“He waka eke noa”

5 Jun 2025

Hi everyone you may be aware that the curriculum for schools has changed this year. Therefore the question comes up about how this should change the way we do student progress reports.

I have decided that, along with many other schools, we will not be changing the way we report until next year. Here's why...

In short we are very happy with the current curriculum and how we do teaching, learning and assessment at Pirinoa School.  We are keen to get to know the new curriculum and to deliver it effectively once we understand it fully.

And here's a more detailed explanation...

The new Year 7–8 English curriculum has not yet been finalised. This would result in different parts of our school working from different curriculum documents, making it difficult to ensure consistency across year levels.

Using two separate curricula would also make it more complex for school leadership to analyse achievement data over time and report meaningfully on progress toward our annual goals.

We have not yet been provided with new assessment tools that align with the new curriculum. Without these, it becomes even more difficult for teachers to make sound, evidence-based judgements about student progress.

The new curriculum frameworks come with a significantly increased workload for teachers. Our staff are working extremely hard to understand the new content, expectations, and benchmarks. In many areas, these have changed substantially compared to the previous curriculum.

And although the government has provided support for this process, it is slow to be delivered. For instance our Teacher Only Day tomorrow will be the first chance for us to get our heads around the new maths curriculum. 

Most importantly, our teachers want to make accurate, robust, and fair judgements about your child’s progress and achievement. They cannot do this confidently while still learning and adjusting to new documents and systems.

With this in mind, I believe it makes the most practical and educational sense to continue reporting against the current curriculum until the start of 2026.

We appreciate your support as we navigate this important transition, and we remain committed to keeping you well-informed and involved in your child’s learning journey. Early in term 3 will be parent teacher interviews where you can delve more fully into your child's progress in 2025.

Ngā mihi nui,

Richard Goodyear

3 Jun 2025

Hi there just a reminder that we take pride in our school uniform and expect our children to do the same.

This includes the bus vest

I've attached our uniform list as a reminder of what is compulsory, what is optional and the price list. 

Remember the trackpants and jackets are on sale for $30 at the moment

Our process for uniform violations is to first get in touch with you as parents to see what is happening and if the problem is to do with the child making bad choices e.g. choosing not to wear an item that a parent has provided, we will use consequences here at school eg rubbish duty.

This includes a crackdown on bus vests which we consider very important for safety. Unfortunately these are not being worn consistently, particularly by our older students. Let's all remind them that they are wearing partly to role model to younger children.

2 Jun 2025

Week 6 already! Here’s what's on this week!

Mon 2nd - SCHOOL CLOSED - Kings Birthday 

Tue 3rd - 

Wed 4th -

Thur 5th -

Fri 6th  - SCHOOL CLOSED - Teacher Only Day