Newsletter T3W10 2026

View this email in your browser >

Newsletter T3W10

25 September 2026

From the Principal

Kia ora koutou,

What a term it has been. Things were capped off nicely with a great ESOL assembly yesterday afternoon.

Staffing News

We wish our Year 4 Team Leader, Miss Moyle, all the best for a very special day during the holidays – her wedding day! We hope that Antonia and her husband-to-be Connor enjoy a beautiful day with friends and family, and we look forward to welcoming her back as Mrs Watson next term.

Glendowie Pump Track

Plans are getting serious for the Glendowie Pump Track. Community consultation is in full swing. I realise that there are strong views on this topic across the community. The school takes no particular position on the matter. Unless of course a 40-place carpark were to be included in the plans, which could be used during drop off and pickup time! So please have your say through the Council’s official channels about the idea of a Glendowie Pump Track.

Devices

In an election year we are used to seeing emotionally charged topics shaping the pre-election promises. This year is no different. This week the Government announced that if re-elected it would ban screen time in early childhood education centres and limit screen use in years 1 to 3.

The Government said it wanted, “... a greater emphasis on books, handwriting, conversation, hands-on activities and direct interaction with teachers and other children.” Queue the eye rolls from teachers everywhere, as if this isn’t already the essence of classroom life.

I’ll try to put aside my frustration at education once again being used as a forum for political points scoring and address the premise of this election promise, which is that the use of technology in schools is risky business. The fact is the use of screens in schools is far from being a mind numbing, brain altering experience that will leave our kids with permanent neurological scars.

The main reason why there is little reason for concern is that screen time is already limited in schools. There are some schools with a particular preference for using technology and in those schools it plays a greater role in the day-to-day learning of students. Glendowie School is not overly technology heavy. But even the technology focused schools have students doing a variety of other learning activities. My experience of tech focused schools is that they have a strong theory of learning behind what they do and students are encouraged to use devices to create content more often than just consume content others have created.

At Glendowie School we take a more balanced approach, including technology where it enhances learning. I’d like to think device use is led by our teachers, and our teachers are not led by technology. We provide one-to-one devices for almost half the school so we can carefully monitor use and ensure these devices are used purposefully.

Usually students use technology at school for one of two purposes. Either they are creating something, like writing a story or developing a slideshow. Or they are using technology to practice a skill. All this is being done in a regulated environment, where accessing inappropriate content is very difficult. Do students drift off task while on their devices? Yes they do, and at our school, like other places, there are consequences for this type of misstep. But these anomalies make up a fraction of device use.

Elsewhere the risks of device misuse are obvious and should not be downplayed. Hours of unsupervised consumption without restrictions for what can be viewed are without a doubt the leading risks that come from technology, and indeed is one of the social ills of our time. But the type of obsessive, mindless use that we all understand to be dangerous happens away from school.

I write this segment because the idea that the misuse of technology in schools is a problem is a fallacy, with very little logical or theoretical substance. Of course politicians can always cherry-pick a study from another country to underpin their position but the fact remains that claiming that schools are the location for detrimental technology use is not a real problem in most primary schools, especially Glendowie School.

Strategic Plan Consultation

The school currently has a strategic plan that runs until the end of 2027. The current plan reflects the feedback received from the community at the time of writing. New guidelines stipulate that we should have a strategic plan that is in place for two years from the beginning of 2027 until the end of 2028. Before we extend the current plan we would appreciate any feedback from our community. We will take any feedback under advisement and make changes where appropriate.

Feedback Form

Auckland Primary Teacher Education Collaborative

If you or anyone you know is interested in studying to be a teacher, please let me know. There are generous incentives now in place for those wishing to take the leap into a great profession.

Happy Holidays

Finally, on this last day of the term our staff have taken the chance to celebrate, of all people, Dolly Parton. Apparently it is Dolly Parton Day because it is the 25th day of the 9th month, and when you put 9 and 25 together it makes 9 - 2 - 5 (you know 9 to 5 what a way to make a living…). While your teachers and other staff definitely work more than nine to five, I can assure you that they view their work more positively than the life Dolly sang about in that iconic song. But like all work it is helpful to take a break, and we will look forward to a rest from the intensity of everyday school life for a few weeks. On behalf of the whole staff at Glendowie School we wish you a wonderful school holiday break. I hope you find some time for family, fun and rest and that everyone comes back excited and ready for an exciting Term 4.

Enjoy the break! From the Dollyed up staff of Glendowie School.

Paul Crowhurst | Principal

Board Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, 27th October 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.

Sun sense

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.

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.

2026 Leavers

A reminder to please let the school know if your student / students will not be returning to Glendowie School next year.

Out of Zone Ballot

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.

Teachers Only Day

Monday 9th November is Teachers Only Day. School is CLOSED.

Glendowie School Athletics Days

Year 5 - 8: Thursday 5th November at Glover Park.

Year 0 -4: Wednesday 25th November at Glendowie School.
Further details to follow early in Term 4.

Entries for the Central East Auckland Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon are NOW OPEN!

To register with Glendowie School please click here.

Zespri AIMS Games 2026

During week 8 of term 3, 10 year 7 & 8 students joined over 14,000 other students from 467 schools across New Zealand for the annual Zespri AIMS Games. Tauranga hosted this exciting event with 27 different sports involved. Competition at the event is very competitive with all of the top athletes from each sport competing! A big thanks to Miss Murray for organising our students to attend and to all the parents that supported their child to attend this awesome event. Well done to our athletes that attended below!

Sailing - Forest A, Phoebe C, Olivia B

Mountain Biking - Ash W, Emerson C, Kaden H

Tennis - Levi C, Alex F, Moana F

Cross Country & Gymnastics - Lilly C

Y6 Exhibition

A couple of weeks ago, our Year 6 students showcased their incredible learning journeys through the PYP Exhibition. Exploring the UN Sustainable Development Goals, students investigated local issues, using research and thinking skills. What made this collaboration journey so powerful was the move from inquiry to authentic action. It was a highlight to watch our students communicate their findings to our school and wider community.

'For our year 6 exhibition, my group and I explored Gender Equality Education and decided to create a sports game to see how students would work when competing with the opposite gender. We created two teams, a girl team and a boy team. For the girl team we saw how well they worked together and did the same for the boys. Afterwards, we mixed the groups and we waited to see if they would actually work with the opposite gender in their team. Unfortunately at the beginning they did not work as well as we hoped but nearing the end of their game we saw both genders working together collaboratively.

What I enjoyed most was getting to work with my team and helping my team mates when needed. What I think I found the most challenging was the deadlines because it's not easy keeping your group on task. The experience was amazing and if I could do an exhibition again I would because I found it fun and different to everyday learning.'

- Harper M, Calla H, and Matilda I, Y6

'For the Year 6 Exhibition, my group and I focused on car pollution. We learnt different ways to get to school. We learnt that there are cars that use hydrogen or basically water to run. Different brands are starting to do this, for example Toyota, BMW and Hyundai. They are all working on making hydrogen cars. There are a few brands that have already come out with it and there are some driving around in NZ. Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton all have a refuel station but you won't see many on the road just yet. To try to help people understand the effects of idling, we created leaflets to put on cars outside the school. Idling is when you sit there in your car not moving.

It was fun to do this topic because it was something I enjoyed. We got lots of people to come to our exhibition and were able to teach them a lot about what cars do. We even had a QR code that sent you to a link where you could put in your car number plate and it shows you how bad your car is for the environment.' - Benjamin S, Y6

'Our Exhibition inquiry was on the Effects of Overfishing. My group and I had to figure out a way to solve it, or at least try to make a change. But it wasn't easy. We worked for days trying to figure out a way. Eventually we came to a solution: FISHING BOOKLETS!!! Inside the booklets were all the correct sizes, species and fishing limits for each fish. We then translated this information into 6 different languages (including English). But we didn't stop there. We made our own fishing game where you would throw a rod into a box and pull up a FISH!! Then we would measure the fish to see if it was the legal size. If not you would throw it back and try again.

We even got to visit Smart Marine and talk to two experts on over-fishing and what needs to be done to stop it in Auckland.

The exhibition was a great experience and I really enjoyed learning about my chosen topic.'

- Lucas Y, Y6

'For the year 6 exhibition, my partner Abram and I looked at the effects of AI on student education. We learnt a lot from eight weeks of research and planning and all of the things we learnt were put on a poster and our action was to hand out pamphlets and inform the school and community about AI. I enjoyed working with Abram and learning together, it made it a lot more fun. Even though working in a pair was fun, there were a few challenges like finding information and clarifying if it's true or not. Overall the experience of exhibition was amazing. I enjoyed it so much.' - Sean K, Y6

'For our Year 6 exhibition we had four people in our group. We inquired into Air Pollution and how toxic it is. For our action, we informed others how air pollution is affecting the human body and how people don’t think about it. We enjoyed doing research and finding a lot of information, this made our topic very interesting and we learnt a lot from the experience.'

- Yashdeep S, Arion F, Wani J & Jackson L, Y6

Room 29

Thank you to one of our amazingly talented parents who came in & face painted the students in Room 29. An absolute highlight for the term.

Bay Suburbs Hockey

On Monday 21st September, four Y5&6 Hockey teams took part in the Bay Suburbs Hockey Tournament at Lloyd Elsmore Hockey turf. A fun day was had by all involved.

Parents' Association

And just like that, we’ve reached the end of Term 3! We’re definitely ready for some warmer weather and a well-deserved break.

It’s been a fantastic term, with some great events and wonderful support from our school community. Our recent Parents Quiz Night was a huge success — great quiz, fabulous prizes, lots of laughs and a good boogie to finish! As always we’re looking to improve our events so if you have any feedback please email us at glendowieprimarypa@gmail.com

A big thank you to everyone who has supported our events this term. We hope you all enjoy a relaxing holiday, and we look forward to seeing you in Term 4 with more great events to come!

Next Uniform Shop Opening
8:30-9am, Friday 23rd October

Next PA meeting
7pm, Thursday 29th October, staffroom, all welcome.

2026 Event dates

Expert Speaker - (More details & event date to come)
Colour Run - 4th December