Reflecting on 2025. Final Newsletter.

Tena koutou e te whanau

Greetings to all our Parents / Caregivers

2025 has been another great year of rich learning and children growing in all facets of our school life. 

Over the last few weeks, it has been good to just focus and reflect on the many wonderful achievements our children have made this year.  We can all be really proud and celebrate the way our children are living by our core values of being respectful, resolute, and responsible and are continuing to Step Up and Reach Out as they strive for their Personal Best in their learning.  I certainly am! 

We can also be very proud of the vast array of learning opportunities that our children have at our school, thanks to our dedicated and hard-working teachers. 

2025 has been all about curriculum change.  This year saw us take on one of the biggest shifts in decades with a nationwide commitment to Structured Literacy and related professional development in reading and writing as well as implementing a more explicit knowledge-rich Maths curriculum with related higher expectations.

A huge thank you to our staff for the countless hours of professional learning this has involved.

In these last few days please take time to acknowledge the teacher of your child as they are simply amazing.  I am sure you will agree with me regarding the positive way our  teachers go about their work every day of meeting the individual needs of every child in their classroom.

In this very complex and fast paced digital world that our children are growing up in, our children need healthy boundaries and clear values and expectations more than ever.  The children that we see thriving have all these things in place. 

I encourage you to frequently talk at home about the values and expectations that you have in your family and what this looks like for your children.  e.g.  the way we speak and act and the way we all treat others.

The key to all of this is always the quality of the relationship we have with our children.  In this, I wish to acknowledge and thank our staff for the huge amount of energy and passion that they bring to this area despite the challenges. 

I see this every day and constantly admire our teachers for the way  they treat every day as a brand new start for children, despite difficulties they may have faced the previous day. 

This takes enormous courage and resilience, and I am inspired on a daily basis to see this in action.

As we finish the year, it has been heartening to see the large turnouts of parents and grandparents for our end of year assemblies.  It has been great to see our community again in our hall, supporting our children and celebrating their learning achievements.  What a wonderful atmosphere we have had for all of these assemblies.  I am sure you would have enjoyed these positive moments.

We are all part of a great school.  A great school for children to come and learn, for teachers to come and teach and for parents / caregivers to come and get involved.  Our International students have frequently commented to us this year about the friendliness of our children, our wonderful teachers, the great culture and the beautiful environment we have at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka.

Thank you for the way you have supported us in 2025.

Student Leavers and families who are leaving

We say farewell to all of our Year 8 leavers and  children who are attending other schools in 2026. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours and we look forward to hearing of their future successes.

It has been a privilege watching them all grow and learn at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka.  We are looking forward to these fine young men and women staying in touch with us.

We also acknowledge and farewell families who are leaving our shores, especially families who have been with us a long time and who have been great servants of our school. 

This is an emotional time for these families and for us, and we thank them for their support and the many ways they have helped us at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka over the years. 

Board of Trustees

We acknowledge and thank our new board of Phil Gourley (BOT Chair), Felicity Boyd  (Policy and Review), Luke Adams  (Property), Nicky Thorne (Community), Erika Hendy (Finance) and Stacey Hewson (Staff Rep) as the governors of our school.  These people have made a positive start as our new Board , and we look forward to the work they will do to steer us through  2026.

PTA

We acknowledge and thank Anna Leach and her PTA team for the wonderful energy and enthusiasm they have all brought to  their role in supporting our school this year. Anna and her team have worked tirelessly to support us in the many phases of school life.

Farewell to Staff:

Cushla Nichols

During her time at our school Cushla has had responsibilities for our school library, ORS teaching and more recently teaching in the Year 5/6 team.  

Cush has a passion for literacy and we acknowledge the tremendous contribution she has made in the time she was our library manager.  Her love of books is infectious and we have appreciated how she has shared her passion for reading with children right across our school. 

During this year Cushla joined the Year 5/6 teaching team where she quickly established herself with the children in her class and in contributing to the wider team. 

The children have loved having her as their teacher.  We thank Cush for all the contributions that she has made to our school over the years that she has been with us. 

We have appreciated her passion for teaching and learning and for her dedication to the children in her care.

Cush has been appointed as a teacher at Redwood School.  We wish her all the best for the next part of her journey.

Part time teacher acknowledgement  

We acknowledge the many part-time teachers who have been teaching at our school this year. 

These people make a vital contribution to our school during times such as classroom release times, roll growth, sports and our arts programme in " Shining Lights." 

These people are as follows:

Kate Simmonds - Structured Literacy intervention, Becs Tait, Sheryl Lange, Karen Hoult,Barbara Mulholland, Brylea Bostock, Linda Goodson,  Kate Guard, Laura Jeffries,  Karen Brown and Sara Winter. 

All of these people are experienced teachers, know our school well and are able to provide good continuity in teaching practice for our children. 

We really appreciate the work that they do and for the way they step in to help us with the important roles they all have.

Staff Changes for 2026:

Hannah White 

Next year we look forward to welcoming Hannah White who will be teaching in the Year 5/6 teaching team. 

Hannah brings an extensive teaching background from a number of schools and we look forward to the contributions that she will make to this team and our school.

School Security for the holiday period

We are mindful of keeping our beautiful school environment and buildings safe from damage over the holiday period. . If you do observe anything of concern, please call the Police at 105 or 111 

Important dates in 2026                                                                                

• Term 1 begins on Monday 2nd  February 2026

URGENT - Enrolments for 2026:

We are about to close off our roll for 2026.  

We urgently need to hear from families who are planning to enrol their children with us but have not yet registered.  It is hard to plan for class groups when children just arrive at short notice.

We need to know this information for MOE staffing purposes.

Please check the following:

• Families with younger siblings, please call the school immediately to check that your child is registered with us if you have not yet completed an online application for enrolment.

• If you are aware of families that are planning to enrol at QPS, please ask them to call us immediately

• For anyone wishing to enrol at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka in 2026, please go to the school website: www.queenspark.school.nz and complete the online application form.

• If you have any questions, please contact the school office 383-1578

End of year Reports

Our end of year student reports were published on Friday 12 December. 

Specifically, this digital report provides you with personalised information about your child’s progress in Reading, Writing  and Mathematics. 

 This year you will receive:

• Updated Learning Statements for Reading, Writing and Maths

• A next step for Reading, Writing and Maths

• A General comment 

• Assessment of other Curriculum area assessments

• Q Competencies 

• Shining Lights involvement

• Sports involvement

• Community involvement

Parents can see which specific new skill or new knowledge your child has achieved and what they are currently working on. The core curriculum - Reading, Writing and Mathematics—is updated twice a year: mid year and end of year.

We also report on our five Q-Competencies which are integral to your child’s learning.  Your child will be learning to use these capabilities across the wider curriculum.

Successful learners develop their competencies over time and make use of their competencies to help them access success both academically and socially. The aim of the Q-Competencies is to give students the skills to live, learn, work, and contribute as active members of their communities. 

The Wider New Zealand Curriculum Learning Areas

Wider Curriculum Learning Areas are Science, The Arts (Dance, Drama, and Visual Arts), Health and Wellbeing, Physical Education, Technology and Digital Technology, and Social Studies are reported on at the end of each school year.

 Assessment criteria:

• Consistently means independently and on demand

• Developing means working within expectations but cannot be applied independently and/or regularly.

• Beginning means has started achieving this expectation but requires support.

Printing Reports: A student’s full HERO report can be printed from your log-in page or you can contact the office to send you a PDF version.

Accessing HERO: To set your password and log into Hero for the first time:

1. Download the Hero by LINC-ED app from the app store

Note: use the keywords Hero LINC-ED when searching for the app

using a computer, open your browser and enter go.linc-ed.com

2026 Classes

On Friday the children visited their 2026 classes to meet with their new teacher and new classmates for next year. Below we have re-posted the class organisation for 2026.

The process of class placement is a very thorough and comprehensive one.  We take careful note of child strengths and needs, social skill aspects, and previous difficulties with other children.  We also try to match up teacher strengths with children's needs as well.

Class organisation for 2026                                      

Teaching Teams 

TL = Team Leader 

Year 7/8        

Helen Willis  (TL)

Isaac Bazley

Taryn Boyte

Mark Tarr     

Year 5/6

Siobhan van Arendonk (TL) -Year 6

Gina Rose Neale -Year 5/6

Stacey Hewson -Year 5

Nykia Howie- Year 5

Hannah White  - Year 6

Year 4

Aaron Jukes(TL)

Tony Mabin

Year 2/3

Andrea Sullivan  (TL)- Year 2

Brigitte Duncan - Year 2

Becky Elliott- Year 3

Sarah Griggs -Year 3

NEST / Yr 1

Sue Page (TL)    

Amber Tucker

Karen Pearce 

DP 1   Kylie Murcott

DP 2   Mark Harris 

CRT/  Team Leader Release

Year 0-1:  Sheryl Lang

Year 2-4:  Barb Mulholland 

Year 5-6:  Kate Guard 

Year 7-8:  Laura Jeffries

ORS / ESOL  Jessica O'Callaghan

Sports Organisation:  Kate Guard

Shining Lights:             Karen Brown

Overall Cup for Academic Excellence

At last week's end of Year Prize Giving the Academic Excellence Award was awarded to Ethan Jennings

Ethan has demonstrated truly outstanding achievement across the curriculum.

He has consistently achieved at the highest level in both Literacy and Mathematics. His talent has extended beyond the classroom, where he was the highest-scoring points earner for our school in the Otago Problem Solving Challenges and a dedicated member of our Year 8 Cantamaths team.

Furthermore, Ethan was the only student this year to be awarded a Merit Certificate in both Literacy and Mathematics in the National Kiwi Exams. His contribution to the Tournament of Minds earned a merit placement in the regional competition.

Ethan secured the Excellence Cups for both Numeracy and Literacy and we acknowledge the rarity of a student dominating both these core domains so completely. Ethan is unequivocally the highest-performing academic in the Year 8 cohort—a title he also proudly held last year as the top Year 7 student.

Congratulations Ethan.  We are really proud of you.

Ex QPS Children achieving highly beyond our school

It has been so wonderful in recent weeks hearing such great news about how well our ex-students are doing in High School and beyond.  Our local High Schools frequently comment on the learning foundation that our children receive at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka.

Recent examples of this are:

Eva O'Callaghan - Dux at Avonside High School

Anaru Hibbs - Head Boy at Shirley Boys High

Ben Swift - Deputy Head Boy at Shirley Boys High School

Congratulations to these people and to all of our ex pupils who are doing well at High School and beyond.

Keeping our school safe over the holidays

We encourage you to keep your eyes on our school as you drive past during the holiday period as this helps minimise damage and unwanted vandalism.

Digital Safety

Please check on a regular basis what your child is viewing and sending to others on electronic devices.  Set boundaries and don't be afraid to set a  time where there is no access to devices and for your child to have a complete break from all screens.  Phones when used unsupervised can be used as a weapon to inflict hurt and bullying on others.  Be active in the way phones are used and don't be afraid to take them away from children when they are being overused or not used properly.

Reminder

Our last day of the year is next Wednesday , December 17th.  Pickup is at 12.30 p.m.

Final words

At Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka, we have amazing children who have a love of learning and who are curious, courageous,  and creative.  We have great staff who bring their learning expertise and passion for our children, and parents who support us in all of this.  What a team!

Have a relaxing holiday with your family.  Let's hope we get some good weather so that we can all safely make the most of the outdoors this summer holiday in our shorts, sunhats, and jandals!  We look forward to hearing about the children’s holiday adventures, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2026.  

Remember, our first day back for the children is Monday 2 February 2026.

We look forward to seeing you on whanau connection day on 30th January 2026

Ka Kite ano -Meri Kirihimete

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Ross Willocks

Principal

Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka