Friday 29th May 2026 Newsletter
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Friday 29th May 2026
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Kia Ora Parents & Whānau,
We had an awesome afternoon at Cross Country last Friday. The weather was absolutely glorious, and our students were amazing — a huge well done to everyone for giving it their all and competing with such determination. Congratulations to the students who qualified for the Northern Cross Country; the first six in each age group from age 8 upwards will be heading through, and we’re very proud of them. Thank you to all our parents and whānau for your support, and we look forward to another great round next Wednesday.
Twenty-five of our students headed to Gore yesterday for the Freeze Ya Bits Off busking festival and they absolutely shone. They sang their hearts out, represented our school beautifully, and finished the day with well‑earned hot chocolates at a local café. We got a special shout-out from the organisers for our original song. A big thank you to Ms Fin for organising this experience for them.
A reminder that it is the King’s Birthday weekend, so school will be closed on Monday. We hope you enjoy the long weekend and look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday, 2nd June.
Mihi mahana,
Andrea Holt
CLASS CERTIFICATE RECIPIENTS
Angus - for showing positive improvement towards your learning in class.
Bella - for putting great effort into improving your handwriting.
Ollie - for being a really hard worker.
Bjorn - for always being polite and positive.
Kadin - for showing great determination and success with your Maths.
Iyana - for your great rugby skills out on the field with Stu Brown from Active Southland.
PRINCIPALS AWARD RECIPIENTS
Max - for showing determination and continuing to work hard even when learning tasks are challenging.
George - for exceptional learning application with great results and always being cheerful and positive.
Hazel - for being grateful for the people and things in your life.
BIRTHDAYS
Happy Birthday wishes this week to
Luca, Isabella-Dixie, Ava (absent last week) and Robbie.
WAIMEA CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
Well done to everyone who took part in Cross Country last week. The weather was absolutely glorious — a perfect day for running. The top six in each category from age 8 upwards now go through to the Northern Cross Country, which will be held on the same course on Wednesday 3rd June. Congratulations to Flynn, Waelyn, Donnalily, Hayley, Liam, Evie, Luca, Charlotte, Ana, Pippa, Katie, Everly, Lydia, Angus and Jacob — you all get to do it all over again. A letter went home at the start of the week, and parents will need to transport children to Waikaia again. If you need any other details please let us know. Congratulations to the following students who gained top 3 placings.
Liam - 3rd Place 9 year boys
Donnalily - 1st place 8 year girls
Luca - 2nd place 9 year girls
Ana - 2nd place - 10 year girls
Evie - 1st place 9 year girls
Charlotte - 1st place 10 year girls
Cooper - 3rd place 6 year boys
Elie - 3rd place 6 year girls
Mele - 2nd place 5 year girls
CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS - TERM 2
Monday 1st June - No School - King's Birthday holiday
Wednesday 3rd June. - Northern Cross Country
Wednesday 10th June - Firewise
Thursday June 25th - Visit to Riversdale Arts Exhibition
Friday 3rd July - End of term 2
TERM DATES 2026
Friday 3rd July - last day term 2
Monday 20th July. - first day term 3
Friday 25th September. - last day term 3
Monday 12th October - first day term 4
To be confirmed - last day term 4
WET WEATHER PREPARATION
With the grass now getting wetter and muddier, it might be worth popping a spare set of clothes into your child’s bag, especially if they’re one of those children who loves getting stuck into the mud. This helps keep everyone comfortable and avoids any chilly, soggy afternoons. Thank you for your support.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
If you have any old school uniform at home that your child has grown out of, we’d love to help pass it on. You’re welcome to offer it to other parents, or you can drop it into the school office and we’ll make sure it finds a new home. Thank you for helping us support one another and keep good‑quality uniform in circulation.
PHOTO PUBLISHING PERMISSION FORM
We still have several of these forms not returned. We will presume that if you have not returned your form you are happy for your children to be include in the newsletter, the website and all social media.
SWIMMING POOL - KEYS RETURNED TO THE OFFICE PLEASE
The swimming pool is now closed for the season and we would appreciate it if all keys could be returned to the office.
RELIEVING TEACHER
We’re pleased to let you know that one of our TA's, Kirsty Bryan has just been authorised by the Teaching Council as a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT). As you may know, there is currently a nationwide shortage of relief teachers. This approval means that if we are unable to secure a reliever, Kirsty is now able to take the class for lessons that have been planned by the classroom teacher. We are very grateful to Kirsty for stepping into this role and supporting our school in this way. We are confident this arrangement will work smoothly and continue to provide consistency and stability for our learners.
KORIMAKO Week 6 has been another busy and enjoyable week for our class. Students participated in the busking competition in Gore and represented the school with confidence and enthusiasm. We were also fortunate to have Mr Stu Brown from Active Southland visit to take rugby drills, which the children really enjoyed and actively participated in. In Mathematics, we have started learning about fractions, focusing on tenths and hundredths. In Writing, students are now working on narrative writing and using writing legends for creativity. Students have also continued with reading rotations and Reading Eggs to support their reading development.
Wishing everyone a safe, relaxing, and enjoyable long weekend.
Ngā mihi,
Anish Krishna
Korimako Class Teacher
PIWAKAWAKA Kia ora,
Well done to all those who participated in the Freeze Ya Bits Off Busking Competition. Your consistent practice paid off and it was great to receive a special mention from the judges! A special thank you also, to our parents who chauffeured and turned up to support us. Thank you to other school staff who supported us. Most of all a huge thank you to Megan who beavered away helping get songbooks, lyrics and other paperwork, fetched, carried and a myriad of other tasks in the background.
With our academic work, we have wrapped up our focus on subtraction with Year 3, and have finished setting our baseline multiplication knowledge with Year 4. In iDeal we have learnt about the 'tch' spelling and the alternative spellings of the au/or sound. Students have been writing their fairy tales. We have continued to prepare art work for the Riversdale Art Exhibition.
Nga mihi
Judy Finlayson.
Piwakawaka Class Teacher
TUI Kia ora whānau,
We have had a very artsy week this week. On Monday we used measurement to make playdough as a whole class which was extended by using fractions such as "if it says 1 cup - how many half cups would we need?". On Tuesday for our writing we became detectives and had to act out what happened when a man fell of the boat and how it could have happened. We used this as a writing prompt and extended the scenario further on Thursday. We have also started looking at paper weaving to make some cool designs for the Riversdale Art Exhibition coming up. On Thursday we also had a chance to do some drawing in a different way. We put some paper under our desks and used felts to draw on the paper. This art exercise is great for creativity, fun, and also for fine motor skills.
Ngā mihi, Natasha Humphrey
Room Tui Kaiako
HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPIENTS
This weeks recipients enjoying their
Hot Chocolate with Mrs Holt are -
Max, George and Hazel
FREEZE YOUR BITS OFF BUSKING COMPETITION
TEACHING POSITION AVAILABLE - TERM 3 START
Balfour School is excited to announce a fixed‑term, part‑time teaching position due to roll growth in our New Entrant class. This role begins 20 July (Term 3) and concludes 10 December 2026.
We are a vibrant, close‑knit rural school that values strong relationships, personalised learning, and a holistic approach to education. Our staff, students, and community work together to create a warm, supportive environment where children thrive.
We are seeking an experienced New Zealand registered teacher who is innovative, enthusiastic, caring, and passionate about working with our youngest learners. Strong literacy and numeracy capability is essential, along with a genuine love of teaching and learning.
If you’re excited about joining an amazing team and working with wonderful children, we’d love to hear from you.
Please send your CV, cover letter detailing your areas of strengths and application form to: principal@balfour.school.nz
