Chapel Downs Newsletter October 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 – October 2025
Kia ora e te whānau,
Welcome to Term 4! A special welcome to our new tamariki and their whānau who have joined us this term — we’re delighted to have you as part of our Chapel Downs community.
It’s a big and exciting term ahead, full of learning and special events. Our Year 3–6 Athletics Day and Year 0–2 Tabloids are always firm favourites, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone out on the field as the warmer weather arrives.
We’re also thrilled to have Carleen from Life Education and Harold the giraffe with us for the next month, working with all our classes to explore important health and wellbeing learning.
Later this term, we’ll be sharing reports and holding student–teacher interviews. Please also take note of the dates for our end-of-year prizegivings and celebrations — this term always seems to fly by!
Ngā mihi nui,
Vaughan van Rensburg
Principal
Life Education
It’s great to have our facilitator, Carleen, back with us this term! Each class will enjoy two sessions in the Life Education mobile classroom over the first four weeks of the term. A definite highlight is always seeing Harold the giraffe.
Different year groups will focus on different areas from the Health and Physical Education strand of the curriculum — from developing social skills to learning about healthy eating and self-care. The mobile classroom is parked near the office, and you may spot Harold waving to students as they pass by!
John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation
Last week, the John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation celebrated its two millionth free swimming lesson! We are very grateful to receive these lessons for our Year 3–6 students each year. The Foundation provides bus transport, pool entry, lane hire, and swimming instruction — all at no cost to our school. Learning to swim and to be safe in the water is such an important life skill, and we appreciate the Foundation’s ongoing support in helping our tamariki build confidence and water safety.
School Closed - Thursday 23 October
The NZEI (Primary Teachers Union) has advised the Chapel Downs Board that its member teachers, learning support staff and support staff, at our school will be taking strike action on Thursday 23 October, 2025.
The Board has carefully considered the availability of non-union teaching staff and has decided that we are unable to provide normal instruction during the strike.
Therefore, Chapel Downs will be officially closed for instruction on Thursday 23 October, 2025. Please contact the principal, Mr van Rensburg, (vaughanv@chapeldowns.school.nz) if you have any queries relating to this decision.
Thank you for your understanding.
Save the date!
The final term is always full of excitement and many reasons to celebrate the incredible hard work and successes of our students. We warmly invite all families to join us as we recognise their achievements at our annual celebrations and prize-giving ceremonies.
To help you plan, we are sharing these important dates now. Please save the date!
- 14 November - Athletics Day for Year 3 -Year 6 students
- 20 November - 1.30-8pm Parent Teacher Interviews
- 28 November - Tabloid Sports for Year 0 - Year 2 studnts
- 8 December - 1.30pm Year 0-Year 2 Disposition Awards Celebration
- 9 December - 1.30pm Year 3 & Year 4 Prize Giving
- 9 December - 6.30pm Year 5 & Year 6 Prize Giving
- 10 December - 1pm Service Awards and Year 6 Graduation
- 10 December - 3pm School finishes (Last school day for 2025)
Building Work Update
Work continues at a great pace on our building project, and we've hit some major milestones!
The steel framing for the entire structure is now complete, giving the whole project its final shape. The lift shaft is in place, and we've even craned the concrete steps into both ends of the building. The roof is currently being installed, and the timber framing work is starting.
It's an incredibly exciting time to watch this new space come to life!
Year 6 Camp 2026
Tui Ridge Park 16-18 Feb 2026
Our current Year 5 students will be Year 6 before they know it and will have their turn at camp in Term 1, 2026. We held a camp information meeting last week, and more details will be sent home later this term to help whānau prepare for next year’s adventure.
Our students are already looking forward to their camp at Tui Ridge Park near Rotorua. This will be a fantastic education outside the classroom experience for them — a highlight of their final year at Chapel Downs.
Term 4 Important Dates
- 6 October - Term 4 starts
- 6-29 October - Life Education Caravan at Chapel Downs
- 23 October - School closed for NZEI Strike
- 27 October - Labour Day holiday
- 6 November (Thursday) - whole school assembly at 1.45pm. All welcome.
- 14 November - Year 3 to Year 6 Athletics
- 20 November - Parent Teacher Interviews
- 28 November - Year 0 to Year 2 Tabloid Sports
- 8 December - Year 0 to Year 2 Disposition Awards
- 9 December - Year 3 & Year 4 Prize Giving
- 9 December - Year 5 & Year 6 Prize Giving
- 10 December - Service Awards and Year 6 Graduation
- 10 December - last school day for 2025. School will finish at 3pm.
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
Keeping contact details up to date
It’s important that we are able to contact parents and caregivers quickly in case of an emergency, illness, or urgent matter involving your child.
If you have recently moved house, changed your phone number, or updated your email address, please let us know as soon as possible. Keeping your contact details current helps us ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students.
You can update your details in any of the following ways:
- Call the school office on 09 274 8002
- Email us at office@chapeldowns.school.nz
- Send a written note with your child