Kia ora e te whānau

Greetings, it's hard to believe that we are are starting the last two full weeks of school, and that December has arrived!  We hope that you are doing well as we head to the busy end of year.

Parent helpers Morning Tea Thursday

We have wonderful parents at Queenspark and we have wonderful parent helpers who diligently come and help us most weeks of the year.  Many of these people were with us in the library last Thursday so we could acknowledge there contributions to our school. 

To those who came along and to those other parent helpers who help us with things such as road patrol, library book help to helping out on a weekly basis in the classrooms, we say a huge thank you for the way you support us.  This helps make all the difference for us.  We value the partnership we have with you.

Isaac Bazley - Full Registration

On behalf of the entire Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka staff we offer our congratulations to Isaac Bazley for his graduation with his full teaching registration.

This is a major accomplishment, and we are incredibly proud to see Isaac achieve this milestone while simultaneously navigating the challenges and successes of his second year of teaching.

Year 5/6 Camps

Congratulations to the Year 5/6 team for their most successful camp out at Woodend.  The children thrived in the outdoor challenges that were part of the camp programme.  This was a great experience for them all.  Many thanks to Siobhan van Arendonk and her team of teachers for their organisation of this event.

Preparing for end of Year Assemblies

The children are hard at work preparing for final assemblies.  Check out these dates below.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Nest +1 and Roll Growth: Friday 12th Dec, 11:30am-12:30pm followed by a shared lunch

Year 2: Thursday 4th Dec, 9:15am-10:00am

Year 3/4: Thursday 4th Dec, 11:00am-12:00pm

Year 5/6: Tuesday 9th Dec, 1:30pm-3:00pm

Year 7/8: Thursday 4th Dec, 6:30pm

Tūhono Kapa Festival 

Congratulations to our senior kapa haka rōpu who competed in the Tūhono Festival over the weekend. They stepped up and gave it their personal best and came away with multiple awards including Second Place Haka, Third Place Waiata-ā-ringa, First Place Female Soloist, and Third Place overall.

Ka Rawe senior kapa haka for representing Queenspark te Hua Mānuka!

2026 Student Leaders

At Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka we offer a large range of leadership opportunities for our tamariki to step up into. Every year we have a number of senior students who are appointed House and Cultural Leaders for our school.

These students undertake a variety of responsibilities across our school. This year, we are pleased to appoint the following students as our 2026 Cultural and House Leaders:

Kowhai

Julia Leota (Cultural Leader)

Brooklyn Ilott

Scarlett Phipps

Nixon Tritt-Natsuhara

Matai

Lucas Edwards (Cultural Leader)

Sophie Bruce

Harper de Jongh

Paige Wells

Rimu

Ani Maun (Cultural Leader)

Jessica Collier

Emily Sciascia

Tyler Stockman

Totara

Skyla Robertson (Cultural Leader)

Rosie Smith

Neha Patel

Levi O’Callaghan 

Canterbury Primary Schools Athletics Championships

On Wednesday of Week 8, 22 students represented our school at the Canterbury Primary Schools Athletics Championships.

These athletes represented our school at the Eastern Zone, demonstrating our Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka 3Rs. It is always great to see our students stepping up and striving for their personal best and having a great time while they are doing it.

A couple of notable mentions need to go to Lynetteta in Year 5 who came second in the Year 5 girls shot put and Ani in Year 7 who won the Year 7 girls shot put. Many thanks to the parents who helped out with transport. 

School Sign

You will have noticed the LED section of our new school sign.  We have so many children doing such great things at our school.  We want to celebrate this success and we want you to hear about these things every day you come by our school.  We will post notices, reminders, cancellations along with our success stories!

Check this out and reflect on the many exciting things our children are doing with their learning.

Shirley Boys High Head Boy and Deputy Head Boy 2026

Congratulations to Anaru Hibbs (middle) and Ben Swift (left) who have been appointed as Head Boy and Deputy Head Boy respectively.  These boys are ex-Queenspark pupils. We received a lovely mention from Mr Tim Grocott, the Headmaster at SBHS acknowledging these ex QP students.

We are very proud of them and the things that they have achieved beyond the shores of our school.

Teacher Only Day

We recently held our second MOE Mathematics and Statistics day with our Facilitator Sue Graham. We delved into the refreshed Mathematics and Statistics Curriculum and made links between the Curriculum and "Maths No Problem", which is the Structured Maths programme we are implementing. It was great to be able to take this time as a staff and in learning teams and plan for 2026 with the recently finalised Curriculum.

Our next Teacher Only Day is Friday 27th February 2026.

Wheels Day

What a wonderful and energetic Junior Wheels Day we had! It was fantastic to see our youngest students confidently navigating the course on their scooters and bikes etc all while demonstrating excellent safety awareness and sportsmanship.

Thank you to all the parents and staff who helped make the morning run so smoothly and kept the fun and encouragement flowing. Events like this are a great reminder of the joy of active play and community spirit here at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka.

Treaty of Waitangi Final Statement:

You would have read recently of the Minister of Education’s announcement around removing the requirement for school boards to give effect to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 

From our perspective as the Board of Trustees and as a staff, nothing has changed at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka and we will continue to give effect to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We will continue to do the following:

• Commit to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in decision-making and governance of our kura/school.

• Embed Te Ao Māori practices in our curriculum and school-wide programmes.

• Foster strong partnerships with all whānau and community.

• Foster a passion for lifelong learning for every student.

Giving effect to Te Tiriti ensures we remain focused on student achievement and the alignment to our school Mission Statement and Core Values:

• “Empowering our children to Step up and Reach Out in order to achieve their personal best”

• Students being Responsible ( Haepapa )

• Students being Respectful ( Manaakitanga )

• Students being Resolute ( Aumangea )

We want to reassure you that at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka, Te Tiriti o Waitangi remains an integral part of who we are and how we teach and learn at our place.

Dates for Term 1 2026:

Whanau Day - Friday 30 January - more information to come

First day of Term 1 -  Monday 2nd February

Waitangi Day - Friday 6th February (school closed)

Year 5-8 Swimming Sports - Friday 20th February

MOE Teacher Only Day -  Friday 27th February (School closed)

Term 1 Ends - Thursday 2nd April

Term 2 starts- Monday 20th April

Ka kite ano

Ross Willocks

Principal

Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka