Kia ora koutou

As we reach the end of a full and rewarding term tomorrow, we're looking forward to a well-earned break.  It's been a wonderful 10 weeks of learning and growth for our tamariki.

This year the guiding whakatauki for our curriculum is also our school vision - Kia puāwai te ngākau - Growing CreativeLearners from Within.  It has been evident that our tamariki have had incredible learning experiences to harness and encourage the incredible wonder and awe they naturally have as we have had a focus on Science.  Students have been engaged in meaningful and authentic learning experiences that we are sure you have heard about around the dinner table at home.

Creating positive and supportive classroom environments has also been a key focus, with each class developing their own treaties based on our SHINE values: Succeed, Honour, Imagine, Nurture, and Explore.  These shared understandings help our students flourish.

We have also seen students involved in EOTC opportunities that have taken senior classes to Miranda and Raglan.

The Learning Celebrations over the past few weeks have been a real highlight, providing a special opportunity for our children to share their hard work and discoveries with you.  Thank you for joining us.

We want to share our sincere gratitude to our dedicated staff, the many parents who have supported us in countless ways, and most importantly, our amazing students who bring such joy and pride to our school every day.

Have a great two weeks holiday and we are looking forward to seeing you all on the 28th of April to start term 2.

Ngā mihi nui

Tomorrow is the last day of term one, school will finish at the usual time of 3pm and ASC will be running on that day as per usual. 

Junior School

The year 2 tamariki have been practising and learning about positional and directional language in maths time. Room 20 had lots of fun making mazes and then used the language of direction to describe how to get through the maze they had made to a friend. The person giving the instructions had to use words like “forward” “backwards” “up” “down” “left” “right” to help. Some of us got very tricky and could guide people through their maze by asking them to do ¼ and ½ turns. 

Our mazes encouraged us to be creative and imaginative with what we made. Some of our mazes were drawn and some of us built our mazes from equipment. There were a few things our mazes needed. We found that mazes needed a clear start and end as well as lots of different pathways branching off in different directions. They needed to have a reason for our friends to be trying to move through them. Our mazes had a few difficult dead ends where our friend couldn’t go any further. 

The work we did with mazes was just aMAZEing. 

Middle School

This term in science we have been learning about the vital role that bees play in our world.  Bees are amazing pollinators.  They spread the pollen amongst the flowers which means we get fruit and vegetables. So bees actually feed us! We need to take care of the bees so that we can eat lots of our favourite foods. In Room 17 we have come up with lots of ways to look after the bees.  We have made posters educating people about planting flowers and not killing bees.  We have planted bee friendly gardens to feed the bees and made water dispensers to go in gardens. Bees need water too! And we have even created a beehive to provide shelter for the bees. Let's all take care of the bees!

Senior School

Senior Learning Celebration

Yesterday, the senior school was humming with children greeting their whānau and connecting them with their work at school. The parents were lighting up our classrooms with joy and wonder as we guided them through our māhi this term. My personal highlight during this time was focusing on my work even though there were distractions all around the classroom.  Another, was definitely standing up and thanking the whānau for giving up their time for us.

We as learners shared our individual learning and we are sure our displayed māhi around the classroom welcomed you. Whānau celebrated our self portraits, photos, exciting writing, maths, science and most of all the class treaties. I was lucky enough to have my Oma come and admire my learning. She took some photos to show my Opa and that made me proud.

Thank you for helping us throughout this term.  A special thanks to the whānau who came yesterday, we all enjoyed sharing all of our māhi with you and we would love for you to come again later this year. I enjoyed how my mum came to see all of my work and the way she liked the presentation of my writing and exciting book. She liked how neat it was and the illustrations. It made me feel upbeat and great.

Ngā mihi nui te whānau

By Navinya, Charlotte, and Harlyn (Room 10 Students)

Splash Polo (run by Waikato Water Polo Assn.) is an exciting and very engaging team water sport that Hillcrest Normal School offers as one of our 'out-of-school' sports options.  Splash Polo, a junior version of water polo where kids can touch the bottom of the pool, helps to develop ball skills, water confidence and teamwork in a fun, safe yet competitive environment.  Although Splash Polo is a competitive team sport we also incorporate a lot of fun to ensure our kids stay engaged and find enjoyment in learning.

Overseen and coached during the week by staff member Mr Shaun See, Shaun has placed a lot of time and effort into Splash Polo for the benefits of our middle and senior school children.  Under his guidance we grew from a sport which struggled to field two teams a few years ago to now fielding seven strong teams in the Waikato inter-school competition against 14 other schools.

Last Sunday were the finals of the Waikato inter-school competition with our Hillcrest teams doing extremely well:

Year 3/4

Year 5/6 - Division 1

Year 5/6 - Division 2

We finished off the season with a lunchtime full of fun with a BBQ, ice blocks and a swim in the pool.

A big thank you must go out to our team managers, game day coaches and our wonderful supportive families, everyone has made for a successful and fun filled season.

Now with the season coming to an end, we have a well deserved break before getting back in the pool in term 4 to hopefully retain the inter-school trophy that we have held for the past few years.

Look out for registrations late in term 3 if your child is interested in having a go at this thrilling sport.

In the pool the ball zooms by splashing high and reaching the sky. With paddle hands the players go fast, trying to score with each splash they cast.

The water is bouncing. It's such a fun game. As teams work together, each trying to chase, a splash, a cheer, a goal to be made. Splash polos the game that never fades.

The crowd is cheering, we're full of cheer, with each splash the end is near. We dodge and weave, we make our way through the scene. We work as a team, splash polos, a fast and exciting dream.

We shoot, we score, we laugh and play. Our team is the best we’ll win today, with every splash and every dive, splash polo’s the best game in the pool.

By Walker

Out of school music starts up next term.

This year we are excited to provide violin and woodwind (recorder, flute, saxophone and clarinet) lessons with William Zhang and Dr Catherine Wallace respectively. All Music House lessons are now fully booked. 

• For more information and to sign up for violin lessons please follow this link
• For more information and to sign up for woodwind lessons please follow this link

There may not be enough spaces for everyone who wants to play so priority will be given to those who have already played and those who are older.

Registrations close tomorrow,  Friday 11th April 2025.

Please take time to have a look at the large amount of lost property that will be out on the hall steps for the next couple of afternoons.  

All good unnamed clothing will be donated to charity at the end of the term.