Chapel Downs - May Newsletter 2025
Kia ora, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Bula, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Aloha, Kamusta, Xin chào, Nǐ hǎo, Konnichiwa, Annyeong haseyo, Selamat siang, Sawasdee ka/krap, and Namaste to everyone!
Principal’s Message – May Newsletter
Welcome back to a new term! A very warm welcome to all our new students and their whānau who have joined the Chapel Downs community—we're excited to have you with us.
We are also delighted to welcome two new staff members to our team this term. Mrs Lisa Cox has joined our teaching team to support English Language Learners across the school, and Mrs Shagufta Tanzeem has joined our dedicated team of Learning Assistants. We are thrilled to have them with us and know they will bring great value to our school community.
We’re looking forward to a great term of learning. Our Year 3 to 6 students will be participating in swimming lessons throughout the term. A big thank you to the John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation for fully funding these lessons—your support makes a real difference.
You’ll notice a lot of construction activity around the school site. The early learning centre playground and fencing are being realigned to make space for the new junior college, and piling work has begun for the first three-storey building.
We ask for your support in keeping our students and staff safe—please park responsibly on surrounding streets when dropping off or picking up your children. Avoid parking on yellow lines or grassed areas.
Over the holidays, our classrooms were all renumbered, and we’re getting used to the new room numbers. Make sure to check out the new turf area near Rooms 2, 3, 4, and 5—it’s a great new space for our students.
We look forward to connecting with you at the parent-teacher interviews later this term.
Ngā mihi,
Vaughan van Rensburg
Year 3 to Year 6 Swimming Lessons
John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation
We are excited to share that Chapel Downs School has once again been selected by the John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation to take part in the Community Swim Programme. This means that all Year 3, 4, 5, and 6 students will receive free swimming lessons at the Papatoetoe Pool and Leisure Centre during Term Two.
Community Swim is proudly supported by the Lion Foundation, Auckland Council, Potter Masonic Trust, and Water Safety New Zealand. Each child will participate in seven or eight 25-minute "learn to swim" lessons, taught by qualified swimming instructors. Transport to and from the pool is also fully funded, with free bus travel provided each week. Teachers will accompany their classes during each visit.
The aim of the programme is to help every child develop essential water safety and swimming skills. We are very grateful for this opportunity and look forward to seeing our students grow in confidence and capability in the water.
Swimming Days:
- Tuesdays - Rooms 4, 5 and 34
- Wednesdays - Rooms 3, 7, 13, 25, 27, 30, 31, 32, and 39
- Fridays - Rooms 8, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 41, 43 and 44
New Turf Installation – A Fun and Engaging Learning Space
We’re excited to share that a brand new turf has been designed and installed in front of Rooms 2, 3, 4, and 5. This vibrant space not only provides a fun area for play but also offers great learning opportunities. It’s been wonderful to see our tamariki and their whānau exploring the alphabet path and number path together, sparking conversations about learning. There’s even a stylised map of New Zealand and—an all-time favourite—several hopscotch games to enjoy!
Building Work Update
The Brosnan team has been working hard, and construction on our new building is well underway. Over the past few weeks, piling work has been completed, marking a key milestone in the project.
Meanwhile, the Chapel Downs Early Learning Centre playground area is being realigned, with new fencing now in place to support these changes. Additionally, the area where the new hard courts and senior playground will be located has now been fenced off, with work scheduled to progress throughout Term 2.
This term, our tamariki are especially enjoying watching the big machinery in action through the viewing ports—it’s been a real highlight of their day!
Thank you to the Brosnan team for sharing these drone photos of the building project with us.
Year 2 Term 2 Inquiry
This term, the Year 2 children are learning about the living world and minibeasts. As part of our science programme we have been using a House of Science kit called “What’s the Buzz?” to guide our learning. As an extra bonus, we were able to get a live bumblebee hive at school, which the whole school were able to go and look at to see how bees work when in a hive!
Here are some photos of us being curious investigators when working with our science kits and visiting the hive.
NEw Entrant School Tours
Student REports & Parent Teacher Interviews
Mid Year Student reports will be released through the HERO app on Monday 9 June. This is a great opportunity to see how your child is progressing in their learning. We invite you to attend Parent-Teacher Interviews on Thursday 12 June, where you can discuss your child’s achievements, progress, and next steps with their teacher.
Supporting Learning at Home – Ministry of Education Parent Portal
The Ministry of Education has created a Parent Portal to support whānau as they engage in their child’s learning journey.
This easy-to-use website is designed to help you:
- Understand what your child is learning at school or kura
- See how they are progressing against the curriculum
- Find practical ideas for how you can support their learning at home
You can explore the portal here:
👉 https://www.education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/parent-portal
Term 2 Important Dates
- 28 April - First day of Term 2
- 6/7/9 May - Swimming lessons start for Year 3 to Year 6 classes
- 23 May - Whole school assembly
- 2 June - Kings Birthday holiday
- 12 June - Parent Teacher Interviews
- 20 June - Matariki Holiday
- 24/25/27 June - Last swimming lessons for Year 3 to Year 6 classes
- 26 June - Whole school assembly
- 27 June - Last day of Term 2
2025 Term Dates
- Term 1: 28 January - 11 April 2025
- Term 2: 28 April - 27 June 2025
- Term 3: 14 July - 19 September 2025
- Term 4: 6 October - 10 December 2025
- Public holidays during term time: 6 February Waitangi Day, 2 June King's Birthday, 20 June Matariki, 27 October Labour Day.
2026 Term Dates
- Term 1: 27 January - 2 April 2026
- Term 2: 20 April - 3 July 2026
- Term 3: 20 July - 25 September 2026
- Term 4: 12 October - 8 December 2026
- Public holidays during term time: 6 February Waitangi Day, 3 April Good Friday, 25 April ANZAC Day, 27 April ANZAC Day observed, 1 June King's Birthday, 26 October Labour Day.
ENROLMENT information
If your child is turning 5 in the next 12 months please ensure you enrol them as soon as possible. With the roll steadily growing at Chapel Downs this will enable us to keep a track of how many New Entrants we can expect in the future. Please click on the form below to enrol online