Te Kāpehu Riccarton School

This week our Junior Inspire group are at Cass Bay. We have found a playground, looked at maps, played on the beach and are going kayaking! What a busy day!

Kia ora whānau,

I hope you have all had a wonderful week.

Our latest school newsletter is now ready for you to read. It is always a pleasure to reflect on the fantastic learning and activities happening across Te Kāpehu Riccarton School, and this edition is no exception. We have packed it with important updates, a look at what our tamariki have been up to in their learning programmes, and a few key reminders for the weeks ahead.

Pānui - Newsletter - 6 August 2026 EPro8 Competition

Some of our Year 6 learners are having a fantastic time at their first Junior Inspire session. So far we have thrown snowballs, made mini shelters and had yummy hot chocolate.

Nau mai, haere mai! Last Friday, Te Kāpehu Riccarton School had the absolute pleasure of welcoming our friends from our sister school, Beijing Haidian District Zhongguancun No. 3 Primary School.

We were thrilled to host 20 students and 4 teachers from Beijing. To kick off the day, our Kapa Haka and Pasifika groups offered a warm welcome, and our guests delighted us with wonderful dance performances and singing of their own.

For the main part of the visit, each visiting student was paired with a TKRS buddy. Together, they dove into fun learning activities, shared morning tea, and enjoyed lunch side by side. It was a fantastic opportunity for meaningful cultural exchange and shared learning.

Just to give you a sense of scale, their home school is rather different from ours. With 115 classes and 300 teachers, it is certainly much larger than Te Kāpehu Riccarton School!

Term 3 Attendance Challenge!

We're excited to be running our Show Up & Shine attendance challenge again this term.

The class with the biggest improvement in attendance from Term 2 will win a trip to Ninja Valley!

If your child is well, getting them to school every day makes a huge difference to their learning, friendships and confidence.

Let's see which class can take out the challenge this term. We can't wait to celebrate the winners!

Kia ora e te whānau,

I hope you have all had a wonderful, restful winter break with your tamariki and managed to stay warm. We are very excited to welcome everyone back for Term 3.

Here are a few important updates and reminders as we kick off the new term.

Welcome Back to Term 3
School starts back this coming Monday, 20th July at 8:55 am. Please ensure your children arrive with plenty of time to unpack their bags and catch up with friends before the morning bell rings.

As we head into the new term, our school value focus is Manawa Ora / Tinana. This value guides how we support the health, wellbeing, and positive energy of our tamariki. Staying active and healthy is especially important during these colder winter months.

Learning Conferences and Mid-Year Reports
Our Learning Conferences are coming up in Week 2, on Wednesday 29th July and Thursday 30th July.

Early Closure: School will close early at 12:30 pm on both days to allow these meetings to take place.

Conference Times: The first conferences will begin at 1:00 pm.

Before these conferences, your child's Mid-Year Report will be shared with you. Please note that these reports will look very different from what we have done in the past. We will send out a separate notice shortly to explain these changes so you know exactly what to expect.

Instructions on how to book your conference time using the HERO app have been emailed out. We strongly encourage all families to book a time to sit down with their child's teacher.

Fantastic Attendance News
Thanks to your incredible efforts, our regular attendance rate last term reached 71%. This means more of our students are attending school more than 90% of the time, which is a fantastic result for our community. Thank you for your commitment to your children's education. Let’s keep this momentum going and continue to make a real effort to get our tamariki to school every single day this term.

Senior Winter Sports
A quick reminder for our senior students that Winter Sports competitions begin Friday Week 1. Please ensure your children have their correct sports gear ready to go.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our school community. Enjoy the final days of the holidays, and we look forward to seeing you all on Monday morning.

Ngā mihi nui,

Paul Irving

Tumuaki

Matariki Celebrations at Te Kāpehu ✨

Here are a few snapshots from yesterday's celebrations. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a special and memorable experience for our tamariki. It was wonderful to see our school community come together to celebrate Matariki.

Ngā mihi nui. 🌟

Kia ora parents and whānau,

Our latest newsletter for 18 June 2026 is now live! We have a busy and exciting term to share with you, packed with student achievements and updates from across the school.

✨ Inside This Issue:
From the Principal's Desk: A warm message and updates from Matua Paul.

Sports Highlights: Celebrating our Competitive Cross Country winners and the fun we've had with "Run Day Monday."

Classroom Feature: A taste of India with roti making in the ESOL room, Māori Toki making in Space 10, and Earth/Space science in Space 3.

Community & Events: Highlights from Team Kāpuka’s Garden to Table pumpkin cooking, Kahikatea's SCAPE public art experience, and a visit from the Firewise team.

Pānui - Newsletter 18 June 2026 From the Principal's Desk

🌟 Matariki Celebration Reminder 🌟

Join us on Thursday 2nd July as we celebrate Matariki at Te Kāpehu. Whānau are warmly invited to attend either our Junior or Senior Assembly.

Please remember to send tamariki in cultural dress and bring a plate to share for our shared kai.

We look forward to celebrating with you! ✨

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Philippines Independence Day is a very significant day celebrated every 12th of June in the Philippines. It commemorates the country’s declaration of freedom after 300 years of Spanish colonial rule. Today we celebrated at Te Kāpehu Riccarton School with our Filipino families! It was great to see such amazing attire, beautiful singing, and wonderful dances from our Filipino learners!

Maraming salamat po sa lahat ng nakiisa at naging bahagi ng pagdiriwang na ito! 🇵🇭