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Newsletter #1 | Term 1 Week 1
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From our Principal - Marie Todd
Welcome back to 2026
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Kia ora koutou, 欢迎, 환영합니다, ようこそ, and welcome back to a new school year at Churchill Park School. A special welcome to our new families and their children, and to our international students who have joined our school community this term. One of the strengths of CPS is the way our students embrace and support new classmates with warmth, kindness, and confidence, helping everyone feel a strong sense of belonging from the very first day.
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We hope you all managed to enjoy the summer break, spending time with whānau, slowing down, and reconnecting with friends. It has been lovely hearing about the many holiday adventures shared, whether sailing, travelling to places such as Pauanui, Bali or China, or simply enjoying time together. How fortunate we are.
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Our first day back was calm and settled, with students excited to reunite with friends and begin building relationships with their classroom teachers. This positive start sets a strong foundation for learning and wellbeing as we head into the year ahead.
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A huge thank you to the families who attended our Whānau Hui Day. Meeting with classroom teachers early in the year plays an important role in setting the scene for 2026, strengthening partnerships, and supporting shared understanding around learning, goals, and expectations. It was also a pleasure to reconnect with families and hear about your summer experiences.
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Teaching and Learning Focus for 2026 – Thriving Ako
Last week, our teaching staff undertook professional learning focused on the refreshed English curriculum, which is a key priority area for us this year. While structured literacy continues to underpin our literacy programme, the refreshed curriculum provides greater clarity and specificity around student progressions in Oral Language, Reading, and Writing, supporting high-quality teaching and learning across all classrooms. Handwriting expectations have also been reviewed to ensure students develop fluency, accuracy, and confidence in their written work. This year, we will be extending our Open Learning Mornings, inviting whānau into classrooms to see our literacy and mathematics programmes in action and better understand teaching and learning at CPS.
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Reporting and Curriculum Changes
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There are some changes to reporting for schools and parents this year, with the introduction of five progress descriptors used to describe your child’s progress in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. We recognise these changes may take time to become familiar with, and we will continue to keep families informed as we work through what this looks like specifically for Churchill Park School. The Ministry of Education Parent Portal also provides information about curriculum, progress, and reporting, should you wish to explore this further.
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More broadly, ongoing Ministry of Education and government changes mean schools are responding to a range of new initiatives and expectations. We remain committed to navigating these changes thoughtfully, ensuring they align with our values and support high-quality outcomes for our learners.
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Hero Online Platform
This year, we will use Hero, our online platform, to share your child’s learning, progress, and key updates with you. Hero provides families with timely insights into classroom learning and supports ongoing communication between home and school. Please ensure you have downloaded and set up the app to receive all school communication. SchoolApp will no longer be used from the end of this week. Once parents have had the time to set up the Hero app we will change the school's default settings from email only to enable app notifications. Personal settings in Hero can be changed to receive either emails or notifications, whichever works best for you.
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Attendance
Attendance is another key focus for 2026. All schools are required to have an Attendance Management Plan, outlining our commitment to ensuring every student attends school regularly and is actively engaged in learning. Strong attendance supports both academic progress and well-being. Please refer to the Attendance Management Plan, which outlines how Churchill Park School supports attendance and works in partnership with families to help children be at school every day.
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Bell Times
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This term, we are trialling a revised bell schedule to support better learning, eating, play, and wellbeing. Research and classroom experience consistently show that students are more focused, alert and ready to learn in the morning. This aligns with new curriculum expectations of one hour of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, without learning feeling rushed or fragmented. Breaks are structured well, so children can eat well, be active and engage in meaningful play.
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8:55 – 11:00 Learning Block
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11:00 – 11:30 Morning Tea
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11:30 – 1:00 Learning Block
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1:40 - 3pm Learning Block
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We are also mindful of younger learners, and teachers will continue to provide regular movement breaks, snack opportunities if needed, and calm routines to support energy, well-being, and engagement throughout the day. Remember to check in at the office first if you are coming onsite during the day.
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Thank You PTA!
You may have seen our new inviting, brightly coloured drinking fountains about the school. Huge thanks go to our PTA for their generous donation last year, which was made possible by our parent community in supporting fundraising events. These modern, easy-to-use fountains enhance the functionality of our school environment while supporting student wellbeing through access to clean drinking water.
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School Donations
School donations play an important role in supporting the learning, well-being, and opportunities we are able to provide for our students. While core funding is provided by the Ministry of Education, donations enable us to offer experiences, resources, and programmes that go beyond this funding, enhancing classroom learning, supporting curriculum opportunities, and enriching school life for our children. We are grateful for the continued support of our whānau, which makes a meaningful difference for our students and our school community.
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Newsletters
Newsletters will return to fortnightly updates this year, keeping whānau updated with all that takes place at CPS.
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We look forward to a positive and productive Term 1 and the start of the year. Just a reminder, this is a nine-week term, with the break beginning at Easter, and as always, the term will whizz by. We thank you in advance for your ongoing support, partnership, and commitment to our school community. Together, we continue to build Thriving Ako, Thriving Tangata, and a Thriving Place, grounded in our values of Responsibility, Respect, and Resilience, for ourselves, others, and the environment.
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Upcoming Events
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NB - Updates and changes can occur as necessary
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2026 Term Dates
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Term 1: Monday 2 February - Thursday 2 April
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Term 2: Monday 20 April - Friday 3 July
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Term 3: Monday 20 July - Friday 25 September
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Term 4: Monday 12 October – Tuesday 15 December
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Public Holidays (that fall during term time)
Waitangi Day - Friday 6 February
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ANZAC Day (Mondayised) - Monday 27 April
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King’s Birthday – Monday 1 June
Labour Day – Monday 26 October
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We have moved to a new Student Management System called Hero
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This will become our ‘one stop shop’ for all communications, notifications, absences, student reporting… and more.
We will continue to update you regarding Hero’s functions over the coming weeks but you can start your Hero journey by downloading the app today.
The password parameters are: password must have a minimum length of 14 characters, contain upper and lower case characters, at least one number and at least one special character.
We thank you for your patience during this transition period. At the moment, we have set notifications to be sent to email addresses. Once we are up and running, you will receive comms through the app. We will let you know when this happens.
If you don’t have the app on your phone, you will receive comms to your email inbox.
If you do have the app, but would prefer to receive comms via email, you can change this in the app settings.
If you find you are now receiving comms from school, but didn’t used to (and don’t want to)... Just let the office know.
Please check your Spam folder and ensure we are on your ‘Safe Senders’ list.
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School Payments
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The School Donation remains at $525. Most parents will be entitled to claim a tax rebate - if you are a top tax rate payer a 33% reduction is available.
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Please make school payments through your mykindo account. There are several methods to add funds to your account. Add regular topups if you'd like, then allocate to payments when you're ready, or just pay as you go. mykindo is also where you can order school lunches. Set up your kindo account.
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NB: The school no longer has an EFTPOS terminal. All payments are to be made via kindo or DC, please. DC with your child's name to: 12-3027-0387931-000
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Has your child grown out of their CPS uniform?
Please do remember donating it to the second hand uniform shop. But PLEASE ensure zips work, buttons are present, not too much paint/ vivid on shirts and blouses.
HUGE thanks in advance and for your donations.
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School Lunches
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Order school lunches through kindo to be delivered to Churchill Park School on Monday to Thursday. Check out your kindo account for suppliers and menus.
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Independent Notices and Information:
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Although accepted for publication in this section, Churchill Park School does not necessarily endorse, nor accept responsibility for any of the information contained herein:
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Dear Parents and Students,
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We are pleased to invite you to join our Chess Program for Term 1, following the strong success of the program in Term 4.
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Due to the excellent participation, enthusiasm, and progress shown by students last term, we are excited to continue and further develop chess skills in Term 1. The program is designed to help students improve concentration, logical thinking, problem-solving, and confidence — all while enjoying the game of chess.
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Program highlights include:
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Structured lessons for beginners and intermediate players
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Tactics, strategy, and game-play practice
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Chess puzzles and fun challenges
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Opportunities to participate in friendly games and tournaments
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We warmly welcome both new students and those continuing from Term 4 to be part of the program.
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Program Details:
Term1: 09th February- 30th March
Venue: STA Room
Time: 3:15pm to 4:15pm
Fee: $180 per student for the term
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Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to another successful and enjoyable term of chess.
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