Camp Kaitoke 2026

Our Seniors have just returned from an unforgettable few days at camp, and what a week it was! The Year 5 and 6 students spent two nights away together, while the Year 4s joined us for a big day in the middle. Camp is such a special part of school life and is a chance for students to learn outside the classroom, challenge themeselves, and grow in ways that are hard to recreate back at school. The Camp programme was packed with activities designed to stretch students both physically and mentally. There was hut building, team logic challenges, crate stacking, rock climbing, abseiling, the giant swing and the ever popular super fox. One of the best parts of camp is seeing the kids discover what they're capable of. For some, that meant stepping off the platform for the giant swing. For others, it was perservering through a tricky team challenge. These moments are when reselience grows, when students realise they can keep going even when something feels hard. Challenge through choice! There was also time for the simple joys of camp life, cricket matches every afternoon during 'free time', and the annual campfire with John, Steph, and Beth joined us for singing and toasting marshmallows. Camp might be over for another year, but the memories and lessons will be sticking around.

The Importance of Sharing Writing

 As we are getting back into our routines for the new year, one of the many aspects of our writing programme has been about sharing our writing. As we develop as writers, it is important for us to understand that our writing isn't always just for ourselves and that often it needs a reader or an audience.

This provides opportunity to celebrate the effort that goes into the process of writing. From idea generation to transcription and from careful crafting and editing, writing is a complex process. It's important for us to celebrate the effort that our learners put into crafting exciting tales or informative processes. 

Sharing our writing also opens the door for feedback from our peers and audiences. We look together for things we enjoyed about a piece of writing and talking about things that could be even better.

We share writing through this blog, on our walls, at school assembly, on Seesaw and by reading to the class. You can also ask your child about their writing, especially when they have posted it Seesaw, to find out more about what we have been learning about. Maybe even write something together to enjoy the process of writing.

Here are some of the children sharing their writing in Matariki this week.

Our Bus Depot mural

When we were invited to create a mural for the new Bus Depot in Miramar, we knew this was more than just a painting project! It was an opportunity for our students to leave a visible mark on their community and quite literally weave their voices into the landscape. Our amazing Learning Assistant, Cloe, ran the project which began with a sketch of the elements that felt unmistakably 'ours': pohutakawa in bloom, hills upon hills, winding roads, and bright blue bays. Once the design was mapped, the real work began. Large-scale painting brings its own challenges: scale, blending, patience, consistency...the kids learned that murals require collaboration at a whole new level. The negotiated colour choice, they adjusted spacing, they re-painted sections that didn't quite align. We are so excited to see our mural presented alongside a work by Tautoru and AUtahi, as well as many other schools on the peninusla. Keep your eyes peeled and in the meantime, have a look at the incredible up close detail in the pictures below!

An exciting start to 2026

 Wow! What a great start we have had to the year in Māhutonga Matariki. 

The feedback from our parent information evening last night was that kids were excited about coming back and navigating all the new and similar experiences that a new year brings. That's our experience as well with good vibes and lots of engagement marking a great first week and a bit.

Take the treehouse as good example:

Everyone is filled with awe at beautiful new space to work in which doubles as a good incentive for showing positive learning behaviours and positive relationships with others.

We've even begun exploring the world of botanical art that will add a whole new layer of colour and zest across the spaces.

For a new teacher coming into this space, I have been blown away by the Kindness, Teamwork and Leadership that our Worser Bay Learners have launched back into the new year with.

We are looking forward to connecting with you all next week in our goal setting meetings (If you haven't booked already then check back in the newsletter for details).
The learners have been reflecting on the things they can do and what their goal is to help them achieve even higher. 

Sailing and Moanamana.

 We are the luckiest people in the world! 

We have been learning so much with our hands in the rock pools, our feet in the sea and our hair in the wind. We are experiencing the interconnectedness of the tides, the creatures in the sea including phytoplankton, zooplankton, and their roles processing carbon and producing oxygen.  Beach week is an amazing learning opportunity for us. 

To see the confidence grow as students challenge themselves sailing is inspiring. 

We also connect with each other, in some cases for the last time as our Year 6 Students prepare for Poroaki next week and the great future beyond. 

We have been supported at the beach by our wonderful learning assistants, Kirsten and Cloe, committed, generous parents, and the wonderful coaching team at Worser Bay Boat Club. 

Thanks to all!!

  

 

Seniors at sea: Beach Week has begun!

This week our Seniors headed down to the beautiful Worser Bay for our annual Beach Week. We did a huge beach clean-up along Worser Bay beach and along Seatoun Beach, we filled up 3 big black bags! It was awesome to see the kids working together with real purpose, noticing how even small pieces of rubbish can impact the moana they love spending time in. We were lucky to be joined by Chloe from Enviroschools, who helped us explore how our choices affect local ecosystems. We love spending time with Chloe, she has a huge amount of knowledge to share and we always feel priveledged to be able to tap into it. One of the highlights was collaborating with Year 6 students from Kilbirnie School as our kids had the opportunity to share their knowledge of the Moanamana programme. They demonstrated how the science equipment works, how to collect data, and how to use the new app to record data. Beach Week continues next week when we head back down the hill for sailing with the Worser Bay Boast Club, always a huge favourite. We can't wait!