Term 1 is almost finished, it seems to have gone very quickly. Thank you to our staff who have worked hard to support the children, and to you as parents for your partnership! There is much to look forward to in term 2 - including our participation in the Kaiapoi ANZAC parade on the Friday before term 2 begins - please see below for more information.

Congratulations to our Year 8's who participated in their Outdoor Education camp in Wainui this week. The children were very brave in their efforts with each activity and benefited from a shot of self confidence as they completed them to their best effort. They also took in their stride the storm that blew through on Tuesday, keeping themselves safe and busy inside for the afternoon. A huge thank you to our wonderful teachers and support staff for your fantastic organisation, motivation and support of our children throughout the camps - your time, effort and enthusiasm is greatly appreciated. A big thank you to our camp parents. These camps do not go ahead without your commitment, enthusiasm and support - on behalf of the children, teachers and other parents thank you so much!

We have recently confirmed our Year 8 Leaders and House Captains for this year after a comprehensive process. We are excited to have these students representing our school and know they will do a great job! They will be presented with their badges at our end of term assembly.

School Leaders - Blaze Turi, Heath Laird, JT Hudson-Gardyne, Tyson Hearn, Alipate Drulidruli, Lexi Gilmore, Stella Barrow, Akshita Dimri, Faith Emery, Jaydah Courtier

House Captains - Ethan Ross, Jackson Cresswell, Mitchell Hughes

Ryder Henry, Lorena Davis, Eden Tibble, Emma Wells, Piper McAllister

Our Year 5 and 6 students have all recently had 2 sessions of Cycle Sense. North Canterbury Sport and Recreation Trust have instructors that lead these sessions which involve our children being tested and instructed on their skills on school grounds and then out on the road under the guidance of qualified instructors. Safety aspects such as correct helmet fitting and basic bike checks are included, along with beginner skills such as starting and stopping, turning, balance and using the correct signals. This is such important learning for our children, and a lot of fun too!

The Raupō classes enjoyed their Run, Jump, Throw event last week. Well done to all of our youngest children for giving each event their best try and having fun together! Well done to our Tōtara leaders who led and supported the children so well during the event. Today our Year 3 and 4 students were participating in the Pegasus Sport Spectacular at Kaiapoi Rugby Park, a great day to be outside enjoying being active!

We value the opportunity for our school to take part in the Kaiapoi ANZAC day parade. We have a proud reputation as a school of large representation over a number of years at this important event. We ask that all children wear our school uniform and a poppy (and any family medals), to meet Mr Miles and other staff at 9:30 am on Sewell Street by the Kaiapoi Tennis courts on Thursday 25th April (this is in the second week of the holidays).

Parents/caregivers are asked to physically collect the children from where the children are gathered at the end of the ANZAC service please.

I am grateful to have been awarded a sabbatical by the Ministry of Education for term 2 meaning I will be working in other areas, away from KNS for the term. This work includes a visit to Melbourne for literacy, to Shanghai to present at a Leadership Forum, and other work around New Zealand advocating for best practice in education as part of my role as Vice President of the NZ Principals' Federation. I will miss being at KNS in term 2, however I know the school is going to be in safe pairs of hands with Mrs Felicity Fahey and Mrs Steph Hunter sharing the acting principal role, and other members of our leadership team supporting them.

Miss Libby McDonnell will be on leave for term 2-4 as she and her partner travel over to Melbourne. We wish you all the best Miss McDonnell! We welcome Mrs Kim Eckhout who will be teaching in Room 6 for the remainder of 2025 - Mrs Eckhout has moved up to Canterbury from Gore where she has been teaching for a number of years.

On the first Monday of term 2 at 9am we will hold our second Te Kura o Ruataniwha, Kaiapoi North School Mihi Whakatau! We will welcome all new whānau and staff - we will hold this on the court or in the hall. All current KNS whānau are also welcome to attend. Thank you to Mr Dale for organising this and liaising with our mana whenua, Ngāi Tūāhuriri. Mr Dale still has the time and energy to continue his international basketball refereeing expertise, recently refereeing in an international competition. Mr Dale was assigned to referee the Women's Grand Final in the Asia Basketball 3x3 Cup! Ka pai Mr Dale, we are proud of you!

The Board of Trustees met this week - we are very fortunate to have such a hard working team!

Introducing (left to right)

• Nathan Lines: Finance, Employment

• Deena Bayliss (staff rep): Policy

• Jason Miles: Principal

• Will Rothman: Employment, Health and Safety

• Greg Thomson: Presiding Member, Finance, Property

• Kineta Booker: Employment, RTLB, BOT Communications

• Dan Gilmore: Deputy Chairperson, Property (absent from photo)

A heads up that there will be an election in September for our 5 parent representatives for our Board of Trustees. As well as new nominations, current Trustees may stand again. More information about the nomination and election processes will follow as we get closer to the election date. As part of our meeting this week the Board approved the school dates for 2026 as follows:

Term 1 - day 1 for the children, 9am Monday 2nd February 2026

Term 4 ends 12pm Wednesday 16th December 2026

Our next full school newsletter will come out in the first week of term 2. In 2025 our newsletters will be sent at the beginning, middle, and the end of term. In between, our teams and opportunity coordinators will keep you updated as things are happening. Your HERO app has a full calendar of events if you ever need to check up on when things are happening.

Upcoming events:

Pegasus Sport Spectacular - Year 3 and 4 - Wed 9th April

Raupō Team Ugly Bug Ball - Thursday 10th April (3.45pm-5.00pm)

Term 1 ends - 3pm, Friday 11th April

Term 2 begins - 8:55am, Monday 28th April

Life Education Van at KNS - Week 1 / 2 Term 2 - 28 May

New parents morning tea - 9:15am, Tuesday 6th May

Weekly Winter Sports (Year 5-8) Friday's - 6 weeks, starting in Week 1 - 2 May (no sport - 30th May)

KNS Cross Country  - Thursday 15th May (PP 19th). 

School Photos - Week 4 Tuesday 20th May

Teacher Only Day - Friday 30th May

Thank you for working together for our children, we appreciate your partnership and collaboration.

Ngā mihi,

Jason Miles - Principal