Tui Halakatoua

Deputy Principal

A reminder that tomorrow is the last day of Term 1. We hope you all have a well deserved rest over the next couple of weeks. Stay safe, have fun and we will see you all back for the first day of Term 2 on Monday 28th April.

From Term 2, you will be receiving your West End School newsletters every second week - the first being in Week 2 - on Friday 9th May. A always, these will come out as an app message, an email and you can access them via our school website.

Parents/Caregivers are expected to notify the school as soon as possible (before or during the

school day) if their child will be absent. A reason for absence must be provided no later than

the end of the school week. West End School will contact parents/caregivers directly if no

explanation is provided for student absence.

Under the Education and Training Act 2020 (s 45), the principal may allow a student to be

absent from school for up to five days if there is a justifed reason for absence (e.g. due to

illness, a funeral or tangihanga, or other approved reason at the discretion of the school). For

planned absences (such as going away on holiday during school time), requests must be made to the principal at least one week before the planned event.

The principal has discretion to approve or deny requests, based on criteria including:

• The benefit to education for the student (including qualifications and experience of course providers as relevant)
• The length of time away from regular school programmes that the activity will require.

We have a lot of lost property that isn't named. If these clothes do end up in our lost property, is is easier to return them to their owner. Please name all of your child's items they bring in (including lunchboxes, water bottles, socks etc). A lot of money accumulates every term into our lost property box which gets given away. Lost Property will be on display today only! (Thursday) and will be donated to a charity shop on Friday.

Please come to the office if you are missing these glasses.

What a great term for sports! Thank you to the parents that volunteered to coach a team this term. We really appreciate the time and effort you have put into our teams. Tamariki you have worked super hard in your sports and showed the school values all throughout.

We had a great turn out for Mount Biggs Tough Kids. All of the students showed great Whakamana and Kotahitanga throughout the day. We had a blast getting covered in mud towards the end! Thank you to Sandy McCorkindale & Georgina Rynhart for volunteering to support our tamariki on the day.

Our interschool swimmers made us proud with their Whakamana. They were cheering each other on all morning, and although we were the smallest group, our mana was certainly evident - being both loud and proud! Thank you Sandy McCorkindale for taking them down to The Lido to compete.

Rippa Rugby - we had an awesome bunch of tamariki go and represent our school at the Central Energy Trust Arena. Even through the pouring rain we continued to show our school values on and off the field. We made it to the quarter-finals so you should all be very proud. Thank you Sarah and Dave Le for your time and effort coaching the team and the support on the day.

We have been well underway with our training for cross country next term. It would be great to keep up the fitness during the holidays as Cross Country is in Week 3 (16th May) more information will be sent out closer to the time.

Sports Sign Up:

Basketball (year 3-6) on Kindo, closes on 23rd April.

Hockey (all years) on Kindo, closes on the 23rd April.

Flippa Ball (year 4-6) on Kindo, closes on the 23rd April.

Tennis with Jorden (all years) on Kidno, closes on 30th April.

Lastly, we are looking for parents who would be keen to give coaching a try, rules will be provided if you haven't coached the sport before but are interested. If you coach and your child signs up to that sport their fees will be waived. Please contact Charlotte Bone at sport@westend.school.nz

Have a great break. See you next term.

WEEK 11 -

• Last Day of Term 1 - Friday 11th April

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS UNTIL MONDAY 28th APRIL

TERM 2 - WEEK 1

• Pōwhiri - Tuesday 29th April at 9.15am
• New Entrant Visits - Wednesday 30th Apri
• Power Hour - Thursday 1st May

WEEK 2

• Power Hour - Thursday 8th May
• VIBE Assembly - Friday 9th May starting at 2pm

WEEK 3

• Cyber Safety with John Parsons - Wednesday 14th May
• Power Hour - Thursday 15th May
• School Cross Country - Friday 16th May

Please click on and read a brief introduction below to this free event held at school. This is a hugely important topic that affects us all - children, teachers and parents. We will be dedicating a day of Cyber Education Safety during this day and evening.

Term 1: Monday 29 Jan - Friday 11 April

Term 2: Monday 28 April - Friday 27 June

Term 3: Monday 14 July - Friday 19 Sept

Term 4: Monday 6 Oct - Friday 12 Dec

Term 1 for Term 2: Wednesday 26 February 2025

Term 2 for Term 3: Wednesday 14 May 2025

Term 3 for Term 4: Wednesday 30 July 2025

Term 4 for Term 1 2026: Wednesday 8 October 2025

Join the Adventure with Scouts!

We empower youth through adventurous experiences to lead lives that make a positive difference.

West End is open to kids aged 5-14, with the first 4 weeks free! We meet during term time:
Keas (5-8 yrs): Wednesdays, 4:15-5:30 pm

Cubs (8-11 yrs): Wednesdays, 6:30-8:00 pm
Scouts (11-14 yrs): Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 pm

Each year, scouting helps over 13,000 young Kiwis explore the outdoors, build confidence, and develop leadership skills—all while having fun!

Come along and give it a go! To learn more, sign up here: https://scouts.nz/group/west-end-scout-group/ or email us at westend@group.scouts.nz

Niuvaka Trust are holding a swimming programme called Poly Paddles which is a FREE 3-day swimming programme for Pasifika children aged from 5-13.

This will be held at the LIDO's on the 15th, 16th and 17th of April. Children and whanau are provided not only with a FREE entry, but also FREE goggles and FREE kaikai!

Please click on the link below to register

It is very important that families register with Kindo, as this is now the only way to register your child for school sports, and ordering PTA lunches.
Below are the links to register.
If you require help please call the Kindo helpdesk on

0508 454 636

New users need this link

Existing users need this link