25 September 2026

Kia ora whānau,

Term 3 has now come to an end. In many ways, it has been a challenging term, with sickness affecting both students and staff and testing everyone’s resilience.

I would like to thank our families for your understanding when we have needed to split classes due to the shortage of relievers. We do everything we can to avoid splitting classes, but at times it is unavoidable. It has been a real credit to our students to see how well they have coped with the sudden changes in teachers and routines.

AIMS Games – A Fantastic Week

The AIMS Games in Tauranga provided a fantastic week for our two cyclists and 10 netballers, who competed with distinction and represented themselves, their families, and SWIS with determination and pride.

I would particularly like to congratulate our netball team, who claimed silver in a remarkable tournament performance. This was the result of excellent coaching and management, hard work and skill from the players, and a strong team-first approach.

Congratulations to all involved. You represented SWIS exceptionally well. A huge thank you also to our wonderful parents who supported our athletes, We couldn’t do it without you!

Exciting Changes Around the School

There is plenty happening around the school property, and it is exciting to see these projects continue to move forward.

Over the holidays, our hall will be repainted, with the two murals staying in place! We are also getting closer to the completion of our new building. Once this is complete, we will move towards the demolition of the eastern side of the school, including our current specialist block. This is planned for the summer break.

Plans are also progressing for a new playground for our students in 2027. Our School Board has been working with Studio Pacific Architecture to develop a landscape plan for the school, with our student Green Team also having the opportunity to contribute their ideas.

I want to acknowledge and thank our School Board Property Subcommittee, who have worked tirelessly to make these improvements happen. There is a lot of work happening behind the scenes, and it is great to see these plans starting to become a reality.

Looking Ahead to Term 4

I hope everyone takes the opportunity over the break to have a bit of a breather, recharge and enjoy some time with family and friends.

We have plenty to look forward to in Term 4, and I’m sure it will be a terrific final term of the year.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Ngā mihi nui,

Brendon Henderson

Tumuaki | Principal

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Term 4 Dates

Week 1

• 12 Oct – First day of Term 4
• 13-15 Oct – EPro8 at SWIS

Week 2

• 21 Oct – EPro8 competition @ EBIS – 4 – 7pm
• 21 Oct – WRISSA Polyfest (Polyclub performing)
• 21 Oct – Tagata o le Moana (Polyclub performing)

Week 3

• 26 Oct – Labour Day, School closed
• 28 Nov – WRISSA Ki O Rahi @ Wainuiomata
• 29 Oct – School Board meeting, 6pm
• 30 Nov – Year 7 Immunisations

Week 4

• 2/3 Nov – Toa Whakaihuwaka – Girls’ Football

Week 5

• 13 Nov – Rongotai Experience Day

Week 6

• 18 Nov – WRISSA Boys’ and Girls’ Touch
• 19 Nov – St Catherine’s College,  St Mary’s College and St Patrick’s College Orientation Day

Week 7

• 24 Nov – Wellington East College Open Morning
• 25 Nov – Te Ora Atamira Kapa Haka @ Avalon Intermediate

Week 8

• 30 Nov – French Language Enrichment Cafe
• 1 Dec – Regional Athletics
• 2 Dec – Wellington High School Orientation Day
• 3 Dec – School Board meeting, 6pm

Week 9

• 7-11 Dec – EOTC week
• 9 Dec – WRISSA Viliamu Festival
• 11 Dec – Whole School Service to the Community Day
• 11 Dec – Leavers Dinner and Dance – details tbc

Week 10

• 14 Dec – Prize Giving – details tbc
• 15 Dec – Last day of school for 2026, 2pm finish

See the confirmed dates for 2027 here on our website.

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School Notices

Kapa Haka Raffle! Get your tickets now

Our Kapa Haka group is running a raffle to help fundraise for our upcoming stand at Te Manukura Tahi – Wellington Kapa Haka Regionals! This is a pretty exciting milestone for SWIS, as it will be our first stand at regionals in eight years!

🎟️ Tickets: $3 each
💵 Cash only
🏫 Available from the SWIS school office
🎯 Only 100 tickets available!

Get in quick and support our Kapa Haka as they prepare for this exciting opportunity. Ka mau te wehi!

Confirmed College Orientation Days in Term 4

See the confirmed Orientation Days below, however we recommend that parents check their emails (once you’ve enrolled your child you will be contacted with more info) and the college website.

Wellington Boys College and Rongotai College: Friday 13 November. Students must get themselves there by 9am in non-uniform and do not come back to SWIS, they are there the whole day. PARENTS MUST LET SWIS KNOW THEY ARE GOING.

Wellington East Girls’ College: Tuesday 24 November. Students must get themselves there and we will take them back to SWIS on a bus at midday. They must be in school uniform and they MUST come back on the bus. PARENTS MUST LET SWIS KNOW THEY ARE GOING.

St Catherine’s College,  St Mary’s College and St Patrick’s College: Thursday 19 November. Students must get themselves there by 9am in non-uniform and do not come back to SWIS, they are there the whole day. PARENTS MUST LET SWIS KNOW THEY ARE GOING.

Wellington High School – 2 Dec

Wellington Girls’ College – tbc

Scot’s College: Tuesday 3 November

Queen Margaret College: Monday 1 February

Click here for Homestay info!

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School News

Interschool Tennis Champs!

On a good day in Wellington, SWIS players at the intermediate tennis tournament met some tough competition with real grit and good sportsmanship. Abby and Hugo each came away with 1 win in their first ever tournament. Top SWIS placements went to Sophie with silver in the girls’ first division, and Myles winning the consolation round of the boys’ third division.

Edition #4 from our SWIS Reporters

Click here to read Edition #4!

WRISSA Volleyball

Our SWIS volleyball teams took to the court at the WRISSA Volleyball Tournament and gave it their all!

👏 Girls: 10th
👏 Boys: 14th

It was great to see both teams showing determination, teamwork and plenty of improvement throughout the day. A fantastic opportunity to compete, learn and build their skills!

AIMS Games in Tauranga

A huge thank you to all our parent helpers and whanau who made the AIMS Games possible for our ākonga!

Our Kārearea netball team had an outstanding week. Competing in the Open Division, the squad of 10 players — eight girls and two boys — finished an incredible second overall, SWIS’s best-ever result in netball at AIMS Games. Throughout the tournament, Kārearea displayed brilliant netball skills alongside plenty of grit, determination and team spirit. A huge shout-out also goes to coaches Jo and Elizabeth and manager Kris for their excellent stewardship of the team, both on and off the court. Congratulations to the whole squad on a fantastic achievement and for representing SWIS so proudly!

Otis had a fantastic time at his first AIMS Games, riding alongside friends from around the country and enjoying the experience of competing on the national stage. He teamed up with Roman Thompson from Hawke’s Bay in a novelty team, finishing 4th in the teams event, while Otis also placed an impressive 7th in the individual final!

In the MTB Enduro race, Ollie S finished 23rd out of 198 riders – an awesome result in a highly competitive field!

Science Fair success

Congratulations to Livie on her win at the NIWA Science Fair!

This year, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to participate in the 2026 NIWA Science fair. I had worked on my project, label fables: building better bites, for the last 3 months, and I was both nervous and excited to see it up with all the other year 8 project boards. My project was about trying to find what ultra-processed foods I commonly eat in my diet and also if I could create a homemade alternative to classic ultra-processed snacks. I was really happy when my hard work paid off and I won a $100 prize from the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology. – Livie

Hands-On Science: Cow Eye Dissections

“The cow eye dissections that were held recently were a great opportunity for students to apply their knowledge of the structure of the eye; it gave them a taste of what they could do in the future and was a fun experience for many.” Bhavishya, Rm10.

Food Tech: Skills, Creativity and Independence

Food tech students have been busy again this term making dumplings and sushi, as well as many other products. Students were also given an opportunity to work independently, demonstrating the skills they learnt. to create a pizza of their choice.

Interschool Girls Indoor Cricket

Our girls had a fun day and came fourth out of eight which is pretty good considering none of them played indoor cricket before, and some had never played cricket before but gave it a go!

Art Without the Passport: Exploring Iceland’s Svartifoss

In Art for Art’s sake we studied source images of Iceland’s famous National Park waterfall called Svartifoss. Using acrylic paint and pieces of card, we creates the sea, rocks, basalt columns and the waterfall. Sponges for splash effects and chalk pastel for the sky… and hey presto we don’t need to travel to Iceland to see it!