Newsletter ~ 12 June, 2025

From The Principal

Tena koutou ngā whānau, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa,

I hope everyone is managing to stay warm and dry in this decidedly wintery weather. Fortunately, at school we have lots of hard surfaces so the children are still able to get outside at lunch time, run around, and play ball games.

On Wednesday, last week, a number of our students represented the school at the South-East Zones Cross Country held in Ferrymead. They all represented our school well but a special congratulations goes to Lewis who finished second in his race, and goes on to represent Diamond Harbour School in the Canterbury competition. We wish Lewis all the best for this.

One aspect of our kura that I believe is special is the leadership opportunities that all students in the senior classroom have. This helps students develop both leadership skills, and the opportunity to have a voice in the school. Over the past couple of weeks, our Performing Arts leaders have run the Talent Show heats. They do a wonderful job of this process, giving the ākonga a range of opportunities to share their particular talents with the school. The finals of these are being held next Thursday afternoon. We look forward to seeing the range of talent on show.

Coming up before the end of the term we also have our annual Mātariki Night Mākete. This is held in the final weeks of the term and will be a fabulous event as usual. There will be a range of fabulous kai on offer, and plenty of thrifting opportunities among the stalls. We look forward to seeing you there.

Later on this year we have the Board elections coming up. This is a fabulous opportunity for people who are interested in governance to contribute to the school. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact me or have a chat to the Board members who will have a pizza stand at the Mātariki Night Mākete.

Have a fabulous couple of weeks,

Ngā mihi nui,

Jill

Zones Cross Country

On the 4th of June 2025, a group of kids from Diamond Harbour School went to the cross-country zones. We had to wear our school tops and we got to pick the rest. When we got there, it was cloudy, the grass was damp, and there were lots and lots of people. We placed down two picnic blankets and put our bags on them. Kat gave us each a name tag for us to stick on our tops. Then the running started, they called for the year six girls to go first, they had to warm up, and then they were off.

After the year six girls, then the year six boys, and the year five girls, when the year five girls were running, it started to rain. Then we had the year five boys, we didn't have any year seven girls to run, but that was ok. After that, we had the year seven boys, and then shortly after it was the year eight girls' turn, the year eights had to do one more lap than the year five and six. Only one person got into Canterbury's, and to do that you had to finish in one of the top six. Once everyone had finished running, we packed up and drove back. Everyone is very proud of what they have achieved.

By Kenzie

Zones Placings

Year 5 Girls - 35th Maddie, 36th Kenzie, 37th Indie

Year 5 Boys - 9th Hunter, 10th Rowen, 15th Jack, 17th Luke

Year 6 Girls - 17th Piper, 24th Grace, 25th Ellie

Year 6 Boys - 21st Joe, 34th Harry

Year 7 Boys - 17th Finn, 18th Mitchell

Year 8 Girls - 15th Kaia, 19th Payton, 20th Ruby

Year 8 Boys - 2nd Lewis, who will be going through to compete at Canterbury Cross Country - Ka pai Lewis!!

2025 Matariki Night Mākete

2025 Matariki Night Mākete Information

This year, the annual Diamond Harbour Matariki Night Mākete stalls will be cash free.

We will be using a token system, where you can pre-purchase or purchase tokens on the night.

Token pre-purchases will be available from Monday 23rd June from the school office.

1 token = $1. Once purchased, tokens cannot be refunded.

Please see the information below regarding the various stalls each class will be hosting, and how you can help support your child’s class.

Food Fairy Fun Run Donation Collection

Thank You for Supporting the Food Fairy Fun Run

A big thank you to all the families who donated non-perishable goods for our Food Fairy Fun Run. Your generosity and community spirit helped us collect a fantastic amount of food, which has been collected by The Salvation Army to go towards their food banks to support families in need.

Your contributions have made a real difference, and we’re so proud of our school community.

Te Kōhanga Year 1

Te Kōhanga has been learning about the different planets and the Sun. Here is some writing about what they have learnt about the Sun.

Pātiki

Patiki has been writing information reports.

We learnt about the key features of an information report. First we chose a planet to write our report on, and then researched it. We learnt to take notes. Next, we used a Planet Introduction Planner to help us write exciting and informative opening paragraphs. Our introduction started with a hook. We used sentence starters like: Did you know...? Have you ever wondered...? Imagine a planet ... ? Next we named our planet, then added several interesting facts, then stated what our report would be about.
We then learnt about writing body paragraphs. We used subheadings, topic sentences that say what the paragraph will be about, along with two supporting sentences.

Finally, we learnt to write a conclusion. This included a summary of the main points, a reflective comment or recommendations, and may suggest further research or exploration.

Here are some slide shows for you to enjoy

To see Abbeys slideshow click here

To see Ortons slideshow click here

To see Azaleas slideshow click here

Garden to Table at Matariki Night

Mākete

Garden to Table Stall at the Matariki Night Mākete

Our amazing Garden to Table team will be running a special stall at the Matariki Night Mākete, offering a delicious selection of schoolmade kai for you to enjoy. Alongside these tasty treats, they’ll also be selling fresh produce harvested straight from our school garden.

One of the highlights will be our very own school-made tea – grown from seed, harvested, and dried by the tamariki especially for this event. It’s a beautiful example of the learning that goes into our Garden to Table programme.

If you have any surplus homegrown produce or homemade preserves you'd like to donate to support the stall, we’d love your help. Donations can be dropped off at the school office during the last week of term, ready for the Mākete.