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Principal’s Message
Changes are coming!! Reporting to families and whānau
To align with the updated New Zealand Curriculum, the Ministry of Education has introduced a new, nationally consistent approach to reporting. The goal is to provide whānau with a clearer, more detailed picture of how students are progressing in the ‘basics’—specifically Reading, Writing, and Maths—regardless of which school they attend.
Over the course of this term, we’ll be sharing small updates in this newsletter to help you understand what these changes look like in practice, leading up to our first new ‘mid-point’ report at the end of Term 2. Here is a start:
The Five New Progress Descriptors:
Teachers will use five specific descriptors to show where a child sits within their current year level:
- Emerging
- Developing
- Consolidating
- Proficient
- Exceeding
We will explain these descriptors further as teachers become familiar with how they are defined and used. You will see these descriptors used when your child receives a written report from the school.
Leading the Way: Investing in teaching excellence
At TPS, we don’t just “weather the storm” of curriculum changes—we lead the charge. Our Board has invested heavily in ensuring our staff are at the absolute forefront of educational best practices.
Structured literacy: We are proud of our long-term commitment to Structured Literacy. Our junior teachers have been experts in BSLA (Better Start Literacy Approach) for years. In 2025, we upskilled our Year 3 and 4 teachers, and this year, our Year 5 and 6 teachers are completing their training. This ensures a seamless, high impact literacy journey from new entrants right through to Year 6.
Writing mastery: Last year, our staff worked with leading literacy expert Dr. Helen Walls. She was incredibly impressed with our teaching quality, noting that our teachers have developed exceptionally strong skills in the new English curriculum.
Mathematics innovation: This year, our focus is on Maths. Our teachers have already completed a full day of Ministry-led training and are now deep into “team days” with specialist facilitators from Learner First.
A hub for excellence: On Thursday, we hosted over 30 local teachers who came to TPS to work together with learning about quality Mathematics practice and the new curriculum.
Exciting new appointment: Our Specialist Learning Support
We are thrilled to announce that the TPS Board has funded a full-time, 5-day-a-week Specialist Literacy and Mathematics teacher. We welcome Gretchen to this role, who joins us with a wealth of experience as a former RTLit (Resource Teacher of Literacy). Gretchen will be working individually and in small groups to provide that “little bit extra” for students who need it.
A huge thank you to the SCG:
A massive shout-out to our School Community Group for their “fabulous new initiatives” and for keeping the energy high despite the rain. It’s this partnership between home and school that makes our community so strong as we navigate these exciting updates together.
What an incredible buzz we had in the hall recently! While the weather unfortunately meant we couldn’t go ahead with a few of our planned outdoor items, and our annual picnic wasn’t quite the sunny affair we usually enjoy, the spirit of TPS was not dampened!
Our first SCG-led Student Marketplace was a resounding success regardless. It was inspiring to see our senior students step up as young entrepreneurs. From creative product designs to those very convincing sales pitches, the hall was thriving.
Property updates:
You may have noticed a yellow digger hard at work in our Killarney Street entrance! Once this work is completed, this area will provide an additional concrete play area for games and PE lessons. The concrete block wall will provide privacy and enhance this entrance to the school. These works are expected to be completed by mid-March. At that time, the carpark, accessibility carpark and the accessibility gate on this side of the school will reopen.
Our big yellow digger even inspired some writing in our new entrant class. Well done, Sean and Archie!
Maths Workshop:
Today we welcomed teachers from seven other schools to our kura. Together we worked with Marie Hirst to further develop our understanding of how to teach maths. This is part of a three year training program that our school has invested in.
Key dates for Term 1:
Monday 16 – 20 March – Culture week (one week)
Tuesday 24 & Wednesday 25 March – Whānau 1:1 conferences with teachers
Sunday 29 March – Shore to Shore event
Monday 30 March – Board Meeting 6:00pm
Wednesday 1 April – End of Term 1
Thursday 2 April – Teacher Only Day (NO school)
Please feel free to contact your child’s teachers or any of the leadership team if you have any further questions.
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