Friday 24th July 2026 Newsletter
- Jul 24
- 4 min read
Friday 24th July 2026
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Kia Ora Parents & Whānau,
Welcome back to Term 3. We hope you all enjoyed a refreshing break with your families. It has been wonderful to see the students return settled, working hard, and making the most of the sunny winter weather.
In Week 4, we will be saying goodbye to Natasha Humphrey as she moves on to a new opportunity. We thank her sincerely for her contribution to our school. At the same time, we look forward to welcoming Sarah McLean and Jill Robb, who will be joining the Tui class. Please see the letter below, which was emailed to you yesterday, for further details.
This term, we have transitioned to the Hero platform. We’ve attached a letter and posters to this newsletter, and an email has also been sent to all families outlining what you need to do next. Please ensure you have downloaded the Hero app as soon as possible — without it, you will miss important updates and information.
Just to let you know that we have moved Korimako speeches to Monday, 10th August as some of our students will be attending a netball tournament on the original date. More details to follow.
A reminder that later this term, on Friday 21 August, we will be holding a Teacher Only Day. Staff will be completing maths training and school will be closed for students on that day.
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
Mihi mahana,
Andrea Holt
PRINCIPALS AWARD RECIPIENTS
Billy - for being a very honest member of the school community. You are very trustworthy.
Kadin - for showing honesty and integrity. We can always rely on you to do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Angus - for making a fantastic start to the term with a positive attitude and responsible choices.
CLASS CERTIFICATE RECIPIENTS
Arthur - welcome to Room Piwakawaka
Archer - for being honest when it's hard.
Charlotte - for being a positive role model through your words and actions.
Elliott - for treating others with kindness, respect and positivity.
Hazel - your understanding of sounds is amazing! Crisp, clean and clear!
Pearl - Welcome to Room Piwakawaka.
Hugo - your confidence is soaring high! You are making fabulous progress.
BIRTHDAYS
Happy Birthday wishes this week to
Hugo and Lennox. We hope you both
had fun birthday celebrations.
CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS - TERM 3
Wednesday 5th August - Board meeting 7.30pm, (anyone welcome to attend)
Monday 10th August - Korimako Class Speeches. (PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE)
Friday 14th August - Piwakawaka and Tui Classes Speeches
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
5th August 28th October
9th September 2nd December
KORIMAKO - Welcome back to everyone for another exciting term of learning. It has been wonderful to see the students return refreshed and ready to learn. In English, we have continued to develop our reading skills by exploring a variety of book genres. In Writing, students have begun using the Writer's Toolbox application to support and improve their writing, and they have also started preparing their speeches for our school speech competition, which will be held on Monday, 10th August. In Mathematics, we have been learning about Algebra, with a focus on the order of operations using the BEDMAS rule. In Physical Education, we were pleased to welcome Mr Stu Brown from Active Southland, who introduced students to the basics of the Māori game Ki-o-Rahi. Students thoroughly enjoyed the sessions as we prepare for a competition later this term. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend and another great week of learning ahead.
Ngā mihi,
Anish Krishna
Korimako Class Teacher
PIWAKAWAKA Kia ora,
This week in Piwakawaka we have been working on painting the solar system. For now, we are putting white layers around the planets then we will paint the planets which will be fun. Next, we collected bugs. We collected ants, centipedes and a spider. They were disgusting . First we got ants, then a slug and the most disgusting, two centipedes.
The most fun activity was science. We are learning about exoskeletons and endoskeletons.
By Francis Gecain.
Nga mihi
Judy Finlayson.
Piwakawaka Class Teacher
TUI
The first week of Term 3 has zoomed by! Tui are back into routines. For Maths the focus has been on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. For Reading we have continued with lots of good practice. Writing - focusing on punctuation and making sure our writing makes sense.
The afternoons have been spent looking at differences from past and present, as well as exploring movement with our bodies using strength, balance and flexibility.
Wishing everyone a great weekend.
Ngā mihi, Sarah McLean
Room Tui Kaiako
BALFOUR SCHOOL KNITTING GROUP
Balfour knitting
Some of our lovely students have been busy knitting various items in their spare time to raise money for camps. Items on sale include: mittens, bracelets, bags, keychains, 3D triangles, pillow squishes, chokers and rats' tails. They will be selling their goods on Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes so if anyone would like something please send in a cash payment with your child. Prices range from $1 to $10. Thanks for supporting our students.
HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPIENTS
Todays Hot Chocolate recipients pictured with Mrs Holt are
Kadin, Angus and Billy. Congratulations.
