12 November 2026

Takapuna Primary

School Newsletter

Mā te pā ka taea te whakatipu te tamaiti
It takes a village to raise a child

Principal’s Message

Last week, our Year 5 and 6 students headed off to Camp Carey for an unforgettable few days of adventure and growth. During my visit, it was wonderful to see our students fully immersed in their activities. Seeing their enthusiasm firsthand really highlighted what a valuable opportunity Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) is for building resilience, independence, and strong connections.

An event like this requires an enormous amount of effort to run smoothly. I want to extend a massive thank you to our dedicated teachers and incredible parent volunteers – your support, energy, and supervision made this experience possible for our tamariki!

Student Celebrations

Congratulations to Yoyo from KB who represented her Auckland Club in the NZ National Sport Climbing competition last weekend. She placed 2nd in both the Boulder and Top Rope events for the Under 11 age category.

This is a huge achievement as the competition attracted climbers from all over NZ, many of whom have been competing for much longer than Yoyo!

Celebrating Diwali through art!

Learners in Room 5a celebrated Diwali, by taking part in a colourful Rangoli art activity. Everyone contributed by colouring their own Rangoli design, and we brought all the pieces together to create one beautiful collaborative artwork. It was wonderful to see everyone working together and sharing their creativity.

Year 5 & 6 Camp

Whānau Kererū had a highly successful three days at Camp. What a wonderful opportunity for students to experience outdoor learning and exciting activities.

Camp is about learning to challenge yourself and push your boundaries in order to learn and grow. It was so rewarding to see students achieve personal goals and to see the pride they felt when they completed challenging activities.

We are so proud of the perseverance demonstrated by all of the students and it shows us just how valuable an experience like this is to help students in their future learning.

Parent Feedback

“I just wanted to send a big thank you for such an incredible camp last week. We’re still riding the high from it!

The camp really showed just how much thought, planning and care had gone into every aspect of it. The kids had such an amazing time, and we could see how much care had been taken to make sure everyone was safe and well looked after. It was clear just how much had gone on behind the scenes to make everything come together.

We’re so grateful for everything the kids have been able to experience through this camp. The friendships, the shared experiences, the little moments and all the memories made along the way. These are the kinds of experiences that stay with children for years to come, and I’m sure they will all look back on this camp with such fond memories.”

“I just want to say a massive thanks for the huge effort put in to pull camp 2026 together! A great facility choice and all round well run 3 days. Hope you’ve had a moment to reflect and enjoy what you’ve managed to deliver 🙂 So good to see a range of kids trying different activities, especially where they pushed through initial uncertainty.”

Staffing updates & Planning for 2027

As we approach the end of the year, we have an update to share with our school community. Tash Taylor from Kererū C will be leaving us at the end of the year to pursue new opportunities. Tash has given an incredible number of amazing years to TPS, and her expertise, dedication, and warm presence will be deeply missed by students, staff, and families alike. We are grateful for everything she has contributed to our school, and we wish her all the very best in her next chapter.

Looking ahead, our leadership team is currently hard at work finalising our class organisation for next year. We want to ensure a smooth transition and the best possible learning environments for all of our tamariki. We appreciate your patience as we work through these details, and we will share more comprehensive information regarding team structures in our upcoming newsletter.

After School Hours Supervision

We are thrilled to keep our school grounds open after 3:00 PM so families and children can enjoy the community space. However, we have noticed a growing number of children left unattended without adult supervision.

Please remember that any children remaining on school grounds after hours must be actively supervised by a parent or adult guardian at all times. Our school staff cannot manage after-hours supervision, safety concerns, or conflict resolution once the school day ends. Thank you for your support and cooperation.

Leaving TPS?

As we plan ahead for 2027, organising our classes and staffing relies heavily on knowing our student numbers for next year.

If your family is moving, or your child will not be returning to Takapuna Primary School, please let us know as soon as possible.

Having this information now allows us to build balanced classrooms and ensure a smooth transition for all our students.

Please send a quick email to the school office at office@tps.school.nz or let your child’s classroom teacher know.

Get ready to dress to impress, sparkle like a star and walk the red carpet!

We’re so excited to invite our Year 1–6 students to a fabulous Hollywood-themed school disco!

TICKETS – ONLY $5 PER CHILD!

FOOD, GLAM & FUN!

Purchase coupons for delicious food and get glammed up for the disco!

PRIZES TO BE WON!

There will be exciting prizes up for grabs on the night, so bring your best Hollywood style!

IMPORTANT PARENT INFORMATION

Due to the capacity of the school hall, we kindly ask that only one parent or caregiver attends with each child/family.

We’re looking forward to an amazing night filled with music, dancing, glamour and Hollywood magic!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, DISCO!

Grab your tickets through Kindo now!

The SCG team will also be at school selling tickets and coupons this afternoon (Thursday) so be sure to come and see us from 2:45pm.

Christmas Celebration (below) Please note school finishes at 3:00pm. Children must be collected at the usual time of 3:00pm.

Details around the schedule and performances will be shared very soon.

HELPING AT Home – Mathematics (Year 3-6)

Click here – Maths Portal for parents

You can use the website to help your child practice what they have learned at school.

It is best to work together on the year level your child has just finished at school, not the year they’re about to start.
Short, regular sessions will help build confidence with Maths. This can be 10 to 15 minutes sessions, 3 to 5 times a week.
After your child completes each question or puzzle, you will see a summary page suggesting next steps.
You can use the Maths practice site on your tablet, laptop or phone.

The Maths practice website is a pilot that will run until the end of December 2026 so we can see how useful it is for families.

NZC Maths practice

Important Dates

Week 5 – TOMORROW School Disco

(*yr 0-4 4:30pm-5:30pm …..*yr 5/6 5:45pm-7:00pm)

Week 7 – Friday 27 November School Triathalon

Week 8 – Thursday 3 December Annual Takapuna Beach Picnic

Friday 4 December Christmas Celebration (at TPS)

Week 9 – Tuesday 8 December Year 6 Graduation (from 1:30pm)

Thursday 10 December Pizza/Wheels & Non uniform day

Week 10 – Monday 14 December Meet the Teacher (2027)

Wednesday 16 December Last day of Term 4 (3:00pm)

Click here for School Calendar

Stay Connected!

We believe we are a team! If you have a question, a worry, or some feedback for us, my door is always open.

Please feel free to catch me for a chat or drop me an email at devikat@tps.school.nz

We love hearing from you directly. It is always the fastest and most postive way to solve problems, support your child, and make our school the best it can be.

If you hear another parent sharing a worry or a concern, please kindly encourage them to reach out to me directly too!

Thank you for partnering with us to keep our school community supportive, positive, and connected!

TPS Sports

TPS Sports Calendar for Term 4

Whole School

TPS Athletics Carnival

Thank you TPS for your support leading up to our Athletics Carnival. Our tamariki will continue their athletics rotations at school and each whanau group will work towards organising a school based athletics afternoon.

Pupuke Clusters Athletics
Pupuke Cluster trials will take place over the next two weeks during lunchtimes and athletics rotations. The year 4-6 learners will get an opportunity to trial in High Jump, Discus, Shot Put, Long Jump and Sprints. From this a team will be selected to represent TPS on Friday 4th December at Onewa Domain.

TPS TRYathlon

Is on Friday 27th November at TPS for Year 1-6 students. Registrations close Friday 13th November, register your child here. If you registered your child in Term 1 there is no need to re-register again. A list of all registered athletes will be emailed to your child’s teacher.
Times (*these are estimated times and may change slightly on the day)
Race Times – Kiwi 9:15-10:00am Tui 10:15-11:15am Kereru 11:30-1:00pm
More information will be posted on Hero in Week 6.

TPS Run Club

Join us for early morning beach runs every Wednesday leaving school at 8:00am, from the blue gates on Collins Street. Registrations for Term 4 are here. Welcome to all our new runners for Term 4.

After School Sports

Touch Rugby
Takapuna Flyers – won 6-4 against CBS Tigers and drew 6-6 against Long Bay Green.

Takapuna Turbos – The Turbos came up against a tough Forest Hill side and they went down 6-2

North Harbour Basketball Semester 2
Takapuna Tigers are playing next Tuesday in the Grand Final, have fun and enjoy yourselves.
Alley Oops are playing their Semi-Final next week, shoot well but defend better.

Netball- Spring League

Takapuna Sunflowers– what a game team, a big win 15-0 against Milford Stars.
Takapuna Tulips– were such troopers and with camp zapping their energy they played their best on Saturday morning against a strong team.

Play at TPS

Sports Community Notices

Yummy Sticker update – Congratulations TPS community, we have raised $892.00 to spend on sports gear!!

Northern Rocks is an indoor bouldering and climbing gym located on the North Shore. Climbing encourages perseverance, innovation, curiosity, respect, teamwork, and responsibility, while celebrating diversity and participation. We aim to create inclusive opportunities for students of all abilities to challenge themselves, support one another, and discover their potential beyond the classroom walls. If you are keen to check it our click on this link here info@northernrocks.co.nz

2027 JUNIOR TOUGH GUY & GAL CHALLENGE – AUCKLAND & PUKEKOHE
We’re so excited to be bringing the iconic Junior Tough Guy & Gal Challenge back for another year! We’re looking forward to another fantastic year filled with muddy adventures, big smiles, and unforgettable experiences for our tamariki. To find out more information email info@eventpromotions.co.nz

North Golf for any students at your school who may be interested in taking part in the Harbour Primary & Intermediate School Golf Championships.
Event Details:
Monday 23 November
From 3:00pm
North Shore Golf Club, Albany
North Golf has brought back the Harbour Primary & Intermediate School Championships, providing another opportunity for young golfers to represent their school and get involved.
Full event information and player entries are available here:

SPORTS X BASKETBALL STILL SPACES AVAILABLE!

Start Sports X Basketball today and use code “take6” for a pro rata fee of $90.00 off.

Please follow the link below to register and find out what sport and time our sessions are at your school!

Register here:

https://sports-x.nz/auckland/

Please see a video to show what we do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHgmT2Yb-RM

Parent Portal

Parent Portal:

The Parent Portal is an online platform that provides parents and whānau with easy-to-use resources and tools to support their child’s education at home. You can find more information on the Parent Portal online: https://www.education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/parent-portal

School Policies:

Each term, the whole school community is invited to review and comment on specific policies and procedures. This feedback is captured using the review button on topics that are under review. The review topics for each term are listed on the Current Review and Review Instructions page.

General Feedback:

At any time, members of the school community can send general feedback on a topic to the school by clicking the green feedback button on the top right of the page. Visit the Schooldocs website.

Username: takapunaprimary Password: deedsnotwords

Like us

The Big Bike Party at Takapuna Primary

The community event was great. What a big turnout, which made for an action packed day!

(courtesy of Ethan Lowry Photography)

Did you know that bottle tops and container lids can no longer be recycled in your curbside bins?

But the good news is, they can still be recycled and our school is a collection point!

Here are few tips:

Separate plastic from metal
Remove from ziplock/plastic bags before placing in the boxes
Lids should be clean and dry
YES: Flip-top/hinged caps, Screw caps, Milk bottle caps, Ice cream container lids, Yoghurt and dip lids, Supplement bottle lids, Household cleaning lids, Shampoo & cosmetic lids, Felt tip lids, Crown caps (bottle caps), Jar lids, Ring pull caps, Wire from sparkling drinks, Metal screw top caps, Aluminium lids, Wine lids, Food tin lids
NO: pumps or triggers, coffee cup lids, coffee pods, glass

COLLECTION ENDING SOON!

“Thank you for all your amazing effort collecting bottle tops and lids this year!

We are approaching the end of the school year, and the end of the collection competition for 2026.

It’s been particularly exciting to see the tremendous effort made by the tamariki of Hauraki and Takapuna Primary Schools, both in their first year of collection. But it’s not over yet, there is still time to get your school in the running for the $1000 cash prize!

We will be collecting the boxes on Monday 14^th December, and the winner will be announced in the first weeks of term 1, 2027.

Thanks again for supporting this initiative to keep valuable resources out of landfill.”

IN THE OFFICE

School Donations

An investment in our students

Our mission at Takapuna Primary School is to deliver a great quality learning environment that supports a quality education. To support this, we are seeking your help.

Your school donations make a very real difference to us as a state-funded public school. Our basic costs are met by the Ministry of Education, but it’s the money we receive from our school community that really allows us to provide opportunities, equipment and teaching beyond what is funded by the government.

The school donation for 2026 is $260 per student, or $420 for families with two or more students.

We can arrange weekly, fortnightly, or monthly instalments via internet banking if this helps spread the cost. Importantly, donations are tax deductible so approximately one third of every donation can be claimed back as a tax credit. That means for a $260 donation you receive $86 back in your wallet. Your actual donation cost is just $174.

To make your donation payments please go to the ‘Hero’ app and click on ‘Student Billing’. Alternatively, any payments can also be made directly into the school bank account 12 3026 0792484 00 – if doing so, please ensure you include your child’s name and ‘donation’ as reference on the payment.

Any queries regarding payments can be directed to our accounts team: accounts@tps.school.nz

If you would like to know more about how the School Board operates, and/or would be interested in understanding how else you can help, please contact: takapunaboard@tps.school.nz

IMPORTANT……..

If your child is LATE (after 8:58am), please make sure they sign in at the office upon arriving at school.

If they are RETURNING to school after an appointment offsite, they MUST sign in at the office BEFORE going to their classroom.

REMEMBER……..

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE ALWAYS HAVE CURRENT PARENT CONTACT DETAILS ON FILE.

IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT WE ARE UPDATED IF YOUR CHILD HAS ANY NEW MEDICAL INFORMATION WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF.

If you moved to a new house, changed your mobile phone number or if your child has any NEW medical information we should be aware of, please email office@tps.school.nz

(since 1879)

In 1958 our school celerbrated its 80th Jubilee. The school hosted a gathering for parents, students and alumni.

Maypole dancing was performed, a tradtional dance of weaving colourful ribbons around a central pole.

Here is a collection of photos given to the school. What a lovely collection of school memories.

TPS turns 150 in 2029!

Are you a Facebook or Social Media Whizz?

Takapuna Primary School Alumni Network needs your help!

TPS recently launched an alumni group on Facebook. We’re just in the beginning stages and we need someone who can assist with the growth of the group by attracting members. The objectives of the TPS Alumni Network are:

Build a database of TPS alumni
Develop connections with TPS’s current staff and students
Enhance current students’ understanding of TPS’s history
Offer fundraising opportunities for alumni to invest so TPS can continue its high-quality educational standards
Promote TPS’s brand in the community
Host alumni events
Begin the path towards TPS’s 150th reunion in 2029
Create an online archive of TPS class photos, memorabilia etc.