Kia ora koutou

As we welcome our Year 5’s back from Motu Moana Camp, I’d like to congratulate the Year 5 staff and students, led by Deputy Principal Aone Laufili and Team Leader Kate Stevens. The camp was a great success, and a unique opportunity to support the development of essential life skills, resilience, and confidence.

School Camps are a reminder of the importance of a well-rounded education. Whether it’s conquering a high ropes course, navigating a bushwalk, developing archery skills or collaborating on team challenges, activities like these foster independence and problem-solving abilities. In a safe and supportive environment, students learn to trust themselves and their peers while building self-esteem.

Being away from home, even for a short time, allows students to develop responsibility and self-reliance, learning to manage their belongings, make decisions independently, and navigate new situations. Camps also encourage teamwork and communication. Living and working together in an unfamiliar setting teaches valuable social skills, including cooperation, patience, and adaptability, which often helps build and strengthen the many friendships that can become lasting bonds.

At a time when all parents are faced with the myriad challenges of unprecedented levels of media saturation and technology in our children’s lives, it's fair to say the traditional camp offers the perfect blend blend of fun, fresh air, physical activity, and hands-on experiences!

I'd like to sincerely thank our amazing PTA volunteers for their hard work planning and organising this year’s Colour Run. The children had so much fun on the day, with initial indications that the fundraiser is likely to have raised over 23k. It’s a fantastic community effort, and one that all concerned should be very proud of.

We’re also proud of all the children who participated and helped make the day a memorable one, with special mention and appreciation to the following top fundraisers and their families:

Top Fundraisers by Year Level: Y1 - Felix London; Y2 - Kahukura Maki; Y3 - Lou Otley; Y4 (...and the top fundraiser in the whole school!) - Reynold Chandra; Y5 - Waka Maki; Y6 - Rocco Fraser-Hards

10+ Donations: Reynold Chandra, Felix London, Wilf Ryan, Alison Huanga, Lou Otley, Rupert Harper, Ezra van Sambeek

Top Fundraising Classes...

● $2,039 - Room 31 - Year 3 - Pizza party winner!

● $2,000 - Room 6 - Year 5 - Pizza party winner!

● $1,785 - Room 24 - Year 2 - Pizza party winner!

● $1,630 - Room 35 - Year 4

● $1,360 - Room 11 - Year 1

● $956 - Room 1 - Year 6

Thanks once again to everyone for your support of the event.

For the next exciting community initiative on the PTA Calendar, please make sure you scroll down to the PTA section below to learn more, find out how you can get involved and support the amazing work of our PTA volunteers!

Ka kite anõ i a koutou

Alan Jackson, Principal

Monday 31st March:

• Year 1 New Parents Morning Tea - 9:00am - 9:45am - Staffroom

Tuesday 1st April:

• Room 31/32 Mangere Mountain Trip - 9:30am - 2:00pm
• Year 4 - 6 Assembly - 2:15pm - 3:15pm

Wednesday 2nd April:

• School Photos
• PTA Second Hand Uniform Shop - 8:15am - 9:15am
• Term 2 New Entrant Cohort Visit 1 - 9:00am - 10:30am
• Room 26/30 Mangere Mountain Trip - 9:30am - 2:00pm

Thursday 3rd April:

• School Photos

This Yoyo pram was handed into our school office by a caring member of our community. If it is yours please visit or call the school office. 09 630 0009

Here’s how it works:

• Every parent who orders an ezlunch goes into a weekly draw to win $100 Kindo Credit for themselves AND $100 for your school. Starts Monday 10 February 2025 and runs through to Friday 11 April 2025.
• Plus, all orders automatically enter the Grand Prize Draw for a $1,000 JB Hi-Fi Voucher + $500 for their school!

Thank you to JB Hi-Fi for making our Grand Prize rewards possible!

JB Hi-Fi has partnered with Kindo in 2025 to streamline BYOD for schools, and we appreciate their generous support.

Dear Friends and Family,

We want to extend our sincerest thanks to everyone who supported the MENPS PTA Colour Run Fundraiser 2025. Your generous contributions and enthusiasm made this event a tremendous success, and we couldn’t have done it without you! We have raised a total of $23,000.00 which will go towards our new playground development.

A special congratulations to the top three fundraising classrooms for their incredible efforts:

1st Place: [Room 31]– Raised $2039

2nd Place: [Room 6] – Raised $2000

3rd Place: [Room 24] – Raised $1785

As a reward, these top three classes have earned a well-deserved pizza party! The details for the celebration will be confirmed soon, so stay tuned for more information.

Thank you once again to all who donated, volunteered, and participated. A special thanks also to Melanie and Chelsea for putting the event together. Your support helps create opportunities and resources for our school community, and we are so grateful for your ongoing commitment.

Also big thanks to our amazing sponsors, Bunnings Warehouse and Skids, for helping bring our Colour Run fundraiser to life!

With appreciation,

MENPS PTA

We are excited to announce that the MENPS PTA Cultural Festival 2025 will be happening on a Sunday during Term Two! (Exact date to be confirmed.) But we need your help to make this event a memorable celebration of our diverse community.

We’re looking for event coordinators and volunteers to help put together a fun, vibrant, and inclusive festival. Whether you’re passionate about planning, organizing, or simply lending a helping hand, we’d love to have you involved!

We’re also seeking a wide range of cultural performances, street food vendors, artists, crafters, and people willing to share traditional ethnic games to bring the festival to life. If you or someone you know would be interested in showcasing a cultural talent or sharing unique traditions, please reach out!

Let’s come together to create a festival that celebrates diversity and unity in our community.

If you’re interested, please email us at menpspta@gmail.com.

We can’t wait to make this a day to remember!

We will be running a second hand clothing sale in Term 2, with all funds raised going to MENPS. We are accepting donations of good quality, clean kids clothes - you can drop these off to the Second Hand Uniform Shop during opening hours only (next open Friday 21 March in the PTA Room) OR we will announce further collection dates next week. Thanks to Mel for coordinating this initiative!

Please ensure all donations are washed and in good condition - kids clothes only please.

Each year the PTA run a Parent Social Fundraiser in Term 3 - it is a lot of fun and a chance to get to know other parents in the school community. Last year we had Beats by Bingo + Auction, previously we have run Casino Night and Quiz Nights. We would love to run another event this year, but we need your help - can you lead a parent social night fundraiser this year? The type of event is open for discussion - would love to hear your ideas. If you are interested, or would like to discuss, please email: menpspta@gmail.com.

Congrats MENPS, YUMMY Apple sports gear order arrived and has been all put in the PE shed. MENPS children love using the new footballs that are available during lunchtimes. MENPS also received new class sets of footballs, tennis balls and netballs. MENPS earned $1345 towards Sports Gear in 2024. Thanks to everyone who collected and brought in their Yummy Apple stickers!

Are your kids keen to enter the Central East Auckland Weet-Bix TRYathlon on Sunday 30 March? There is still time to register as part of the MENPS school group.

MENPS has set up a dedicated group and will have a MENPS Tent at the event on the day that you are welcome to come and hang out at. Please come and join the fun at the MENPS tent even if you have already registered!

For further details, and if you would like to join the MENPS team - you can do so here:

https://raceroster.com/registration/004a8eec-851a-4b44-9dcc-2bdf7658e433/entry?team=778008

Follow this link to the registration page. You'll need to set up an account if you don't already have one with Race Roster to register your kids for the event (email + password). Once you've entered your details you will be automatically allocated to the MENPs school group.

Note that no supervision is offered on the day, parents will need to be onsite and supervising their kids for the duration. This is NOT a fundraiser for MENPS - donations are entirely optional and note that it is fundraising for the Weet-Bix charities and not for MENPS.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday under our red MENPS tent!

Email menpspta@gmail.com I Follow us on Facebook

Refer to the PTA website for information on the various fundraising and community activities

Co-Chairs Pam Clifford & Svantje Reiber

Secretary April Alsari

Treasurers Paula Tran & Minaxi Chandra

PTA Advisor Chantal Brunner

Communications Get in touch if you are interested!

School Representative Hilary Edwards

Full team of amazing parents/caregivers listed here