Kohimarama School News - 27th August 2025

School News

A Message from the Principal

Dear parents and caregivers

At Kohimarama School, our commitment is to provide an education that not only supports academic excellence but also develops confident, capable young people who are ready for the future.

At the heart of our school is The Kohimarama Way, built on our core values of Honesty, Respect, Friendliness, Commitment, Compassion and Reliability. We also nurture key learner dispositions, encouraging our students to be Collaborative, Self-motivated, Reflective, Curious, Effective Communicators and Assessment Capable. Our vision is simple but powerful: to be a high-achieving community of lifelong learners who make a positive difference in the world.

We demonstrate excellence. The results speak for themselves. Kohimarama students consistently achieve at levels well above national expectations and the performance of similar schools. Assessments such as the Curriculum Insights and Progress Study (CIPS) and the international TIMSS study highlight that our children not only perform strongly in reading, writing and mathematics, but also show high self-belief, motivation and enjoyment in their learning.  Since 2018, our achievement data has remained consistently strong, with equity across all groups of learners.

We are proud to offer a future-focused curriculum that prepares students for both today and tomorrow.

• Literacy equips them to be purposeful readers, writers, speakers and listeners in a fast-changing world.
  
  
• Mathematics builds problem-solving, reasoning and critical thinking.
  
  
• Science sparks curiosity, resilience and inquiry.
  
  
• Technology (E-Learning) fosters innovation and responsible digital citizenship.
• A balanced curriculum across the Arts, Health & Physical Education and Social Sciences that allow students to flourish in music, sports, leadership, community service that reflects the motto; Enter to learn, Leave to Serve.
  

Together, these areas ensure that our students are not only learning the basics well but are also developing the skills they need for the 21st century.

Behind every successful student is a dedicated teacher. Our staff continually refine their expertise through professional learning and collaboration, setting high expectations and creating engaging opportunities for all learners. This strong culture of professionalism and teamwork among staff, parents, and students drives the innovation and success we are so proud of.

A special strength of Kohimarama School is our Year 7 and 8 programme. This provides a seamless pathway from Year 1 right through to secondary school, offering a nurturing environment where students can thrive. Our programme includes digital learning and a range of Enrichment opportunities—such as problem-based learning, STEAM, robotics, coding, debating, financial literacy and practical science. These experiences build independence, deepen learning, and extend critical thinking which carries our students into secondary school where they thrive academically and in leadership roles. Past students currently hold head girl and deputy head boy of state and state integrated schools.

Looking Ahead

At Kohimarama School, our focus remains on every child reaching their potential. With outstanding results, a future-focused curriculum and dedicated staff, we provide a leading foundation for lifelong learning and success. We are proud of the journey your children are on with us and we look forward to continuing it together.

Staff

Kelly Hunter will soon be leaving Learning Space 11 to go on maternity leave. We wish Kelly all the best in the next exciting chapter.

We are very pleased to announce that we have employed an experienced teacher for the remainder of the year, Mr Tom Cathro.  Tom is a New Zealand teacher who has been working, over the last few years, in the international school system in Jakarta, Indonesia. We know that you will join us in welcoming Tom in his new role.

The Kohimarama Way - Aroha/Compassion

Students leaving at the end of 2025

If your child/children will not be returning to Kohimarama School in 2026, please can you complete this form as soon as possible. If you are thinking of moving and waiting for a decision from another school, please can you still complete the form. Many thanks in advance

Classes for 2026

Please ​complete this google form if you have information that will support us in ensuring the best placement for your child/ren in 202​6.  As you will no doubt understand, a number of complex issues go into making up classes and an important factor is historical information you have that we need to know.

We will use this information to make the best possible class placement we can.  Please provide all requests no later than Wednesday 17th September at 3pm.

School Production - The Secrets of the Pohutukawa Tree

All our students and teachers are working hard on our school production, there is a lot of singing, dancing and learning about spacing going on at the moment.  We have had students in Hillary and Snell Teams designing tickets which will go on sale next week.  Tickets can be purchased via Kindo and are $5.  We look forward to you coming and supporting our students in the audience.  Some of our Year 7 and 8 students with the support of Mrs Lawrence wrote the production, and we have seven Year 7 and 8 students acting main roles throughout.  Lights, sound boards and stage are coming into the hall soon - very exciting.

Photolife - Team Photos

Photolife will be at school on Thursday 4th of September for team photos. Please ensure your child has the correct school/sports uniform for their photo.

Sibling photos will be held in Term 4.

Junior Kids Lit competition

Today two teams from years 5 and 6 competed at the Junior Kids Lit competition at St Mary's Primary School in Ellerslie.
They took on 28 other teams, answering questions from 12 books that they have been studying over Terms 2 and 3.In the break, NZ author Elena de Roo read some poems from the NZ treasury of animal poems -  one of the assigned books.  Kohimarama School had a very successful competition. 
Oliver, Poppy, Robbie and Lillian came 5th Naomi, Sabine, Isabelle and Harriet came 11th

Scholastic Lucky Book Club

The catalogues are in your teacher’s cubby holes and should be sent home this week!

If you prefer to view the catalogue online please use this link: https://www.scholastic.co.nz/media/9285/nzbc625_p4-2px-full-proof.pdf

Ordering is done through the LOOP app.

Please note all orders must be in by 29th August.

Interschool Speech Competition - Years 5 and 6

Our school was represented last Thursday by 3 of our School finalists: Prepared Speech - Alex, Flash Talk - Oliver and Spoken Word - Shahd.  All three performed to their best and being in the audience I was incredibly proud of them.  There were 29 other schools at the Cluster Finals, so stiff competition.  Shahd was awarded 2nd place in the Spoken Word section - a great achievement.

Patteson house Colour Day

School Policy

To see the Community Conduct Expectations Policy, follow the link below;

Sport News

Any keen Cricketers out there?

The University of Auckland Cricket Club holds an Annual School 6-a-side Festival in term 4.  The Festival days are scheduled for November 25th (Year 3/4) and November 26th (Year 5/6).  Do we have any cricket players and willing parent coaches in our midst?  Please contact Antonia at sports@kohimarama.school.nz

PTA News

GALA GALA GALA! 

Due to venue demands – Ticket Sales will close Midnight October 7th . Grab your ticket TODAY!

Bizzy Bodz - Holiday Programme

Community Notices