Welcome to 2026!

Kia ora to you all, and a special welcome to our new whānau and our new staff in Rooms 4 and 3 - Mrs Michelle Orr and Ms Zoe Shakespeare. We hope you enjoy your time learning and working with us in this special wee kura.

Coming up...

Next week, we have two events taking place that will provide opportunities for you as parents to engage with our school culture and learning programmes:

Tuesday 10 February, 3-4pm: 'Meet the teacher'

• Rooms 4-5: 3:15-3:30pm

• Room 3: 3:30-3:45pm

• Room 2: 3:45-4pm

• Rooms 1&6: 4-4:15pm

  The purpose of these are to go over our learning and classroom systems for the year in a little more detail than our termly newsletters, which you will have received this week.

Friday 13 February, 9:10am: Mihi Whakatau

This is a formal welcome our new students, whānau and staff to Cust School. We will meet on the court, and have a morning tea for parents afterwards. All welcome, especially new families to Cust School!

Our learning in 2026...

As we begin the year, we are excited to share our schoolwide focus for 2026: Being Our Best - Together. This theme reflects our commitment to strong relationships, a sense of belonging, and learning that is ambitious and inclusive. Throughout the year, students will explore who they are, how they work with others, and how they can contribute positively to their school and wider community.

In class, our topic studies / inquiry will give this focus real shape:

• Terms 1 & 2: Building identity, collaboration, and social skills to support confidence and respectful relationships

• Term 2: A strong STEM focus, encouraging curiosity, problem-solving, and teamwork

• Term 3: Our school musical, developing creativity, confidence, and collaboration

• Term 4: Community-connected projects, where students apply their learning beyond the classroom and strengthen links with whānau and our local area.

Our 2026 Curriculum Plan

To ensure all students are supported to thrive, our curriculum plan (based on our school Strategic Plan) prioritises three key areas:

• Attendance & Engagement
  Being at school, every day, really matters. We will continue working closely with whānau to support regular attendance, positive wellbeing, and strong engagement in learning.

• Achievement: Boys’ Writing and Literacy Extension
  We are targeting improved outcomes in writing for boys, alongside extending literacy learning for all students through clear goals, targeted teaching, and regular review of progress.

• Consistency in High-Quality Teaching
  Across all classrooms, we are strengthening our teaching capability, particularly focusing on explicit teaching and metacognitive strategies. This means lessons are clear, structured, and help students understand not just what they are learning, but how they learn best.

Changes to Student Reporting

The Ministry of Education has introduced changes to how schools report on student progress. One key change is the move away from the familiar ‘below / at / above’ labels. Instead, student progress is now described using five national progression markers, which show how learning develops over time.

At Cust School, we remain committed to providing whānau with clear and meaningful information about their child(ren)'s progress every term, using a mix of:

• Written reports that describe your child’s learning in relation to these progression markers, and

• Parent-teacher interviews, where progress and next steps are discussed in person.

Teacher judgements (OTJs) will continue to be based on a range of evidence, including classroom learning and observations, as well as assessment information. We will also continue to use a range of standardised assessments, as we always have, to support clear and reliable judgements and to track progress over time. We will take time throughout the year to explain what the new progression markers mean in practice, and how they describe your child’s learning and next steps. The changes to both the curriculum and reporting and assessment over the past year have been significant, and as a staff, we are working hard to ensure that our teaching of the NZ Curriculum continues to be of the highest possible standard for our tamariki.

We look forward to another year of learning, growth, and partnership as we work together to help every child at Cust School be their best - together. Thank you for your continued support!

Have a fabulous long weekend,

Miriam