Balmoral School Newsletter - 30 May 2025

Te Tumuaki / Principal

Kia ora e te whānau

Kia ora koutou,

Growing Independence: Why Play and Risk-Taking Matter at Balmoral

At Balmoral, we believe deeply in the power of play to develop independent, capable young tamariki.

Modern life often means children have fewer chances to take small, sensible risks than previous generations. Recent research shows a generational decline in children's independent mobility, with most New Zealand children now requiring adult supervision for activities their parents did independently at the same age. New Zealand ranks poorly for overall child well-being and mental health compared to other wealthy countries, which may be linked to reduced independence and outdoor activity.

When was the last time, for instance, we felt entirely at ease letting a young child walk to school or the shops alone? While this might be common for a 7 or 8-year-old in Finland or an 8 to 10-year-old in Germany, the perceived appropriate age in New Zealand is often 12 or older.

This is why our educational journey at Balmoral starts with exposing children to risks through learning through play in the early years. As our students grow, we continue to foster this spirit through a playful, engaging curriculum that keeps them curious and excited to learn.

Encouraging children to embrace new challenges and take thoughtful risks is a key part of how we approach learning. We guide them to develop this skill through three essential stages:

• Being Ready for Risk (Willingness): Helping children feel emotionally open to trying something new, even if it seems daunting.
• Thinking it Through (Assessment): Teaching them to look at a situation and decide if it’s a safe enough challenge.
• Managing the Challenge (Handling): Supporting them as they actively navigate the task they’ve chosen.

The recent outdoor education camps for our Year 5 to 8 tamariki beautifully illustrate this theory. These essential school activities are more than just fun; they are vital opportunities for children to practice their risk-taking skills and build those crucial 'essential skills' (sometimes called 'soft skills') like teamwork, resilience, self-management and creative thinking.

Sometimes it is hard as parents to loosen those apron strings, but in the end, it is crucial for a child's development.

Ngā mihi

Malcolm

School Closed Today

Teachers will participate in a Professional Development (PD) day today around the Curriculum refresh of Mathematics. This is the second of two Ministry of Education-directed Professional Learning days for Maths. 

School Board Elections

In September, we are holding our school board elections. Kyle MacDonald, our Presiding Member, and Sarah Jack (Deputy PM) are available to talk to anyone interested in standing. They are also available to discuss questions regarding the Board, such as time commitment, skills, and attitudes. 

Sonya Singh, a previous Board member who served for ten years on our Board and nearly nine as our chair, is also available to talk to. She has extensive knowledge of school governance.

Contact details

Kyle MacDonald: kyle@psychotherapy.nz 

Sarah Sarah: sarah.c.jack@gmail.com 

Sonya Singh: Sonyaboardelection@balmoral.school.nz

Board Elections: Parent & Staff Election Timetable

This year, our election will be held online. Please ensure your email addresses are up to date to enable you to participate. 

Health Notice

We're currently seeing a significant amount of sickness in our school community. To help us keep everyone as healthy as possible, we kindly ask for your support.

If your child is showing any symptoms of illness (such as a cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, or upset stomach), please keep them at home to rest and recover.

When children come to school unwell, illnesses can spread quickly through their classmates and our staff. We want to ensure a healthy learning environment for all, and this relies on our community's effort. It's also worth noting that, unfortunately, teachers in New Zealand have been disproportionately affected by long COVID compared to many other professions, and staff illness impacts our ability to provide consistent in-class learning.

By keeping your child home when they are unwell, you are not only looking after their health but also showing care for their classmates, our teachers, and the wider school community.

Safety at the School Gate

Student safety remains our top priority, yet dangerous driving is a significant concern for our children, staff, and neighbours.

We’ve seen unsafe behaviours, including U-turns near children on bikes, jaywalking by adults, and vehicles parked over driveways or in no-parking zones near crossings—all of which pose risks and set a poor example.

In addition, the council plans to increase speed limits on nearby roads, which may further endanger children walking, biking, or scootering to school. Please remind your children to use crossings, stay alert, and take extra care.

The School Board has raised these concerns with the Eden Albert Local Board, but action is still needed. Detailed information, a map of the changes and a list of roads by suburb are available on the Speed Limit Reversals webpage. Please check the map to see where speed limits are changing around our school.

Drive safely, park responsibly, and help keep our tamariki safe.

Primary School News

News from Whānau Mahira

After the disappointment of a postponement, the Year 2’s finally managed to find a brief break in the weather to arrive at Western Springs for our trip. Why Western Springs? Well the school field was once a lake and we have been wondering what it would have been like in Inquiry. What would have lived there? Who would have lived there? 

We discovered that there were birds, birds, so many birds! Pūkekos, black swans, Australian coots, pāteke (brown ducks), mallard ducks, geese and even large white regal spoonbills on the island in the middle of the lake.

We found large pepetuna (pūriri moth) holes in the pūriri trees, the caterpillars waiting their 5 long years before hatching and flying for only one night. The waters were writhing with tuna (eels), their white bellies flashing.

We still have more questions and wonderings to explore.

“Was the lake at our school connected to Western Springs?” (Yuvaan)

“Did the pūkeko living on our school field come from Western Springs?” (Millie)

“Maybe there are weird fish in the lake that no scientist has explored yet?” (Eliana)

“How did the eels get there?” (Zion)

In Maths, we have been learning about multiplication and division. We have delved deeper into our multiplication knowledge by learning about grids and arrays. We were looking around the Hub for different arrays and grids in real life. We spotted grids in the cubbies, the alphabet cards on the wall and even the ceiling! 

We have also enjoyed having Elise from Norway and Alex from the US in our Hub as part of their International teacher training program.

Intermediate School News

Year 8 Camp at Motutapu

Last week we went to Motutapu Camp and had a great time. We learnt new things and tried things we hadn't done before. We were there for four days and we had jam packed days full of activities like kayaking, stand up paddle boarding (S.U.P), high ropes and more. For anyone who is worried about camp it's a lot of fun and the food was great! We highly recommend for you to come even if you're worried as it's a lot of fun: you will make new friends; new memories; and learn how to work together as a team. We are so grateful for all the parents who lent their time for our camp and for the teachers who made it happen - it was amazing. For all the future Year 8’s we hope you have as much fun as we did.

By Kenuli and Will

Central Zone Football - Boys

Our Central Zone experience went surprisingly well. When we came in we set up our gear and warmed up for our upcoming game.

Our first game was against Kōwhai A team which we won 1-0 even with our doubts. We, along with our team, went on to play Royal Oak almost straight after our last win.

We beat Royal Oak 2-0 with our best efforts. Iggy shouted “When do the Warm ups end!”  With our next game being in 30 minutes we had some food and water. We were automatically through to the quarter finals and if we won this third game we would be first in our pool and would make it through to the semis.

Our third game was against Waiheke; we ended up winning 2-0 which means we were automatically in the semi-finals against our biggest rivals A.N.I which we WON!!! 1-0, it was such a great game and we ended up on top. We were now in the finals and very proud of our accomplishments.

The final was against Remuera Intermediate. They put up a good fight not to let any in, so it was 0-0 at the final whistle, going on to penalties. 

Josh took the first one, which he buried bottom left. Beau took the next which he scored but unfortunately R.I had scored both as well. The other three people on our team missed, unfortunately, and RI scored theirs. We lost on penalties but we came second. Thanks to our brilliant keeper Nathan and brilliant coach Neville Smith, we didn't concede one goal that tournament.

The goal scorers were - 

Josh Moates: 3 goals

Beau Fitzgerald: 1 goal

Caleb Hoaggard: 1 goal

Ollie Charleston: 1 goal

In conclusion we had an amazing time, and there is always next year.

(Caleb and Aarush are absent from this team photo.)

By Beau and Iggy.

Central Zone Football - Girls

On the 27th of May 2025, we set off for Central Zone football at Mt Roskill School. We were relieved that it wasn’t canceled as just before we left it had been pouring down with rain. When we got to the field it was very muddy and some people fell over. We played many teams including Mt Roskill Intermediate, the home team. Sadly we didn't win any games but it was really fun. We got some really good team goals too. Thank you to Bex, Susan, Dave, and Robin for coming along and helping the team. And also to Lisa for organising the team. Overall there was amazing weather and all of us had a great time.

By Emi, Mia, and Poppy 

Central Zone Futsal - Year 7 

When we got to the venue the hosts got everyone together had a little talk and then we went of and started warming up for our upcoming game against Mt Roskill it was a very close game but we came through for a win 1-0 

Our next game wasn't going to be easy, playing Kōwhai was gonna be a real battle, they had some great players. Everyone went 100% the end score was 2-2, and (not to brag) I made an amazing goal line clearance in the last play.

Our first playoff game was against Waikowhai intermediate we won that 2-0 which made us go on to the semi finals against A.N.I. We knew that they were going to a really good team and we would have to put everything out on the table. The game was very, very tough. The game was super physical and everyone was amazing. We unfortunately lost 1-0.

We played a game for 4th and 3rd place against Ponsonby. We had high hopes for the match and yes we won with  great flair 4-0.

In conclusion I would like to say a big thank you to Josh’s dad Shane and Evan whom did an incredible job at coaching us and Nathan and Josh who played for the Year 7 team as well as playing for the Year 8 team We came third, thats really good, I'm really proud of everyone and we had a brilliant time.

By Iggy 

Central Zone Futsal - Year 8

The Year 8 boys had a great time at CZ Futsal. Amazingly, they came second, and played super well. They won 3 out of the 4 games in the group stage, sending themselves into the playoffs. 

In the quarterfinal, the boys played very well, Seb scored a good two goals with Ollie scoring another two to finish it off. 

In our semifinal vs ANI, Seb scored a great hat trick (3 goals) and again Ollie scored the fourth and final goal to complete the 4-1 victory. 

Finally in the big final against RI, who we previously lost to in our first game 2-0. We went up early 1-0 but they responded with 4 unanswered goals. In the second half we really came back and brought it back to 3-4 with just under a minute left. We fought hard but couldn't quite get the win.

By  Eddie W, Seb and Alex D

Netball League

We have had a fantastic start to the netball season with 15 netball teams taking the court over the past few weeks. Balmoral has entered teams into every grade in the Windmill Park competition from Years 1-8. Years 3-8 are playing in grading rounds and will start their competitions in the next few weeks.

For the first time Balmoral School has entered teams into the junior Year 1/2 competition. Three of our Year 8 students have taken the role of coach/star helper for these teams. Alex Bailey, Amara Bruns and Elise Greenwell were very keen to take part and are using this learning opportunity to complete their Rich Challenges this term. It is great to see our most senior tamariki supporting our youngest tamariki to play netball. There were lots of smiling faces and lots of energy and enthusiasm on the court for these first games. 

Wishing all the teams well for the rest of the season.

Community News