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Kia ora whānau,
We have introduced a minor adjustment to our daily timetable by shifting to a ‘Play First, Eat Second’ structure during break times. Research from New Zealand shows that children settle better, eat more of their lunch, and return to the classroom calm and ready to learn when physical play happens before eating. We are already seeing some great benefits to this model.
As some children are used to eating earlier, there is a possiblity it will take a little time to adjust. It is very important they eat breakfast and bring enough healthy foods to sustain their day.
HATS
A reminder that students need bucket hats during Term 4 to be outside playing and participating in Physical Education.
Thank you very much for your support.
Regards, Devika & the TPS team
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In Term 3, the students in the ESOL Inquiry program studied ‘FROGS’. There were a lot of new words to learn in English like tadpole, froglet and carnivore. Did you know frogs are anurous amphibians? Maybe you will even have to look up what that means!
Here are some photos of some of the frog art that we did, as well as some acrostic poems with interesting frog facts.
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5C’s Cartoon Strips
Last term we learned how to tell a story through pictures. We drew a beginning, middle and end and some chose to add words to their stories. We chose our own colours for the pictures and the backgrounds.
We are proud of our work.
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After School Hours Supervision
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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.
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I am sharing some bittersweet news with our school community. After 9 wonderful years at Takapuna Primary School, Anneke has made the decision to resign from her teaching role at the end of this term.
While we are incredibly sad to lose such a valued, and well-loved staff member, we are also excited for her as begins an exciting new chapter. Anneke will be moving to Tauranga to take up a new position.
We wish Anneke all the very best for this exciting new adventure.
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As we head into Term 4, we are already beginning to look ahead and plan for 2027. One area we have recently reviewed is how we can make the start of the school year as smooth and stress-free as possible for everyone when it comes to school stationery.
After discussions with our teaching team, we are exploring an approach used successfully by a number of other schools: purchasing stationery in bulk directly with our supplier and paying through the Hero app.
Why we are considering this:
Convenience: One less thing on your “to do” list.
Cost Savings: Bulk ordering reduces the individual cost of items and eliminates delivery fees.
Preparedness: Children and teachers arrive on Day 1 with all the correct, agreed-upon stationery ready to go.
We want this to be a helpful change for our school community, so we would love to hear your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions regarding this approach, please feel free to get in touch with the school office.
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**PLEASE NOTE**
FRIDAY SUSHI WILL BE CLOSED TEMPORARILY FOR ORDERS ON
FRIDAY 16 OCTOBER
FRIDAY 23 OCTOBER
FRIDAY 30 OCTOBER
**YOU CAN STILL ORDER LUNCH ON THE ABOVE DATES, WITH EZLUNCH**
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Can you help bring the Term 4 disco to life?
Our Term 4 disco is planned for Friday 13 November, and we’d love to make it a fun night for the children. The SCG co-chairs are busy focusing on an exciting new (and still secret!) event later in the term, so we’re looking for three or four caregivers to join the disco planning team.
This team will oversee the planning, organisation and running of the disco. The existing SCG members will be involved, but volunteers will need to be ready to take an active role and see the event through.
That includes:
Planning the event schedule
Deciding what food,drinks and prizes will be available, and organising their purchase
Working out how tickets and coupons will be managed
Choosing a theme and organising decorations
Organising communications to families
Helping coordinate the event on the night
We’ll ask for additional volunteers to help on the night closer to the time. For now, we need a small team ready to take the lead on getting the disco organised. If you can commit to being involved, please get in touch with the SCG at scg@tps.school.nz.
We’d really love to make the disco happen, but we need more people to share the work. If we can’t find enough helpers, unfortunately the disco won’t be able to go ahead this term. Even a little time or a few extra hands could make all the difference!
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The Takapuna Primary School Colour Run brought our students, families and wider community together for an action-packed afternoon of fun—and raised an incredible
$18,128!
The music was pumping as the children raced around the obstacles, got thoroughly covered in colour and soaked with a spray from the fire engine. There were plenty of smiles, laughter and colourful t-shirts throughout the afternoon!
Thanks to everyone’s generosity, we can now move forward with upgrading the school’s drinking fountains. We are working behind the scenes to get this started as quickly as possible.
A huge thank you to our generous sponsors:
Cardwell Construction
Fashion Biz Ltd
ProfesioNail
Mitchie’s Auto Super Shop and Doctor Auto Care
MacFarlane & Murray Ltd
Eye For Detail
Convey Law
Lautrec Technology Group
Wanly Tsang & Team – Harcourts Cooper & Co
Kelly Club
A special thank you to Wanly for bringing Coffee & Cone—the ice-cream queue stretched halfway across the school!
We would also like to thank the Takapuna Fire Service for joining us and giving the children an exciting fire-engine spray to finish the course. It was a definite highlight of the day!
Congratulations to the winners of the classroom fundraising competition:
First place: 5B
Second place: Kereru C
Third place: Kereru A
Their prizes will be awarded this term.
Thank you also to our teachers, staff, volunteers, families and everyone who donated or fundraised. A big thank you to the SCG for all the hard work in organising the event. Together, we turned a colourful afternoon of fun into a lasting investment in our school—and that is something to celebrate!
What an incredible achievement for our wonderful Takapuna Primary School community!
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HELPING AT Home – Mathematics (Year 3-6)
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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
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Week 3 – Friday 30 October Diwali Celebrations (3:00pm-5:00pm)
Week 4 – 4th – 6th November Year 5 & 6 Camp
Week 5 – Tuesday 10 November Athletics Day
Week 9 – Tuesday 8 December Year 6 Graduation (from 1:30pm)
Week 10 – Wednesday 16 December Last day of Term 4 (3:00pm)
Click here for School Calendar
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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!
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The Sports News will be sent out Friday!
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Join the Takapuna Big Bike Party on this Saturday 17 October for bike challenges, games, music,
checks and learn-to-ride sessions.
Bring your bike and your whānau—everyone is
welcome to join the fun!
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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 
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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:
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Separate plastic from metal
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Remove from ziplock/plastic bags before placing in the boxes
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Lids should be clean and dry
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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
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NO: pumps or triggers, coffee cup lids, coffee pods, glass
Bonus:
We’ll win a $1000 cash prize from Resource Recovery Devonport if our school collects the most per capita this year!
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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
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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.
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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
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These girls look very smart in their new netball uniform, taken in 1971.
Very different from the fabrics we play in today.
How is this for a tradition! Wheels day back in 1947!
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TPS turns 150 in 2029!
Are you a Facebook or Social Media Whizz?
Takapuna Primary School Alumni Network needs your help!
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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.
Alumni Facebook group coming soon ……
If you would like to assist by helping us develop the Facebook group, please contact us at alumni@tps.school.nz
The time commitment is approx 1-2 hours per month.
Thank you
TPS Board of Trustees
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2027 Term Dates
Term 1: Wednesday 3 February – Friday 9 April
Term 2: Tuesday 27 April – Friday 2 July
Term 3: Monday 19 July – Friday 24 September
Term 4: Monday 11 October – Friday 17 December
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What an wonderful time we had at our October holiday programme! We had many fun activities with lots of sports, crafts, discovery, and, of course, cooking!
During our first week, we went to the North Head tunnels, took some cardboard boxes and went sliding down hills—it was an amazing time!
In the second week we went to the zoo and it was great seeing all the cute animals.
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