Nau mai, haere mai! Welcome to our first newsletter for Term 4! We have had a settled start back to the term, beginning with a whakatau welcoming our new five year old students and their whānau to our kura. We ended the first week with a Values Hui where we had a special guest, Sophia Parkinson, visit and talk to the students. Read the newsletter article to find out more about Sophia and the messages she shared with our students.
LibraryWe are excited to share that our library refurbishment has been completed! It looks fabulous and the staff and students are enjoying the refreshed space. Thank you to Neil Parkinson, Board of Trustees, for overseeing this project. We are also extremely grateful for the dedicated mahi of Fiona (Librarian) and Ricky (Property Manager) who managed the day-to-day organisation. There were thousands of books and resources that had to move out of the library and then back in - I know Fiona was very appreciative of all the staff who helped them make the 'move out' and 'move back in' process run smoothly.
Sandpit
The Board have funded a massive new sandpit over under the big trees on the field (where the old long jump pits were). The students have had a great time exploring this new space and enjoyed the addition of some new sandpit toys to support their play. This will be a lovely shaded spot under the big trees in the summer for the students to play. Many thanks to John (River City Landscaping) for bringing our sandpit vision to life! You may have noticed that John has also put timber edging around the big tree bark gardens bordering the field. This will hopefully help keep the bark in the gardens and keep the footpaths clear of bark.
Gardens You may see Logan (Primal Landscaping) working in the gardens from time to time. He is working alongside Ricky to help keep our gardens looking tip-top! He is also helping us improve some of the gardens with replacement planting.
It certainly takes a team to keep our school looking great and Ricky, our Property Manager, does an awesome job of working closely with a large number of contractors!
Life Education Our Year 4-6 students have enjoyed participating in Life Education Trust lessons over the past two weeks. They have been learning alongside Harold, the Life Ed Giraffe, about healthy food choices.
Cultural Evening On Wednesday, the 4th November @ 6pm in the Hall, we are having a Cultural evening where the Choir, Band, Kapa Haka, Jump Jam, Bhangra Dance Group and the Cheerleading squad will perform. We look forward to celebrating the pūmanawa (talents) of our students.
National Shakeout Day Today, we participated in the National ShakeOut Day where we practiced what to do in the case of an earthquake.
Fire Drill On Thursday 5 November @ 11am we will be also be having a practice fire drill.
WOW Week! This week is Walk or Wheels Week where we have promoted, in partnership with the Hamilton City Council, students and whānau walking or wheeling to school this week! There are lots of prizes to be handed out to those students who choose to Walk or Wheel to school. These prizes have been organised by Cameron and his team from the Hamilton City Council has kindly organised for us.
Leaving Students at the end of 2026 Lastly, it is that time of the year where we begin thinking about class placements for 2027. If your child is leaving our school at the end of this year, can you please email the school and let us know: reception@rototunaprimary.school.nz This information is important for us to know as it affects our class sizes. Thank you!
Health Update: Chickenpox
We have recently had a few cases of chickenpox in our school community.
Symptoms to monitor: An itchy, spotty rash (turning into fluid-filled blisters that scab over), along with mild fever, tiredness, or loss of appetite. Symptoms typically appear 10 to 21 days after exposure.
If your child is unwell: Keep them home until all blisters have completely dried and crusted over, with no new spots for at least 24 hours.
Chickenpox immunisation is available through the Te Whatu Ora Health NZ National Immunisation Schedule.
Enjoy the long weekend ahead whanau,
Ngā mihi, Kylie
Special Visitor
Last term the Kai Tahu iwi from Te Rōpū Karanga Maha had the pleasure of a visit from former Black Stick Natasha Fitzsimons (now Brill). Tash is also of Kai Tahu descent. Her kōrero to our ākonga focused on competition, competitiveness, perseverance and resilience. She spoke about being part of a team and that when things don't always go your way on the field you need to be quick to pick yourself up and move on for the team. Her kōrero encompassed our vision of Kia Manawanui - being strong of heart, enjoying when things are going great and being resilient when they are not going so well. She played a game with the Kai Tahu ākonga and Vinnie was lucky enough to win the Junior Black Sticks T Shirt.
Another Special Visitor
Welcoming Back Sophia Parkinson!
We were privileged to welcome back former Rototuna Primary Year 6 leader Sophia Parkinson as a guest speaker at our Values Hui last Friday. Sophia has gone on to accomplish incredible things - she is currently Head Girl at Fairfield Intermediate and an outstanding athlete across multiple sports.
In football and futsal, she plays for both her school and club, she captains the U14 Melville Football Team, and is part of the Waikato U14 Futsal development squad. Sophia has picked up multiple tournament MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards along the way. At the 2026 AIMS Games national tournament, she represented Fairfield Intermediate in Futsal and brought home Gold! She’s equally talented on a bike too, winning back-to-back Gold at the Waikato-BOP Mountain Biking Championships for Year 7 and Year 8, as well as claiming Silver and Bronze medals at the AIMS Games.
While her list of sporting achievements is incredible, what makes Sophia truly special is who she is off the field. She is known by everyone around her as kind, respectful, and exceptionally hard-working - or another way I would describe Sophia is strong of heart!
Sophia shared an inspiring talk with our kura about what it truly means to be part of a team, drawing on her experiences as a student leader, team athlete, and individual competitor.
Key Takeaways from Sophia’s Speech:
Leadership is Action, Not a Title: Being a leader or wearing a badge isn’t about being superior - it’s about showing manaakitanga, caring for others, listening, and setting a daily example people can trust.
The Strength of a Team: In sports and in the classroom, success comes from backing one another, working together toward shared goals, and supporting teammates when things don't go as planned.
Be on Your Own Team: In solo sport like mountain biking, self-belief is essential. When things get tough, you have to be your own biggest supporter, practice positive self-talk, and remind yourself that you can do hard things.
We Are All Part of "Team Rototuna": You don't need to win a race, score a winning goal, or hold a title to contribute. Being a great teammate is simply about bringing your best self, trying new things, and supporting those around you.
A massive thank you to Sophia for taking the time to return to Rototuna Primary School and inspire the next group of leaders at our kura!
Term 4 Sunhat Reminder
Enrolment at Rototuna Primary School
To support us plan our next new entrant classroom and our new entrant spaces for 2027 we encourage you to enrol your child at our school as soon as possible! The enrolment process is able to be done online via our website.
For 2027, the Board of Trustees has made the decision to accept out of zone enrolments for students who are turning 5 years of age in 2027 and starting school for the first time. We do have limited spaces available next year so please get your child's name on the Wait list now.
Kia Manawanui (Strong of Heart) Whole School Programme
This week we have a focus on Pumau and Manaaki - Being Caring, Respectful, Critical thinkers
Here is some voice from some Year 6 tamariki as they remind us all about what we stand for and who we are!
Manaaki Stars
Congratulations for our very first Term 4 Manaaki stars for 2026. Thank you for coming back from your holidays full of manaaki and showing Kia Manawanui!
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Concerns and Complaints Procedure
Where appropriate, Rototuna Primary School handles concerns and complaints informally in the first instance. If you would like to raise a concern with us, please follow the steps outlined in the concerns and complaints policy attached below.
Waikids Vision and Hearing Checks - Wednesday 28 October 2026
Traffic Around School and Parking
Safety is our top priority, and we are aware of the concerns regarding Traffic Around School during drop-off and pick-up times. We are fielding a lot of concerns and photo evidence from our community about the way some parents are not following the road safety rules and parking rules at drop off and pick up time. As a school we have no mandate to follow through with this evidence other than to encourage our parent community to follow the road rules and direct parents to share their concerns with the correct agencies.
For any concerns with traffic behaviour or illegal parking we encourage people to contact the Hamilton City Council or lodge a complaint with the police to address these issues. Tickets for illegal parking or dangerous driving are able to be processed with photo evidence and licence plate numbers.
Here are the appropriate contact details for any traffic or parking concerns:
Cameron Ward: Senior School Travel Coordinator | City Transportation - DDI: 07 838 6957; Email: cameron.ward@hcc.govt.nz
We are also experiencing first hand an increase in parent frustration and unkind and intimidating behaviour towards staff members who try to help direct traffic to prioritise your safety and student safety. We expect our parent community to follow the road rules as well as treat everyone with respect and kindness. We therefore kindly ask all parents to adhere to the following guidelines to ensure the safety of our students.
