Newsletter 22 April 2026 – Welcome back to term 2…

Term 2, Week 1 – 22 April 2026

Welcome back to Term 2 at Waterlea

Kia ora Whaanau,

Welcome back to Waterlea’s second school term and we hope you all had a good break over Easter and the school holidays. We have a few important events happening later this week and we’d like to draw your attention to them.

Firstly we want to take a moment to celebrate two incredible individuals who have been the backbone of the Waterlea PTA for many years, Sel Dixon and Bex Hoeft.

After years of dedicated service, they are hanging up their event-planning hats. From coordinating Waterlea quizzes and discos to countless sausage sizzles and calendar art, Sel and Bex’s tireless efforts have raised vital funds for our school. These contributions have directly supported new playground equipment, library resources, classroom technology and Numicon equipment, and much, much more, making a lasting impact on every student at Waterlea.

Sel and Bex have given their positive energy, creativity, and commitment to our kura and they will be greatly missed by the wider school community.

Please join us in giving them a huge cheer and a thank you next time you see them around the school grounds. Please join us at our Waterlea MANA Assembly on Friday at 9.30am where we will acknowledge their mahi more formally.

Also this week, we are thrilled to announce that Waterlea School has officially become a  Kidscan partner school. Kidscan is a NZ charity dedicated to ensuring that no child is too cold, wet, or hungry to learn. By partnering with them, we can now provide additional essentials to students who may need a bit of extra support to thrive in the classroom. Kidscan goal is to remove the physical barriers to learning, helping every student feel included and read to focus on their education.

We also welcome Kidscan to our MANA Assembly this Friday so we look forward to seeing you then.

Enjoy the rest of this week.

Ngaa mihi,

Andrea Jamieson and the Waterlea Team

Attendance

Our attendance rate as a school for the first week at school for Term 2 is at 100%. This is a great start to the new term and let’s see how long we can keep it at 100%. Just remember that good overall attendance for NZ schools is over 90%. As always, please remember to let the office know if your child is going to be away and the reason for the absence. This information will allow us to enter the correct attendance code for your child. You can phone the office on 096364233 or email reception@waterlea.school.nz.

If your child is going away during the school term please email principal@waterlea.school.nz with the details for the absence and the dates your child will be away.

Keep up this great start to Term 2 ensuring your children are coming to school each day!

A new home for the Waterlea Library

Over the past few weeks the Library Team, led by Whaea Lisa, have been busy behind the scenes organising a new space for our library. It has shifted from a small space between Room 6 and 7 to the larger space of Room 21. Waterlea School has hundreds if not thousands of books and planning to shift all these to a new venue was proving to be quite a challenge. That was until we decided that what we needed was a human chain of budding readers- you can view what this looked like below. The Waterlea Library will welcome our tamariki to its new space from the beginning of next week. A big thank you to Whaea Lisa, Matua Eric and the team for their hard work getting this space ready. 

Moth Busters Latest Count…..

2477 Pods Collected, 

Ka pai Waterlea!

Staff News

We farewelled Mikey Nodder who left Waterlea at the end of Term 2 because she is having her second baby. Mikey has been with us since the beginning of last year and has made a wonderful contribution to the teaching staff in the Junior School. We wish Mikey and her partner all the best as they prepare for the baby and we hope to see her back some time in the future.

Important Dates

24 April – MANA Assembly 9:30am – 10:30am (please note the earlier time)

27 April – ANZAC DAY – School Closed

28 April – Y1 Te Tuhi Art Visits 

04 May – Rms 18 & 19 Ihumatao – More information to come

07 May – Ihumatao Rm’s 25 & 13 – More information to come

8 May – MANA Assembly – 9:45am – 10:30am

12 May – Rms 14 & 15 Ihumatao – More information to come

13 May – Year 4 – 6 Swimming begins – More information to come 

14 May – Royal Oak Visiting Waterlea – 2027 Intake – 2:00pm – 2:30pm

15 May – Ihumatao Rm’s 24 & 12 – More information to come

22 May – MANA Assembly – 9:45am – 10:30am

22 May – Ihumatao Rm’s 10 & 11 – More information to come

01 June  – Kings Birthday – School Closed

01 June – Samoan Language Week

You can download your sticker collection sheet here if you would like your own one, or pick one up at the office