Kia ora koutou

Over the past two weeks there has been a real change in the weather and swimming has finished.  We were very proud of the way our tamariki represented our school at the interschool event last week. They cheered on their teammates, were extremely well behaved and swam really well to achieve many top placings. Thank you to Leigh Mason and Amanda Jacobs for their organisation and to all the parent helpers who transported and supervised our team.

One of the senior teams visited Miranda as part of their Science learning recently. These educational experiences outside the classroom provide a rich learning context for all, enabling our learners to develop their knowledge about the living world and to work together to share this learning. Once again we were fortunate to have many parents supporting us by transporting and supervising children on the day. We are so fortunate to have a wonderful community who help us to grow creative learners from within: Kia puawai te ngakau.

We can see that learning is in full swing as we walk through our classrooms. The walls tell a story about this learning and so do the children's books. Routines are now established and each class has been working on their annual treaty. Over the next two weeks each syndicate will be involved in a hui where they will present their treaty to the rest of their team and teachers, showing the ways they will try their best to work together for the whole year and also displaying our school SHINE values; Succeed, Honour, Imagine, Nurture and Explore.

Last week we held two mihi whakatau celebrations. One to welcome our second group of new students starting school in Room 2 with Mrs Belinda Elias and the other to show manaakitanga to this year's group of University of Waikato students who will be with us most Thursdays this year. The girls who performed the karanga did a superb job calling us into the hall.

Next week we will be having school photos taken. There is more information in this newsletter if you wish to have a sibling photo taken.

Ngā mihi nui 

Sandra Neil

Assistant Principal

Phillippa Ramsay Year 1, Team Leader Room 3, Year 1	Rachel Hamilton-Gibbs Room 1, Year 1
Belinda Elias Room 2, Year 1	Debbie Jackson Room 4, Year 1
Leah Wilson Room 5, Year 1	Kierley Porima Room 5a, Year 1
Cherie Page Year 2, Team Leader Room 21, Year 2 & 3	Catherine Blewden Room 18, Year 2
Tina ter Ellen Room 19, Year 2 & 3	Anna Harrison Rooms 18 & 19, Year 2
Jennifer Feisst Room 20, Year 2

Junior School

Room 20 has enjoyed their swimming sessions this term. As well as loving cooling off in our Summer afternoons, we loved the pool because there were lots of successes that were celebrated over our swimming time.

One of the major learnings that many of us worked on before even getting into the water, was keeping track of our belongings and being able to get changed and dressed independently! For some of us hopping into the water, knowing how to enter and exit the water safely was something that we got better at doing. It was very exciting seeing some of our friends be able to leave the side of the pool for the first time and be able to confidently  move around and even put their face in or go under the water for the first time. Others of us worked on being able to float with the aid of a flutter board and it was something to celebrate when others could swim just by themselves from one side of the pool to the other. Through all our swimming sessions we focused on enjoying the water, having fun, being water confident and trying new things. In our groups we all improved on the skills that we started with. Our games in the pool promoted team work, coordination, and social skills like communicating and following directions.

There were so many reasons to be proud of ourselves. Please enjoy some of the children in Room 20’s swimming pictures and self assessments on where they think their swimming learning has grown. 

We can’t wait for Term 4 to get back in the pool again!!

Middle School

Senior School

Swimming Sports

Splash, a frigid, nervous feeling flicks through my body as I manoeuvre through the water. A firm death stare sits upon my opponent's face across from me as we move symmetrically down the pool.  A wave of hesitation ran through my body as I kept pushing forward to the end of the pool. I  slowly glanced to my left as I was losing sight of  my opponent as I glided past him. My body kept pushing forwards as my legs smashed through the water. Suddenly, a rush of unexpected triumph burst through my body. I won! I won my race! I breathlessly strutted to Miss T and claimed my 2 house points for Kauri. I happily skipped back to my house and celebrated with Donny and my friend Jay.

Rambunctious Writers Writing Group

Harlyn

Pūkorokoro Shorebird Centre

On Thursday the 6th of March rooms 8, 22, 23 and 24 took a bus to Pūkorokoro Shorebird Centre. Room 23 and 24 travelled in the same bus together and Room 22 and 8 travelled on the other bus. When we arrived at Miranda after an extremely long ride we ate morning tea with all four classes under a huge gazebo and then we split off into our bus groups.

First rooms 23 and 24 stayed at the Shore Bird Centre with Chelsea, one of the hosts and amazing expert, while the other two classes went down to the Robert Findlay Reserve to see the birds in real life. Chelsea gave us a talk about all the birds, our main focus was the kuaka, the bar-tailed godwit. We learned that the female godwit stays white and brown but the male turns an orangy red colour during mating to impress a partner. We also learned that when they migrate north they fly all the way to Alaska and only have one stop, but when they fly back to New Zealand they don't stop at all, and it takes them nine whole days!!!

The second activity that we did was down at the Robert Findlay Reserve. We saw heaps of awesome and cool birds like the pied stilt, female and male godwits and so many more. We had awesome tour guides that kindly set up their telescopes so we could see the birds closer up and get a better view of them. We also got to see the godwits shifting spots when the tide was coming in.

After an amazing day of learning about birds, we went to Kaiaua Beach and played on the playground, explored and had a swim. Mr Mason and the teachers had secretly organised some delicious hot chips from the fish and chip shop which were so yum!! Then we got all packed up ready for our long drive back.

What an amazing day!!!

On Thursday the 13th March 2025, 30 children aged 8, 9 and 10 years old were transported to our inter school swimming sports held at Tamahere Model Country school.  We thank all the parents who helped us to get to Tamahere and for cheering us on.

The first races of the day were the freestyle events. Our eight-year-olds swam first, heading to marshalling, then lining up along the benches to make sure they were in their correct lanes.

The whistle blew and the swimmers hopped up onto the diving boards, then the race starter smashed the clappers together and they were off. That same process happened for the rest of the freestyle races; there were some false starts. Hillcrest were the loudest cheerleaders of all the schools. We had lots of people that made it to the finals. Everybody felt that they had accomplished something from the freestyle race. If it was finishing strongly or placing in the top 4 in their final. We were proud of everyone because they tried their hardest.

The next set of races were backstroke which made swimmers nervous because it was hard to see where the end of the pool was! Breastroke was the next event and it was a close race. One person got disqualified when they had come first but everyone did a great job. Breaststroke is one of the hardest strokes and it was important to touch the wall at the end of the race with two hands.

The medley was an exciting race where swimmers had to complete lengths each of backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle all without stopping! Everybody was getting tired by their last length so freestyle was a bit messy but what an accomplishment for all of our medley swimmers who participated in this challenging event.

The relay was my favourite race by far! All the schools were serious and ready to represent their school when the clapper went! Everybody flew into the pool with a splash. On the first length we were lagging behind but no worries on the second length, we caught up nearly to second place. Woohoo, the 3rd length was when we really got into it and then it was a race only between HNS and Tamahere. We were proud of our swimmers who represented us and my throat was really sore from cheering them along.

What a successful day!

Reported by Charlotte, Maia and Aarlia

If you would like to have a sibling photo taken of your children, please either come to the office or download the sibling booking form below. This form must be signed and returned to the school office by Tuesday 25th March.  This is available for current HNS students only.  Please complete one form per family.

Many of our students are taking place in Movin' March, an initiative of the Hamilton City Council to get students active on their way to and from school. It has been impressive to see so many students take up the challenge of being active commuters. For those who live far away they can be picked up from further out from the school (please see the picture below). This still encourages our students to be active and creates less congestion outside in the school which makes the school a safer place for all. It is a great idea for all of our students to be active commuters, not just those involved in Movin' March. Keep up the good work.

KEEP READING ROLLING WITH BOOK CLUB!

Issue 2 of Book Club is out now and has some special offers available...

• Families can earn a $5 promo code with ANY LOOP ORDER on this Issue, to be redeemed on Issue 3.
• Families can register for our 31-Day Challenge and win prizes 

Please note that orders need to be placed directly through Scholastic Book Club Loop. 

This issue closes on Friday 21 March.