Email: office@willowpark.school.nz
Website: http://www.willowpark.school.nz/
Location: Willow Park School 13 Compton Street, Hillcrest, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: 09 480 9236
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willowparkschoolhillcrest/

We do hope whānau and students have had a great summer break and are refreshed and raring to go for the new school year. Teachers have been over the last couple of weeks and so classrooms are set up and ready to go. We welcome returnng families, and many new families to our school this year.

A lot of work has been going on around school over the holidays. The fabulous CML building team have been working tirelessly throughout the holidays to ensure Rooms 9, 10, 12 and 13 have had the make over they needed. New roof, new ceilings, new flooring, new toilets and more have made sure these classrooms are back to be the best learning environments for our students and staff. A lot of waterblasting and painting around school has meant the school is looking shiny for the start of the year. A huge thank you to Mr Kelsey and Mr Murphy who have worked through the holidays to ensure our grounds are ready.

A reminder that tomorrow, Monday 3 February is our first day back at school. Children can be at school by 8.30am as teachers will be in classrooms ready to great them. This also gives a chance for children to be ready for an 8.55am start to learning.

As February remains a hot month, it is important that children bring their school bucket hat or wide brimmed hat to school. It is a good idea to make sure children have sunscreen in their bags too so they can apply at break times and when needed. Drink bottles with water are a must have too!

Children must bring their stationery in to class and the teachers will help them to organise this for the school year. This is the link to find your child's stationery list on our school website. Lists were sent out via HERO before the holidays, and are available from the school office if you prefer a paper copy: https://www.willowpark.school.nz/information

A warm welcome to Miss Linda Dai who is our new Speciakist Mandarin Teacher. She has come from teaching at Blockhouse Bay Primary. A native Chinese speaker, and musician too, Miss Dai is sure to be a positive addition to our specialist programme.

We also welcome back Mrs Grace Luiscius who is returning from maternity leave. Mrs Luiscius will be providing release time for our classroom teachers.

You all will be well aware that the New Zealand Curriculum has undergone a refresh and the Ministry of Education has mandated some changes for all schools in New Zealand. We can assure you that Willow Park is ahead of the curve with much of the changes. Our Structured Literacy programme is now 6 years in the making, and the success of our students is seen through our spelling, reading and writing results. Our school continues to be a showcase school with many other schools coming to see it in action.

Our maths programme too has been keeping up with the changes in a a more structured approach. You will see this year that our school is benefitting from the Ministry of Education's free maths resources to school. We are using Maths No Problem resources, and last week our leaders and teachers have been attending professional development to ensure we use the resources to provide more success to our programme. More information will be sent out to parents during the term so you can understand how our maths programme will support our students' learning and to see how you can support at home.

Auckland Transport have made permanent the Safer Schools Streets programme around Willow Park. The speed ramps are still being completed so please expect some delays around Eban Avenue and Compton Street in the first week back.

A reminder that there is NO PARKING in Compton Street outside school. This is a 2 minute drop zone only which means whānau stay in their car and children exit to the left by themselves. If caregivers and family want to walk in to school you must park in Moore Street or further and walk in. Please remember that our friends at Northcote Baptist Church allow us to use their car park at the beginning and end of day. Please leave the staff car parks and Northcote Baptist Kindegarten parks free.

Our Year 6 road patrollers will be out in force again on Monday morning. Please remember to use the crossings at all times. We need our parents and caregivers to model the use of these crossings for our children too. Thank you to the parents who have offered to do help supervise our monitors on a morning or afternoon. If you are able to help at any time please contact Melinda Borland at melinda.b@willowpark.school.nz .

Finally, we have created a bike rack area outside Room 25 to provide a better area to store bikes and scooters. With the fine weather still with us we hope lots of children will take advantage of travelling to school by bike, scooter and on foot. Please remind your child that to ride their bike and scooter to school they must have closed in shoes and be wearing a helmet.

2025 - School Term dates

Term 1 - Monday 3rd February. - Friday 11 April

Term 2 - Monday 28 April - Friday 27 June

Term 3 - Monday 14 July - Friday 19 September

Term 4 - Monday 6 October - Tuesday 16 December

2025 - School is closed for :

Staff only days will be advised once decided.

• Waitangi Day - Thursday February 6
• Staff Only Day - Friday 21 March
• King's Birthday - Monday 2 June
• Matariki - Friday 20 June
• Labour Day - Monday 27 October

Louie and the sKids team continue to provide a great service before and after school. They work out of our school hall using the school facilities to make it easier for parents to access the programme. Phone Louie on 022 035 7382, or go to the link below.

Musiqhub offers Guitar and Ukulele tuition to students at Willow Park School with experienced tutor Dave Gatman.

Students learn a range of traditional and contemporary styled songs and techniques where they play together as a group and take turns to play to the group as individuals. This format creates a relaxed and fun environment for students to learn in and is popular in schools around the country.

The lessons are during school hours on Thursdays and are available to students in Year 2 and older.

Dave has a few spaces for Term One lessons. If you are interested, please contact Dave on 021 2221456, or dave.gatman@musiqhub.co.nz.