Welcome back to Term 2!

Tēnā koutou! The Team Kauri teachers have been excited to welcome back our Year 7 & 8 students. We hope you all had a restful break and are ready to get back into the swing of things for the new term.

Building Work in Kōmanawa

There was some exciting progress during the holidays: new walls and doors were installed in our Kōmanawa spaces! These additions will help our team create more learning-centered spaces, reducing noise across the hub while allowing for greater flexibility when we are working collaboratively.

Technology & Languages

The start of the term has coincided with our new technology rotations. Students have already started in their new groups, and there has been a hive of activity across the spaces with everyone keen to learn new skills.

Students also welcomed back our language teachers this week as they continue to develop their knowledge and acquisition of beginner French and Spanish.

Fundraisers

At the end of Term 1, Kahawai (Hugo’s HG) organised a school sausage sizzle fundraiser. It was a massive hit! The class sold over 300 sausages and made approximately $500 profit. A big thank you to our admin team for collecting the money and tracking orders, and to the teachers across the school who helped manage the distribution on the day. Well done to Kahawai for the hard work that made this so successful!

Quiz Night 2026

In Week 10, Team Kauri will be hosting our annual Quiz Night! Please keep an eye out for further notices regarding this event. From Week 5, we will be asking each Team Kauri family to contribute a luxury item for our hampers.

We are also looking for parent helpers both for the evening itself and to help with the lead-up. We are especially keen to find a parent coordinator to help source special prizes to be auctioned or awarded to our top quiz teams.

Upcoming Events: Term 2

Week 1

• Friday: Welcome Assembly

Week 2

• Monday: ANZAC Day Public Holiday (No School)

• Wednesday: PSC Aqua-thon Event (Swim & Run)

• Wednesday: World Vision Junior Youth Conference 2026 – Christchurch

• Friday: Whole School Cross Country

Week 3

Kia ora koutou, 

We have been very engaged and working diligently in the Kauri hub for the last two weeks! We’ve been focused on our Literacy/Inquiry tasks on Leadership, have had hockey sessions to amp up our skills, Tuakana Teina time with our Year 1 and 2s from Kahikatea, and started cross-country training for the competition in Term 2. The Year 5-8 teachers have also been collaborating about our Winter Sports programme, which starts in Term 2 as well! 

Upcoming Dates:

Term 1
Week 9:            

Wednesday - Huxster Mountain Biking Event at McLean's Island

Thursday - Last day of school for Term 1 (have a restful break!)

Term 2

Week 1:

Wednesday - Ngā Puna Wai Tournament (Year 5-8)

Week 2:

Monday - School closed (Anzac Day)

Wednesday - PSC Aquathon Swim and Run Event

Wednesday - World Vision Junior Youth Conference 2026 (for World Challenge Leaders)

Friday - BTKOP Cross Country Event

Tuakana Teina with Kahikatea students

Every other Friday (non-assembly days), Kauri is buddying with the Year 1 and 2 students for some shared reading and inquiry time. Last week, they paired up one-to-one and completed a Nature Scavenger Hunt and read books together. We love seeing our school values ‘We Care’ and ‘We Get There Together’, during this time. Looking forward to next time!

Canterbury Hockey Sessions 

Each Home Group had a jam-packed 45-minute session with a Canterbury Hockey representative. The students learned about push passing, how to hold a stick correctly, had a few competitions and played a game at the end. Everyone showed ‘We Love Learning’ during their session!

Literacy/Inquiry Biographies

The past few weeks, the students have been researching a leader of their choice and writing a biography essay about that person. The students will also create a static image of their leader. This is a visual representation of their leader with a quote and symbol to depict a strong image portrayal. We look forward to completing our projects and sharing them with whānau and each other.

Year 7/8 Mountain Biking Relay

The South Island Schools MTB Champs are currently underway, and the boys have already had an awesome start. Our Year 7/8 team of Zach G, Ben S, and Daniel M took out 1st place, finishing four minutes ahead of the next team. They also placed 10th overall, racing against mostly high school riders.

In the U14 Cross Country race, Zach G placed 1st, winning by three minutes. Daniel M finished 6th, and Ben S came in 11th.

Such a great effort so far—we’re excited to see how they get on over the rest of the event!

PSC Canterbury Swimming:

A huge congratulations to all the Year 7/8 students who participated in the zone swimming competition. Fun was had by all, especially when they got their ice cream! The participants displayed grit and our school value, ‘We Love Challenge’. Well done tamariki!

Welcome to Nate, our 24/7 Youth Worker!

Nate, a 24/7 Youth Worker, will join the Kauri team in Term 2, working 2 days a week. He comes with fantastic listening skills and a passion to support all tamariki. We look forward to working with him on our team!

Have a fantastic weekend with your tamariki,
Hugo, Kate McG, Megan C, Sarah A, Megan H & Nicky

Tēnā koutou! Team Kauri teachers have been excited to welcome back our Year 7 students as Year 8’s and to integrate our new Year 7’s into the team for the first two weeks of school. It has been a calm and settled start to the year.

New Space, New Team

We are now located in a new space as a team. We are utilising Hangere and Kōmanawa as our classroom spaces and we are very happy to have such lovely classrooms for our learning this year 🙂.

Upcoming Events

Week 3

• PSC Triathlon - Tuesday

Week 4

• House Games - Wednesday

• BTKOP Swimming Sports - Thursday

• Whole School Learning Celebration - Friday

• Passions begin - Friday

Week 5

• House Games - Wednesday

• SZ Swimming Sports - Thursday

Week 6

• Leadership Week - including Kauri Day Out & sleepover

• School Photos - Wednesday

• House Games - Wednesday

• Whole School Learning Celebration - Friday

Week 7

• House Games - Wednesday

Week 8 

• PSC Swimming sports - Thursday

• Whole School Learning Celebration - Friday

Week 9

• Huxster mountain biking - Wednesday

• Last Day of Term - Thursday

Technology & Languages

Tuesday was our first technology session for the year. The Tech team at Christchurch South Intermediate commented on how awesome our kids were from the start and the students loved attending their first tech sessions diving into some amazing hands-on activities. The new technology programme includes: Digitech, Coding, Food technology, Textiles, and Hard Materials.

We also had the pleasure of having our first language sessions with the specialist teaching staff from Cashmere high school. We enjoyed our first experiences of French and Spanish with Debbie and Victoria.

Leadership opportunities

Our new house captains had some opportunities in the first couple of days to setup and lead activities for Team Kōwhai and Pōhutukawa for their water play. The rest of the team have been learning about some of the Leadership opportunities available. The selection process for these leadership opportunities will be happening over the next week and students will be learning about how and what this will involve.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Ben Stoney for completing Grade 5 Violin. We are very pleased for his achievements!

We look forward to the opportunities coming up this term and cant wait to get stuck into the new learnings and experiences we will all have.

Please do not hesitate to contact any of the teaching staff if you have an questions about the upcoming term.

Ka kite!

Hugo, Sarah A, Kate McG, and Megan C.

Wow! What an absolutely incredible performance by our Year 7/8 students in this year’s production. The amount of effort and dedication that went into making the night such a success was truly awe-inspiring. From writing the scripts, rehearsing scenes, performing solos, and choreographing dance routines, to crafting props, running the technology for the night, and designing advertisement posters – every student gave their all. The energy, confidence, and creativity on display was remarkable, and the performance itself was nothing short of spectacular. Every member of the Kauri Hub contributed in their own unique way, and we couldn’t be prouder of them all.

Yummy Treats              

As a thank you to the students' hard work on production, we made some ‘bake at home’ treats. They loved designing their unique labels for the jars. Hopefully whānau got to enjoy some yummy cooking. 

Victoria Park Adventure
We enjoyed a wonderful walk to Victoria Park. Although we started off with a little drizzle, the weather soon cleared, giving us a beautiful day to explore. The students loved having lunch with their friends, climbing the trees, playing on the playground, and taking in the views from the hilltop. There were plenty of laughs as they went down the slide as a “train,” and the excitement and energy throughout the day was infectious. It was a perfect opportunity for the tamariki to enjoy the outdoors, challenge themselves, and make memories with friends.

Year 8 Pool Party
After a big day of walking and outdoor fun, we celebrated our Year 8 students with a much-anticipated Pool Party. The tamariki had a blast on the slide, played fun pool games, and enjoyed some classic treats like a sausage in bread and an ice block. It was a fantastic way to acknowledge their hard work, friendship, and contribution to the Kauri Hub this year.

Fond Farewells
We also said goodbye to two of our longest-standing Kauri Hub students – Snowy and Nibbles – who have been with us for 10 years! Nicky’s mornings will certainly look a little different without bringing vegetables in each day to feed them. Their presence and personality have been a cherished part of our daily routine, and they will be missed. They will be going to live with Rowan Matthews, year 8 student. 

Cass Bay Adventures
Our trip to Cass Bay was an absolute highlight of this week! We were spoiled with beautiful weather, and the tamariki made the most of every moment. The perfect setting for a day of summer fun. The pontoon was a favourite spot, with endless manus. Groups explored the rock pools and discovered tiny crabs hiding under stones and shells. Our competitive crew enjoyed shoulder wrestles as the tide went out, and the battles brought plenty of energy and amusement. Some students found patches of clay along the seabed and decided to embrace nature fully… covering themselves head-to-toe like it was a day spa treatment! It was a day filled with sunshine, laughter, adventure, and memory-making, the perfect way to celebrate our time together this year.