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Newsletter T3W8
11 September 2026
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It was lovely to see so many parents around for the annual student-led conferences last week.
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Next term we welcome our new Deputy Principal – Liz Cribb. Mrs Cribb will be known by students as Whaea Liz. She has been living and working in Rarotonga for the past few years. Previous to that she worked in New Zealand and in Europe. Mrs Cribb comes with previous IB and senior leadership experience and we look forward to welcoming her at the welcome assembly at the beginning of Term 4.
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This week we farewell Mrs Hui Yao, one of our Chinese teachers. We thank Hui for sharing her knowledge of the Chinese language and culture over the past two years and wish her well for the future.
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We will also be saying goodbye to one of our long serving learning support assistants at the end of this term. Mrs Karen Bartlett has been at Glendowie School for 15 years, giving tremendous support particularly to our junior school staff and students. We wish her well as she leaves to spend more time with her family.
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Rangoli sand is a fine, coloured sand product used particularly during festive celebrations. The school recently received advice from the Ministry of Education that some Rangoli sand may contain asbestos as traces were found in some brands.
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During Diwali last year (early November) the Year 1 students used Rangoli sand as part of the activities that they were doing. We featured this in our newsletter at the time. Several weeks after the Diwali festival the school was notified by the Ministry of Education of sand products that were known to have had batches with traces of asbestos in them. Rangoli sand was not on this list. At that time we removed all varieties of coloured sand from the classrooms, including Rangoli sand. All sand products on the Ministry of Education’s list were tested. Then all of the coloured sand in the school was removed from school grounds and disposed of appropriately.
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In the interests of transparency we wanted to let our community know about the presence of this product in the school, albeit briefly. To the best of our knowledge Rangoli sand was used during the Year 1 Diwali celebration on one occasion in recent history. As highlighted in the newsletter at the time the event took place outdoors.
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I’m happy to answer any questions on the matter from parents via email.
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A reminder that the voluntary donation can be paid in full or in part, either through Kindo or by cash or eftpos at the school office, or direct to the school bank account -
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We really appreciate any financial support you are able to give. This donation is used to supplement government funding, and goes towards providing extras that other schools do not have. One example is extra staffing to enable smaller class sizes and a variety of specialist teacher support. We currently provide around three-and-a-half additional teachers above what we are funded for, which comes at a cost to the Board. Next year we hope to increase this additional expenditure.
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If you have a child who will not be returning to Glendowie School for 2027, please could you let the office know. This will be a great help in ensuring we allocate the correct number of spaces in our upcoming ballot. If you have a child who is due to start in 2027 but you live out of zone, please ensure that you complete a ballot application form before the closing date of 14th October.
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Paul Crowhurst | Principal
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The next Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, 22nd September from 6.30pm in the boardroom. Anyone is welcome to attend and a copy of the agenda is available from the school office from 3pm on the Friday before the meeting.
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A reminder that wearing the school hat is compulsory in term 4 and term 1. These can be purchased online from our uniform supplier, but are also available from the school office at a cost of $16.50.
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Wearing sunscreen is also encouraged in the summer terms. Sunscreen is available in the classrooms for years 0-3, and in the common rooms for years 4-8, but students can bring and apply their own if possible.
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The board has agreed to hold a ballot for out of zone enrolments in 2027. Applications are available on our website. Please note that if you are living out of zone and have a child who you would like to enrol in 2027, you must complete a ballot application form, even if you already have a child at school here. Paper copies are available from the school office. Applications close on 14th October 2026.
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To register with Glendowie School please click here.
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Auckland Interschool Jump Rope Champs
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Please let you student know to keep an eye on the daily notices next week to sign up!
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This year, the NIWA Science Fair was held at Michael Park School.
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174 teams all competed for the same achievement: first place, second place, third place, highly commended and special prizes. It was a lot of effort, and hard work, but in the end, it certainly felt like an achievement. On Friday afternoon, we looked on confidently as the judges marked our work, excited to present everything that we worked so hard on. This year, Glendowie School did incredibly well, with Eva and Hazel placing first in their category, and Forest and Keira placing third in their category. Amy and Alex also received a highly commended in their category. Overall, this was a really fun day and everyone did amazingly!
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In our science class, we did a really fun experiment on static electricity. One person would slide down the slide, and we would take turns linking fingers with them, resulting in a small shock caused by static electricity. We then wondered: If humans are conductors (which we learnt in a previous science unit), then will the static electricity pass through us as well? That was just the beginning. We then started experimenting with polyester, denim, and woollen pieces of clothing. We used two different slides to ensure a fair test, and the overall result really helped us understand our original question.
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We presented it to the NIWA judges by explaining what we chose, why and what we learnt. This was an interesting learning curve and a great experience, and we can be really proud of our highly commend award! - Amy V & Alex F, Y8
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For our Science Fair project, we based our experiment on how different people and technology listened to and reacted to different chords. We had some that were meant to harmonise, and some that sounded out of place together. Our results showed that the technology we created and tested was more accurate, though humans had another level - emotion. Our test subjects asked us if they did well, answering right or wrong, but for them, it completely depended on what mood they were in, and how they were feeling. For example, if someone played slow, sad music, but the listener was feeling happy and energised, surely that music would sound bad, and out of place. But if someone who matched the music’s emotions listened to the same piece, ultimately, wouldn’t they think the music sounded better? We found that technology doesn’t have that extra layer, it cannot tell the context it is meant to be feeling, or how it is meant to react. It is just there, coded to say what is good and what is bad. Not everything has a right or wrong answer, and with music, you’re meant to embrace all emotions, so you can twist the music to feel how you feel. If you can do this, music will NEVER sound bad. The opportunity to do the Science Fair has been so fun, and we could not have done it without Mrs. Hanna. She put in so much effort and we’re all very grateful. The Science Fair is something I would definitely recommend for all to do, but I wouldn’t worry about the judging. Just do your best, and have fun! - By Eva V & Hazel W, Y8
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For our Science Fair project, we chose to focus on coastal erosion because it is affecting our local community. We made a simulation to replicate how coastal erosion takes place. In this simulation, we used a tub with water representing the ocean and sand representing the shoreline. We found out that mangroves and seawalls help reduce coastal erosion so we also made a replica of these in our simulation to find out if it was making a difference. Turns out, the seawall lessened the erosion by a lot! The mangroves also made a huge difference in stopping the waves from affecting the shoreline. To see how much erosion was taking place on our local reserve, we took a trip to Tahuna Torea and took photos of any places where erosion was taking place. We found loads of spots along the beach which were being affected by erosion but on the other side of the reserve, there were barely any! This was because there were lots of mangroves which were blocking the waves from reaching the shore. At the NIWA Science Fair, we had judges walking around and asking us about our project. After the first group of judges came around, we went back to the waiting area and were super happy to get a callback, where more judges came to look at our project. We ended up coming third in our category and received a special photography award. Overall, we really enjoyed this experience and we are very grateful that Mrs Hanna gave us this opportunity. She gave up so much of her time to help us prepare, set up and have a very fun experience. We would definitely recommend it to anyone else who gets this opportunity in the future.
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- By Keira J & Forest A, Y8
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On Tuesday the 8th of September, the Year 5–6 basketball teams competed in a Bays Suburbs tournament at the YMCA Panmure Lagoon. We tried our hardest and got better with every game that we played. We all showed great sportsmanship and maintained a positive attitude throughout the day. We made a few mistakes but pulled through to bring home some great results! Thank you to all of our parent helpers and supporters who came along to help out and cheer us on from the side-lines. - Chloe M & Charlie H, Y5
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Auckland Champion of Champions Gymnastics Competition
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On Thursday 10th September, selected Year 3-5 students attended the Auckland Gymnastics Championships after qualifying at our Eastern Suburbs competition earlier in the term. All of our gymnasts performed incredibly well and represented our school with pride. Congratulations to our Year 5 boys team; Sawyer H, Louis G, Jude I & Harry K who came third place overall!
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Year 7’s Experience with ‘Mini’ Mini Golf Courses
In Year 7, we have been creating ‘mini’ mini golf courses to learn about the angles and strategies involved in mini golf.
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We chose our groups of 3 or 4, and began planning out what our golf courses would look like, and what effect the obstacles would have on the courses. After we had measured all the angles, and most importantly, the amount of felt we needed, the next step was to build the mini golf course, out of various materials, such as popsicle sticks, pom poms, sticky tape, and glue.
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After that, we dedicated one maths class to testing our golf courses. We could try all the other groups’ golf courses, which was very interesting, as one groups’ par was 43! The work behind this was to find out the average par, and also to understand how we could have improved it. For example, some groups could have benefited from having more obstacles, to increase the difficulty, and on the other hand, some groups might have benefited from having less.
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Finally, our teacher took a photo of our golf courses from a bird’s eye view, so we could complete the assessment - Designing a Mini Golf Hole. We were given a list to work on, which included explaining in detail, the angles and obstacles on our course.
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In conclusion, making the ‘Mini’ Mini Golf Courses was a really fun group experience, and although it was a little challenging at times, overall, we really enjoyed it. - Hayley W & Izzy S, Y7
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Year 4 Unit of Inquiry
This term year 4 (and the year 3 & 4 students from Montessori) have been looking at how the world works, focusing on the central idea “The Earth’s forces have an impact on people and our environment”.
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Our learning has consisted of inquiring into:
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The geological processes that transform the Earth’s surface including Earthquakes, Volcanic eruptions and Tsunamis.
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The causes and consequences of these natural events.
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How people prepare for and respond to Earth's forces including knowing what to do when these natural events occur.
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We have been focusing on being inquirers by coming up with our own questions and thinking about things we want to research further. Because we have learnt so much during this unit we are very knowledgeable about our topics!
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Our teachers have encouraged us to communicate the new information and understandings we have gained in creative ways. We have been able to choose how to present our findings and are aiming to share things in a range of presentation methods to each make a class ‘mini museum’.
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This week we have been working hard to complete our presentations. Some things we have made include animations, slide shows, posters, dioramas, puzzles and games. We plan on sharing these with others and will have our ‘mini museums’ on display for the next week in our classrooms or common room.
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Parents' Association
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Term 3 is flying by, and what a fantastic term it’s been! We’ve had some great events, and an exciting night still to come.
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Parents Quiz Night is nearly here! There are just 10 single tickets left on Kindo, so get in quick and join us at the Churchill Club for a fun night of laughs, friendly competition, fantastic raffles and epic lucky dips.
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We would also love to encourage any new parents or caregivers to come along and join the Parents' Association. We are a fabulous group who love creating memorable events for our school community while also helping to fundraise for the school. Everyone is welcome, and we would love to see some new faces! Our next meeting is Thursday 24 September in the staffroom. Come along, meet the team and find out how you can get involved. We would love to see you there!
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Next Uniform Shop Opening
8:30-9am, Friday 25th September
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Next PA meeting
7pm, Thursday 24th September, staffroom, all welcome.
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Parent’s Quiz Night - Friday 18th September
Expert Speaker - (More details & event date to come)
Colour Run - 4th December
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Upcoming Events
- Friday 18th September – Parents’ Association Quiz Night
- Monday 21st September - Bay Suburbs Hockey
- Tuesday 22nd September - Board Meeting, 6.30pm - Boardroom
- Thursday 24th September - Parents' Association Meeting, 7pm - Staffroom
- Friday 25th September- Second Hand Uniform Shop, 8.30am
- Friday 25th September – Last Day of Term 3
- Monday 12th October - First Day of Term 4
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Community Notices
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