Kohimarama School News - 30th April 2025
School News
A Message from the Principal
“Excellence through effort – Te Hiranga mā te whakapau kaha”
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Welcome back to Term 2. I trust you have enjoyed a wonderful two weeks with your children, finding time for family connection and shared experiences. Our teachers also valued this time to rest, recharge and prepare for the exciting teaching and learning programmes ahead.
During the term break, significant property works were undertaken to continue enhancing our learning environment. These projects included:
- Re-roofing of Learning Spaces 6 - 10,
- Re-carpeting of the Administration building, and
- Painting of the main deck outside Administration and Learning Spaces 18 - 23.
Completing these projects within the two-week holiday period, including statutory holidays, was a major undertaking. I would like to acknowledge the meticulous planning and hard work of all involved.
Alongside these projects we also suffered storm damage to shade sails. Five have been removed while we are awaiting our report for the insurance. It is hoped to have these returned as soon as possible.
Bizzy Bodz successfully ran a holiday programme, with a number of our students participating. Thank you to all families who supported this initiative. The school receives a small percentage of proceeds as fundraising, directly benefiting all students at Kohimarama School.
Staffing Updates
At the end of Term 1, we farewelled Mr Russell Graham, our long-serving Property Manager, after 27 years of outstanding service to Kohimarama School. Russell has been a steadfast guardian of our environment and we extend our deepest gratitude for his dedication.
We are delighted to welcome Mr Shannon Mannion as our new Property Manager. Shannon brings enthusiasm and expertise and is committed to ensuring that our learning environments are ready and vibrant each day for students and staff.
We have also opened a new, New Entrant class in Learning Space 05. We warmly welcome Mrs Farah Dalal, who will be teaching this class for the remainder of the year. Please make her feel at home as you see her around the school.
Ms Tayla Swart has recently relocated to Australia with her fiancé. We thank Tayla for her wonderful contributions to Kohimarama School and wish her every success. While we await the arrival of Mrs Michelle Gower, who is expected to join us later this week, Mrs Maree Worth is ably supporting the students in the interim.
Focus for Term 2
This is a nine-week term, and we have commenced learning swiftly to maximise each student's growth. Our aim remains clear: to foster strength-based learning while identifying and supporting new areas for development, ensuring accelerated progress for every learner.
Thank you to our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and Learning Space Coordinators for your tremendous support throughout Term 1. Your collaboration is invaluable in helping our learning community continue to be connected.
Sporting Opportunities and Acknowledgements
At Kohimarama School, we deeply value the role that sporting participation plays in fostering teamwork, resilience, and wellbeing among our students. I would like to take this opportunity to formally acknowledge the outstanding work of Mrs Antonia Jackson, our Sports Coordinator, who has worked diligently to organise and manage a wide range of sporting teams and events across the school.
Antonia’s commitment has been supported by a number of dedicated parent volunteers who have generously stepped forward to manage and coach teams such as Flippaball, Netball, Basketball etc. and other sporting activities. Your willingness to contribute your time and expertise has been invaluable, and we sincerely thank you for your partnership in enriching the sporting opportunities available to our students.
From the school's end, we successfully ran our School Swimming Sports in Term 1, followed by participation in both the Eastern Zone and Bay Suburbs Inter School Swimming Events. These opportunities not only celebrate excellence but also encourage broad student participation and personal achievement.
Looking ahead, we are pleased to announce that Mrs Debbie Ellery will be joining our sports coordination team to assist with the organisation of inter school events, as well as the planning and delivery of Cross Country (Term 3) and Athletics (Term 4).
In addition, I would like to sincerely acknowledge six of our teaching staff who have volunteered to support and coordinate various interschool sports teams, including Rugby, Basketball, Football, Netball, Touch Rugby and Futsil. Their commitment exemplifies the strength of our learning community, where staff and parents collaborate to create a wide range of opportunities across multiple sporting codes for our students.
Together, these efforts highlight the spirit of Kohimarama School — a community working together to enable students to thrive, grow, and shine in all areas of school life.
Upcoming Event: Muffins for Mum
We are looking forward to welcoming the annual Muffins for Mum on Friday, 9th May. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the vital role that mothers and mother-figures play in the lives of our children and families. I warmly invite you to attend with your children and join in this special occasion.
I look forward to connecting with many of you throughout the term. Please feel free to stop for a conversation about education, our students' achievements, and the wonderful journey we continue to share at Kohimarama School.
Paul Engles
Principal
The Kohimarama Way - Reliable/Totika
Reliability means that others can depend on you to keep your commitments. Reliability is doing something that you have agreed to do in a predictable way, without forgetting or having to be reminded. When you practice reliability, you really care about doing what you said you would do. Other people can relax knowing it is in your reliable hands.
Student Fundraiser - Friday 9th May
We are raising money for Kids Can and asking students to participate by bringing $2, they can wear pyjamas or mufti and they might want to bring along a soft toy.
School Disco - Friday 23rd May
- Years 0-4 disco is 5.00 to 6.00 pm
- Years 5-8 disco is 6.30 to 8.00 pm
- Where: School Hall
Tickets can be purchased on Kindo, $5 per student. Ticket sales will be available from Monday 5th May. Ticket sales will stop on Thursday 22nd May. Unfortunately there will be no door sales so please remember to purchase your child's ticket - it will be really sad if they miss out on this once a year night of fun and dancing.
Scholastic Lucky Book Club
Issue 3 is now out! Catalogues have been distributed to all teachers and will be coming home this week, or you can view online using the following link:
https://www.scholastic.co.nz/
Download the LOOP app to order online and have your order delivered to your child's class for free.
Orders close 8th May.
PTA News
Welcome to Term 2!
Let's kick off the term by looking back on what we achieved in Term 1!
With only one event which was the Kiri Team Picnic, we focused on the event calendar for the year ahead and got our lines of communication fully up and running with the Class coordinators.
Our lunch options of Sushi, Pizza and Ice Blocks have been running well through out the term also.
Here is a snap shot of the revenue each area has generated during Term 1;
Revenue generated for the school
- Sushi - $2066 Inc of GST
- Pizza - $2991 Inc of GST
- Ice blocks - $2326 Inc of GST
- Kiri Picnic Sausage Sizzle - $265.70
- Book Fair - $9354.25 (The school secures 35% of this revenue)
A massive THANK YOU to each and every single person who has help in any way shape or form and THANK YOU to all of you who have donated in someway or another.
Green Fingers
During Term 1 and over the holidays we had 3 special families come forward keen to work some magic on a number of areas across the school.
Jacob (Year 1) and parents Nick and Lisa added a splash of colour to the Kiri Gardens with some large plants and flowers. They are keen to continue to add to the space over time.
Finn (Year 4) and Noah (Year 1) along with their parents, Lucy and Matt put their green fingers to work at the back of the classroom at the top of the school adding in Vegetables, Herbs, Rhubarb and Spring Bulbs. They have plans to add some coloured shells and rocks to the space over time.
THANK YOU to you and your families for your time and efforts in improving our shared spaces across the school.
Term 2
During Term 2 we will be installing a Fundraising Thermometer. Speedy Signs in Newmarket are working with us. We will share more as it unfolds.
Event Calendar
Term 2: April 28th – June 27th
- May 9th - Muffins for Mum (Tickets on sale via your Kindo account)
- May 23rd - School Disco (Ticket Info will be released by the school in due course)
- May 30th - Grandparent Day
- June 13th - Comedy evening in the Good George (Tickets on sale https://comedyforacause.nz/event/KPS25/ )
Yummy Stickers
EVENT OF INTEREST
While most of our events are to raise money for the school, we are also open to hearing from each of you on events that you would be interested in.
Following some feedback from a number of parents, The PTA and the School are joining forces and bringing;
"Parent Cyber Safety Evening" presented by Filmmaker, Author and Speaker Rob Cope. Save the Date: July 15th
This will be a ticketed event to cover Robs costs only and is not a fundraising event.
More information will be shared over the coming weeks.
Term 4
Gala, Gala, Gala!
DATE – October 18th
Venue – The Royal Akarana Yacht Club
Put it into your Calendar, Contact the babysitters, reach out to your out of school friends and family to join your table and dust off your dancing shoes!
Let’s make this a fundraiser to remember and raise as much money for the school as possible.
We will provide a greater breakdown as to where the fundraising will be spent over the coming weeks.
AUCTION ITEMS for the Gala NEEDED!!!
If you have a business package, service offering, experience or bach that you would like to offer for a weekend which we can auction off, please email kohimaramapta@gmail.com
Community Notices
