End of Term 1 newsletter 2026
End of Term 1 newsletter 2026
Tēnā koutou katoa
It has been an eventful and productive first term; we are proud of all that our students have achieved in and beyond the classroom. Please take note of the key dates for Term 2 at the end of this email.
Successful camps
Te Whānau o Te Kākano tauira and kaiako had a fantastic noho marae at Aurere in the Far North. The weather was perfect for special learning experiences, including waka sailing.
Though the weather was not ideal, Year 13 students also had a successful camp at Shakespear Park building resilience through challenges in a range of activities.
These camps provide such valuable and memorable opportunities for students to further strengthen positive relationships, and we are grateful to staff for taking time away from their own families to make this magic happen.
Polyfest
We wish our Northcote College and Birkenhead College kapa haka all the very best for their performance at Polyfest on Monday 30th March at 4.00pm at the Due Drop Events Centre, Manukau. The kapa haka bracket brings together the voyaging and exploration legacy of Toitehuatahi and the identity of our kura and our students today. For those who cannot attend in person, the performance will also be livestreamed on Whakaata Māori, so you can cheer them on from anywhere. Much time and effort has gone into practice, and we are grateful for all the āwhina and support from kāiako and whānau.
Charity fundraisers
We are pleased to confirm that $2000 was raised on our Student Council-led Non-Uniform Day for the Volunteer Firefighters last week. You can still make a donation via Kindo until the end of this week. Thank you for supporting this deserving cause.
Another Student Council initiative is the Winter Warm Up, a donation drive for De Paul House. De Paul House, on Onewa Road, provides transitional (temporary) housing for homeless or poorly housed families and senior citizens. Currently they have 43 houses and apartments housing 58 adults and 93 children. Their aim is to rehouse people in affordable, secure housing. De Paul House is currently in particular need of warm bedding and child/teen clothing in new or nearly new condition, especially sweat pants, jackets, t-shirts, shoes and sneakers.
Students can drop off items before school in Week 1 (Monday 20 - Friday 24 April) at the Deanery.
Sport Highlights
It has been an incredible start to the year for our athletes involved in summer sports. Congratulations to the following sportspeople for their outstanding achievements.
School Athletics Champions
- Junior Athletics Champions: Olivia Butler and Rory Duggan
- Intermediate Athletics Champions: Lea McIntosh and Tailu Guerin
- Senior Athletics Champions: Grace Day and Sam Strudwick
There were some records broken:
- Long Jump (Junior Boys): Preston Strong-Lauti (5.13m)
- Long Jump (Junior Girls): Azlyn Sulusi (5.20m)
- High Jump (Intermediate Boys): Isaac McMillan (1.82m)
Congratulations to Luka Sugimoto-Faulkner, who placed an impressive 4th overall in the Open category at the World Climbing Oceania Series - Boulder. This is a phenomenal achievement on the international stage.
Northcote College Sport is now live on social media! Follow us and stay connected for the latest updates, photos, and results. Instagram & Facebook: @NorthcoteCollegeSports
Our sports programmes rely on the support of our community. If you are able to get involved as a coach, manager, or van driver, the Sports Department would love to hear from you. Please get in touch: sports@northcote.school.nz
Good luck to all students competing in Swimming Sports tomorrow and Cross Country on Thursday 2 April.
Road safety
Earlier in the month, the senior leadership team met with a Senior Transportation Engineer in the Road Safety Team at Auckland Transport to discuss the safety of students on Onewa Road. We shared our concerns about bus overcrowding, congestion at bus stops, and speed of vehicles. From this meeting, the next steps from AT are:
Short term
- Install pedestrian fencing at the crossing between Kauri Glen and Park Ave
- Investigate adjusting signal phasing to increase ‘all red’ time
- Undertake an assessment of pedestrian activity around the school and neighbouring areas to determine key pedestrian routes and ideal crossing and bus stop locations.
Medium Term
- Upgrade markings at existing crossing, including widening crossing, red surfacing within the cross-walk and re-applying high friction surfacing on approaches to crossing.
Possible longer term options dependant on outcome from pedestrian assessment
- Crossing facilities on Kauri Glen Rd. Signalisation of Kauri Glen/Onewa Rd intersection or other signalised crossing location.
There are an increasing number of students coming to school on electric scooters. Please urge your child to always wear a helmet and to be careful and safe on roads and footpaths.
Review of fire evacuation and response
We are grateful for the feedback shared; this formed part of our overall review into systems and protocols. Here are some updates and actions in response.
Early next term, we will be launching SchoolBridge at Northcote College. When this happens, caregivers will be able to download the app and receive notifications and emergency alerts. We will be in contact with more information when this is available.
We will take sunscreen during sunny evacuations and store bottled water for students in the event of extended emergency procedures.
We have trial evacuations every term, and have one scheduled in the first week of Term 2.
Progress reports
Progress reports will be emailed home on the last day of the term. These reports are a snapshot of subject results and learning dispositions. As always, academic achievement can be tracked at any time via the Parent Portal and the weekly Attendance and Results Reports that are emailed home.
Peer tutoring
Peer tutoring is led by a group of prefects and is an excellent way to support student learning. This tuakana-teina model of students helping students with specific subjects or literacy and numeracy has reciprocal benefit. Any student keen on either being a tutor or being tutored is encouraged to register their interest in the school library.
Kia Manawaroa and Matavai e-newsletters
Here are the links to the latest pānui that have a range of interesting articles and useful information and resources for Māori and Pacific families and caregivers with children in education.
Kia Manawaroa: https://mailchi.mp/education/
Matavai: https://mailchi.mp/education/
Phones away for the day
We are grateful for whānau support of our processes to follow the ‘phones away for the day’ legislation, and we are pleased with the positive impacts to students’ focus and achievement. The Education Review Office (ERO) has reviewed the implementation of the policy to remove cell phones during the school day. You can read the ERO report here: https://www.evidence.ero.govt.
School donations and Kindo payments
Thank you to families who pay the school donation; without these payments, we would not be able to offer the variety of learning opportunities our students currently enjoy. All payments to Northcote College can be made in one place with your myKindo account. There is a link to Kindo on the top bar of our school website: https://www.northcote.school.
The Teachers’ Institute Career Change webinar: Wednesday 8 April
The Teachers’ Institute will hold its first Career Change webinar. This is an opportunity for interested people to hear more about life as a teacher, the structure of the one-year school-based programme, and how skills from a previous career are transferable to teaching. All are welcome to learn about how teaching is a great career. Please RSVP to be sent the Zoom link closer to the date: https://www.teachersinstitute.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our school. We encourage you to stay in contact; if you have any queries, please contact your child’s Dean in the first instance.
Ngā manaakitanga
Vicki Barrie
Tumuaki | Principal
Key dates for Term 2
Week 1
- Monday 20 April: First day of Term 2, Timetable Day 1
Week 2
- Monday 27 April: ANZAC Day Holiday - school closed
Week 3
- 4 - 10 May: New Zealand Sign Language Week
Week 4
- Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 May: Year 13 Pathway meetings
- Friday 15 May: Pink Shirt Day - this is not a non-uniform day nor a fundraiser. However, students are encouraged to wear pink to celebrate diversity and promote inclusion
Week 5
- Monday 18 May: NCEA Literacy (Reading) Common Assessment Activity (CAA)
- Tuesday 19 May: NCEA Literacy (Writing) Common Assessment Activity (CAA)
- Wednesday 20 May: NCEA Numeracy Common Assessment Activity (CAA)
Week 6
- Friday 30 May: Ministry of Education Teacher only Day - no students at school
Week 7
- Monday 1 June: King’s Birthday - school closed
- 2 - 6 June: Samoa Language Week
Week 8
Week 9
- Monday 15 - Friday 19 June: Senior Assessment Week
Week 10
- Tuesday 23 June: Group photos
- Thursday 25 June: Sports photos
Week 11
- Wednesday 1 July: Matariki Hautapu
- Friday 3 July: Last day of Term 2