Tuesday 4th August 2026

Tuesday 4 August 2026     Rātū te ra wha o Hereturikōkā

Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Sat Sri Akal, Namaste, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Fakalofa lahi atu, Bula Vinaka, Salam & Warm Pacific Greetings to you all

WHAT’S ON AT RPS

Friday 7 August
Whole school assembly, Rooms 16 and 23 hosting, 2pm, all welcome

Tuesday 11 August
Year 5-6 Girls Rugby

Friday 14 August
RPS Farewell Assembly for Ms McMurray, 11am

Monday 17 August
Year 7-8 League
Board meeting, 5.30pm

Tuesday 18 August
Year 7-8 Counties Boys Netball

Wednesday 19 August
Year 5-6 Rehu Tai speech finals – Reremoana School

Thursday 20 August
Year 7-8 Interzone Girls Netball
Whole school assembly, Rooms 6 and 32 hosting, 2 pm, all welcome
AIMS Pie collection, 3pm from Te Kahukura
Year7/8 Mathex 7pm Barfoot&Thompson Stadium
Kohi marama

Friday 21 August
Board mid term break – School closed

The 2026 theme for Cook Islands Māori Language Week is “Me kite koe i te tuatua i to’ou reo tupuna, e turanga rangatira tena nō’ou no te uki amuri atu” – With our language as our foundation, we will embrace the future.

TE HUI AKO

Thank you to all the whānau who attended our Te Hui Ako meetings last week to hear about their children’s progress.

Our goal is to meet with every family, so if you weren’t able to attend, it’s not too late. Please contact the school office to make an appointment. Teachers are available for meetings throughout the rest of this week.

We already have two classes with 100% whānau participation, well done to Rooms 5 and 9!

Our Term 3 Whānau Survey is also still open. If you haven’t completed it yet, you’ll find the link in the Community Notices on Hero. The survey will close at the end of this week.

ATTENDANCE

Term 2 Attendance – Everyday matters

Regular school attendance is an important factor in a child’s learning, wellbeing, and long-term success. The Ministry of Education’s attendance expectations is that students should attend school every day unless they are unwell or there is another legitimate reason for their absence. Consistent attendance helps children stay connected to their learning, maintain routines, and develop the skills and habits that support future success.

Our goal is for 80% of students to attend school regularly. This means attending school more than 90% of the time – this is less the five days off per term or missing no more than one day each fortnight.

It can be surprising how quickly absences add up:

• 1 day absent each fortnight = around 20 days missed in a school year, that’s the equivalent of four weeks of learning.
• 2 days absent each fortnight = around 40 days missed, that’s eight weeks of learning, almost half a term.

Last term, Randwick Park School’s regular attendance rate was 53%, which was a slight improvement on the same time last year. Thank you to all our whānau who let us know when their tamariki are absent. Keeping us informed means we can record absences accurately, ensure we have the right information to support our students, and meet Ministry of Education attendance requirements.

WEEK 3 ATTENDANCE DRAW

Shout out to Kotahitanga, for once again taking the top spot for attendance last week!

Congratulations to Arizona (Room 23) and Brayden (Room 24), both from Kotahitanga, who are the winners of our weekly attendance draw! Thank you for coming to school everyday last week, we hope you enjoy your prizes.

HOUSE POINTS

Congratulations to Te Hiringa for taking out the winning house for Week two,
two weeks in a row! Their flag will be raised this week.

YEAR 4-6 CROSS COUNTRY

Our Year 4–6 Cross Country team represented RPS at the Interschool Cross Country event, competing against 17 schools from across Manurewa, with around 70 students in each division. We are proud to share that our team finished as the Overall Champions.

Congratulations to our place getters:

Year 4 Girls:  1st – Itania
Year 4 Boys:  1st – Joshua, 4th – Romeo
Year 5 Girls:  2nd – Akira
Year 5 Boys:  2nd – James
Year 6 Girls: 4th – Leilani

We also had several other students finish in the top 20.

A big well done to all 24 students who represented our school. Every runner gave their best, showed great determination, and kept going right through to the finish. Winning the overall title was a great team effort, and we are very proud of everyone who took part.

YEAR 7/8 CROSS COUNTRY

Our Year 7/8 students also competed in the CCSA Cross Country meet last Friday. We had our best ever results at this event:

Year 7 Boys – first placing in the teams event

Year 7 Girls – first placing in the teams event

Year 8 Girls – first placing in the teams event

Year 8 Boys – second placing in the teams event

A special congratulations to Arsh (1st Year 7 Boys’ event), Rayyan (2nd Year 7 Boys’ event) and Livian (2nd Year 8 Girls’ event) for their individual placings!

SPORTS MUFTI DAY

It was awesome to see so many tamariki dressed up in their sports gear last Thursday. We raised just over $515.00, which will go to our AIMS Teams heading to Tauranga in September. Every little bit counts, we appreciate the support our community gives.   

ASSEMBLY CERTIFICATE RECIPIENTS

Fantastic work to all the tamariki who received a certificte at last weeks school assembly.

FAREWELL TO MS KAREN MCMURRAY

On Friday 14 August, Randwick Park School will come together for a special assembly to celebrate and farewell Ms Karen McMurray as she begins her retirement.

Ms McMurray has been an integral part of our school’s story since opening our doors in 1997 as our founding principal. Over the past 30 years, she has led Randwick Park School with unwavering dedication, vision, and passion, helping shape our kura into the caring and vibrant learning community it is today.

Through her leadership, Ms McMurray has fostered an environment where tamariki and kaiako are supported to learn, grow, and succeed together. She has truly embodied our school motto, “Growing and Learning Together to Be the Best We Can Be,” inspiring generations of students, staff, and whānau.

Over three decades, thousands of children, teachers, and families have been part of the Randwick Park School community, and Ms McMurray has made a lasting difference in the lives of so many. Her legacy will continue to be seen in the values, culture, and spirit of our kura for many years to come.

While we are saddened to say goodbye, we are incredibly grateful for Ms McMurray’s remarkable contribution to our school. We wish her every happiness as she begins this exciting new chapter of retirement.

ROAD SAFETY REMINDER

Please take a few minutes to talk with your tamariki about staying safe when crossing the road. Encourage them to always use the zebra crossings on Riverton Drive and Magic Way. There have been some near accidents with tamariki crossing near the shops instead of using the school patrol. For their safety, they should use the patrolled crossing outside the school so they are on the correct side of the road.

If crossing in other locations, remind your tamariki to stop at the curb, look both ways, listen for traffic, and only cross when it is safe to do so. When the school patrol is operating, they should always wait for the patrollers to signal that it is safe before crossing.

By working together, we can help keep all of our tamariki safe when walking to and from school.

PARKING

To help keep our students safe, please do not park on yellow lines or at bus stops during drop off and pick up times. These areas are marked to ensure clear visibility, allow buses to operate safely, and provide safe crossing points for children. Parking in these restricted areas can create unnecessary hazards.

Thank you for helping us keep the area around our school safe for everyone.

MANA KIDSZ HEALTH NURSES

We have ManaKids health nurses onsite daily. They can see your tamariki for :

• Sore throats
  
• Skin checks
• Head lice
• Dental health
  
• Ear and eye health and checks
• Respiratory health
• Allergies

If you need your tamariki to be seen by our nurses, please let our office staff or your child/rens kaiako know. For more information on Mana Kidz visit their website here.