Kia ora e te whānau, 

We hope that you enjoyed the ANZAC Day long weekend and had some time as a family to relax, connect, and recharge together.

I popped down to Paraparaumu Beach on Monday—the upgraded skate park, easy access to the beach and shops, all created a great vibe. It was so nice to see so many families out and about enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.

Construction on the the new Waikanae skatepark looks to be going well and it won't be long before this will be up and running again. We are very fortunate on the Kāpiti Coast to have so many great spots right on our doorstep!

Rangatahi Syndicate walked to the Waikanae Cemetery, where they joined with Waikanae School and the Ōtaki RSA to take part in ANZAC Day commemorations.

Our students honour those who served by placing poppies of remembrance, tied with rosemary, on the graves of fallen soldiers at both the Ōtaki and Waikanae cemeteries, within the soldiers’ sections.

 

Ngā Kapātai syndicate are visiting Ngā Manu this term. Here's a few pics from Kowhai's trip on Friday-we love the very awesome Ngā Manu bird santuary! 🦜🌳

It's been awesome to have Jonny and Harold in this term with the Life Education Trust mobile van! Jonny has been working with Years 1-4.

As previously reported, our very awesome SENCO and long-standing teacher, Lucy Tristram, will be moving to Germany in July to begin work at an international school. We will miss Lucy (and her daughter Zara) a lot and wish them all the very best for this exciting new chapter. ✋🏽🇩🇪

Last term, we went through the recruitment process and are delighted to have appointed a very experienced SENCO, Rhiannon Cameron, who is joining us from Newlands Intermediate School. Rhiannon brings a wealth of experience, having been a team leader, Learning Support Coordinator, and SENCO and I know that she will settle in really well at Kapakapanui School! 👍

Lucy will be leaving after Week 1 of Term 3 and will spend that week working alongside Rhiannon to support her induction into the role, ensuring a smooth and positive transition.

Today we suppoprted the nationwide “Hoods Up, Volume Down” hour where businesses, workplaces, schools and organisations have been asked to participate in a national ‘quiet hour’. Turn down the lights, turn down the noise and turn up for the autistic community of Aotearoa. This is a great idea to raise awareness of how overwhelming the world can be for people with sensory processing differences (see below). Additional information can be found here This was a simple but meaningful way to build awareness, especially given the number of neurodiverse tamariki in our kura.

As mentioned last week, we are in the process of introducing our new school values.

Manaakitanga – kindness, caring for and supporting others 

Manawanui – perseverance and resilience

Whakaute – respect for ourselves, others, and our environment
Whanaungatanga – building strong relationships and a sense of belonging

As part of this we will be starting use of our new values certificated from next week. These will be given out by class teachers at Syndicate huis/Assemblies. These are special awards where teachers will acknowledge a few students from their class who have consistently demonstrated one of our values.

We will also be starting our Values token system where students who are seen demonstrating one of our values. Students will be given a token to put in our values draw box (located in our office foyer). We will then be drawing out some tokens each school hui and students will be able to select a prize. 

Our teacher-only day was held yesterday, and thank you very much for your understanding. We appreciate that for some whānau this may have caused inconvenience when juggling work and childcare, so we are grateful for your support. 🙏

There will be two teacher-only days scheduled this year which have been provided by the Ministry of Education to support the implementation of the new curriculum. All schools across the country have been allocated these days.

Yesterday was a very productive one for our staff. We began with a session led by an external provider, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI). This is a rapidly evolving area, both within education and beyond, so it was valuable to build our understanding and consider how it may be used effectively in schools.

For the remainder of the day, we worked on developing our school reports, which will have a new format this year, and explored the updated assessment report rubrics criteria released by the Ministry.

We are grateful to have had this dedicated time together as a staff. These developments take careful thought and collaboration, and the day allowed us to make meaningful progress. 😊

Attendance continues to be a key focus from the government, highlighting the importance of students being at school regularly to support their learning, wellbeing, and connection with others. As part of our responsibilities within our 'attendance management plan', we will be sending letters out this term to families of children who have been away for five days or more this term, as we are required to make contact after this point. 

We do want to acknowledge that many of these absences are for genuine reasons (eg illness and family events etc), and we appreciate the efforts of whānau who have kept us informed—thank you for your ongoing communication and support. Ngā mihi. 🙏

For your information here's how our whole school attendance is currently tracking since the beginning of the year.

The Ministry of Education have developed a useful website for families to help their child with maths at home. Click on the link below and look for your child's year level. It covers from Year 3 to Year 8. Click here

It’s that time of year again with the winter sports season about to get underway. We’re thrilled to be entering a large number of teams in hockey and netball, and it’s fantastic to see so many of our tamariki keen to get involved.

A huge thank you to the many parents and whānau who have generously offered their time to coach and manage teams. We simply couldn’t do this without you. Your commitment plays a vital role in ensuring our students have positive, enjoyable sporting experiences.

Please take a moment to review the Kapakapanui School Sports Code of Conduct (link below). This outlines expectations for coaches, spectators, and players. At the heart of this is a shared goal — creating a positive, respectful environment where all children can thrive and enjoy being part of a team.

Over the next week or two, we’ll be connecting with coaches to go over the key aspects of the Code of Conduct and ensure everyone feels supported heading into the season. Ngā mihi to our awesome staff who coordiante our winter sports-Miss Hamill, Mr Wynne and Miss Davey!

Kia kaha — here’s to an awesome winter sports season at Kapakapanui School. 🏑 🏀 

We’re delighted to continue offering delicious lunches from Bakehouse Waikanae on Fridays and Sushimi Sushi on Wednesdays. 

Ngā mihi nui!

Craig

Please help us keep our tamariki—especially our younger children—safe by making sure our school gates are closed. From time to time, gates can be left open when classes head out on trips. If you happen to notice a gate open during the school day as you pass through, we’d really appreciate you closing it. Ngā mihi.

Please let the office know asap if your contact details have changed. You can do this online-click here

Thank you to all the Whānau who use the crossings safely. This includes waiting for the signal to cross now and walking across the crossing with small children. 

Please remember that children are always watching our behaviour as adults, so use the crossing, even if it is just you crossing.  Also, to continue respecting the children who are working hard on the patrols to keep all our tamariki safe, such as waiting patiently, not pushing past etc.  

We really value and appreciate the support we get from parents and whānau as coaches and supporters and Kapakapanui School has an excellent reputation for playing hard while being great sports-on and off the field/turf/court.

Click here to read our school sport code of conduct

*  It is VERY IMPORTANT that the parents select the CORRECT ENTRY, DATE & VENUE for their child
* WE ARE ATTENDING AS A SCHOOL GROUP -  when entering please select, THE TEACHER WILL PICK UP THE RACE NUMBER when they come to the Bib Collection question. (this way Emma collects them all and your child just collects from her - it is alot less stressful.
* Please write the School Name in FULL and is spelt correctly (i.e. South Wellington Intermediate School not SWIS)
* Here is the Online Registration Link: https://eventplus.net/ccj26
* Entries close - Wednesday 20th May

We will do a fluoro theme as usual. Dress up and paint up for a day of fun in the mud. 

Best to have old clothes to wear and old shoes. Best to tape (with electrical tape) your shoes onto your feet. 

Bring a change of clothes and shoes. towel. and food/water. 

Any questions - please email emma.swanson@kks.school.nz

It's that time again, Kapakapanui. Whenever you see a yummy sticker, please collect it and send it to school. Last year, we a great numner of stickers, resulting in $720 worth of free sports gear for our school. it was such an amazing result. 
Please send any stickers to your school. All classes will have a sheet for the tamariki to place the sticker on. 

Please, it can only have the yummy brand name on it. Either the individual sticker or the 10-count square on the bag.

The stickers will be counted every Friday this term - so lets get collecting.  

Whānau points to be given to the class with the most stickers collected each week.

2026 Stationery Packs
These are now live and ready to purchase and can be sent to your home, these will remain live throughout the year.  Qizzle School Packs

Stationery Items on your Kindo account
If your childs teacher has sent them to the office last year or this year for additional items (eg, book, pen, ruler etc) these have been added to your account.  This billing/invoice will show as '2025 Stationery or 2026 Stationery', where possible we will itemise what the item/s is.

Weekly trips are made to the library with your childs class where they can browse or loan books.