Kia ora koutou

A very warm welcome to our tamariki, families and staff who have joined our school whānau as we start the year.  It is great to have two new teachers join our team,  Miss Sophie Stretch will be working in the senior school and Miss Anna Stevenson is teaching in Year 3.  We have had a super start to the term, connecting and setting up children for their learning for the year.

The Library and Classroom upgrade in the centre of the school is progressing well and should be finished by the end of the term.  While this is adding a little congestion in accessing parts of the school and in particular around the school gates and access at present, we are excited that we will soon have some new and modern learning spaces in this block.

A massive thanks to our families who are supporting their children to walk, scooter and bike to school.  As with all city schools, there is extremely limited parking so it is best to assume that you need to park further away and walk the last bit to school.  It is important that you do not park in the drop off and pick up zones and go to collect or drop off children to and from their class. We also ask that you encourage your child to wait on the footpath while you drive into the lane to pick them up. Thank you for your support as we work to keep all of our children and members of our community safe.

We look forward to working with you in partnership for child's learning over the coming year and hope that you can join us at our Meet the Teacher and School Picnic evening on Thursday 20th February.

Please note that school is closed tomorrow Thursday 6th February for Waitangi Day, but will be open again on Friday.

Noho ora mai

On Monday we welcomed our new tamariki, their whānau and our new staff members to Hillcrest Normal School through a whole school whakatau. We had approximately 50 new students who we welcomed, along with teachers Sophie Stretch and Anna Stevenson.

The whakatau was a wonderful way to bring the whole school together on our first day. Our new tamariki and their whānau were welcomed by Leigh Mason and Mrs Bramley, followed by our existing students welcoming our manuhiri (visitors) with waiata (song). It was a special way to come together to acknowledge our new whānau to our kura, but also connect again as a whole school before our learning year begins. 

School will be closed tomorrow due to Waitangi Day, we are open again on Friday 7th. 

On Thursday 20th February we will be holding a meet the teacher & family picnic evening.  We will start with an informal meeting with your child's teacher in their classrooms from 6.00-6.30pm followed by a family picnic and a few games on the back field from 6.30-7.30pm.  We hope you will be able to join us as this is a great opportunity for our new families to meet other members of our HNS community.

Please bring your picnic blanket, dinner and drinks for your family. There will be no food trucks, however as a fundraiser for some upcoming field trips, the senior school will be selling ice blocks and Juicies on the back field during the picnic. Please bring some cash along if you would like to support them by purchasing one.

Unfortunately, if it looks like it might rain we will continue with the meet the teacher part however the picnic will be cancelled.

Our newsletters are produced every two weeks.  These are a window to school events, times and dates. It is important that you read these carefully so you feel fully informed ahead of time. 

Our newsletter also has the ability to be translated into a variety of different languages to assist those whose first language is not English.  You will find this at the top of each newsletter.

If you have not yet signed up for the School App, we highly recommend you do. The purpose of this app is to provide our school community with a convenient way to receive all school notifications, including alerts, registrations, newsletters, news and dates of events that you can sync to your calendar.  There is also the ability to submit absentees and receive notifications directly related to your child/ren's class, year group and some out of school activities, ie sport and music.

Go to the App Store to your Apple or Android device and search 'SchoolAppsNZ' to download the app onto your device. Then search 'Hillcrest Normal School' to find the school's app or alternatively, click here.  

Reminder to those who have signed up in previous years to please update your alert subscriptions to include your child/ren's new classrooms.  This will ensure you receive the correct alerts that are relevant to you and your child/ren.  Please remember to turn your notifications on for this app so you do not miss any important messages. 

As with most city schools, there is extremely limited parking within our school grounds.  We advise that you consider parking out of the school grounds and walk to the school grounds.

Please see the attached map for specific areas of long term parking as per this signal.

Parking is not permitted in our yellow Drop Off / Pick Up Zone. Please refer to photo.

Drivers must stay within their cars if waiting in the pick up and drop off zone, this is intended for very short stay parking, just enough time for your child to enter or exit your vehicle. 

We also ask that you please do not park in any of the 3 staff carparks, including the one by the swimming pool.

It is our school policy for all children to wear sunhats when outside during our summer terms.  We have two styles of hats available for $25, Wide Brim and Bucket. Sunblock is also available in every classroom for children to re-apply throughout the day.

Our preferred payment method is online however, these can be purchased directly at the main office. 

Our bank account details are : 12-3249-0102946-00

Please use the child’s name and a reference (ie Sch Hat wide)

Naming of clothes prevents loss of clothes.  It is important that we, at school, are able to identify clothing in order to locate the owners of said clothing and footwear.  Please name your children's clothing and footwear with both first and last name. 

Information about out of school music lessons will come out later this term as we are waiting for spaces around the school due to the upgrade of the library block.

Issue 1 is out now and is kicking things off with LOTS of value:

- Families can earn FREE BOOKS by spending over $25 this Issue*
- Families can earn a $5 promo code with any LOOP order on this Issue, to be redeemed on Issue 2*
- Kids can enter our competition to WIN a family pass to see the new DOG MAN movie enter here
- Learn about our National Family Reading Month, register for the 31-Day Challenge and WIN prizes along the way.

Close off date for this issue is Friday 21 February.

For those families new to Scholastic Book Club - there are 2 issues each term, offering the opportunity to purchase books, games and puzzles, often at a discounted rate.  Pamphlets will come home with your child and all that is needed is to set up an account and order on line before the close off date and the books will be delivered to school free of charge and then delivered to your child in their classroom.  If you are wanting them as a gift, just put that on the order and we will keep it at the office and let you know when it has arrived.  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Julia French in the office.

This company delivers fresh, delicious lunches to our school every day.  If you would like more information or would like to arrange to have lunches delivered for your children please follow this link .

Please note that last year's subscriptions will not roll over so if you are wanting lunches delivered again this year, new orders will need to be set up.

 Valentine’s Day Date Night – We've Got the Kids! 

This Valentine’s Day, Jourey Kids are back again offering our FREE Date Night Care for our families. Go enjoy dinner or a movie, or maybe you just want to relax at home without the kids for an evening—we’ll take care of them with fun activities, games, and a delicious dinner – all completely free!

• When: Valentine’s Day, Friday, 14th February 2025
  Time: 6:00 – 9:30 PM
  Where: Endeavour School, Hamilton | Cambridge East School, Cambridge
  Includes: Dinner & supervised care