Week 7, Term 1 Newsletter
In this week's newsletter:
School Life
This Week
Enroling siblings and enrolments for 2027
Change of Clothes
Travelwise
Extra Curricular Activities
Basketball - Term 2 - Expressions of Interest
Ski Team - Year 4-6 - Expressions of Interest
Netball - Term 2 - Expressions of Interest
Other Opportunities
Weetbix Tryathlon
Holy Moly Arts & Crafts
DramaHub School Holiday Programme
Snowplanet Holiday Programme
Little Scientists Holiday Programme
Netball Holiday Programme
Rugby - Have a Go Day
Pform Holiday Programme and Auditions
Skids Holiday Programmes - Grey Lynn / Newton
The Village Square Holiday Programme
Dreamer Light Festival
Basketball Holiday Programme
Prosford Studios
School Life
This Week
Wacky Walking and Wheels Wednesday was a massive success! Thanks for supporting your child to walk, scooter, bike, rollerskate, etc., to school. It was amazing to see how jam-packed the scooter and bike racks were and how many happy faces there were at the gate.
If you have been in our studios this term, you may have noticed these around the place...
These styrofoam balls and pipe cleaners represent the brains of all the tamariki in the studio. Children were asked to represent their brains through an activity where they identified their 'smarts'.
We're all wired differently. We each have our own likes and dislikes, strengths and challenges. We have smarts in many different areas, like writing, coding, or science. Some people have physical smarts if they play sport, for instance. We have smarts around out interets and hobbies, and of course we have social smarts. Understanding this is the foundation of our self-awareness.
Each of the wires represented a different strength (smart) that the child had. Some of the wires were a little shorter because they were 'smarts' that the children wanted to develop.
Children were taught that we all have wires for everything, but some of them are shorter because they haven't had as much practice or learning to grow them. This helps us to teach our tamariki about the importance of resilience and perseverance, and the opportunity to become better at things we might find hard now by growing our wires.
We thought this was easy language that you might want to use at home too, to encourage your child when they're finding things tricky.
School Donation and Stationery Update
We're really close to completing stationery payments. Please get these paid before the end of term.
School donations may look smaller but the 44% paid actually represents 71% of the school population!!! Lots of families are paying termly instead of trying to pay in one lump sum at the start of the year. Thanks for the contributions - it all helps! Don't forget to log it in your MyIR with the IRD so you get 33% back. Download your receipt from the Hero app and upload it to MyIR. It's super easy.
If you'd like to set up an AP here are the details:
Weekly $15
Monthly $52
Or termly $130
Westmere School (Auckland) Board
12-3020-046008-00
Enroling siblings and enrolments for 2027
If you have a four-year-old turning five this year, we would love it if you enrol them as soon as possible so we can add them to our waitlist/ballot for 2027. It's helpful for us to know who's coming in advance as we work on class numbers and placements. If you are out of zone, you can read about our enrolment criteria here.
Change of Clothes
Please put in a change of clothes for your child in their bag especially as we head in to Term 2 and weather changes.
Walking School Bus
Extra Curricular Activities
Basketball - Term 2 - Expressions of Interest
If your child is keen to play basketball in Term 2, please register your interest here. Our current teams are full but are looking for any newbies that might like to play. We require 7-8 players to start a new team for Year 3/4 and Year 5/6. If we are unable to make these teams happen, we will add your child to a waitlist.
Ski Team - Expressions of Interest - Year 4-6
The daylight is getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler, so it must be time to start thinking about winter sports! So, would your kids want to join the Westmere snow team?
What: Ski / snowboard lessons at Snowplanet, with the aim to teach kids slalom skiing / snowboard alpine racing
Who: Anyone in years 4 to 6 who is keen on skiing or snowboarding. No race experience necessary, but not suitable for very beginners.
When: 8:30am to 10am every Friday morning, starting from week 2 of term 2 and continuing through most of term 3
Where: Snowplanet (91 Small Road, Silverdale)
Why: Improve their skiing/snowboarding. We also aim to enter in competitions at Snowplanet, Whakapapa and Cardona (you don’t have to enter them all)
Cost: Approx $60 for a 1.5 hour group lesson, plus any gear hire (if you don’t have your own stuff)
We need a minimum of 20 children who are keen to be part of the snow team and able to commit to the weekly lessons.
We know it is a big time commitment, so we organise car pools with other parents so you don’t have to go up to Snowplanet each week.
Want to sign up? Please complete this Google Form
Want to know more? Contact Sarah-Jane Lawson (William’s mum) on sarahjanepuch@gmail.com or 021 710897
Netball - Terms 2 and 3 - Expressions of Interest
We are building our teams for Terms 2 and 3 and are short a few players to make a new Year 3/4 netball team. If you have a child keen to play please register your interest here.
We endeavour to place every child who wishes to play sport at Westmere into a school team. Sometimes this isn't able to happen due to not enough players to create a team or too many players in existing teams. We avoid overloading teams as children do not get enough game time, and it creates too many logistics for the coaches/managers. We will put your child on a waitlist if there isn't a team for them, and if any gaps open up, we will let you know.
Other Opportunities
Weetbix Tryathlon
Well done to our amazing Tryathletes over the weekend! The photos look awesome and you all did so well. Congratulations on your efforts.
Holy Moly Arts & Crafts
DramaHub School Holiday Programme
Snowplanet Holiday Programme
Little Scientists Holiday Programme
Netball Holiday Programme
Rugby - Have a Go Day
Pform Holiday Programme and Auditions
Skids Holiday Programmes - Grey Lynn / Newton
The Village Square Holiday Programme
Dreamer Light Festival
✨Dreamer ✨
A brand-new indoor light festival is coming to Auckland these school holidays.
For 10 days only, Dreamer transforms the New Zealand International Convention Centre into a glowing world of colour, light and interactive installations designed to spark curiosity and imagination.
Perfect for families, Dreamer is fully indoors (all weather) and open during the day - making it an easy school holiday outing.
Family passes (2 adults + 2 children) are just $35 + booking fee, and under 5’s are free.
📅 3–12 April 2026 | 🕙 10am–4pm daily
Basketball Holiday Programme
***** CLICK HERE ****** TO REGISTER YOUR CHILD ***** CLICK HERE *******
Prosford Studios
