Willow Park School Newsletter
22 March 2024
Contact us:
Email: office@willowpark.school.nz
Website: http://www.willowpark.school.nz/
Location: Willow Park School 13 Compton Street, Hillcrest, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: 09 480 9236
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willowparkschoolhillcrest/
Easter
There have been a few Easter themed learning activities this morning, particularly in our junior school. Some classes even had a visit from the Easter bunny. I do hope everyone has an enjoyable mini-break with 5 days away from school.
Friday 29 March - Good Friday (public holiday)
Saturday 30 March - Easter Weekend
Sunday 31 March - Easter Weekend
Monday 1 April - Easter Monday (public holiday)
Tuesday 2 April - Easter Tuesday (school holiday)
Easter Tuesday is always a school holiday, but in most years, Easter falls within the two-week break between terms 1 and 2; kids are off school anyway, so its peculiar status goes unnoticed. But because the dates for Easter are different every year, sometimes it falls so early that term 1 would be too short, and term 2 too long, were the long weekend to be incorporated into school holidays.
That’s the case in 2024, only the seventh time Easter Tuesday has fallen during school term time in the last 16 years. The last time was 2021.
We look forward to seeing you back on Wednesday 3 April for a regular school day.
Colour Run
Thank you to all of the students and families that have signed up to do the Colour Run on Friday 5 April. We now have 131 students signed up on Go Raise It, so far raising a whopping $9,010.00. With a week to go we would love to reach 200 entries and break the $12,000 mark. The more we raise, the more we will be able to provide in the playground in terms of soccer goals and shade sails. Thank you for everyone's effort.
Congratulations to our lucky draw winners for Monday, Wednesday and today. Ava in Room 26 was our Monday big prize draw winner of the Onikuma Earbuds. Mahi, Room 6 and Jack, Room 2 were the winners on Wednesday and Thursday.
Next week as we have a shorter week, we will do a lucky prize draw on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. There are still plenty of prizes in the prize box including $20.00 Sushi day vouchers! All students have to do is sign up on Go Raise It!
https://willowparkcolourrun.raiseit.co.nz/
Don't forget to buy your Colour Run entry ticket for you and your family through Kindo. $5.00 per entry and 3 years and under run free.
Whanaungatanga Photo Booth
Today was the big reveal of the Whanaungatanga Photo Booth that Mr Murphy and some Year 6 students have been working on over the past few weeks. Well done to Madi, Abi, Roa, Georgia and Olive for their fantastic artwork.
Mr McArthur encouraged students to take part in a photo to celebrate our school value of whanaungatanga and here are a couple of teasers before a fuller collection are shared once the camera has been developed.
Kilikiti
Today our Tivaevae group welcomed Onepoto School to Willow Park to play a game of kilikiti. Kilikiti is a sport similar to cricket that originates in Samoa. This game is the national sport of Samoa. It is also played in Tuvalu and it is gaining popularity in New Zealand and around polonynesia.
The equipment used to play the sport is similar to that of cricket, which are:
- Bat - The bat used has 3 edges, resembling closer to a baseball bat in shape, and are much longer than that of cricket bats. They are modeled on the three-sided Samoan war club called lapapa.
- Ball - The ball used is round in shape, filled with hard rubber and wrapped in pandanus. The ball is much softer than that used for cricket, so unlike cricket, there is no protective gear of any form required to play the sport.
- Stumps - The stumps used are longer than what's used in cricket, and have no bails.
- Players do not wear any padding or masks, but they wear lava-lava, which is a daily traditional clothing in the Polynesian area.
The rules of this sport are flexible. Until recently, the sport had no official rules, no set number of players, or match duration.
Our Tivaevae group had an awesome time, scoring lots of runs and doing some outstanding bowling and fielding. A huge thank you to Mrs Sina'au and Miss Joyner for organising, and to North Harbour Sport for coming along with the equipment.
BMX Success
Jordan Dawson, Room 20 was in action racing at the BMX NZ nationals a couple of weekend ago, in the Hawke’s Bay. Jordan rode 16 races over the course of two days finishing 1st in 8, 2nd in 4 and 3rd in 3. Jordan ended the weekend with an NZ1 title in 8-10 cruiser and NZ6 in the 10 boys class. Well done Jordan, we are proud of you, and wish you all the best in your preparations for the World Championships in Texas.
Working Bee - May 19th
Working Bee - Nature Area, Sandpit and Enviro Garden
At the recent Friends of Willow Park Meeting we discussed having a working bee to help tidy up and beautify some areas of the school. Our first targets are the Enviro Area, Nature Area and Sandpit. We are looking for some volunteers that can provide some time and energy to help with some gardening work and more. If you can't help on the day we will be looking for donations of plants, seeds and more!
Sunday, May 19, 2024, 09:00 AM
Willow Park School
School Donation
Did you know you can claim 1/3 of your school donation back through the Inland Revenue Department (and other donations made to registered charities).
Any donation made between now and 31 March 2024 is included in the tax year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
Here is the link from IRD for further information:
Donation receipts are created automatically when paying via Kindo. The school office will provide receipts if paid at the office or through internet banking.
Sports News
Shore to Shore: A last call for registrations for this great family event. Registrations close on Sunday 31st March. Packs with race numbers and bus tickets will be delivered to school next week and distributed to your child ready for the run on Sunday 7th April.
I would like to say a huge thank you to those who have already entered and to those yet to do so!
I look forward to seeing you at Milford reserve at the end of the run.
More players: I am still looking for two year 3 / 4 hockey players and two yr 5 / 6 hockey players. This will give each team a couple of subs and a chance for players to have a breather and in case of injury or illness we have enough players to cover.
The games are on a Monday after school at the North Harbour Hockey Complex in Bush Rd Albany. Yr 3 / 4 play between 4pm and 5:30pm and the yr 5 / 6 between 5pm and 6:30pm.
Also don’t forget registrations are still open for the two Zone Rippa / Tackle rugby days. This is for year 3 - 6.
Registrations are open for:
Flippaball term 2
This is open on Kindo for year 4’s for term 2. So any year 4 , 5 or 6 players are very welcome. The children must be competent swimmers. Games are played on a Sunday afternoon at the Millennium Centre Antares Place Mairangi Bay.
Table tennis term 2
This is also open on Kindo. This is for year 5 and 6 boys and girls. The children play in teams of three. Games are held at the Table Tennis Stadium behind the YMCA in Akoranga Drive on a Wednesday from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
Weetbix Tryathon
Congratulations to the 11 Willow Park children who entered this event last Sunday at Point England. Unfortunately due to the water quality the swim section had to be replaced by a run along the beach. But from all accounts the children had a great time and were well deserving of their medals and t- shirts.
Dates and Events
EVENTS:
2024 Term dates (Staff only days confirmed as they are decided)
- Term 1 starts Thursday 1 Feb, last day is Friday 12 April
- Term 2 starts Monday 29 April, last day is Friday 5 Jul
- School closed for King's Birthday Monday 3 June
- School closed for Matariki Friday 28 June
- Term 3 starts Monday 22 July , last day is Friday 27 September
- Term 4 starts Monday 14 October , last day is Tuesday 17 December (1pm finish)
TRAVELLERS COMING INTO NZ Did you know?
Community news
Baby Market - Birkenhead
We are holding the Birkenhead Baby Market on the 7th of April at Shore Dance studios on Enterprise Street. We have 30 stalls of local businesses and parents selling a range of new and pre-loved baby and childrens items. We also have plenty of entertainment for the kids including face-painting, balloon-twisting, a ballerina entertainer, and a jumping beans gym set-up.