thank you in advance.
RECYCLED UNIFORMS
Recycled Uniforms Available
We have the following recycled school uniform items available:
2 × Size 8 Polo Shirts
3 × Size 8 Hoodies
If you are interested or would like more information, please contact the school office.
THANK YOU
A big thank you to Callum Black for coming in to fix the lawnmower during your work hours so our lawns could still be mowed while I was away. This was very much appreciated. Clive Lankshear
KORIMAKO -
It has been another busy and enjoyable week in Korimako, with sports, production preparations and classroom learning.
Northern Southland Cup: On Monday, our Years 5 and 6 students travelled to Mossburn for the Northern Southland Cup. Three teams participated in cricket, football, hockey and Ki-o-Rahi. The children enjoyed the competition, showed great sportsmanship and had the opportunity to make new friends.
School Production: Preparations continued this week as we get closer to production day. Students have been busy practising their roles. A big thank you to Mrs Kath Dillon for her ongoing support and assistance.
English – Camp Reflections: Students wrote recounts about their Dunedin camp experiences, sharing their favourite moments and memories. They also made thank-you cards to show appreciation to everyone who helped make our camp possible.
Mathematics: We focused on Perimeter and Area, learning how to calculate the distance around shapes and the space within them.
It has been great to see the students working enthusiastically and supporting one another. Well done, Korimako, for another wonderful week!
Ngā mihi,
Anish Krishna
Korimako Class Teacher
PIWAKAWAKA Kia ora,
This week in Piwakawaka, it has been stunning. We went swimming on Wednesday and it was really good. The swimming teacher was sick, so she had to teach from the end of the pool but it was still cool. We have also had Mrs. Douglas teach us. Another thing we have been doing is alot of production practise. We are having Stu Brown today.
By Ollie Weatherall
This week in Piwakawaka on Monday, we had a normal day except we had Mrs Holt teaching us. Tuesday was just a normal day. Come Wednesday, we had swimming, but we had Mrs. Douglas teach us. Thursday was normal again. Friday, there was assembly, we are having Stu Brown, swimming is delayed (postponed) and that's it. We hope you had a good day and thank you for reading this. The end.
By Francis Gecain.
Nga Mihi,
Judy Finlayson and Piwakawaka students.
TUI
Kia ora Whanau
This week in Tui we have been working really hard to polish our class item for the production. Props are nearly made, costumes are nearly sorted. We are working on learning some speaking lines and words to songs....and where we need to stand. Lots of fun. Excitement is certainly building.
We have started looking at capacity and volume in Maths.
Reading, Writing and iDeal have been running as usual.
Today we had Stu Brown from Active Southland here. We played some awesome co-operative games that encouraged turn taking, talking nicely and waiting patiently. One of the games that was most exciting was aliens, elephants and tigers. Ask your child about it and have a play at home!
Swimming lessons are going really well on Wednesdays. Children are getting involved, listening really well and making pleasing progress.
Next week will be a muddly week with assessment for reports occurring and some intense production practice. Early nights would be super helpful.
Jill Robb & Sarah McLean
Room Tui
HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPIENTS
Today's Principal's Award Recipients enjoying their Hot Chocolate with Mrs Holt.
Mele, Elise and Jacob.
STUDENT AVAILABLE FOR CHILDMINDING
Hey everyone My name is MacKenna and I am a 15 year old student at Northern Southland College.
I am currently looking for some babysitting jobs in the surrounding areas of Mossburn/Lumsden/Balfour. I have a lot of experience and I am a very responsible and reliable person. If you know anybody or yourself who are in need of a baby sitter Please pm me or email me at manderson@nsc.school.nz. Any opportunities would be much appreciated.
Kind Regards MacKenna
