Kia ora all

Junior School

This term, our school-wide focus is on the arts.  This includes music, drama, dance and visual arts.  As part of our focused learning on visual arts, we've been practicing observational sketching.  Our motto for this is look, draw, look.   We're not aiming for perfect, polished pictures - instead, we're training our eyes to notice the lines, shapes, patterns, and tiny details in the objects around us.  This careful looking is a superpower that helps us become stronger visual artists!  

Middle School

The middle school team has been focused on the arts this term.  In room 11 we recently explored and learned about the different elements of dance - body, space, time, energy and relationships.  Here we are mirroring each other’s movements which was “funny and weird” and brought out the giggles in us!

Senior School

Our tamariki are excited about their upcoming performance of 'The Broken Bond’. We have been practising hard at school, and we know many of you have been helping out with learning lines at home as well. With less than a week to go before we perform, we thought it was timely to share some information about the production's progress and request a few things to ensure everything runs smoothly at our end.

We have two acting casts performing, one cast each day. The children who are not in the acting cast on a day will be doing other jobs during that production, such as dancing, singing, tech support or organising props. This means that all children will be required to be present for all of the performances. Both casts will be performing a matinee at 10:45 am in front of the school, which parents/grandparents are also welcome to attend, and then an evening performance at 7:00 pm. The show is expected to go for approximately 90 minutes.

The show dates are as follows:
Acting Cast 1 - Tuesday 19 August
Acting Cast 2 - Wednesday 20 August

As the evening show starts at 7:00 pm, we ask that all children be dropped off at school at 6:00 pm to the doors of Room 23. They will stay inside during this time and be cared for by our teachers. This will give us 1 hour to get everyone into costumes, makeup, and ready to perform. This will also allow enough time after school for your child to go home, have a break and eat some dinner before returning for their evening performance. It is important that there is a caregiver to pick up each child at 8:30 pm, after the evening show, at the doors of Room 23.

Tickets can be purchased at the door; the cost is $2 per person or $5 for a family.

Cricket registrations are now open for year 3-6 students.  Registrations close 5pm, Friday 29th August. 

Please click here if your child is interested in playing cricket in Term 4.

On Monday 11th of August 2 chess teams walked to the Performing Arts Centre at Berkley Intermediate to compete in the Waikato Primary/Intermediate Interschool Chess Tournament. Felix, Edward, Vincent and Daksha were in team A. Jesse, Navinya, Luke and Chichi were in team B. Each team had five games so we were there for most of the day.   

Everyone tried their best and enjoyed the day but sadly we were unable to defend our title from last year of being the Waikato Primary Champions. Our winning streak is over. 

Individually Daksha got the highest ranking on the day from our teams.

A special thanks to Mrs Leach and Russell for being extremely helpful and working hard for us and to the parents who were able to watch and support us on the day.

Rubbish pick-up at Hillcrest Park!

Who went?

On July 30th some of room 7 and the Enviro Group went on a walk to Hillcrest Park to pick up rubbish with Shelley from the Hamilton City Council.

What we found!!

We found a lot of things on the rubbish pick up such as…

A ladder, a football, an exploded rugby ball, newspaper, so much glass,

And lots and lots of rubbish.

Why we went!!

We went because all of the rubbish in Hillcrest Park is appalling,

And there are lots of Hillcrest students that live in the area and use the park all the time. 

To help the new native plants that the council have recently planted in the park. And you could…

• NOT LITTER!!!!!!
• PLANT MORE TREES! 

RECYCLE MORE THINGS!(look on the bottom for numbers, 1, 2, and 5!) 

Written by Libby H and Emma R

Humare Park Planting! 

Highlights

On August the 6th. The Enviro Group and some room 7 helpers went to Humare Park to plant some Native Trees.  Including Kowhai, Harakeke, Totara, Kahikatea, Karamu, Carex, Koromiko, Makomako, Matipo. Altogether we planted 330 plants, with our amazing Hamilton City Council helpers Shelley and Aimee.  The reason why we went to help restore and plant homes for all sorts of animals in the future.  There were 32 of us and we walked in pairs on the way there and back. Mikayla’s Granddad even came and took photos of us. Shelley mistook him for a random man who was taking photos of children!  We left at 9:00am and arrived at 9:15am.  We got back at 2:45pm! 

Written by Mikayla S & Isabelle B   

With the senior production happening in the hall, After School Care will be running from the library next week and the week beginning 15 September.

During the first week of next term, we will be teaching the personal safety programme Keeping Ourselves Safe in your child’s class as part of our health curriculum. 

Keeping Ourselves Safe has been designed to give children the skills to cope in situations involving abuse.  There are 4 sessions, each with different aims: 

Session 1 - I am a unique and confident person

Session 2 - Understanding Unsafe Situations

Session 3 - Keeping Ourselves Safe

Session 4 - Getting Help

These sessions will be developed with age-appropriate content and the lesson plans with what will be covered will be able to be shared before they are taught.

Keeping Ourselves Safe lessons will be taught by your child’s teacher and to be successful, Keeping Ourselves Safe needs your help and support. Your child may have Home Activities to work on with you.

It is important that you participate as much as possible and talk to your child about what they have been learning. This will help reinforce the messages the school is conveying and help your child use their new skills with confidence.

To find out more about the programme, a parent and caregiver meeting will be held as follows:

Please complete this form if you would like to attend the parent information meeting to make sure we can cater for those interested in coming. 

Stacy Gregg is an awesome NZ author who wrote the series Pony Club Secret which became a tv series called Mystic.  Last year her book Nine Girls was published and her newest book, The Last Journey, was published just this year.  She has sold millions of books worldwide. 

On the 5th of August about 60 lucky students met Stacy Gregg in our school library. She signed books and paper for us, and later in the day she was at Books for Kids on Grey street.  Lots of HNS students went there to buy her new book.  

About 2 and a half years ago, during the Auckland floods, Stacy’s house was waist deep in water.  She escaped the floods with only her new kitten and her dog. Everything in her house was ruined. She had to live somewhere else while her house was fixed and ended up in a quiet cul de sac which was filled with cats. This is what inspired her newest book. 

Stacy Gregg loves ponies and horses and told us a funny story.  When she was little she wanted a pony so bad and begged and begged her parents for one.  When she turned 8, her parents put a blind fold on her, took her outside and spun her around and took off the blindfold and… 

It was a bike! She didn’t want a bike. 

So she spent the next year doing all the chores, even tidying her room (but don’t look under the bed).  Then, on her 9th birthday they did the same thing. 

This time it wasn’t a bike.  It did have four legs and a tail and started with p…….   But it still wasn’t a pony.  It was a PIG! (They ate her pig for Christmas and said it ran away but she knew).

Eventually she got a pony and all the begging paid off.  That is a good lesson for pony loving kids!!!!

Why did she decide to come to our school, you may ask?  She came to inspire the young writers at our school to keep writing, but mainly to share her stories of growing up and her books.  Her newest book is called The Last Journey and it is about cats, lots of them but there was a dark side to the book.  But you’ll have to read it to find out more.   

We were very lucky to have this world acclaimed author visit us.  If you want to know more about Stacy Gregg and any of her 39 books visit her at www.stacygregg.com

Thank you also to Books for Kids for bringing Stacy to us. 

By Lilly and Emily room 7 

On Thursday 28th August we will be holding a donut day. An order form will come home at the end of next week.  Donuts come from Mamas Donuts and are $5.00 each. Please ensure you have the exact cash as change cannot be given.

Donut Day this term is part of our Year 2 students’ project to make lunchtimes more fun, fair, and friendly.  As they’ve shared their ideas about what helps them enjoy the playground, they’ve told us how much they appreciate the extra lunchtime activities and having a set day to use the basketball court. Now, they’re taking action by fundraising for new games and equipment to support active and positive play.  

The Donuts will be delivered to the children’s classrooms just before lunchtime.