This term our ākonga have been learning the pūrākau 'Te Ika ā Māui' - the story of how Māui, alongside his four brothers, fished up Te Ika ā Māui - the North Island of New Zealand. Every pūrākau is accompanied by three expertly illustrated pikitia (as shown above), that provide key parts to the story. As a school, we have three members of staff, or our toa, who attend a programme called 'Te Ahurea' which is run by Te Atiawa (Mana Whenua of our school). They learn these stories and then tell them to our staff, who then teach them to our KWNS ākonga. It is a great programme, with the idea that every child at our school knows Te Atiawa and their story. If you don't know the story, your child(ren) should be able to tell it to you :)

Mobile phones and child safety online
One of our school priorities this year is ensuring children, particularly our older students, are learning how to be safe online. We recognise that this is an important area of learning for children and whānau today, and that access to phones and technology marks a significant difference to the upbringing that we may have experienced. Similarly, that being informed, critical thinking and safe users of technology (across all platforms) is a key part of a 21st century education.

We know that technology can bring tremendous benefits to children's learning, and that equally, it can be a vehicle for harm if not used correctly or when invisible to parents. At school we see both, with harm particularly prevalent in the use of social media platforms.

We have recently sent a very useful guide to locking down mobile phones to our Matai (year 5/6) and Kauri (year 7/8) parents via Hero. This was written by a mum in our community. If you have not read it, I strongly recommend you do. This year, we are also organising for the Life Education Trust to come and work with children of all age levels in the school. 

Western Zones Football 
Football and team work was the winner on the day yesterday at Ian Galloway Park, as four KWNS teams participated in the Western Zones Football event. A fun day out at the park, very much grounded in participation and enjoyment. 

Values certificate recipients
Well done to all our values award recipients last week - for showing our school values during their learning. 

Learning conferences
We look forward to welcoming whānau over the next two evenings for our first learning/whānau conferences of the year.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.

Simon Flockton, Principal: principal@kwns.school.nz
Kirsty Harry, Deputy Principal (Y0-4): kirsty.harry@kwns.school.nz
Danielle Doyle, Deputy Principal (Y5-8): danielle.doyle@kwns.school.nz

Have a lovely remainder of your week.

Simon Flockton
Tumuaki I PRINCIPAL

We offer a few different social sports after school at the Karori Recreation Centre each term. Look out for newsletters and notices on HERO for registration information. 

Each sport is designed to be social and for players of all abilities. Teams are made up at random, although we try to include some fellow classmates where possible. There will be an opportunity in week 10 for the students in the team to get together so they can all meet prior to the term starting.

To register for basketball, please click here.

To register for badminton, please click here.

A big thanks to everyone who has registered for our Term 2 netball. We have trials this Saturday for our Year 7/8 players held at our school 10am-12pm. You will receive an email this week with further information and details of your child's team.

We are still on the hunt for some netball coaches/managers for a Year 6 and a Year 4 team so please email Danielle asap if you can help out.

We are really excited as this year we are taking part in the Tough Guy/Tough Gal competition on Thursday 22 May at Wainuiomata.

If you would like your child to participate, please complete the permission slip by Wednesday 9 April 2025 at 3pm.

We rely on our wonderful community to support students engaging in sport activities during school time and outside of school hours. We are currently looking for coaches/managers/volunteers for the following days and teams:

If you are able to volunteer your time or have any sports related questions, then please email Danielle at danielle.doyle@kwns.school.nz for more information.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

 

As you may be aware, this year we moved to HERO, a New Zealand owned and operated Student Management System. With Hero, you can:

Hero has a number of other features that we plan to introduce in the future.  We want to move as quickly as we can to Hero so we aren’t duplicating our communications. However, we understand that it may take some time for all families to get set up.  Because of this, we will continue to email you school notifications through to end of Term 1.  After this time, all school communication will move to Hero.

 

To download the app:  scan the QR code (above) or search ‘Hero by linc-ed’ in the app store.