Kohimarama School News - 20th August 2025

School News

A Message from the Principal

Dear parents and caregivers

Board of Trustees Elections – Understanding the Governance Role

As we approach the Board of Trustees election process, it is important for our community to understand the vital role the Board plays in the life of a New Zealand full primary school such as Kohimarama School.

The Board is responsible for the governance of the school. This means ensuring the school is well-led, future-focused, and operating in accordance with all legislative and policy requirements set out under the Education and Training Act 2020. Governance includes:

• Setting the strategic direction of the school in consultation with parents, staff, and students.
  
  
• Developing and monitoring policies that ensure a safe, inclusive, and high-quality learning environment.
  
  
• Overseeing financial stewardship to ensure resources are used effectively to support learning.
  
  
• Ensuring legal compliance with all education, employment, health and safety, and privacy obligations.
  
  
• Supporting and evaluating the principal, who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school.
  

The Board works in partnership with the Principal to positively influence the Kohimarama Way of being – our culture of high engagement, achievement, and wellbeing. Together, we ensure the school is resourced and supported to provide an outstanding education for every learner.

Governance vs. Leadership/Management – Knowing the Difference
Governance is about what the school should achieve and ensuring it happens. Management is about how those outcomes are delivered. In practice:

• Governance: Setting strategy, approving policies, ensuring compliance, and monitoring results.
  
  
• Leadership/Management: Implementing teaching programmes, staffing classes, running daily operations, and delivering the curriculum.
  

While governance and the leadership/management are separate, they are interdependent. The Principal leads and manages the school on behalf of the Board and reports regularly on progress towards the strategic goals. The Board focuses on ensuring that every decision supports student learning and wellbeing.

As voters, your choice of Board members matters – they will help shape the direction of Kohimarama School, safeguarding our standards and strengthening our ability to ensure every learner is highly engaged and successful.

Interschool Speech Competitions

Our school speech winners went to the Remuera cluster speech finals. These students were competing against a range of schools including integrated and private schools. 

Congratulations to:

Abigail J - 1st Place Overall in the Spoken Word category! Ka pai, Abigail!

Dash B - Excellent performance in the Prepared Speech category

Huxley W - Impressive showing in the Flash Talk category

These achievements highlight the dedication, creativity, and public speaking skills our students/ākonga have developed. The competition was fierce, with many schools participating from across the Remuera cluster.

Speaking in front of an audience takes courage, preparation, and skill - qualities our students demonstrated in abundance. We are incredibly proud of Abigail, Dash, and Huxley for representing our school so well.

A big mihi to the whānau who supported our students and to our teachers who helped prepare them for this competition.

Abigail now moves on to the APPA Finals on Thursday 28th August, we wish her nothing but the best!

Interschool Cross Country

A successful and enjoyable day at Churchill Park on Tuesday August 12 for the inter school events. 73 learners across Yrs 4-8 participated. The Eastern Zone event for Yrs 7/8 in the morning saw teams from 16 schools competing, and the afternoon session for the Bay Suburbs event for Yrs 4-6 had representation from 9 local schools.

Thank you to all the parents, office staff and teachers involved to make our participation possible. Our top results were:

Individuals

• Ist Place. Charlie L Yr 4 Boys, Chloe G Yr 5 Girls
• 3rd Place. Max P Yr 5 Boys, Lilian T Yr 6 Girls, Luca A Yr 6 Boys

Teams

• 2nd Place Yr 4 Girls. ( Anna T, Havana C, Frankie GC, Millie T, Audrey K, Julia C, Matilda B, Naomi H )
• 2nd Place Yr 6 Girls. ( Lilian T, Regina M, Silke R, Naomi C, Poppy M, Stella M, Natalie Q )
• 3rd Place Yr 5 Boys. ( Max P, Pierre G, Jack B, Henry M, Brugha F, Sebastian M, Caleb O )
• 3rd Place, Yr 6 Boys. ( Luca LA, Nayan J, Theo H, Oliver T, Declan F, Rian S, William H, Ajay P )

A big congratulations to these students who represented Kohimarama School so well. Both as competitors and as great sports persons.

Lockdown Practices

This week (Wednesday and Thursday) we will be practising our ‘Evacuation’ and ‘Lockdown: Stay in Place’ emergency procedures.  We believe that it is important that we conduct regular practices for lockdowns and evacuations so that we can all be well prepared and familiar with our procedures should an emergency occur.  We thank you for your support.

The Kohimarama Way - Aroha/Compassion

Are you a designer in our school whānau?

We’re looking for a parent/caregiver/alumni with professional brand design experience to help us (on a voluntary basis) tidy up and formalise our school brand. The work will include working off a brief to develop simple guidelines, image files, and a few practical templates. All work on this project so far has been done by volunteers and we’re keen to keep costs low and draw on the strengths in our community.
Interested? Please send a short note to office@kohimarama.school.nz with the subject “Brand Designer”. We're happy to meet to provide more information.

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

OUT OF ZONE ENROLMENTS FOR 2026

The Kohimarama School Board has determined that there are 23 out of zone places for 2026.
They are as follows:

Yr0/1 - 5 places
Yr3 - 6 places
Yr4 - 3 places
Yr5 - 3 places
Yr6 - 3 places
Yr7 - 3 places

Application forms for the out-of-zone ballot can be found here or obtained from our school office or by email. If the number of out of zone applications exceeds the number of places available, students will be selected by ballot. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 8th October 2025 and the draw (if needed) will be Wednesday 15th October 2025. For an application form by email please contact Helen O’Brien hobrien@kohimarama.school.nz

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.

Kohimarama School Speech Competition - Years 5 to 8

We had our school Speech Competition recently and our judges Mrs Carrie Mills and Mrs Hilary Walkinshaw were impressed with the calibre of presentation and content.  Students chose a Prepared Speech of 3 minutes duration or Flash Talk with 12 slides that students talk to, or Spoken Word where they share their thoughts in poetry form.  Each category demands performance and accuracy.  However, each category also has a specific set of skills that need to take the forefront.  See below the photo of all our finalists and then the photo of the students that were placed in the Speech Final.  Our first place getters move onto the Cluster Speech Finals.

Congratulation to all students who made the school Speech finals and to those who went to the Cluster Finals - what an achievement.

Pink Shirt Day

Last Friday we all turned out in pink, raising awareness around bullying. We remembered how to be an upstander and what bullying is and what it isn't. Our Kohimarama School values of friendliness, compassion and respect support our school in how we relate to one another. It was so great to see the students' creativity in what they wore and their support and understanding of such a serious topic.

Student Fundraiser - Cancer Society

Thank you to all students who participated in this fundraiser organised by our Student Councillors.  Together we raised $887.60 - thank you for your generosity.

Patteson house Colour Day

Certificates & Awards

Congratulations to these outstanding students:

• Room 1 – Abi F
• Room 2 – Isla S
• Room 3 – Georgia H
• Room 4– Sara J
  
• Room 5 – Scarlett R, Etienne S
• Room 6 – Lin Q
• Room 7 – Blair M, Charlie SL
• Room 8 – Lexi D, Rocco Z
• Room 9 – Charlie W
• Room 10 – Arlo S, Frida O, Olivia B
• Room 16 – Chloe G, Betania R
• Room 11 – Clara R, Frida RN, Nils J
• Room 12 – James Y, Molly K
• Room 13 – Mia V, Jack B
• Room 14 – Isaac M, Anna S
• Room 15 – Anna H, Leo TR
• Room 17 – Tallulah M, Tessa F, Hansey D
• Room 18 – David P
• Room 19 – Chloe J, Ellie Y
• Room 20 – Robert C
• Room 21 – Dash B
• Room 22 – Theo R, Jazlyn L
• Room 23 – George C, Natalie R

Caught Being Good - 'Greenies'

Previous week congratulations to:

• Esther           LS 2                 for Respect                 Patteson
• Leah              LS 3                 for Commitment      Atkin
• Ayla               LS 9                 for Respect                 Atkin
• Kylo               LS 11               for Respect                 Selwyn
• Louis            LS 19                for Compassion       Atkin
• Leo                LS 23               for Reliability           Colenso

Last week congratulations to:

• Finn             LS 2                  for Friendliness       Colenso
• Ryan            LS 6                  for Reliability           Colenso
• Jack              LS 7                  for Reliability           Colenso

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

Rob Cope – Our Kids online – Video Presentation at Kohimarama School Hall Monday August 25th at 6.30pm. 

Book your tickets here.

Ezlunch

Ezlunch Coming Soon!

Quick, easy lunch ordering – anytime, anywhere.

We’re excited to bring Ezlunch! With a range of healthy, tasty meals from local caterers (including gluten-free and vegetarian options), it’s a simple way to sort lunch time with no fuss.

✔ Order online 24/7
✔ No cash, no paper
✔ One family account for all your family members – even across different schools or clubs!

Keep an eye out – more info coming soon!

Why Families Love Ezlunch

• Flexible ordering: Set up in advance or order on the day (cut-off times apply).
• Multiple payment options: Free real-time mobile banking payments, Online Bank Transfers (A2A), Credit/Debit Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Alipay.
• One easy account: Manage lunches for all your family members in one place.

From August 25th we will be trialling a 4 week offering of lunch orders through Ezlunch. 

What is Ezlunch? This is a central platform operated through your KINDO account. 

Tuesday and Thursday – You can jump on and order some snacks or entire lunches through your KINDO supplied by foursquare. 

Wednesday – Sushi  

Friday – Pizza 

More details will be communicated out over the coming 2 weeks, prior to our 4 week trial starting.

GALA GALA GALA! 

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

Bizzy Bodz - Holiday Programme

Community Notices