Waitoriki School

04/09/2026

It was great to get back into the kitchen with the crew. Today we enjoyed using some of the dehydrated apples and feijoas that we had saved and made muffins again. The seniors did an amazing job helping the younger children learn the skills they need to work safely in the kitchen. Some cutting worries were conquered and we all couldn't wait for them to be cooked so we could eat them. Yum Yum! Great work chefs - you were a great team.

03/09/2026

🌱 Seedling Morning in Kauri Class! 🌱

Yesterday we had a very special Seedling Morning in Kauri Class! It has been quite some time since we’ve had a Seedling join us, as we currently only have one little Seedling in our class. So, we were extra excited to welcome Bianca, Georgie’s little sister, who will be joining Kauri Class in the beginning of Term 4! 💚

Bianca has already been coming along to our Wearable Arts sessions, but with the term slowly coming to an end, we thought it was the perfect time to put on a special Seedling Day for her.

Bianca was an absolute superstar! She jumped straight into our morning fitness fun and even joined us for cross country practice. I was so impressed with how confidently she got involved, gave everything a go, got on and got it done!

Once we came back up to class, the tamariki enjoyed a range of learning-through-play activities, including learning to draw and building shape towers. Bianca loved socialising, exploring and getting involved in all of our activities. She especially enjoyed helping her mum with our Learn to Draw activity. 🎨

Bianca also joined us for karakia kai and enjoyed a lovely run around at morning tea with her big sister, Georgie.

It was so lovely having Bianca spend the morning with us, and we cannot wait to have her officially join Kauri Class next term! We already have some very excited tamariki who are looking forward to welcoming her, making new memories and showing her all the fun we get up to!

Nau mai, Bianca! We can’t wait to have you as part of our Kauri whānau! 💚🌿

01/09/2026

Love Tennis Open Day
🎾 Everyone's Welcome at the Tennis Open Day!
Looking for a fun way to get active, meet new people, and give tennis a go? Come along to the Lepperton Tennis Open Day and discover what our local club has to offer.
Join us on Sunday 13 September, 10am–2pm, for a free family-friendly event featuring on-court activities, BBQ, Pickleball demonstration, bouncey castle and more. Try tennis for yourself. Whether you're a complete beginner, returning player, or keen competitor, there's something for everyone.
With tennis opportunities for all ages and abilities, it's a great chance to get involved in a lifelong sport and connect with your local community.
Best of all, it's FREE! We look forward to seeing you there.

Also there will be children's coaching in Term 4

30/08/2026

29/08/2026

Here is our newsletter for August 28

28/08/2026

✨ What an evening we had at Waitoriki School! ✨

We danced the night away and it was so lovely seeing everyone mixing, mingling and getting involved! There were smiles all around as our tamariki danced, sang, laughed, and enjoyed balloon and glow stick wars. The room was absolutely buzzing with fun, laughter and great vibes!

A huge thank you to everyone for such an awesome turnout. It was fantastic to see our school community come together and enjoy a night of fun, connection and plenty of dancing! 🥳

A special thank you to our amazing team of seniors who did a brilliant job decorating and organising the space for everyone to enjoy. You put so much effort into making the evening special, and it certainly paid off! 🌟

Apologies for not capturing more photos throughout the evening — I think I was too busy enjoying the dancing! If anyone has any photos from the night, please feel free to pop them in the comments. We’d love to see them!

I’m sure there are going to be some very tired tamariki tonight!

What a fantastic night! 💙

27/08/2026

Kauri Class Show & Tell today was amazing, as per usual! We had some very special treasures shared, lots of great questions, and plenty of proud smiles.

Henry forgot to bring his Show & Tell today, so he took on an important classroom leadership role instead! He was in charge of keeping an eye out for tamariki who were using their Pūriri values and were ready to have their turn. I think Henry did an amazing job taking on some leadership within our classroom — ka pai, Henry! 👏🏼
Everyone was respectful and interested in each other’s Show & Tell, which was really neat to see. Our Kauri tamariki were confident sharers, spoke clearly, listened respectfully, and asked some fantastic questions about each other’s special items. 💚

✈️ Bodin’s Air Force Show & Tell!
Something that really tickled everyone’s fancy today was Bodin’s Show & Tell! Bodin spoiled Kauri Class by bringing in his dad’s briefcase from when he was training for the Air Force, along with his dad’s badges, his flask and a photo from his training corps days!
This was SO interesting, and everyone had so many questions for Bodin. It got us thinking… maybe Kauri Class could create a list of questions for Bodin to take home and ask his dad? We would love to find out more about his dad’s experiences!

⚽ Liam’s Soccer Card Collection!
Another Show & Tell that tamariki absolutely loved was Liam’s soccer card collection! Liam told us that he collects the cards with his dad and that they each have their own folder. How special that they get to collect them together!
Liam’s favourite card is his Messi card, which is so special to him that he doesn’t even keep it in his folder, it is proudly displayed in his room!
Thank you for sharing, Liam! We all know how much you love soccer, and this was such a cool collection to share with us today.

🧸 Learning Through Play
During our literacy block today, we had some time for Learn Through Play, where tamariki were able to share and play with one another’s toys.
It was so lovely seeing their communication and friendship skills come through during this time. They were negotiating, talking, sharing, taking turns and, most importantly, being so gentle and respectful with one another’s special toys.

Another fantastic day in Kauri Class filled with confidence, curiosity, leadership, friendship and lots of fun! 🌿💚

20/08/2026

This morning, we were lucky enough to be invited to Joe Gibbs Reserve for a very special morning of tree planting! We loaded up into the vans and cars and set off, ready to get our hands dirty and help give back to our community. 🌿

All together, our amazing tamariki planted around 250 trees of all different varieties! They did such an incredible job, and the council team couldn’t believe how quickly we managed to get them all in the ground!🌳

Our tamariki were absolute tree-planting experts! Having already had some tree-planting experience earlier in the year, they knew exactly what to do. It was fantastic to see them putting those skills into action and helping each other along the way. 💚

After all our hard work, we enjoyed a yummy sausage sizzle before heading back to school. 🌭

It was such a wonderful morning spent out in nature, caring for our environment and giving back to our community. We are so proud of our tamariki and the incredible mahi they put in today! 🌳💚