Friday 14th August 2026 Newsletter
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Friday 14th August 2026
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Kia Ora Parents & Whānau,
It has been another full and lively week at Balfour School. This week, we said farewell to Natasha Humphrey and welcomed Jill Robb and Sarah McLean, who will be teaching Tui Class for the remainder of the term. We are very pleased to have them join our team.
Korimako students have been presenting their speeches, and we congratulate Pippa, Everly, and Charlotte on being our top speakers. Pippa and Everly will go through to the next round at Dipton School on Monday, and we wish them all the very best. This morning, Piwakawaka and Tui students shared their speeches, and Mrs Schriek and I were very impressed with their confidence and delivery. It was wonderful to see them speaking so proudly.
On Tuesday, 14 of our students travelled to Winton for the Netty Festival, dressed in fantastic retro gear. The festival focused on encouraging children to get involved in netball, and our students had a great day. A big thank you to Kath McCallum for organising the trip, and to all the parents — along with Mrs Schriek — who helped with transport. Your support is always appreciated.
A reminder that next Friday, school will be closed for a Teacher Only Day. As we will have missed celebration assembly for two weeks, we will hold our assembly next Thursday morning at 9am.
Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the Hero app. If you are experiencing any issues, please get in touch with the office and we will be happy to help.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
Mihi mahana,
Andrea Holt
PIWAKAWAKA AND TUI SPEECHES
Well done to all our students this morning who impressed Mrs Holt & Mrs Shriek with they clear and confident speeches. The winners in Tui class were:
1st Hugo
2nd Albie
3rd Harvey
The winners in Piwakawaka were:
1st Hazel
2nd Billy
3rd Donnalily
Highly commended: Ayaansh, Charlie, Ava.
DAFFODIL DAY FUNDRAISER
On Friday 28th August we are participating in Daffodil Day NZ. If you are able, can you please send a cash donation to school with your child. Also in support of this fundrasier they can dress in something yellow or accessorise in yellow. Thank you in advance for this very worthy fundraiser.
REMINDER TEACHER ONLY DAY
Next Friday we are having a teacher Only Day so there will no school for students. The Teachers will be participating in Maths training.
CLOSING SCHOOL GATES
For the safety of all children, our gates to the school grounds must remain closed at all times. Recently, gates have been found propped open, which poses a significant risk. Please do not leave the gate open under any circumstances. Always ensure it closes securely behind you. Thank you for prioritising the safety of our students.
ASSEMBLY NEXT WEEK.
Celebration assembly next week will be on Thursday, 20th August due to the Teacher Only Day on Friday, 21st. All parents are welcome to attend.
BUSES
EVERYDAY WE ARE MAKING PHONE CALLS AND HOLDING UP BUS RUNS BECAUSE WE ARE UNSURE OF BUS CHANGES.
PLEASE ADVISE US BEFORE BUS TIME IF YOUR CHILD IS OFF THE BUS OR GOING WITH SOMEONE ELSE.
WE ALSO NEED TO KNOW WHEN AN AFTER SCHOOL EVENT HAS ENDED AND YOUR CHILD IS BACK ON THE BUS.
BUS FORMS HAVE BEEN SENT OUT WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO COMPLETE THE FORM IN FULL FOR THE NEW TERM. PLEASE SEND THEM BACK TO THE OFFICE.
EVERY CHILD WILL BE SENT ON THEIR USUAL BUS OR WALK HOME UNLESS WE HAVE HEARD OTHERWISE.
WELCOME
We welcomed Van and Kassandra to Balfour School last week. Unfortunately they were both away so we will present them with their certificates next week in Thursdays assembly.
BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday wishes to Van for last Friday. Van was absent for his birthday. We hope you had a fun birthday celebration. We will present Van with his certificate next Thursday.
CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS - TERM 3
Friday 21st August - Teacher Only Day
TERM DATES 2026
Friday 21st August. - Teacher Only Day
Friday 25th September. - last day term 3
Monday 12th October. - Teacher Only Day
Tuesday 13th October. - first day term 4
Monday 14th December - last day of Term 4
BOARD MEETING DATES FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR
TERM 3 TERM 4
9th September 7.00pm 28th October - 7.00pm
2nd December - 7.00pm
HERO COMMUNICATIONS APP
Just a reminder to please download Hero onto your preferred device as this will be our main way of communicating. Please advise us if you do not have good reception for your device at your house. Any questions please contact the office.
CAMP FUNDRAISERS - REMINDER ORDERS DUE IN BY NEXT FRIDAY.
We are currently taking orders for 'The Good Oil' to fundraise
for Senior school (Korimako) camp later this year. It is the same oil we sold last year.
Order forms for this have been sent home with your child/children.
We are also selling Whittakers chocolate bars. This is to fundraise for Piwakawaka Camp. These will
come in a box of 36 bars which will be $108 Or you may purchase individually for $3 a bar. UNFORTUNATELY WE HAVE FOUND OUT THAT WE CANNOT ORDER CERTAIN FLAVOURS OF INDIVIDUAL BARS. .SO HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE ABLE TO FULL MOST ORDERS OF INDIVIDUALS FROM ORDERING SOME MIXED BOXES. THERE ARE 12 CREAMY MILK AND 6 OF EACH OTHER FLA.VOUR IN A MIXED BOX.
KORIMAKO - Week 4 has been an exciting week with plenty of opportunities for our students to shine. Our school-based speech competition was held on Monday, and the children did an excellent job presenting their speeches. It was wonderful to see the confidence, preparation, and effort they put into their presentations. Congratulations to Everly and Pippa, who will represent our school at the Interschool Speech Competition in Dipton. We wish them all the very best!
On Tuesday, two mixed netball teams represented our school at the competition in Winton. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and showed great teamwork and sportsmanship. A big thank you to the parents who helped with training, transport, and supporting our students on the day. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
In Mathematics, we are completing our learning on decimals this week and will move into Statistics next week. Students are continuing to build their confidence in working with rational numbers and applying their understanding of decimals.
In English, we have begun exploring poetry, with a focus on identifying and understanding different language features used by poets to make their writing interesting and expressive.
Well done to everyone for another great week. Wishing all our families a safe and enjoyable weekend!
Ngā mihi,
Anish Krishna
Korimako Class Teacher
PIWAKAWAKA Kia ora,
This week in Piwakawaka, we have been doing our Maths. In Maths we did a worksheet about hundreds. To do the hundreds, Ms. Fin. says an equation then we find the answer. We write the equation then the answer.
We have been doing speeches. To do speeches you have to listen to the story and Ms. Fin. reads, then we choose a story. We write about it. When we are finished we put the writing on cue cards then say it to ourselves to practice. Tomorrow we are going to say our speeches to the class.
Sienna Baird.
This week in Piwakawaka, we have been dividing by nine in Maths. Archer's brother, Van, started at school on Monday. When it was Wednesday, it was Miss Humphrey's farewell. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Tui came to our class and did dance/drama. We took a break from iDeal and every afternoon we read Wind in the Willows. For Spelling, we got to pick option 1 or option 2. Option 1 is easy words and option 2 is hard words.
Donnalily Mahoni.
Nga mihi
Judy Finlayson.
Piwakawaka Class Teacher
TUI
Kia ora Whānau,
Wow, where did the week go? What an amazing effort by the children in Tui this morning as they delivered their poems to an audience. Really pleasing to see such confidence.
As I write this, we are very much fizzing about the upcoming 'Nerf Gun Battle.' Beautiful day to be outside.
Sadly we said farewell to Miss Humphrey this week. We wish her all the best for her next exciting adventure.
More information around Tui and the what our week will look like, will be in the homework books next week.
Ngā mihi, Sarah McLean
Room Tui Kaiako
HOT CHOCOLATE
Last Fridays Principals award recipients enjoying their Hot Chocolate with Mrs Holt are Harvey, Charlie and Lydia.
JEWELLERY
The items of jewellery that were advertised last week are still in the office. If they are yours or your child's please let us know so we can return them.
