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Newsletter T2W1
24 April 2026
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Welcome back to another term. As always we are looking forward to having a good one with a lot happening around the school. There is winter sports kicking off, our production practices ramping up, the start of our student school newspaper and lots, lots more.
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Parent Teacher Interviews
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Lovely to see so many of you out for the Parent-Teacher interviews in the last week of Term 1. It seemed that parents appreciated the chance to touch base with their child’s teacher earlier in the year than our previously schedule allowed. The next interviews will be toward the beginning of Term 3.
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The Ministry of Education have provided some online resources to support your child’s learning at home (for year 3-8 students). This is not compulsory at all, but if you are interested iIt is recommended that you work together on the year level your child has completed at school, rather than the level they are currently in. After each question or puzzle, a summary page will provide helpful feedback and suggest next steps for learning.
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Glendowie Park - Pump Track Proposal Information Session
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The local board is holding an information session about the proposed pump track at Glendowie Park (the area opposite Glendowie School) on Saturday, 16 May, from 1.00–2.30pm.
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This drop-in information session will recap the project to date, including community feedback received during the initial consultation in October 2025. It will also cover the proposed location within the park and outline key technical considerations. The second stage of public consultation on the proposal is planned for later this year.
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Interested stakeholders, including parents, are welcome to attend the information session and may also be interested in looking at the project website below for further information:
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Have a great long weekend!
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Paul Crowhurst | Principal
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The next Board meeting will be held on Tuesday 12th May, 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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As advised earlier this week, our current tuck shop provider will be finishing their contract with us at the end of April. This means that from the beginning of May, there will not be lunches or snacks available for purchase at school . We ask that families ensure students come prepared with a packed lunch and morning tea as from the start of the new month.
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We are actively looking for a new partner so that we can restore this service for our students. If you know of a provider or have an enquiry regarding this opportunity, please feel free to contact me at paulc@glendowie.school.nz.
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A huge thanks to Cindy Page who has run this initiative at our school for over 20 years!
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Term 1: Tuesday 2nd February - Friday 9th April
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Term 2: Tuesday 27th April - Friday 2nd July
Term 3: Monday 19th July - Friday 24th September
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Term 4: Monday 11th October - Thursday 16th December
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A reminder that wearing the school sun hat is not compulsory during terms 2 and 3, but students can wear the winter beanie when outside the classroom if they wish. These are available from the office at a cost of $16 each.
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Thanks to all those who made a donation on the last day of term 1 for our "Be Yourself Day" in support of Autism awareness - we were able to pass on $710 to Autism NZ. Thanks for your support everyone.
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The school will again be supporting intermediate students to attend AIMs Games in 2026. AIMs is an awesome event attended by over 10,000 student athletes from around the country and overseas. We have steadily been building our participation in this event over the past three years and in 2024 Glendowie School won our first two medals. For a student to attend this event they must be managed by a parent. If your child is interested in attending the annual AIMS games in Tauranga please have a look on the AIMS games website for information.
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Contact Miss Murray by the 1st of June, 2026 to register - heidim@glendowie.school.nz
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The Life Education mobile classroom has arrived at Glendowie School and will be parked on-site for the next four weeks. This is always an eagerly awaited annual event, offering our students a unique and engaging way to explore important health and well-being topics.
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Each student will participate in two interactive sessions (Year 8 students will have three) led by an expert facilitator.
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To help cover the costs, we kindly request a contribution of $10.00 per student, payable through Kindo.
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While these contributions are voluntary, please note that the future of this program depends on the generosity of our school community. We appreciate your support in making these high-quality learning experiences possible.
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Junior School Information Evening
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On Tuesday, May 5th, from 5:30 – 6:30 pm, we will be holding a Junior School Information Evening in the school’s mini hall for all parents of children about to start school in 2026, those new to our school, or those with children in their first years of school (Years 0–2).
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Our Year 1 and 2 teachers will share school routines, our literacy programme for teaching reading and writing in the early years, and our numeracy programme. This is an opportunity for you to hear what school is like for your 5- to 6-year-old and to ask questions about the learning programmes.
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Note: The presentation will follow a similar format to previous years.
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Why not stay on directly after to hear about the PYP programme! This session will finish at around 7:45 pm.
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Please RSVP via this link
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Primary Years Programme (PYP) Information evening
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You may know that Glendowie School is part of the International Baccalaureate. You may have heard the school talk about the PYP, but do you know what the educational programme strives to achieve?
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On Tuesday, May 5th, from 6:45 – 7:45 pm, we will be holding an information evening on the Primary Years Programme (PYP) in the school’s mini hall.
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Our PYP Coordinators, Ms. Sinclair and Mr. Liu, will explain the teaching and learning programmes from both a junior and senior perspective. They will clarify some of the terminology that your children use in the classroom and unpack the attributes of an "internationally minded" student. They will also explain how a Unit of Inquiry is planned using concepts and a central idea to guide us, and demonstrate how skills—such as research and social skills—are incorporated into our teaching programme.
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Note: The presentation will follow a similar format to previous years.
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We look forward to welcoming the entire parent community of Years 0 - 6.
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Please RSVP via this link
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Year 4 Unit of Inquiry
At the end of last term as part of our Where we are in Place and Time unit of inquiry the year 4s (and Montessori Year 3 & 4 students) welcomed visitors from the Pacifica Arts Centre. The ‘Pacifica Mamas’ came and ran workshops for us that gave us an authentic Pacifica experience. The Central idea for our unit of inquiry is “Understanding our own culture helps us to connect with others.” These workshops helped us to gain an understanding of some of the cultures around us, as well as understanding that there are similarities and differences between different cultures.
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We started by learning different greetings from a range of Pacifica cultures, including greetings from Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga and Hawaii, before breaking into groups to learn about wearing and making leis (flower necklaces) and having a go at learning about music, dance and drums before we got a chance to play beats on the traditional drums ourselves. All the students also came together at the end of our time with the ‘Pacifica Mamas’ to learn some dance moves and put on a performance to the drum beats we learnt while wearing our leis.
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Year Eight Interdisciplinary Unit
Personal histories are shared through cultural activities that help us understand who we are and where we come from.
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Last term, while the Year 7 students were at camp, our Year 8 cohort spent the week exploring aspects of their family culture as part of this year’s interdisciplinary unit (IDU). The IDU is a part of our Middle Years Programme where students make connections between different areas of knowledge in order to solve problems, create products, or explore real-world issues. Our students chose to focus on a family dish, game, or sport, drawing on their learning from design, health & PE, social studies, and art to develop a rich understanding of culture and the many ways it can be expressed.
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Some students shared their knowledge by teaching games and sports to younger classes, while others showcased their skills in the design room by preparing meaningful family dishes, either independently, or in small groups. Each student created a set of instructions or a recipe, accompanied by a personal reflection explaining the significance of their chosen dish, game, or sport to them and their whānau. They also produced a piece of art using watercolour or acrylic paint to complement their written work.
The unit culminated in a wonderful shared lunch, where students sampled dishes from a wide range of cultures, followed by an afternoon spent playing the games and sports they had been introduced to by their peers. It was a fantastic celebration of identity, culture, and community.
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“I enjoyed the shared lunch because there were lots of traditional foods that were new to me.”- Max H, Y8
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“This has inspired me to learn how to make foods from other cultures.“ - Hazel W, Y8
“I learned how everyone’s cultures are different but lots of them are similar. What surprised me was how many unique cultures there are at our school.” - Alex F, Y8
“I learned how cooking is a part of everyone's culture, and how we all share the responsibility to show future generations.” - Amy V, Y8
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Parents' Association
Welcome back, everyone! We hope you had a relaxing and fun-filled break and are feeling refreshed for an exciting Term 2 ahead. The Parents' Association have been busy planning some fantastic events for the upcoming term, and we can’t wait to see our school community come together once again. Keep an eye out for upcoming details, and be sure to join in the fun. Here’s to a great term ahead!
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Next Uniform Shop Opening
8:30-9am, 1st May. See the flyer attached for all the 2026 opening dates.
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Next PA meeting
7pm, Thursday 28th May, staffroom, all welcome.
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Please note, the Parents Social Evening which was originally set for May the 2nd is TBC at this stage, we will announce the new date ASAP.
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- Movie Night - Friday 12th June
- Disco - Friday 14th August
- Runathon - date TBC
- Parents Social Evening - date TBC
- Expert Speaker - date TBC
- Colour Run - 4th December
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Upcoming Events
- Monday 27th April - Observance ANZAC Day - School Closed
- Tuesday 28th April - Welcome to Glendowie School for new families , 9am
- Friday 1st May - Second Hand Uniform Shop, 8.30am
- Tuesday 5th May - Y7 Boys Eastern Zone Football
- Tuesday 5th May - Y5 Assembly, 1.30pm - School Hall
- Tuesday 5th May - Junior School Information Evening, 5.30pm - Mini Hall
- Tuesday 5th May -PYP School Information Evening, 6.45pm - Mini Hall
- Thursday 7th May - Y7/8 Girls Eastern Zone Football
- Friday 8th May - Y8 Boys Eastern Zone Football
- Tuesday 12th May -Bay Suburbs Football
- Tuesday 12th May - Board Meeting, 6.30pm - Boardroom
- Tuesday 19th May - Y1 St Heliers Trip
- Friday 15th May - Second Hand Uniform Shop, 8.30am
- Monday 25th May - Y5 Wastewise Trip (classes split across two dates, tbc)
- Wednesday 27th May - Y5 Wastewise Trip (classes split across two dates, tbc)
- Thursday 28th May - Parents' Association Meeting, 7pm - Staffroom
- Friday 29th May - Second Hand Uniform Shop, 8.30am
- Monday 1st June - King's Birthday - School Closed
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Community Notices
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