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Connect Communication
12 November 2025
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Last Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the Town Hall Music Festival and seeing our children perform in the massed choir. What a treat! It is amazing to listen to the quality of music produced in a concert band & orchestra and keep in mind that these children are all under 13 years. A huge thank you to Whaea Angela for working with our children to prepare them for this event.
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Hats off to Hynds this week. Hynds gave us a considerable discount on the pipes we have positioned in the Pūrei area of the school. These will be made into an outdoor area, including hills and hollows. Ngā mihi | thank you to Brie Liberty for her support in making this happen. Please remember to email Brie if you would like to be added to the landscaping team for future projects.
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A heads up as we head to the end of the year about our end-of-year Hui | assemblies, particularly for older students or children leaving Ararira at the end of the year. On Weds 10th December at 2pm we have a Celebration Hui for children in Year 4-8 who will be receiving certificates for jobs and service. Our final hui on Weds 17th December at 12 pm is to farewell our students leaving Ararira.
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Finally, this afternoon I had the pleasure of hosting an afternoon tea for some of our international parents. We are aware of the challenges of living and educating your children in a new country and want to strengthen what we do to ensure our international whānau feel welcome. It was wonderful to hear the feedback of how they love our school and teachers and value the work that they do. Particularly heartwarming were the comments around the importance of valuing te reo & tikanga Māori.
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Opinion Piece from our Tumuaki-Principal
In our last newsletter, I shared my frustration at the changes being thrust upon the sector that are a complete change to the way education has been delivered in New Zealand over the past 25 years. While I agree that change was needed, the pace, complexity and lack of consultation are making these changes very challenging.
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Since then, changes and announcements have continued. It seems almost every day brings something new and often alarming our way. From sweeping, rushed and redrafted new curriculum, assessment measuring tools, changes planned to the Teaching Council and teacher training and removing Te Tiriti o Waitangi requirements.
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Our school's vision, values and strategic plan, co-constructed with our students and community, puts the whole child at the centre. Our community consultation, when we developed our current strategic plan, told us that, alongside academic learning progress, our parents, staff, students and whānau value: a wide range of learning opportunities and experiences for all learners; developing an understanding of wellbeing and belonging; acceptance of differences; children making progress at their own pace; and a focus on soft skills that will help our children to be caring, curious and capable learners and enhance the world they live in.
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At the heart of what we do is the shared belief that learners thrive when they feel a sense of belonging, can see themselves in the environment and school culture, understand our local context and history, begin to know their place in it, and then see beyond themselves with confidence. Our cultural narrative, our ongoing efforts to honour the principles of Te Tiriti, show respect for all of our cultures and to be proudly who we are - is a special part of our kura.
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At Ararira Springs Primary - Te Puna o Ararira, we have a highly capable staff, a wealth of educational expertise, an invested community and a planned approach to all that we do. Rest assured, we will continue to take a considered and evidence-based path to making any changes imposed on us. If it does not benefit our beautiful ākonga and does not enrich their lives now or their future, then we must question, challenge & defend.
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What I would most like to see is a bipartisan agreement and long-term vision for education in Aotearoa New Zealand, one that is not at the whim of successive governments to constantly change and redesign, which is incredibly unhelpful for our learners at every year level. This is not about politics, it is about us being leaders and stewards for our tamariki, school and community.
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From the Office
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If you are heading away on holiday, a reminder to please put this request in writing to the principal (principal@ararira.school.nz) as soon as you have your plans confirmed.
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If your child is going to be absent from school due to illness, an appointment, or another reason, please enter an absence message through the Hero app prior to 9am. This is the quickest and most reliable way to let us know, as it automatically informs both the office staff and your child’s teacher.
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While absence messages can also be left by calling 03 420 0888 and pressing 1 for the absence line, we strongly encourage families to use the Hero app whenever possible.
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Please do not email the office or teacher directly, as messages may not be seen promptly, or staff may be away and unable to pass information to the appropriate person.
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Congratulations to Our Cleaning Team!
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We’re so proud that our CrestClean team, led by Navjot Kaur and Navdeep Singh, have received the Franchisee of the Year – Business to Business award at the Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards.
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A special mention to Chanpreet, who does an amazing job keeping our school spotless every day — we’re so lucky to have you!
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Ararira School Production - ‘The Magic Atlas’
Our school production is on Tuesday 2nd of December at Lincoln Events Centre. This is a day of celebrating music, dance and drama as our students travel the world to discover a variety of cultures.
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- The Year 0-3 production is from 1pm - 2:30pm
- The Year 4-8 production is from 6:30pm-8pm
Tickets may be purchased through Kindo and are available until Tuesday 25th November.
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Please be aware tickets are limited to 2 tickets per student per performance, due to capacity limits of the venue. If there are further tickets available, these will be released closer to the date. Please ensure that you are booking tickets for the correct show.
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We would love to have some support from the community leading up to the Production. If you are able to assist with costumes or you have some resources at home you think could be useful, please talk to your child’s ako teacher.
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IMPORTANT DATES
- 14 November - Show Day (school closed)
- 19 November - Family Time in the Library, 8.30-9am
- 20 November - Children's University Graduation, 5.15-7pm
- 21 November - Hui (Huarapa), 9.15am in the Hall
- 21 November - Curiosity Clubs, 11.45am-12.45pm
- 26 November - Family Time in the Library, 8.30-9am
- 27 November - THT Meeting, 7pm at The Laboratory
- 28 November - Curiosity Clubs, 11.45am-12.45pm
- 02 December - The Magic Atlas School Production
- 03 December - School Board Meeting, 6.30pm in Tahuna | Staffroom
- 17 December - Last day of Term 4, school finishes at 1pm
- 02 February - Drop in day (details to come)
- 03 February - First day of Term 1, 2026
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School Board
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Next meeting 03 December, 6.30pm in Tahuna | Staffroom
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A big thank you to all the parents who put themselves forward for a role on the School Board. The number of volunteers was a wonderful reflection of the strong interest our community shows in our school and our children.
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Our new Board has now met and is enthusiastically getting underway with school business. We’ve delegated responsibilities as follows:
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Presiding Member and Property/Hall Hire: David Fitchett
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Finance: Mia Valerio-Meek
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Health and Safety: Che Kingi
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Policies and Procedures: Oana Jones and George Bell
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Cultural Responsiveness: Che Kingi and Shelley Smith
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Each term, a set of the school’s policies and procedures are reviewed to ensure they remain fit for purpose. In Term 4 we are reviewing the following policies:
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Searches, Surrender and Retention of Property
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Minimising Physical Restraint
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Stand-down, Suspension and Exclusion
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Staff Wellbeing and Safety
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All parents are welcome to log in to SchoolDocs to provide feedback on these policies before 28 November 2025, so that the Board can consider your input at its meeting on 03 December. You can access the Ararira Springs SchoolDocs site using the following details:
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We always welcome input from our wider school community. All parents are invited to attend Board meetings if you’d like to see how the Board operates. Our final meeting for the year will be held at 6.30pm on 03 December 2025, and we’ll publish 2026’s meeting dates early in the new year.
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Te Hapori Tautoko (THT)
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Next meeting 27 November, 7pm The Laboratory, West Belt, Lincoln
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Our last THT meeting for the year will be held at the Laboratory on Thursday 27th November at 7pm. Come along and meet our fantastic set of volunteers and celebrate the end of term with us!
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This year, in lieu of our now biannual Calendar art fundraiser, we are partnering with Love From Seventeen - a NZ business which makes personalised decor and gifts.
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They are offering a 5% discount to our families AND 15% of all sales come back to us at THT to directly benefit kids at Ararira Springs Primary School. Use discount code SPRINGS between 3 Nov and 28 Nov 2025 to make use of this offer. All items will be shipped directly to you, just in time for the holidays. They have so many beautiful, affordable products - there is sure to be something you will love! So please order from next week at www.lovefromseventeen.nz
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We would like to say a big thank you to our THT, who sponsored us with Athletics equipment this year. Because we had the equipment at school, we were able to practice more and allow children to have a go and practice for their events. As a result we have had 11 children who did very well at the Lincoln Zones competition and have been selected to represent our zone at Canterburys. This will take place on Wednesday, the 26th of November at Ngā Puna Wai. Congratulations to the following athletes:
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Don’t forget to keep an eye on our What’s Coming Up page on the ASP Sports Website. Here you can find all the information on all the sports events for the year.
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The closing date for Issue 8 is 05 December 2025.
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We recommend you place orders by 21 November 2025 to ensure you receive your order by the end of term.
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All orders will be delivered to school in batches and distributed to the classrooms as they arrive. Any orders marked as gifts, we will put to one side and contact you when they are ready to be collected.
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We’re excited to share our FREE online Selwyn SafeZone SAFETY magazine with you.
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The publication is aimed at primary aged Tamariki and we thank Safekids Aotearoa (Starship Digital and Community Engagement) for editorial.
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Our shared vision is that every child in Selwyn Region and Aotearoa New Zealand enjoys a childhood free from traumatic, unintentional injury
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Katrina Robinson has been teaching guitar and ukulele now for a number of years at schools and also from her home. She loves to sing too and is a professional musician playing in wineries and cafés as well as weddings and private functions. Katrina likes to make her lessons fun and really enjoys teaching. You can read more information on Katrina at www.thesingingdiva.co.nz
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Spaces are available for 2025!
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Singing Stars Musical Theatre and Drama Classes
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Attendance at Ararira
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The Importance of Attendance We all recognise that education is the pathway to the future. The key to educational success relies on being present at school. Consistent routines and practice are a big component of learning. Neurological pathways in our brains require repetitive exposure to strengthen and cement learning and develop mastery. We also create these neural pathways for resilience, …
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The Ministry of Education has refreshed the curriculum and updated how schools report on student progress. As previously mentioned by the MOE, the benchmark for achievement has increased with the new curriculum. You may see a change in your child’s progress or achievement compared to previous years because of this. At Ararira Springs Primary, our staff have been undergoing professional …
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Berry Street Education Model BSEM at Ararira - Nicky Harding and Claire Howison At Ararira Springs, we are committed to fostering a learning environment where every child feels safe, supported, and ready to thrive. To support this, our kura has adopted the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM) - a trauma-informed, strengths-based framework designed to boost student wellbeing, engagement, and academic …
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Attendance Monitoring at Ararira The government has publicly stated that it wishes to lift attendance rates at New Schools so 80% of all children are attending 90% of the time by 2030. We have set this as a target for our kura|school in 2026. All schools are required to have an attendance management plan (AMP) in place that follows stepped …
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