23 October 2026

Kia ora whānau,

Cavemen named Best Intermediate Band in Aotearoa!

Last week, we received the fantastic news that Cavemen, one of our school bands, had beaten more than 200 bands from across the country to be named the best band in Aotearoa New Zealand for intermediate-aged students. This is an outstanding achievement and builds on the band’s success across Wellington over the past two years. Congratulations to Axel, Johann, Tarn and Theo, and their families. Their success reflects not only their musical talent, but also what can be achieved through commitment, focus and hard work. Brilliant!

I would also like to thank Aaron and Paddy, who have supported the boys throughout their musical journey at SWIS. It is great to see their efforts recognised at a national level.

EPRO8 – From staff learning to student success

During the holidays, our teaching staff took part in a professional learning day. One of the activities was becoming familiar with the EPRO8 equipment, which students then had the opportunity to use during the first week back at school.

Working in small groups, every student had the chance to design and build a structure to solve a problem. It was great to see them putting their thinking, creativity and problem-solving skills into practice.

Following this, two student teams were selected to represent SWIS at an interschool EPRO8 event. Both teams performed well, with one finishing second and qualifying for the Wellington finals in four weeks’ time. Our second team also achieved a very creditable ninth place.

Thank you to Morgan for coordinating the staff training and supporting our student teams. We wish our finalists all the best for the next round!

Celebrating our Cultural Groups

This week, both our Bollywood and Pasifika groups took part in the Intermediate Schools Festival in Porirua. Later in the day, our Pasifika group also performed at the Tagata Moana Primary and Intermediate Polyfest at the Michael Fowler Centre. They debuted their new uniforms, too, and looked fantastic!

Both groups were a real credit to SWIS, showcasing the talent and commitment of our students. These opportunities take a great deal of time and effort behind the scenes, and I would like to thank Stephen, Eseta, Nadia, Maria and Fananga for their work in supporting our students.

National Mountain Bike success

Over the holidays, Axel C achieved an outstanding result, winning two bronze medals at the national mountain bike championships. Congratulations, Axel! This is a fantastic achievement, and we are proud to see your hard work and talent recognised at a national level.

Otago Problem Solving Maths Challenge

Over the first three terms, a significant number of SWIS students challenged themselves by taking part in the Otago Problem Solving Maths Challenge. Students worked through five sets of five questions, with the difficulty increasing across the sets.

Three students in particular — Greta, Tarn and Escher — achieved excellent results, correctly answering more than 20 of the 25 questions overall and qualifying for the Final Challenge, which took place in Week 1 of this term.

All three did well, but Tarn achieved an exceptional result, scoring 84 out of 100. This was the ninth-highest score among participating Year 8 students across New Zealand!

Well done to Greta, Tarn and Escher for taking on this challenge and extending their mathematical thinking.

Have a go at one of the questions from the Final Challenge:

Dave, Eric and Frank are fathers. Their surnames, in some order, are Roberts, Smith and Trent. Between them, they have five boys and one girl.

• Eric has as many children as Dave and Frank together.
• Trent has the same number of boys as Smith.
• Smith has one fewer child than Frank.

Who is the girl’s father?

A. Eric Roberts
B. Dave Smith
C. Frank Trent
D. Frank Smith
E. Dave Trent

The answer is at the end of the newsletter.

Congratulations to our Kapa Haka fundraiser raffle winner!

Congratulations to Islarose’s whānau in Room 3, who won the raffle! Thank you to everyone who took part and supported the raffle.

ShakeOut: Practising earthquake safety

On Wednesday we took part in the national ShakeOut drill. As SWIS is not in a tsunami evacuation zone, we practiced shaking in. Students and staff across the school, including our office team, followed the Drop, Cover and Hold steps for the duration of the earthquake audio track.

It was great to see our ākonga practicing these important safety steps. The drill was a valuable reminder of what to do if an earthquake occurs while we are at school.

It’s also a good time to check in with your whānau at home. Make sure your family has an emergency plan and that everyone knows what to do in an earthquake. Being prepared helps us all feel safer and more confident in an emergency. Visit the Get Ready website for more information and great tips!

Improving our mid-year reports

This year, we introduced a new reporting format at mid-year to align with Ministry of Education requirements. This was the first time our teachers had used the format, which was developed through HERO.

As we worked through the process, we could see that the reports contained valuable information. However, the format was not as user-friendly or easy to follow as we would have liked, both for parents and for teachers.

We followed up with a parent survey and then held a focus group to gain a deeper understanding of what families were looking for within the new Ministry requirements. The focus group was particularly valuable and gave us clear direction on how we could improve the reports.

As a result, we will be making several changes. The general comment will move to the beginning of the report, followed by individual teacher comments on reading, writing and mathematics. The progress graphs will include more detailed explanations to help families understand what they show. We will also add a section highlighting each student’s participation in the various activities and opportunities offered at SWIS during 2026.

I want to thank all the parents who took the time to complete the survey and participate in the focus group. Your feedback has been genuinely helpful and has given us a clear direction for making these reports more useful for families.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Ngā mihi nui,

Brendon Henderson

Tumuaki | Principal

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Term 4 Dates

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
• 6 Nov – Kapa Haka event

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

Labour Day – School Closed Monday

A reminder that school will be closed on Monday (26 October) for Labour Day. We hope everyone enjoys the long weekend, takes the opportunity to recharge, and we look forward to welcoming students back on Tuesday.

Te Whanganui a Tara EOTC Week – 7-11 December

EOTC events offer unique, hands-on learning experiences that support our curriculum and help students build confidence, teamwork, and resilience outside the traditional classroom setting.  

Below is a timetable of events that classes will participate in during the course of the week.

Actions Required

• Please return the form to your child’s classroom teacher.
• If your child’s health or medical profile has changed since the beginning of the year, please update it by contacting the school office.

Thank you for your ongoing support in making these memorable experiences possible for our tamariki.

Day	Māwhero	Kikorangi	Waiporoporo	Kakariki
Rooms	Room 1, 3 & 8	Room 10,11,14 & 16	Rom  4, 12 & 13	Room 2,9 & 15
Monday	Pirates Cove Mini Golf / Adrenalin Forest	Beach Day	WRAC / Kilbirnie Rec	Whanganui a Tara Amazing Race
Tuesday	Whanganui a Tara Amazing Race	Pirates Cove Mini Golf / Adrenalin Forest	Beach Day	WRAC / Kilbirnie Rec
Wednesday	WRAC / Kilbirnie Rec	Whanganui a Tara Amazing Race	Pirates Cove Mini Golf/ Adrenalin Forest	Beach Day
Thursday	Beach Day	WRAC / Kilbirnie Rec	Whanganui a Tara Amazing Race	Pirates Cove Mini Golf/ Adrenalin Forest
Friday	Day of Service	Day of Service	Day of Service	Day of Service

Seeking Event Lighting for Year 8 Leavers’ Dinner! 

This year, we are excited to be hosting our Year 8 Leavers’ Dinner right here at school in the Hall!

To help us create a special atmosphere for our leavers, we are reaching out to our school community to see if anyone has event-style lighting we could borrow. We are particularly looking for:

• Fairy lights / string lights
• Disco / party lights
• Any other ambient or decorative event lighting or tableware

If you have equipment you would be happy to lend us for the event, we would love to hear from you! Please email Hayley (Office Manager) at office@swis.school.nz.

Thank you so much for your support in making this a memorable night for our Year 8 students!

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

Cavemen take out National Title!

A huge congratulations to our very own Cavemen who were the 1st place winners for Bandquest 2026, presented by the Wright Family Foundation! Johann, Tarn, Theo and Axel have won our school music department $2,000 of musical equipment from Rockshop NZ and the epic opportunity to record a song. Congratulations Cavemen

EPro8 competition

WRISSA Polyfest

Ki o rahi competition

Throughout Term 3, classes learned the rules and pūrākau of Kī-o-Rahi before putting their skills into practice in a school-wide tournament. Using a knockout format, classes competed against each other for the title of champions.

The final was a close contest between Room 12 and Room 8, with Room 12 ultimately taking out the title. Congratulations to Room 12, and well done to all classes for their participation and sportsmanship throughout the tournament!

Tagata o le Moana

Elsie – It was a really fun and cool experience.

Tristan – I enjoyed the vibe of the shows and our groups.

Laurie (drummer) – It was a cool first experience and I hope to drum for future Poly clubs

Historic Silver Medal for SWIS Kārearea at the 2026 AIMS Games!

It was an incredible week for our SWIS Kārearea netball team at the 2026 AIMS Games in Tauranga!

Competing in the highly competitive A-Grade Open Division, our team of 10 talented netballers achieved an outstanding second place overall, bringing home the silver medal and securing SWIS’s best-ever result in netball at the AIMS Games.

Throughout the tournament, the team displayed exceptional skill, determination, resilience and teamwork. They represented themselves, their whānau and our school with pride, demonstrating what can be achieved through hard work, commitment and a genuine team-first approach.

This achievement would not have been possible without the support of so many people. A huge thank you to our wonderful coaches, Jo and Elizabeth, for their dedication and expertise, and to manager Kris for helping guide and support the team throughout their campaign. We are also incredibly grateful to our amazing parents, whānau, volunteers and wider community, whose fundraising efforts, encouragement and support helped make this journey possible.

We would like to extend a very special thank you to Pub Charity Ltd for their generous grant support earlier this year. At a time when many families are facing significant financial pressures, their contribution helped make attendance at the AIMS Games possible for our team. We are incredibly grateful for their investment in opportunities for young people and for helping our ākonga experience a tournament they will never forget.

Congratulations to every member of the Kārearea squad on this historic achievement. You have set a new benchmark for SWIS netball and made our entire school community proud.

ANSWER TO THE OTAGO MATHS PROBLEM

Frank has one boy and the girl. So the answer is Frank is the girl’s father.