As the year comes to a close, this is our final newsletter of 2024. Last night, we had the privilege of farewelling our Year 6 students. This milestone is always a blend of excitement and a little apprehension as they prepare to move on to new schools and challenges. It’s an exciting time, and we are confident that this group of Year 6 students will seize every opportunity ahead of them. We wish them every success on their journey.

To our amazing staff, I want to acknowledge what an extraordinary year it has been. Your dedication and hard work have ensured that our students continue to thrive. Thank you for all that you do. I hope you enjoy a well-deserved break to rest, recharge, and refresh. Wishing you all a safe, happy, and relaxing holiday season.

A big thank you goes out to everyone who contributed to making 2024 a successful year. To our Board of Trustees, your support and governance throughout the year have been invaluable. The time, expertise, and dedication you bring to your role in resourcing and property development are deeply appreciated.

A special thanks to Kaitlin and the Harrisville School Community (HSC) team for your efforts this year. From school discos to the Christmas parade and the fantastic Gala during Pet Day, your hard work behind the scenes has not only raised funds for our students but also strengthened our school community. Your contributions have been truly awesome, and we are so grateful for all you do.

This year has been marked by significant upgrades and advancements, including:

These improvements reflect our ongoing commitment to enhancing facilities and communication for the benefit of our school community. Thank you to everyone who supported and contributed to these projects. The staff and students who have been flexible and resilient as we move classes around. Your efforts have been instrumental in making these upgrades possible, and I look forward to the positive impact they will have on our students and families.

Thank you all for being part of this incredible year. Wishing everyone a safe, fun, and restful holiday season! See you in 2025!

We will no longer be using our School app, as we will be transitioning exclusively to the HERO platform next year. If you haven’t already, it’s essential to log in to HERO. Follow this link to set up your account. Your HERO account is linked to the email address we have on file, allowing you to access information for all your children enrolled at Harrisville School. Each parent can have their own account, so please ensure our office has your correct email address on file. For more information please visit this link.

Last weekend, our incredible HSC proudly represented us in the Tuakau Christmas Parade with an awesome sporting-themed float! A large, enthusiastic group of students turned out in costume to ride the float.

We’re thrilled to announce that Harrisville School placed second in the Schools category of the parade! 

A massive thank you to our amazing Harrisville School Community (HSC) for designing and creating our float, and to all the parents who lent a helping hand on the day. Special thanks to Jason for  providing the truck for our float.

This year, our hardworking HSC team has been an incredible support to our school. From organising school discos, running the Gala on Pet Day, and bringing our community together at events like the Christmas Parade, they’ve gone above and beyond to create fun experiences for everyone while raising funds to support our students.

Thank you to Kaitlin and the HSC team for your dedication, and commitment to making Harrisville School such an awesome community. Your efforts are truly appreciated by staff, students, and parents. 

I am pleased to say that we are fully staffed for 2025. We welcome Emma Peters, who will be taking on the role of Year 3 teacher in Room 6. Jessie Hirst will be in Room 9 with our Year 5 and 6 students, and Abbie Ngatai will be our New Entrants teacher in Room 1. Annette van Brakel will be returning to support  groups of students with Structured Literacy.
 

We have finalised class placements for 2025 and this information was shared on your child’s report last Friday. Students had the opportunity to visit their new class and meet their teacher and classmates on Monday the 9th December.

No doubt there will be children who may be disappointed to find their friend is not in their class. Unfortunately, this happens. We encourage you to be positive about the class placements with your children, they take their cue from you. If they don’t have their best friend in their class, reassure them. Tell them that everything will be okay and that they have the opportunity to make new friends in class, while still being able to play with best friends at break times. Be positive, reassure them and show that you are confident that they will have a good year. Other than administrative errors that could arise, our class lists are final. If you think we have made an error of this nature e.g. placed your child in the wrong year group or with a sibling, please let us know. Otherwise we ask that you give your child 3- 4 weeks to establish themselves in their new classes and speak to the class teacher if they experience any issues settling after that.

Farewell and Thank You, Amanda
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Amanda Caldwell, who is leaving Harrisville School at the end of 2024 to pursue new opportunities outside of teaching. Since joining us, Amanda has been an incredibly kind and dedicated teacher, making a significant impact on both our students and our school community.

Amanda has been a valued member of the Harrisville team, and we deeply appreciate her contributions, dedication, and the positive influence she has had on our school.

Term 1 | Monday 3rd February  | Friday 11th April
Term 2 | Monday 28th April | Friday 27th June
Term 3 | Monday 14th July | Friday 19th September
Term 4 | Monday 6th October | TBC

School Closed | Friday 7th February
Waitangi Day | Thursday, 6th February
Easter Good Friday | Friday, 18th April (In Term Break)
Easter Monday | Monday, 21st April (In Term Break)
Easter Tuesday | Tuesday, 22nd April (In Term Break)
Anzac Day | Friday, 25th April (In Term Break)
King’s Birthday | Monday, 2nd June
Matariki | Friday, 20th June
Labour Day | Monday, 27th October
 

8:30-3:30 Monday - Friday  (Term time only)

Tuesday 28th January 9:00 am - 10:30 am and Thursday 30th January 9:00am - 12:00 pm 

New Entrants-$40      Year 1-6 students-$40

Our student Stationery Packs are available to purchase through our online Kindo shop. If your child's stationery has been paid in full on our Kindo shop by the 30th January your child will receive their complete pack on their first day back at school, Monday 3rd February.  To be kind to the environment, we discourage covering your child's books.

Year 1-4 children use these bags for all readers, home learning and library books to keep them clean and in good condition.  These can be purchased at the office or outlets which stock stationery. The book bags are included in the New Entrant stationery pack. 

Harrisville School has opted into the Ministry of Education's School Donations Scheme for 2025. This means that we do not ask families for school donations. This payment will cover the cost of curriculum-related activities such as some of the school trips. Overnight activities, such as school camp, are not included in this payment. So charges for camp and other optional activities will still be requested. 

As a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) school, students from Year 4 to 6 bring their own device to school. To help families prepare, we’ve noticed some fantastic deals on Chromebooks available right now. These could make an excellent Christmas present while also ensuring your child is ready for the new school year. We have a small amount of devices students are able to use if unable to purchase their own. However access to them can not be guaranteed.

Here is a great option: 

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 14 Inch HD MediaTek Kompanio 520 4GB RAM 64GB eMMC Chromebook - Abyss Blue is $299 from Noel Leeming, The Warehouse Stationery and The Warehouse. 

Keep an eye out for more sales and promotions – this is a great opportunity to save money while planning ahead!

Noel Leeming - https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/.../computers/chromebooks 

The Warehouse Stationery 

https://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/.../com.../chromebooks 

Or for a refurbished options have a look at 3CNZTech 

https://3cnz.co.nz/.../refurbished/chromebook-refurbished/

For more information about Harrisville School BYOD please visit our website 

At Harrisville School, it is compulsory to wear the school uniform every day. Please ensure all clothing is clearly named, including hats, underwear, togs and towels so they can be easily returned.  

We are a Sun Safe School so all students are required to wear their green wide-brimmed sun hats during terms one & four. If your child does not have a hat they will have to play under the shaded areas during morning tea and lunch. Our uniforms can be purchased from The Uniform Shoppe. You can order uniforms any time online or visit their shop in Pukekohe.

The Uniform Shoppe and SAS Sport All you need to do is go to their showroom on 7A, Glasgow Road, Pukekohe. 

Phone: 09 239 1310

The shop hours are:

Monday to Friday: 8:30 to 5pm

Saturday: 9am to 1pm

The Uniform Shoppe website is live for online ordering and they offer courier service or click and collect options. All WINZ quotes can also be done via the website if required, or instore.

 

Website: www.theuniformshoppe.co.nz 

 

Girl’s Uniform: 

Black skort or black shorts

Bottle green polo

Bottle green full zip polo fleece

Bottle green wide brim hat

Black socks

Black shoes or sandals 

Black shorts, 

Bottle green polo

Bottle green zip polo fleece

Bottle green wide brim hat 

Black socks

Black shoes, or sandals 

 What an incredible time the Junior Team had at our Water Fun Day!

The activities were absolutely fantastic—especially the slide, which was a huge hit with everyone. A big shout out to the Hanna-Addis whaanau for setting up the slide at a discounted rate for our school—it made the day extra special. 

Our hungry tummies were well looked after with delicious sausages and chippies for lunch. Thank you to the HSC for generously donating the sausages, and an extra special thanks to our amazing BBQ queens who came in to cook for us. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Lastly, a big thank you to Freya, our talented photographer for part of the day. Even though her broken arm kept her from joining in most of the fun, Freya was able to capture lots of wonderful moments from the day on an ipad. Great job, Freya! 

 So far this year each class has had a total of 17 or 18 sport sessions with me. The sessions run for either 45 minutes or 1 hour, depending on what time of day the class is timetabled to see me. Each session starts off with a fun warm-up game or activity, followed by drills to practice specific skills and then a session often ends with a fun game/activity that allows for the skills that have been introduced or revisited that session, to be practiced and put into action! 

The Tane Mahuta classes over the last two terms have been practicing and developing their large ball skills (throwing and catching) and fundamental skills (running, skipping, hopping and leaping).

Over the last two terms the Tawhirimatea classes have been practicing and developing their netball skills, basketball skills, fundamental skills and their volleyball skills.

It is so great to see the majority of our students being active and fully participating in the Kirstie Sport sessions, while having fun too! 

A big congratulations to all of the students who have received a certificate from me throughout the year for their awesome effort and attitude.

I have thoroughly enjoyed taking the Kirstie Sport sessions. I hope all of our students keep having fun being active and I hope they continue to enjoy practicing and developing their sports skills. 

On Thursday 21st November, our 14 athletes who made it through to the Franklin Zone Athletics Championships travelled to Pukekohe to participate in the event. Our students were part of the River Zone Team which consisted of Harrisville School, Onewhero Area School, Tuakau Primary and Pukekawa School. The weather did not always behave itself, with a few heavy showers causing a few stoppages throughout the day. Nevertheless, our Harrisville School students went out there and gave it their all when competing against other athletes from all around the Franklin District. Although some of our students qualified for the finals, we didn’t end up receiving any placings on the day. A massive thank you needs to go to Justene and Holly (two of our parents) who spent all day at the finish line being track judges. Their awesome help was very much appreciated. Also a huge thank you to all of the parents and family members who came along to support and encourage our athletes as they competed in their different events. Way to go Nevaeha, Svetlana, Indie, Alexis, Charlie, Benson, Will, Adel, Kayden, Connor W, Eli, Oscar, Zane T and Theo. We are proud of you all!