Ao Tawhiti Newsletter September 2025

Upcoming Events

Contents

IEMs – Friday 19th September – School Closed for Instruction
School Holidays – Saturday 20th September – Sunday 5th October
IEMs – Monday 6th October
First Day of Timetabled Classes Term 4 – Tuesday 7th October
School Formal at Addington Raceway – Saturday 11th October
Homebase Photos – Monday 20th – Tuesday 21st October
RAMs Training – Wednesday 15th October 8:30am
Melva & Jenny HBs Camp – Wednesday 15th – Friday 17th October – Mt Hutt Retreat
Mel & Nicole HBs Camp – Wednesday 22nd – Friday 24th October – Mt Hutt Retreat
Labour Day – Monday 27th October – School Closed
NCEA Levels 2 & 3 Last Day of Classes – Wednesday 29th October
NCEA Levels 2 & 3 Exams Start – Tuesday 4th November
NCEA Level 1 Last Day of Classes – Friday 7th November
RAMs Training – Friday 7th October 8:30am
NCEA Level 1 Exams Start – Monday 10th November
4.2 Starts – Monday 10th November
Staff Only Day – Thursday 13th November – School Closed for Instruction
Show Day – Friday 14th November – School Closed
Transition Day New Students – Wednesday 26th November
Graduation – Friday 28th November 7-10pm
Formal for Y7-9 Students – Friday 5th December
Last day of School 2025 – Thursday 11th December
Summer Holidays – Friday 12th December – Monday 26th January
Term One Begins – Staff Only Day – School Closed for Instruction – Tuesday 27th January
IEMs – Wednesday 28th & Thursday 29th January
Staff Only Day – School Closed for Instruction – Friday 30th January
Mihi Whakatau – Monday 2nd February – Mihi Whakatau – 9am. Year 1-6 all students in HB 10:30am – 3:00pm. Years 7-13 NEW students in HB 10:30am – 12:20pm. Years 7-13 ALL students in HB 1:00pm – 3:00pm.
Term One Classes Begin – Tuesday 3rd February
Waitangi Day – School Closed – Friday 6th February

Message From Anita

Tēna koutou e te whānau,

I want to thank you all for your mahi and support for our school over the past term.
I would also like to welcome our new Board. Courtney Shipp and Danella Stewart are existing board members who got reelected. Our new board members are Ian McAdam, Leigh Colemen and Kat Lilley. We are also grateful to retain Mark Walters from Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu as our Iwi representative.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our departing board members. Thank you, Vaughan Luckman and Andrew Dean. Vaughan and his whānau continue to make generous contributions of time and resources to our school, for which we are grateful. Andrew has been on the board since 2014, and was heavily involved in the development of our school building – so he is leaving a strong legacy. He will be still in the school, working with the junior Technology students. Our staff representative was Greg O’Neill and we also thank him for his service. Our new staff representative is Rachel Cummins.

Our school sits outside mainstream education. We prioritise individualised programs and flexible approaches to teaching and learning as they are fundamental to how we work with our children and young people. I want to acknowledge the uncertainty some of you may be feeling with the changes being proposed in education by the government, and amplified in the media.
I would like to take this opportunity to give some clarity and reassurance that our school will continue to operate according to our Designated Special Character. The government’s redevelopment of the curriculum, and proposed changes to NCEA qualification shifts teaching, learning and assessment into a narrower framework, which could reduce flexibility for students. However, our designated character gives us a legal mandate to ensure that all our students are able to access an individualized learning program that supports them to contextualize learning around their passions and interests. Our commitment will always be to support learning that prioritizes our ākonga. Our children and young people are unique. Every single student at this school has the right to access learning that supports them to reach their potential, whatever that might look like. Our children and young people also have the right to have their successes and strengths celebrated and accredited, so students can identify what they have achieved, instead of being told what they haven’t achieved.
I look forward to continuing to work alongside all our staff, students and whānau, to explore how we can develop a school that is responsive to the needs of every single person. Please do be in touch if you have any questions about the changes in the education system.
Have a great holiday break and we will look forward to seeing all our wonderful tamariki and rangatahi next term.

Anita

Messages from Senior Leaders

Term 4 for Year 7-13

This year Term 4 will be split into two sections. The 4.1 classes will run for the first 5 weeks. Descriptors for these classes are available and students should have already made their selections with their HBLAs.

Key dates for Term 4:

October 6 – IEMs
October 7 – 4.1 classes start
October 29 – last day of classes for NCEA Levels 2 and 3
November 4 – NZQA Level 2 and 3 exams start
November 7 – last day of classes for NCEA Level 1
November 10 – 4.2 classes start and NZQA Level 1 exams start

4.2 timetable

With the Year 11-13 students on exam leave, 4.2 will begin on 10 November. At this point the structure of the timetable will change for the Year 7-10s. Red and yellow blocks will offer a range of literacy and numeracy classes. The other colours will have all sorts of things on offer, which could be subject-based, cross-subject classes or extra-curricular.

This is a fun time of the year, when learning dispositions and our core values really come to the fore. Students can show kaha in their learning by trying new things, and build whanaungatanga by strengthening connections with their peers.
We welcome parent input and support with these classes. If you would like to offer a class or activity for students during 4.2 please get in touch with Ian, ian.hayes@aotawhiti.school.nz or Megan T, megan.taylor@aotawhiti.school.nz

Megan Taylor

Y1-6 messages

Thank you all so much for your support this term while we have juggled multiple people being away with some of those nasty viruses that did the rounds. Hopefully we are all well now Spring is here, and can skip happily and healthily into term 4.

It has been another amazing term with your delicious tamariki. Seeing their smiling faces makes this job so worthwhile, and helps to turn down all of the noise being fed to us by the media about education and all of the changes we are being asked to manage. The children are the reason we do this job, and they never fail to make us smile.

As ever, I am in awe of the opportunities the LAs arrange for the children to take part in. We are able to offer them such richness, from kapa haka to cooking in the kitchen, skate school to art school, the CAC, a myriad trips and excursions all bursting with learning opportunities, not to mention daily reading, writing and maths, arotahi and play. After such a busy term, is it any wonder we are all, adults and children alike, ready for a break!

PINs

Thanks again to the 15 parents who offered a PINs workshop for this term. Between parents, students and LAs there were 40 inspiring and fun workshops on offer for the students, who all had a wonderful time. We cannot run these great opportunities without you, and are incredibly grateful to be able to tap into the expertise and enthusiasm of our community.

If you have any feedback about PINs please get in touch with me, I am always happy to discover improved ways of doing things!

Niki Stephenson

School Hours

Students can’t be in the school building after 3:30pm, unless they are working with a Learning Advisor. We can’t guarantee supervision after this time, and legally we can’t have unaccompanied children and young people in the school building. Thanks for your support with this.

News/Notices

Cantamath

Learning Advisors Suze and Sam took two groups to Cantamaths this term and witnessed a phenomenal effort from the students.

Our year 7 team came 4th equal out of 85 teams! They got 19/20 questions in the 30 minutes given.

Our year 9 team came somewhere in the top 10 (there was a delay with the scoring), out of more than 50 teams! They claimed quite a prestigious honour of getting all 20 questions in the time.

A huge well done to all!!!

45ArtHistory

Students in 45ArtHistory class getting some experiential learning in!

Richard McCance

Counsellors Corner

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety happens to everyone. It is an important response that helps keep us safe from threats. Anxiety can also be a response to the anticipation of a threat. It is the name for a way of feeling and behaving, not a diagnosis of mental illness.

For some people, anxiety can start to affect them so badly that it dominates their life and gets in the way of them going to school or doing other activities.

It is important that we support young people to learn strategies to cope with anxious feelings. Having coping strategies helps us to be the boss of anxiety and not the other way around. Coping strategies are most effective when kids/young people practise the strategies at home and at school. If your young person is experiencing anxiety, building a partnership between home and school is very important.

Anxiety and Exam Stress

With the end of the year and NCEA exams and assessments approaching fast many senior students experience increased stress and anxiety. Building in some structure and routines for study is a great way to manage increased demands. Mapping out the number of weeks until the exams and what tasks are due can be a helpful way to reduce stress. Including good sleep routines and nourishing food also help with stressed brains as does regular movement and activity especially outside in the sunshine.

Maintaining a connection with routines and coming into school regularly is also an important part of supporting young people to manage their anxiety. The counselling team here at Ao Tawhiti are available to support young people as they navigate challenges and develop coping strategies.

Signs of Anxiety

Clinginess and problems with separation
Constantly seeking reassurance
Irritability, lashing out, or screaming when asked to do something
Being tearful or worried
Difficulty going to school, being late for school
Reluctance to speak, withdrawal because fear, running away, freezing
Ongoing sore stomach, nausea, headaches (where there is no medical cause)
Increased toileting, sweaty hands, feeling out of breath, racing heart
Poor Sleep

Helping your child with anxiety

Headphones with soothing music
Going outside/fun movement/activity
Belly breathing, 478 breathing, 54321 grounding activity
Use positive self-talk, e.g. “Feelings pass. I am going to be OK”
Make a plan
Talk to your young person’s Home Base teacher, School Counsellor or Mental Health Nurse
Celebrate moments of success when your child stands up to anxiety

Some helpful links:

If you would like to discuss concerns about your young person’s anxiety you can contact one of our team for more information or support.

Bridget Scott, level 2, Counsellor, MNZAC phone/text 0278294485 bridget.scott@aotawhiti.school.nz
Miriam Denney, level 4, Counsellor, MNZAC phone/text 021795309 miriam.denney@aotawhiti.school.nz
Susan Ayson, Registered Nurse, Mental Health Advisor phone/text 021916067 susan.ayson@aotawhiti.school.nz

Futsall Workshop

Our futsal workshop was a fantastic success! Students from Year 5-13 who signed up for the workshop were lucky enough to enjoy a one-hour coaching session with Shingo Ina, Assistant Coach of the Futsal Ferns and Canterbury Pride. What an incredible opportunity to learn from one of the best! The tamariki had an awesome time picking up new skills through a fun mix of games and activities. A big thank you to Shingo and to everyone who signed up and made the workshop such a great experience.

Leah Ross

Homebase Mokomoko – Mural painting

Recently my tamariki in HB Mokomoko had the opportunity to work with Reuben and Sofiya on the St Asaph Street cans to make this wonderful mural to represent all the learning we did this year, the beach trips, Riccarton bush trips, the HB wide arotahi on the oceans, Solar System, the shared book, it’s all in the mural they designed with Reuben. (Pop over to have a look before it’s gone!)

Enjoy some student reflections on their work:

Our mural. By Isla

People that helped us with it are Reuben and Sofiya from Watch This Space.

They helped us with the spray can painting and they helped us learn how to spray paint. They taught us how to use stencils and moreThey taught us cool things.

What is on it.

For the fish and corals we did stencils and spray cans. Our design was inspired by the ocean.. For the trees we were inspired by the book Hatchet we have been reading in the HB. For The Stars and Planets we were inspired by space.

Our mural, Evey

We made a mural about things we learned this year.

It has an ocean because we learned about pollution in the ocean.

It also has a forest because of our homebase book called Hatchet, Hatchet is a book about someone named brian surviving in the forest. Also from when we went to Riccarten bush.

We added planets and stars because we learned about space in term 2 and we also went to the observatory. Me and Filinney made a pink and blue planet for the mural.

Our mural by Aaron Lee

People

We had two people to help us with our mural. They were Reuben and Sofiya from Watch This Space. They would teach us how to do the spray painting so we could get a better idea of how to do it.

Painting

The Waters

We had the idea of the water from the trip to New Brighton. At New Brighton, we learnt about the sand dunes and the tides, which includes the topic ‘water’. We also went to the rock pools to learn about sea life. In Term 1, we learnt about the ocean’s pollution. Another idea we got to come up with ‘water’ was sea week. Sea week is a week about the oceans, which also involves the topic ‘water’.

We also went to the Travis Wetlands to learn about the New Zealand Nature from both water and land. We also learnt about the creatures that live in the wetlands, which can be part of the fish in the mural. This is an idea for the water part of the mural and the land part of it.

The Forest

The main inspiration for the black forest background is from the book Hatchet. In Hatchet, a boy named Brian gets stuck in a forest. We finished the book in about week 7 in term 3. We also got the idea of the trees because of the Riccarton bush trip we did.

The Planets

In Term 1, we learnt about the planets in our solar system. This is a big part of the planet’s idea. The visit at the Tūranga library is about the solar tsunamis, so this visit can also relate. We also had a visit to the observatory to look at the stars, but we couldn’t see any. During some time in Term 2, we looked at the new planet in the Solar System. We included the stars and planets from the Solar System.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the painting (mural) includes all our ideas we thought of in Term 1, 2, and 3. In my opinion, I think it can represent our journey of learning as well! We also had the idea of water from the Travis wetland, and the Travis wetland can tie into our forests in the mural. We included our book Hatchet in it as well, which represents the forests the most.

This is all I can pull out of my head about the mural, so thank you for reading this far.

Have a great day:)

Our mural by Sofia Buckley

Our home base

Mokomoko did a mural on one of the spray cans at the basketball court on Saint Apaph Street. We did it with two people, their names were Reuben and Sofiya, they were from Watch This Space.

In term one, we looked at pollution and the ocean. We also looked at the dunes and how they can protect the people, roads, and houses behind them. Another thing that we learnt about the beach was the sea life in the rock pods and in the little crevices in the ocean.

In term two, we started to read a book, it’s called Hatchet, our shared book that we read in home base. We also went to Riccarton Bush to visit the NZ forest, and we went to the Travis wet to explore the wildlife in its area.

The last thing that we decided to add to our mural was things that fit into our solar system, like planets and a night sky full of stars. We went to the observatory to see the sky, it was too cloudy to see the stars up close through the telescope, and we all learnt about the solar sistem in class like the newest duarf planet, so we went into buddys and did one planet each, then togther put are reserch work into. Melva orginised a trip to turanga so we could learn about solar tsnamis and other cool thing in the atmisphar around us.

All of those things were what we put on to the spray cans to do it we were split in to 3 groups of 8 or 7 then we walked down to the spray cans one after another at difrent times to work on difrent parts of the mural and thats how we made are amazing mural thats on the spray can.

Our Mural Owen

Our home base mokomoko made a mural. Reuben and Sofiya are from the Watch this Space, and they helped us in three different groups with stages of the mural. Each group did one stage.

In term 1, we learnt a lot about pollution and how we could stop it. We went to the sand dunes in South Brighton Beach to look at and learn about them. Also, we can’t forget the Travis Wetland trip we did. We learnt how many there are left in NZ and what lives in them.

In term 2, we started to read a home base book, it is a great book to read about a guy called Brian, a 12 year old boy. It’s a true story about Brian. When we went to Riccarton Bush it was for Alex and Owens goal. We learnt about some of the trees that live there also some animals that used to live there.

In term 3 we went to the Solur Tsunami at the Tūranga. We learnt about space as a home base and the Solar system. For that we also had to go to the observertory, but we didn’t end up seeing anything sadly.

Our mural By Charlie Hyde

People – Reuben and Sofiya from Watch This Space.

In term 1 we looked at how bad pollution is for the ocean.

In term 2 we looked at sea life and all the beautiful rocks.

We went to Travis wetlands to observe the nature of New Zealand.

In Hatchet Brian was in the forest surviving for months with no help.

We went to Riccarton Bush to also look at the nature of New Zealand

We went to the observatory to see the sky.(But didn’t because it was cloudy.)

We all went to Turanga for the Solar Tsunami experience.

In conclusion this may look like a mess to you but this made a beautiful artwork.

THANK YOU:)

Melva Gill

New Zealand Secondary Schools National Weightlifting Championships 2025

What a blast for our three Ao Tawhiti students, Delia Willetts (Yr10), Finn Haycox (Yr9), and Levi White (Yr11) and major congratulations! This competition brought two national champions, personal bests, memories that will last a lifetime, and the underlying concept that success towards personal goals comes from dedicating time and effort.

Weightlifting is an explosive sport all about pushing personal limits. It combines speed and strength to generate power, making it a perfect training tool for explosive sports that require fast, intense movements. A lifter’s total score is the combined weight of two different lifts:

The Snatch: The barbell is lifted continuously from the floor to overhead, using a wide grip.
The Clean & Jerk: This is a two-part lift. The barbell is lifted to the shoulders and then pushed overhead in a second explosive movement.

More Than a Game

Weightlifting isn’t a game—it’s a sport of pushing personal boundaries. It requires both physical and mental fortitude. It is you and the weight. There are no teammates you can rely on when having a bad day. It is about numbers comparable to your past self or others globally. You don’t play this sport as it is a pure sport that is measurable, and for weightlifting, that is kilograms in strength overhead.

Walking onto a platform to lift a weight you’ve never lifted before, in front of a crowd of strangers, friends, and family, is daunting. But that’s precisely what Finn, Delia, and Levi did in Auckland on Saturday, September 6th, at the New Zealand Secondary Schools National Weightlifting Championships.

The nationals were only their second competition for all three, a huge step up from their first local meeting two weeks prior. The students, their families, and I learned so much this day, but the real learning started months ago.

For years, I wanted to create a weightlifting squad. After starting a weightlifting class in the first term this year, these three students showed promise toward competing nationally—and they did exactly that. They committed to a full year of training with sessions before, after, and during lunch breaks. We had setbacks, moments of self-doubt, and times when they could feel their bodies getting stronger as training sessions led towards peaking. Each lifter had personal adversity throughout this training block.

Finn Haycox	1st	2nd	3rd	Total	Under-15 56kg Class 1st Place
Snatch	27kg	29kg	32kg	69kg
C&J	34kg	37kg	~~41kg~~	69kg
Finn’s most significant setback was breaking his collarbone just months before nationals, which significantly delayed his progress. We ironed out some technical issues once he was back on schedule, and Finn was ready to deliver on the day. Finn weighed in at 7:00 a.m. and was the lightest lifter in the entire competition. He has excellent mobility and a deep squat, which many other coaches and officials in the warm-up room acknowledged after the competition, making the coach proud to hear. He started with a perfect run in the snatch. In the Clean & Jerk, after a successful second attempt, the original plan was to go for 40kg. But with the national title already won, Finn wanted to go for a personal best. A minor technical issue—not locking his elbows in one continuous motion (called a press out)—meant a disallowed lift, but it was overhead. Despite the disruptive buildup, Finn made huge improvements, and with years of lifting ahead, there is so much potential.

Delia Willetts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total	Under-15 63kg Class 1st Place
Snatch	28kg	30kg	~~33kg~~	74kg
C&J	41kg	44kg	~~48kg~~	74kg
Delia has given weightlifting a go for some years, originally as part of my junior PE classes. Her training was only halted this year by a bad barbell catch while practising the snatch, where the bar landed on her head. It was a scary moment, and Delia had to overcome the mental side of lifting, where she had to believe in her technique and abilities again. Slow progress over several months helped her regain that belief. On competition day, Delia went for a personal best on her last snatch attempt, throwing the bar so high overhead that the bar continued backwards, and Delia had to jump out of the way. A sign that the weight was too light for her. There is so much more potential for Delia in this lift. Delia’s “bread and butter” is her overhead jerk—she is explosive and strong. She attempted a big third lift after making two successful lifts and securing the gold medal. A slight, illegal elbow touch to the knee on the clean while in a deep squat position meant the lift wouldn’t count, and she knew it. But she went for the jerk anyway, demonstrating the power she’s shown all year. While she had a slight press out of one elbow, the lift went overhead and would have been a personal best. The only way is up from here for Delia!

Levi White	1st	2nd	3rd	Total	Over-15 71kg Class 7th Place
Snatch	54kg	~~58kg~~	58kg	132kg
C&J	~~72kg~~	72kg	74kg	132kg
Levi is strong, explosive, and analytical, which results in technical lifts. The livestream commentator, Ritchie Patterson, a three-time Olympian, acknowledged him as a “mature lifter” who can adjust lifting strategies and techniques after setbacks. As a coach, I was very proud to hear this. Leading up to the competition, Levi was on the borderline of the 71kg class. We had a plan to ensure he made weight, and he did—perhaps too well. On competition day, after watching the others, waiting all day, and being dedicated to making weight, Levi’s strength was possibly a little zapped. Just months before the nationals, Levi got sick and lost strength, which he had to work through to regain confidence. Eventually, he passed his original numbers with the weights in the final build-up. Levi had set targets in mind that he had achieved the week before at school. His adversity was overcoming the long day, missing planned lifts, and then correcting mistakes in the moment. Levi was in a very competitive weight category, and both the lifter and coach made a lot of learning and growth. Levi has massive potential as his dedication and technical drive stand out. On the platform, Levi is a fighter who does not give up and steps up when things are not in his favour. There were kilograms left on the platform this day, but this time next year, his numbers will stand out.

The Future of Ao Tawhiti Weightlifting

The following steps are to continue a regular training schedule, encourage more students to join, and start a regular fundraising process to cover the ongoing costs of organised team trips to competitions here in Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, and beyond next year.

Delia, Finn, and Levi are excellent ambassadors to help grow what is possibly Ao Tawhiti’s first competitive team for individual athletes. I have encouraged weightlifting because it’s a perfect fit for the unique individuals that make up our school and the student-focused nature of our Designated Character. It works well for our unique city environment, where space is limited, and provides me with a much-needed coaching outlet. I feel so lucky this year to have found three outstanding individuals who helped me help them grow and succeed. I am incredibly proud of what they have accomplished.

Who wants to join?

Coach – Dean Crawford

My Journey to the Olympic Weightlifting Nationals

Levi White – Yr 11

This year, I had the incredible opportunity to compete at the Olympic Weightlifting Nationals for secondary schools, a goal I’ve been working towards for only this past year. Getting to this level wasn’t easy, and the path was filled with challenges, both mental and physical. But the reward of representing my school on a national platform made every moment worth it.

One of the biggest hurdles I faced was making weight for my category. In the weeks leading up to qualification, I had to make serious adjustments to my diet and training routine to cut weight safely and effectively. It took discipline, patience, and a lot of sacrifice, but it taught me what it really means to stay focused on a goal.

My training intensified as the competition got closer. Early mornings, long evenings, and constant work on technique and strength became the norm. I pushed myself harder than ever before, knowing that every lift, every session, was building me up for something bigger. I had the support of my coach (Dean), my family, and a strong belief in what I was capable of.

Competing at nationals wasn’t just a personal achievement, it opened my eyes to the incredible potential this sport has for others. I’d love to see more students from our school give Olympic weightlifting a try. It’s not just about lifting weights; it’s about building resilience, setting goals, and discovering what you’re really made of.

This journey is just the beginning for me. Standing on that competition platform made it clear, this is what I want to do for the long term. My eyes are set on even higher goals now, and I’m ready to keep working for them one lift at a time.

Nerves, Adrenaline, Gold

Delia Willetts – Yr 10

My name is Delia and I am on the Aotawhiti weightlifting squad. This past year I have been training with Levi, Finn and my amazing coach Dean! We all worked so hard too prepare for the secondary school national weightlifting competition, so when we finally got to Aukland I was sooo nervous.

When it came to competition day I was even more nervous, it was so intimidating being in the warmup room watching the other people on the platform doing their lifts and watching how the others warmup. But as soon as I walked out onto the platform all of my nerves just disappeared and I felt the adrenaline rush of competing, it was an incredible experience and when I was given my gold medal and certificate it was an incredible feeling, and I can’t wait to compete again next year!

We would love to have more students join us in our training and compete with us (it would also be nice if some more girls joined :D).

Dean Crawford

CAC Homebase

This term was awesome, we have done so many cool things. We even had a student teacher called Megan! Our Home Base has also done lots of fun workshops including: sewing with Heather, cabbage tree leaf rope making, riverbank planting with Piper, carrot seed planting with Sumire’s Dad, baking with Annika’s Mum, algebra with my dad, making our own stencils then using them to spray paint pavers with Sue, flower press making with Bridget, and dog treat and horse treat baking with Ivy and Elizabeth. A group of us made bug hotels for the microinvertebrates in the awa with Piper. We also created important person slides, learned drumming and rugby with Megan, animated drawings with Harvey and completed business planning lessons with Idoia. We have also started the second Children of the Rush book and written four plays that we will be performing in term four. Next week we will be having a Banqer auction and puppet workshops with the Free theatre. All up I think that this was a great term!

Milo Luckman

Senior Camp

In Week 6 of this term, 30 keen and eager senior Year 12 and 13 students embarked on a walk from Govenor’s Bay up to Living Springs where we would spend the next three days having a Senior Camp.

Over the course of the camp students participated in a range of activities from Team building, to Archery Tag, Swimming, Go kart building and more. Overall students had a great time and didn’t let the bad weather conditions stop them from making the most of their time on camp.

Big shout out to Ruby-Grace Miller (Year 13) whose idea it was to organise a senior camp and also successfully organised the whole trip with assistance from LA Greg.

Jess Dewhurst

Climate Action Campus Home Base 2026 with Nicole and Rachael

If you’re interested in your child being part of our home base next year, come along to our open afternoon on Wednesday 8th October and see what it’s all about.

Questions and RSVPs to nicole.cunningham@aotawhiti.school.nz

Nicole Cunningham

Golf Competition

This term we were fortunate enough to be invited to participate in an inter-school golf simulator competition run by The Range in Burnside.

The students really enjoyed getting to use the golf simulators, each week they would work together in teams of two to complete 9 holes on a set course. They would each take one shot and then continue on from what shot they believed to be the best.

Over the course of the term, each student developed their golf skills with the help of the team at The Range giving them tips and also the feedback that the simulator gave them after each shot.

We are hopeful they will run something similar again in the future.

Jess Dewhurst

High School Student Support person Wanted!

$30 a Bus trip/hour. Other work can be available over School Holidays. Fortnight Pay Cash from funding provider.

An AT parent is looking for a student 14+ to bus with her son, 9 from school via the 5 line to New Brighton

His current student is off to uni next year.

Training and getting to know him would happen in Term 4 by his current Student.

This is Casual Hours and flexible to both their school schedules. But are looking at Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Email office@aotawhiti.school.nz if you have a student that is interested in earning some money or want to know more

Art Classes – AT Whānau Business

Spring Market at the Climate Action Campus

The Climate Action Campus is still taking stall bookings for students. Remember there are zero stall fees for students.

To book your stall please email Sandi at sandi.bobkova@climateaction.school.nz

Sandi Bobkova

We Need Fabulous People Like You to Build Our Learning Kete for our Ākonga across the school

We need people like you to help make the learning of our tamariki a reality. We are looking for people to contribute to our Community Resources Bank, with a passion area, a skill, a place of employment or an opportunity that they would like to share with our learners.

If this sounds like you, here is a link to add yourself to our resources kete so our ākonga and LAs can touch base with you and connect with like-minded individuals. This isn’t just for experts. If you have an area of interest and you would like the opportunity to share it with a young person, or a group of young people in an; interview, a workshop, a series of workshops, or even a business opportunity, we want to hear from you.

Thank you for taking the time to link our student community with the opportunities our whānau and the wider community can provide to build new learning.

Melva Gill

Cultural Calendar

The Ao Tawhiti Film Festival is at Lumiere Theatre on October 20th at 5pm.

Jenny Ward

Medications at Kura

Please register any personal student medications with the school office.

We have a secure medication administration process in place. When your student needs medication, at school, please chat with us. We will complete a medication form and create a plan to ensure safe storage, communication, and administration.

While it might be convenient for students to carry medications including over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and antihistamines, we require all medications to be securely stored in the first aid room. This helps prevent accidental medication ingestion or misuse.

By following this policy, we can create a safer and healthier learning environment for all students. Thank you for your support.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact office@aotawhiti.school.nz

Student Volunteer Army Awards

Any student who engages in service or volunteering can sign up to SVA Awards and have their efforts acknowledged. I am really keen to support ALL students at Ao Tawhiti to become Members of the SVA by doing just 5hrs of service.

We have set up a number of staff ready to support students to sign up and enter their service. These include Jess Dewhurst, Suze Lambert, Bridget Scott as well as myself Kay Hayes.

I am reaching out to parents to encourage students to get involved and to come and see one of us to sign up.

Kay Hayes

ProActive Physio at Ao Tawhiti

We have a physiotherapist on-site at kura every Thursday morning. Not only convenient; appointments with him will save each student/staff member $43.00 at the initial assessment and $35.50 per follow up visit.

Contact the office to book. office@aotawhiti.school.nz

Student Absences

Thank you for always keeping the school informed if your student is off sick, learning from home, or not attending for any other reason.

There are multiple ways you can record an absence;

send a message through SchoolApps – an App available on Apple or Android. Simply subscribe to Ao Tawhiti via the app.
leave a voicemail or speak to us directly on 03 377 7773
send an email to office@aotawhiti.school.nz

Please make sure you notify the office via one of the above options in order to prevent being sent an absence message, regardless of whether or not your student’s LA is aware of their absence.