Newsletter - Wednesday 25th February 2026

February 2026 Edition

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Term 1, Week 4 Wednesday 25th February 2026

Principals Message

Kia ora tatou,

The school has been buzzing with students engaged in learning, reconnecting with each other, and forming new friendships. Teachers are fostering positive connections in their classrooms to ensure all students feel supported and excited to begin their learning journey.

Pinehill School Family Picnic - it's coming up!

Our much-anticipated Pinehill School Family Picnic is coming up soon! Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, 4th March, from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Pack your picnic, bring your family, and join us for an evening of fun on the school field.

What to Bring:
✔ A picnic dinner for your family (or collect your pre-ordered pizza and sushi on the field)
✔ Blankets or chairs for seating

✔ The Pinehill Way
✔ Your best picnic vibes!

What’s Happening:

Meet & Mingle: Each classroom will have a designated picnic area (look for your child's room number on the field). This is a great chance to meet other families and connect with your child’s teacher informally.

House Leader Games: Our house leaders will organise fun activities/games for students to join in!
FOPS Food Stalls & Activities: A huge thank you to our Friends of Pinehill School (FOPS) for setting up food stalls to add to the fun.

This is a whole-family event, so children must be accompanied by their parent/s. We look forward to seeing you there!

School Policies

With many new families joining us, we remind you that all school policies are available through School Docs.
Click here to access them.

Logon: Pinehill
Password: pinehillway

Here are a few policy reminders as we start the year.

Phones and Devices

Pinehill School follows the government regulations regarding student phone use:

We recommend students do not bring mobile phones to school.
If a student has a smartwatch with phone functions, it must be switched off during the school day.
Any mobile phones brought to school must remain in students’ bags. The school is not responsible for loss or damage.

If a student is seen using a phone or smartwatch during school hours, the device will be securely held at reception until collected by 3:30 pm or the following day.

If you need to urgently contact your child during school hours, please call the school office before 2 pm, and we will pass on the message.

We believe that reducing distractions from devices allows students to focus on learning and interpersonal interactions. Thank you for your support.

Concerns and Complaints Process

We value open communication and encourage families to follow these steps if a concern arises:

If your concern is about a classroom or playground matter, contact your child’s teacher to arrange a discussion. Teacher emails are available on the school website.

If the matter remains unresolved, contact Deputy Principal Sarah Cattell (if your child is in Year 4 -Year 6) or Deputy Principal Vicki Nabete (if your child is in Year 1 -Year 3) to arrange a follow-up conversation.

If necessary, the Principal may become involved to support resolution.

For full details, please refer to our Concerns and Complaints Policy on School Docs.

Pinehill Way

Find out more about our School Values known as ‘The Pinehill Way’ here https://pinehill.school.nz/the-pinehill-way/

Term 1 Spotlighting on the Pinehill Way Value of Respect

This term our classroom/school spotlight value focus is on ‘Respect’. We are exploring what Respect looks like, sounds like and feels like, in different settings (in the classroom, at assembly, in the library, during class trips or fitness, when looking after our school - picking up rubbish, etc).

You can help us at home by discussing our school values and how you see these in action out of the school gates and at after school sports events, in the household etc.

Term 1 School Events Snapshot

We have many exciting events, and we will continue to update you with dates and further information closer to the time of these events. A snapshot of events coming up includes Year 5/6 E.O.T.C week 16th -20th March and Culture Week 16th -20th March.

Culture Week 16th - 20th March

Our students and families are from a multitude of over 38 different ethnicities. Culture Week provides us with an opportunity to discover where we are all from, a little about others’ culture, to learn about each other and to celebrate the rich diversity at Pinehill School.

‘Once you understand and appreciate other people’s cultural backgrounds, then you can also connect with them more.’

We invite our parents and whanau members to come into our PInehill School classrooms and share aspects of your culture during this week. If you are able to visit your child’s classroom to share part of your culture, please email your child’s teacher to book in a sharing time. In previous years our tamariki have been treated to your cooking, sharing of artefacts, storytelling, language teaching, games, music, art work and more. This home school partnership enriches the Culture Week learning experiences immensely, providing much authentic learning for all.

We will have our Culture Parade and shared lunch on Friday 13th March. The Parade will begin at 11:00am. Your child is invited to come to school dressed in clothing that reflects their culture/s.

A shared lunch will follow. Students are invited to bring a small plate of food (representing food from their culture) to school. This can go directly to the classroom as children arrive on Friday. Teachers will have an area set aside for this. We are unable to provide heating for food with the day's timetable and events going on, so you may prefer to drop off a dish closer to lunch time already cooked and heated and ready for students to sample. Please list ingredients for our students who have allergies. We will be encouraging students to try something different. We hope as many of you as possible are able to join us for both the parade and shared lunch celebration.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.
Success is not the work of one, but the work of many.

Ngā mihi nui,
Carla Veldman, Principal

Board News

Kia ora Pinehill School whanau,

We hope you are all well and settling into the term smoothly. You will have noticed the work has come quite far with the removal of the old office. This is an exciting step forward for Pinehill. The removal will create more usable space and opens the door for some great improvements ahead. We appreciate your patience while this work is underway and look forward to sharing more updates with you soon.

The Board met last week on the 9th February for our first meeting of 2026. At this meeting, Rania was re-appointed Presiding Member, Jenny was re-appointed Finance Lead, and Forrest was re-appointed Property Lead. We are looking forward to working together to support our students, staff and wider community.

Attendance continues to be an important focus for both the Board and school leadership. Regular attendance plays a key role in student wellbeing, confidence, and academic progress. We encourage all families to support consistent attendance wherever possible. More information regarding our Attendance Management Plan will be shared in the coming days and will be posted on our school website under the School Information tab. You can also check your child’s attendance at any time via the Hero app.

Thank you for your ongoing support of Pinehill School, and we look forward a successful year!

Friends of Pinehill School

Dear Pinehill School Parents,

We’re a group of parent volunteers who care deeply about building a strong school community and creating the best learning environment for our children. When you get involved, you’re not only supporting Pinehill School — you’re also showing your child that you care about their school lives. Your involvement can make them feel proud, noticed, and supported, helping them grow in confidence and motivation.

Volunteering is also a great way to connect with other parents, sharing ideas, better understanding of how the school runs, and making new friends. Some of our FoPS members have formed wonderful lifelong friendships, and it’s truly special to watch our children grow up together. We’d love to hear from you — please come and have a chat with us or send us an email!

You’re also very welcome to drop by during Fun Food Fridays at the School Hall (12:00–1:10pm) anytime to say hello!

🌿 Pinehill School Picnic – 4 March

5:00–7:00pm | School Field

Join us for a relaxed evening on the school field to meet 2026 classmates, families and teachers. Bring a picnic mat and your own dinner, or pre-order through Kindo. Snacks will also be available on the day. We hope to see you there!

🍕 Picnic Dinner Preorders

Pre-order your picnic dinner via Kindo
🗓 Orders close: 2 March
Don’t miss out!

🙌 Helpers Wanted

Stall set-up starts at 4:30pm.
We need helpers for stall set-up, snack sales and activities.

You’re welcome to help on the day, or email us at pinehillfops@gmail.com.