Mr. Hamish Fenemor!

At the heart of Cambridge East School beats the proud, passionate, and slightly rugby-mad principal – Mr. Hamish Fenemor. Whether he’s cheering on the Hurricanes, casting a line from the boat, or championing every child’s success, Mr. Fenemor leads with purpose, pride, and a good splash of humour.

He’s staunchly proud of Cambridge East – and it shows. From the way he greets students with a grin, to how he supports staff and whānau, Mr. Fenemor works tirelessly to ensure our kura is a place where every tamariki can thrive. He believes deeply in every learner and is relentless in his mission to see them shine.

Hamish isn’t just our principal. He’s our number one supporter, our biggest believer, and without doubt, the proudest principal you’ll find anywhere in Aotearoa.

Thank you, Mr. Fenemor, for your passion, humour, leadership and for always putting our kids first. We’re lucky to have you!

Ngā mihi nui from all of us at Cambridge East. 

Welcome back to some frosty mornings that have been leading to stunning days, where our students have been able to get out and about, enjoying time on the fields and playgrounds during what can be a tricky time of year. 

Thank you to those parents and caregivers who were able to pop in and be part of the Phase Two “Hook” for this Term's Inquiry, where we are exploring how, as humans, we interact with the land. This was a big set-up job for our Phase Two Teachers, along with our very skilful Andy, and it was so pleasing to see the energy and excitement this Inquiry Hook created for our learners. 

Tonight just happens to be our early finish and late night to allow Goal Conferences to happen. It is a big night for our Teaching staff, but it is also a rewarding time where collaboration with our whaanau is key when we put your child at the centre of the conversation. We take the time to review the past six months of learning and celebrate the gains made. Spend time looking at the goals and aspirations for the rest of this year and also how you guys can help at home. We want to ensure that our parents and caregivers also get the opportunity to share and discuss what they want out of the Conference also. 

Thank you to all our parents and caregivers who have taken the time to go online and arrange a time that works for you. We know this is time out of your busy schedule. A big thank you also to our staff for their preparation and time away from their families on these late nights.

We are in the Tri-Annual School Board Election period. We are seeking up to 6 community members to join the School Board and assist with the Governance of the school. If you are interested in becoming a Board Member, you can read this information on the New Zealand School Boards’ Association (NZSBA) 

What are the key things you need to know?

Community Representative (Parent‑elected Trustee)
Appointment  - Elected by school parent community every 3 years (our school runs with up to 6 community reps)
Core function - Work alongside the Principal and provide governance and strategic direction, and help monitor performance, particularly student outcomes/attainment levels
Decision-making power - Equal vote and standing alongside other trustees
Key duties - Strategic planning, policy governance, work with the principal, financial/property oversight and community consultation. We seek individuals who may have expertise in finance, property management, community liaison, and human resources. For individuals interested in education governance, rather than instruction, it is not about managing the school’s operations, but rather governing them.
Qualities - Good communication, community focus, willingness to ask questions and learn about the intricacies of the education system.
Support provided - NZSBA (Te Whakarōputanga) advisory support, which includes professional development and workshops.
Conduct rules - Must follow the Code of Conduct issued by the Minister. This includes requirements around behaviour, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and sanctions where needed.
Time Commitment - Monthly Board Meetings, which run for approximately two hours. Pre-meeting reading of reports and policies and attending any subcommittee meetings, if/when required. 

If you are keen to put your hand up to be a Board Member, you are welcome to make contact with Rhiannon Lattin (Returning Officer) in the school office. We will require a brief description about yourself, along with a photo, to be included in information packs as part of the election process. 

As part of our work with Val, our Ministry Advisor, we have completed a Mid-Year Review of the School Budget. It is nice to be able to report a more positive position with our Working Capital, indicating a return to the black.  This has been achieved by currently running a $90,000 surplus for the 2025 School Year, which follows on from a $109,000 surplus for the 2024 School Year. 

The support of our wonderful PTA, helping with capital purchases and classroom resources over the past few years, as well as a tightening of the belt as resulted this improved position. 

We also want to acknowledge our parent community, who have always been supportive through our annual donations. 

We are now in a position to continue repaying our debt to the Ministry of Education, without adverse implications on our Teaching and Learning.. 

Whilst we are celebrating the help of the PTA, we want to remind the community that the PTA have two big fundraisers coming up this term. 

The one that is always a highlight is the Eastside Social Club’s Op Shop Ball. This will be the fourth event and following from a sell out event last year. Get your family and friends together and buy your tickets for what is always a great night out! 

The second event is through Dominos Pizza, Cambridge, who are donating $1 for every Pizza sold in their store on Thursday, 7th August. 

The links and further information can be found in the PTA Notices section of this newsletter

For both these events, if you could like our Posts on the Cambridge East School Facebook page, and then share, that would be greatly appreciated….we need to spread the word! 

As we can see from the Board information above, one of the key aspects is looking at Student Attainment Data and hearing from the team what are the trends we are seeing, where are the areas for improvement, along with the strategies we will be implementing to hopefully see value added and improvements over the remainder of the year. 

What was evident and celebrated by the Board, was how well our staff has both embraced and implemented the changes this year. It was a big piece of work to completely re-write and implement new Learning Progressions for each year level for Reading, Writing and Mathematics. It was then another big piece of work to assess against the new Draft Reporting Descriptors, which don’t need to be implemented until the 2026 School Year. 

Our team have been extremely proactive and are on the front foot to ensure we are keeping up with the many changes already underway, so we are ready for the other new curricula area to be released in 2026, along with new mandated assessments that we will also be implementing in 2026. 

While our team has been extremely cautious with their Mid-Year Overall Teacher Judgement, which is asking us to judge our learners on the “Full Years” curriculum, we want to ensure we are able to back up these OTJ’s with evidence from book work, interactions during lessons and of course along with assessments that have been completed. 

When we set up our dates for 2025, we were unaware of the Ministry of Education Professional Learning Days that we were required to engage with this year. What has made this harder for us (and then in turn for you) is not knowing when these days would be. Our second day has been confirmed for the Monday of Week 9, 8th September.

Unfortunately,  this is only two weeks after the day that we set last year as a Mid-Term break on Monday 25th August, as Term 3 traditionally doesn’t have any long weekends or Public Holidays. We understand that this hasn’t landed well for working families and we will be working with Journey Kids to provide alternative care options.

In short, the school will be closed for instruction on;

As many of you will be aware, the New Zealand Government has introduced a nationwide ban on mobile phones and personal digital devices during school hours. This new regulation applies to all state and state-integrated schools, including primary schools like ours.

The goal of this policy is simple but important: to support focused, calm, and engaged learning environments where students can thrive without the distractions of personal devices.

What This Means for Our School

While we understand that many students carry phones for safety reasons, particularly when walking or biking to and from school, it’s essential that these devices do not interfere with learning.

Students are still welcome to bring mobile phones to school however, they must be handed into the school office upon arrival and can be collected again at the end of the school day.

Unfortunately, we’ve recently had several instances where phones left in school bags have rung or received notifications during instructional time. These interruptions can disrupt the learning of not just the student, but the entire class. This is exactly what the new guidelines aim to prevent.

How You Can Help

We’re asking for your support in reinforcing this message at home. Please talk to your child about:

If there is an urgent need to contact your child during the school day, please continue to do so through the school office. Likewise, if your child needs to reach you, they are always welcome to come to the office and we will assist them.

We appreciate your understanding and partnership in creating a learning-focused environment for all our tamariki. Together, we can ensure school is a place of connection, concentration, and calm.

We have noticed an increase in our learners arriving at school before 8.30, and whilst we appreciate their enthusiasm for learning, we need to remind whaanau that children must not arrive before 8.30, unless they are going to Journey Kids Before School Care, as we cannot provide teacher supervision before this time.
Conversely, please ensure that your children are at school before the bell for the start of the day at 8.55am. It is essential in setting our learners up for success each day that are at school on time. This minimises disruption to both your child and the others in the class.

As part of our commitment to enhancing digital learning, we encourage more students to participate in our Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program. Having access to a personal device in the classroom allows students to engage more actively in their learning, develop digital skills, and take greater ownership of their education.

To ensure a seamless learning experience, we recommend Chromebooks as the preferred BYOD device. Chromebooks are affordable, easy to use, and integrate well with our school's digital platforms, making them an excellent choice for students.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to create a future-focused learning environment!

 We know that it is tough out there to keep household budgets in order, it’s as challenging to keep the school budget in order in the current climate. If you would like to take advantage of setting up a weekly/fortnightly payment to help cover trips, stationery supplies and unforeseen costs associated with school, please come and see the office crew. They are great in helping set up regular payments to go towards your child/rens accounts.  If you are setting up payments to our school, please note that the legal school name on our bank accounts is Cambridge East School Board of Trustees.

Change of Clothes
A reminder to pack a changes of clothes, particularly for our junior learners, while we are still getting the wet days.

Donations of Tissues and Canned Fruit
With the change of seasons upon us, we are asking our community to donate a box or two of tissues for us to distribute to the classrooms. We are also asking families to bring in a can or two of fruit if they are able to supplement the weetbix at Breakfast Club. Please bring them into the office. Thank you.

Contact Details
If you have moved or any of your contact details have changed, please let the office know either by email office@cambridgeeast.school.nz or by calling 07 827 7651. It is really important that we can contact you about your child.

Term 3 Upcoming Events
Another busy term has begun and we wish to advise whaanau (families) of the following up coming Term 3 dates:

Further information will be sent home about all of the events listed above as they occur. Remember to check the calendar on the website for upcoming events and activities.

2025 Term Dates
2025 Term Dates are available on our website under the "Important Dates" button on the home page.

Op Shop Ball
Please check out our facebook page for details (and like & share)
Book your tickets here! https://events.humanitix.com/op-shop-ball-2025?hxchl=mkt-sch

Pizza Fundraiser
A good idea for take away night - Thursday, 7 August

Scholastic Book Orders
Click here to order - online orders only.

Entertainment Book
Grab your Entertainment Book online at www.entertainmentnz.com and choose Cambridge East School as your fundraiser - 20% of your purchase goes directly to support our school!

Vet Post Fur-raising Programme
We are excited to announce that Cambridge East PTA has joined the Vet Post Fur-raising Programme!

You can now support us simply by purchasing your pet supplies and products online at Vet Post. Every time you shop at Vet Post using our unique link https://vetpost.co.nz/?linkId=lp_299255&sourceId=cambridge-east-pta&tenantId=vetpost , a percentage of the sale will be donated to our group.

It's an easy way to get the best for your pets while supporting our cause. Thank you for your continued support!

Please consider downloading the app for our Student Management System, Edge. Parents and caregivers can use the app to view their child's attendance and school report, pay their school account, and advise us of an absence. Follow this link to view a copy of their information document below to help you set up their App or Parent Portal.

Koru 1  

Koru 3  

Koru 4 

 Room 10 

Room 11 

Room 15 

Auaha M