Parnell District School Pānui

Wednesday 19 February, 2025

Week 4: 17/02 - 21-02

Monday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip – Rooms 16 and 20

Tuesday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip – Rooms 14 and 11

Wednesday

• Non-uniform Day
• Auckland Art Gallery Trip – Rooms 12 and 13

• Road Patrol Training Years 6-8

Thursday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip - Rooms 23 and 26

Friday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip – Rooms 24 and 25
  
• Friday Fizz begins
• Assembly - Room 26

Week 5: 24/02 - 28/02

Monday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip – Rooms 28 and 4

Tuesday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip – Rooms 7 and 27

Wednesday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip – Rooms 29 and 1

Thursday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip – Rooms 30 and 2

Friday

• Auckland Art Gallery Trip - Rooms 6, 8, 9
  
• Assembly - 29

Week 6: 03/03 - 07/03

Friday

• Friday Fizz
• Assembly - Room 4

Week 7: 10/03 - 14/03

Wednesday

• Whānau and Friends Meeting - Evening

Friday

• Friday Fizz
• New Parents Breakfast
• Assembly - 12

Week 8: 17/03 - 21/03

Wednesday

• Bake Sale - AOTEA Waka

Friday

• Orchestra Performance - Auckland Grammar School
• No Friday Fizz
• Assembly - 16

2025

Term 1: Tuesday 28 January - Friday 11 April

Term 2: Monday 28 April - Friday 27 June

Term 3: Monday 14 July - Friday 19 September

Term 4: Monday 6 October - Friday 12 December

Kia ora e te whānau,

It’s been a fantastic start to the term, with learning well underway in every classroom. There’s a real buzz around the school as students dive into new challenges, share their ideas, and explore new ways of thinking. A special highlight this term is our upcoming inquiry, Exploration Thinking: Our Places, Our Stories. To spark curiosity and inspiration, classes are visiting the Auckland Art Gallery, where they have the chance to explore incredible artworks that tell stories of people, places, and history. We can’t wait to see where their learning journeys take them!

Each year, we invite our school community to contribute to our financial donations to help provide the best possible learning experience for our students. Your generosity directly supports smaller class sizes, literacy support in Years 0-3, literacy and maths extension and support in Years 4-8, and ensuring our learning spaces are well-resourced and suitable for all children.

As you may know, the New Zealand school funding model means that schools like ours receive particularly limited government funding. To bridge this gap, we rely on the generosity of our families and community. In 2025, we have a fundraising goal of $510,000, with around $160,000 expected to come from family donations.

We deeply appreciate every contribution—big or small—because every dollar makes a difference to the learning experience of our students. We also understand that the start of the year can be financially demanding for families, so donations can be made in installments at any time throughout the year.

If you are able to contribute, your donation goes directly towards enriching the learning environment and opportunities for every student. Thank you for being part of a community that values and invests in education.

One of the things we value most at our school is providing students with opportunities to take on responsibility and develop their leadership skills—especially in our senior classes. We are proud to welcome our new student leaders, who will play an important role in supporting their peers, organising school events, and being fantastic role models. You’ll find their names further on in this newsletter—please join us in congratulating them!

Excitement is also building for the start of our Friday Fizz programme this week! Teachers have been busy planning a variety of engaging, hands-on activities, designed to spark creativity, teamwork, and fun. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to explore new interests and learn in different ways—we know they’re going to love it!

Looking ahead, our school fête is fast approaching on 10th May. This is always a highlight of the year—a chance for our community to come together, enjoy some great food, games, and entertainment, and raise funds for our school. We’d love as many parents and whānau as possible to get involved, whether it’s by helping to organise, donating items, or volunteering on the day. Be sure to check out the Whānau and Friends section of the newsletter for more details on how you can help make this event a great success!

Thank you all for your ongoing support. It’s going to be a fantastic term ahead!

Ngā mihi nui,

Ngā mihi nui,

Richard George

Principal

Here's what Ahi team has been up to...

Starting next week, our team of trained Road Patrollers will keep everyone safe on the pedestrian crossings on Gladstone Road and St Stephens Ave. Our Police Officer Richard Tan trained thirty of our Year 6, 7 and 8 students today. Look out for them on the crossings and make sure to listen out for their calls so that you know when to cross.

Creative Learning in Action! As part of our Inquiry, Exploration Thinking: Our Places, Our Stories, students will be working with a variety of visual art media to design and create their own artworks. This hands-on learning can get a little messy, so to help protect uniforms from paint, and other creative materials, we ask that each child brings a shirt to wear over their uniform during art activities.

An old, oversized t-shirt or button-up shirt works perfectly. Thank you for your support in keeping our young artists' uniforms clean while they create!

Please ensure that your child has their school hat every day. Our Sun Protection policy states that children must wear their school hat "whenever they are outdoors during school hours and/or activities, e.g. interval and lunch breaks, P.E., sports days, outdoor EOTC trips, and other school activities."

The school office has new and second-hand ($5) options if your child needs a hat.

Get ready for our biennial fundraiser, the PDS School Fete: Saturday 10th May 2025 (week 2 of Term 2)! There will be a fantastic array of entertainment, cakes and treats, pre-loved goods, inflatables, food trucks and so much more! To make the day a great success we need YOUR help!

Support Our School – Become a Sponsor!

We are looking for local businesses to partner with Parnell District School by sponsoring our community events (including the Fete) throughout the year. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with our vibrant school whānau, gain visibility among a broad local audience, and show your support for education in our community.

Whether you own a business yourself or know someone who might be interested, we’d love to hear from you! Your sponsorship will help us create engaging, memorable events for our students and families while giving your business valuable exposure.

Keep an eye out for more details in your class newsletter next week, or feel free to get in touch with us now to learn more about how you can get involved.

Donations of Prizes

We are looking for donations of any goods, events, or experiences that could be included as a raffle or auction items. Do you have a bach you could offer for a weekend? A favourite restaurant, gym or spa that could donate vouchers? Any offers should be directed to pta@parnell.school.nz or via the school office.

Pre-Loved Goods

Good quality second-hand books, children's clothing and toys are needed. Clean items only that you would be happy your child was bringing home. Please no ripped, stained clothing or broken toys. No electrical items, magazines or DVDs. Please hold onto your donations for now... full details and drop-off times to be published in the next newsletter.

Seasonal fruit and vegetables wanted

Do you have a fruit tree with excess produce? An overgrowth of tomatoes in your vegie patch? Email pta@parnell.school.nz with details of your bounty. We have a volunteer who is going to make preserves for our upcoming Fete. Also required, clean glass jars with labels removed (if possible), can be left at the school office.

Can you help?

If you would like to volunteer with Whānau & Friends fundraising events in any way, please complete our new online volunteer form at https://bit.ly/pds-waf. You can also email us directly at pta@parnell.school.nz or speak to Amy in the office.

You can now sign your children up for the Weethbix Tryathlon. The Eastern Auckland triathlon is 30 March 2025.

Simply click on this link and be sure to sign up under Parnell School so we can keep in touch in preparation for the day.

https://raceroster.com/events/2025/93895/central-east-auckland-weet-bix-kids-tryathlon