In today’s newsletter we have the following:
● Senior Leadership
● ANI Supporters & Sponsors
● Student Achievement
● Staff
● Upcoming Events
● ANI Community
Tēnā koutou katoa e te whānau o Auckland Normal Intermediate,
It has been an incredibly busy and vibrant few weeks across our kura, filled with major milestones, celebrations of talent, and rich learning opportunities for our tauira (students).
Education Review Office (ERO) Visit
In Week 3, we welcomed the Education Review Office to ANI, their first visit since prior to my arrival as Tumuaki in 2023. ERO is the New Zealand public service department tasked with reviewing and publicly reporting on the quality of education and care in all schools and early childhood services. While we await our final written report, the initial verbal feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The review team highlighted the significant progress made on previous improvement focus areas and made special note of the strong culture of learning and safety evident across our school. While we acknowledge we are always on a journey of continuous improvement, it was an incredibly encouraging visit, and I extend my sincere thanks to the team for their positive engagement with our community.
The following week, our performing arts rōpū staged our bi-annual school production, ANIthing is Possible. Written and produced by Nicole Astrella and directed by Mrs Chaitali King, the entire show was created from start to finish by our amazingly talented staff and tauira.
As Tumuaki, I was immensely proud of the kaupapa of the production, which truly showcased the wairua of our school and reflected the hard work of the past couple of years.
A key focus of our Annual Plan this year is connecting more deeply with our Asian whānau. Deputy Principal Dillon Rungan and I recently visited the Chinese Cultural Centre in Auckland to seek their guidance and support.
They were wonderfully receptive, and we are currently discussing co-organising an event to coincide with the upcoming Moon Festival.
Moving forward, we are determined to establish an Asian Whānau Rōpū, similar to our established Māori and Pasifika whānau groups. We strongly encourage you to support this initiative if you are able.
Last week, alongside two of our staff members, I attended the annual Normal and Model Schools Association (NAMSA) conference in Wellington. There are 29 NAMSA schools in New Zealand representing less than 3% of all schools nationwide, yet together we train over 25% of the country’s student teachers.
Improving teacher training remains a key national priority, and our rōpū spent time discussing how we can further expand our role to support more trainee teachers and grow our network of schools.
Rest assured, ANI remains at the very forefront of supporting high-quality teacher education in Aotearoa.
Our students have also been challenging themselves academically through the optional ICAS Assessments (International Competitions and Assessments for Schools).
Designed to test higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills beyond the standard curriculum, it has been fantastic to see our tauira embrace this challenge with such enthusiasm. Initial results look very promising, and we look forward to sharing detailed outcomes in upcoming newsletters.
Beyond the classroom, our students have continued to excel:
- Māori and Pasifika Maths Challenge: Led ably by Renee Dale alongside dedicated whānau support, our students successfully completed the fourth and final Mathex-style challenge of the year against other kura.
- Chess: Our school chess team has once again qualified for the National Championships, a fantastic ongoing achievement we must never take for granted.
- Sports Success: Congratulations to our Year 8 Boys Futsal team for being crowned Auckland Champions, as well as our Year 7 Girls and Year 8 Boys Netball teams for securing Central Zone titles!
Ngā mihi nui to all our tauira who have represented our kura with such pride over the past month. As we look ahead, excitement is building for the upcoming AIMS Games in a couple of weeks, an unforgettable experience for so many of our young athletes.
Kia tau te rangimārie me te aroha, ngā mihi o te wā,
Jason Pocock
Tumuaki
We are excited to invite our students to participate in “A Letter to China,” a creative writing and poetry project organised by the China Cultural Centre in Auckland as part of the 2026 Auckland Moon Festival.
This is a fantastic opportunity for young people of all cultural backgrounds to express their creativity and explore themes of culture, friendship, home, belonging, and the Mid-Autumn moon.
Key Details for Parents & Students:
- Submission Deadline: 13 September 2026
- How to Submit: Complete the entry via the Google Response Form.
- School Identification: Please ensure your child indicates that they are an ANI student on their submission form.
- Further Information: Full details about the initiative are available on the China Cultural Centre Facebook Page.
We encourage you to support your child in sharing their voice and taking part in this wonderful cultural initiative!
Mandarin (Simplified Chinese / 简体中文)
学生创意写作活动：“致中国的一封信”
我们非常高兴能邀请学生参加由奥克兰中国文化中心举办的 “致中国的一封信” 创意写作与诗歌项目（2026年奥克兰中秋节系列活动之一）。
这是一个绝佳的机会，欢迎来自不同文化背景的年轻学子施展创意，围绕文化、友谊、家园、归属感以及中秋明月等主题展开探索与分享。
家长与学生须知：
- 截止日期： 2026年9月13日
- 提交方式： 请通过 谷歌表单 (Google Form) 提交作品。
- 填写学校信息： 请务必在表格中注明您的孩子是 ANI 学生。
- 更多信息： 欲了解项目详情，请参阅 奥克兰中国文化中心 Facebook 页面。
欢迎各位家长鼓励并支持孩子积极参与，共同分享他们的独特视角与创意！
Cantonese (Traditional Chinese / 繁體中文 – 廣東話口語/書面通俗)
學生創意寫作活動：「致中國的一封信」
我哋好高興能邀請學生參加由奧克蘭中國文化中心主辦嘅 「致中國的一封信」 創意寫作同詩歌比賽（2026年奧克蘭中秋節活動之一）。
呢個係一個極佳嘅機會，歡迎來自不同文化背景嘅青少年發揮創意，圍繞文化、友誼、家園、歸屬感以及中秋明月等主題分享佢哋嘅感受同故事。
家長及學生須知：
- 截止日期： 2026年9月13日
- 遞交方法： 請透過 Google 表格 提交作品。
- 註明學校： 填表時請務必註明學生係 ANI 嘅學生。
- 更多資料： 歡迎前往 奧克蘭中國文化中心 Facebook 專頁 了解活動詳情。
鼓勵各位家長支持小朋友積極參與，展現創意同發揮佢哋嘅聲音！
Kia ora whānau,
Welcome to this week’s newsletter update. As we move further into the term, it is fantastic to see our tamariki engaging deeply in their learning and bringing energy to our school community every day.
Attendance & Punctuality: Living Our Rangatiratanga
Regular attendance is directly linked to student achievement and well-being. We are currently sitting at a 73% regular attendance rate. The Ministry of Education and the government have set a clear national goal of 80% regular attendance, which means students missing fewer than 5 days of school per term. Every day in class counts towards your child’s learning journey, and we want to work together as a whānau to lift our numbers to meet and exceed this target.
Arriving on time reflects Rangatiratanga (ownership and self-management) and ensures our learners don’t miss essential morning notices and connection time. Learners must be in class by 8:45 AM (or 9:00 AM on Wednesdays).
To support accountability, both of our sign-in tablets at Reception are now fully operational and printing physical late slips.
- Late Slips: Any student arriving late to class, before school, during school and after lunch, must present a printed slip which states their timestamp and reason to their teacher.
- Checking In/Out: Any student arriving late or leaving early must use the Vistab device at the front office. If a child arrives late without a slip, they will be directed back to Reception first.
Partnering with Mitey: Supporting Mental Wellbeing
We are proud to celebrate three years as a Mitey school! Developed by the Sir John Kirwan Foundation and co-designed by the University of Auckland, Mitey embeds mental health education into daily classroom learning for Years 1–8. Through age-appropriate units, our students learn to:
- Understand and express emotions: Recognise feelings and express them healthily.
- Build strong relationships: Strengthen friendship, empathy, respect, and manaakitanga.
- Navigate challenges: Build resilience and practical strategies to ask for help.
- Foster belonging: Connect with their whānau and community to build personal identity (mana motuhake).
With ongoing staff coaching, wellbeing remains a sustainable priority. Visit mitey.org.nz to learn more.
To keep all tamariki safe, please note our medication policy for both prescription and over-the-counter medicines (e.g., paracetamol, ibuprofen):
- Centralised Storage: All medication must be stored in the Sick Bay, not in student bags or classrooms.
- Administration: Office staff can only administer medication with a signed Medication Authority Form. Please email reception@ani.school.nz to request a form before sending medicine to school.
Thank you for your ongoing partnership in keeping our community safe, punctual, and thriving!
Ngā mihi nui,
Dillon Rungan
Deputy Principal
While 120 of our ANI students and a number of our staff head down to represent our school at the AIMS Games in Week 8, the excitement continues back at school with our annual Electives Programme.
This week, students have explored a lineup of 27 unique electives designed by our talented teachers, each built around their personal passions and areas of expertise. Everyone has submitted their top 5 choices, and anticipation is building to see which exciting path they will get to experience.
Our staff have put together an incredible range of hands-on topics, including:
- Arts & Creative Crafts: Abstract Nylon Sculptures, Claymation, NZ Artist Studies, Scrapbooking, Crochet, and Hand Lettering.
- Digital & Media Production: Short Filmmaking, Game Coding, 2D Animation, Comics & Manga Design, and Mystery Radio Theatre.
- Sports & Active Living: Olympic Handball, Ultimate Frisbee, Netball Skills, and Women’s Health & Wellbeing.
- Global Cultures & Music: South American Exploration, Discovering South Africa, German Language & Culture, and Ukulele.
- STEM & Innovation: Hands-on STEAM racing car design and science experiments.
The electives will take place in the last block each day.
It is going to be an unforgettable week of deep-dive learning, skill-building, and creative expression for everyone staying at school. We look forward to seeing our students showcase their final projects and new skills at the end of the week.
We are delighted to host visiting assessors from the Curriculum Insights and Progress Study (jointly conducted by the University of Otago and NZCER) on-site at ANI next week on Thursday and Friday. We are incredibly honoured to be involved in this important work, which plays a vital role in understanding how students progress nationally across Aotearoa to help shape the future of teaching and learning in our schools.
During their visit, the team will be working with a randomly selected group of our Year 8 students to assess key curriculum learning areas (for 2026 they are Learning Languages and Health & Physical Education), alongside national foundational skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.
Note for families: The whānau of all randomly selected participating students have already been directly contacted with further details.
The visiting assessors will be hosting an information session while they are here. Any interested staff, parents, and whānau are warmly invited to drop in to learn more about how the study works, what the assessments look like, and how the findings support student outcomes nationwide.
- When: Next Thursday, straight after school
- Where: School Library
Kia ora e te whānau,
Ashley Triana
Deputy Principal – Curriculum
Kia ora e te whānau,
It is an exciting time at our kura as we celebrate a lineup of events, achievements, and upcoming activities. Here is a wrap-up of what’s happening at ANI:
- Cooling Off Soon: Our school pool is currently being prepped and readied for next term’s swimming lessons.
- Growing Great Kai: A massive thank you to our wonderful sustainability teachers, Nicola Redshaw and Bryoney Minton. Thanks to their dedicated care, our gardens are flourishing and producing an incredible variety of healthy kai for our students and staff to enjoy.
- Sweet Success: Our school bees have had a busy, productive year. Nearly all of our freshly extracted honey jars have been sold—thank you to everyone who supported this sweet venture.
- Showstopping Talent: A huge congratulations to everyone involved in our school production; it was an absolute success, showcasing the remarkable talent, creativity, and dedication of our ANI students.
- Out and About: Today, I am lucky enough to be supporting the Totara team on their trip to the Zoo. I’m truly looking forward to spending some quality time alongside our kaiako (teachers) and tauira (students).
Thank you for your ongoing support in making our school community such a vibrant place to learn and grow.
Have a great weekend, whanau,
Nga mihi
Scott Boniface
Deputy Principal
Kia ora e te whānau,
As we move further through the term, our daily focus extends far beyond the classroom curriculum. School is equally about learning how to navigate relationships, build character, and handle life’s small daily forks in the road. In this Dean’s Den, we are emphasising three core actions that bring our value of the term, Whanaungatanga, to life: making positive choices, being a good friend, and supporting one another.
- Making Positive Choices: We are encouraging students to pause before reacting and own their decisions. Making mistakes is part of learning, but taking accountability is where real growth happens.
- Being a Good Friend: Strong relationships rely on empathy, active listening, and respect. We are reminding students that quiet kindness and standing up for peers matter far more than popularity.
- Supporting Each Other: A healthy school community means no one stands alone. We are prompting students to practice inclusion, whether inviting a peer to join for lunch eating time or offering a hand when someone is struggling.
Thank you for reinforcing Whanaungatanga at home; this helps to ensure every student feels safe, valued, and supported across our school community.
Ngā mihi
The Deans Team
Our new ANI Health & Wellbeing Curriculum within the Theme of “Who We Are” covers two weeks of dedicated instruction at the end of each term for Years 7 and 8 (with the exception of Term 3 for Year 8, due to Exhibition).
In addition, classroom teachers lead a weekly PE or swimming session and address other health topics as they arise. Students also participate in specialised PE lessons with Mr Rice/Mr Tuialii and attend “Attitude” assemblies covering key topics such as puberty and relationships.
We are now seeking feedback from our parents and caregivers regarding our health programs. While this consultation is a requirement under Section 60B of the Education Act, it is also a valuable opportunity to ensure we are meeting the needs of our school community.
Please take a moment to complete this survey by next week Friday, 4th September.
Thank you!
Jaimee Lightfoot & Selina Striebich
Health & Wellbeing Co-Leaders
We would value your feedback to help us improve our school website experience for parents and families.
This short survey will take about 2–3 minutes and is linked here
Just a reminder that events such as sports, chess and any other competitive activities will be reported on the ANI Facebook page linked here.
Please check out the wonderful achievements of our exceptional students.
What a journey ANI Thing Is Possible has been.
Over more than 10 weeks, our school production became a huge part of life at ANI. From auditions and rehearsals through to backstage preparation, live music, costumes, props and performance nights, our ākonga worked incredibly hard to bring the show to life.
At the heart of the production were our tikanga and ANI values. Students were challenged to take risks, support one another, problem-solve, persevere and contribute to something much bigger than themselves, and by the time the curtain closed on our final performance, we could not have been prouder of what they had achieved.
Across our performances, our house cast, ensemble, teacher characters, live band, waiata group, MCs and our wonderfully chaotic Shadow of Chaos brought an enormous amount of confidence, humour and energy to the stage. Our backstage crew were just as impressive, coordinating props, supporting performers, responding to last-minute changes and keeping everything moving behind the scenes.
For many of our students, this was a chance to strengthen an existing passion for the arts. For others, it was their very first experience of acting, performing with a live band, singing on stage, working backstage or being part of a full school production.
That is what made this experience so special.
Providing meaningful opportunities in the arts is an important part of the kaupapa of our kura. Intermediate school is a time for tamariki to discover what they enjoy, try things they may never have considered before and find spaces where they can shine. We hope ANI Thing Is Possible has opened the door for many of our students to continue exploring those opportunities.
A huge thank you must also go to everyone who helped make the production possible; the staff who supported rehearsals and performances, the whānau who helped students get to and from countless practices, and our audiences and wider school community who came along and celebrated our performers.
Personally, I feel incredibly lucky to have overseen this production, from writing the original script and imagining what the show might become through to seeing our students eventually make it completely their own. Theatre never ends up looking exactly like the picture you begin with, and that is part of its magic. I am incredibly grateful for what Ms King brought to the production through her direction, and for the creativity, enthusiasm and ownership our students brought to every part of the show.
Most of all, I am incredibly proud that we were able to give our tamariki this opportunity.
And while ANI Thing Is Possible may now be finished, the arts at ANI certainly are not. We look forward to continuing our student arts groups and bringing many of these ākonga (along with hopefully a few newly inspired faces) back together as we work towards our end-of-year cultural celebration.
That’s a wrap on ANI Thing Is Possible — and what an experience it has been.
Whaea Tash and Miss Astrella had the absolute privilege of taking The Cordics across the shore to compete at Bandquest at the Bruce Mason Centre, and what a night!
We were definitely the underdogs: the smallest band by far, one of the only bands performing just one song, proudly performing in our school uniform, and up against some serious Bandquest heavyweights. But our boys walked onto that stage with confidence, represented ANI with pride, and absolutely held their own.
Andy was fearless on guitar, stepping forward for a guitar solo, something we saw very few other performers brave enough to do. Declan brought huge energy and excitement on the drums, while Maaz took on the massive challenge of leading the vocal solo. Behind the scenes, Dhilan, our student band manager, kept everyone organised, on time and ready to perform.
And a special congratulations to Mitchell, who was recognised by the judges with the Rock Solid Bassist Award, standing out amongst an incredibly strong field of bass players!
They did us proud. What made us proudest was how the boys carried themselves throughout the evening. They made friends, loudly cheered on other schools, celebrated other performers, and showed phenomenal whanaungatanga and manaakitanga throughout the night. The Cordics may have been small, but they represented ANI in a very big way. We could not be prouder of them.
Nicole Astrella
Arts Coordinator
One of the biggest events of students’ learning and experience at ANI is the Year 8 Exhibition.
This is a celebration of students’ learning and their journey and growth across the two years at our Kura. Students spend the whole term engaged and investigating a passion or topic of high interest based on their choice. Students this year will be looking at current events and current problems the world is facing. We then have an open evening at the end of the term where students present their learning and share their success with Whānau and the community. It’s a special occasion, and we would love to see you all there.
Put the date in your calendars now!
Term 3 Week 10:
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23rd
6pm – 7:30pm
With so much media attention lately on social media and device use, we want to share an excellent and free resource for our families.
The Digital Guardian Guide, created by Netsafe, supports you and your whānau to have safe, confident and positive online experiences. It covers setting boundaries and managing devices, preparing for digital milestones such as a first phone, and handling online challenges like cyberbullying or unwanted contact.
Use the guide to learn, connect, and have the conversations that matter in your whānau.
A reminder that our school counselling team is here to support ANI students through any challenges they may be facing, big or small.
This might include friendship or social difficulties, family changes or stress at home, anxiety, worry or low mood, coping with change (such as starting intermediate or transitioning to high school), grief or loss, self-esteem and confidence, or simply needing someone to talk to.
We believe that emotional well-being and support are an important part of student success. If you think your child would benefit from talking with someone, please get in touch.
If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Anna: counsellor@ani.school.nz
Anna | Counsellor
+20 4053 3249
Working days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
I work elsewhere on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I will reply on my next working day.
If you need support, you can contact:
- Youthline – 0800 376 633 | text 234 | talk@youthline.co.nz | online chat
- The Lowdown – thelowdown.co.nz | team@thelowdown.co.nz | text 5626
- SPARX – sparx.org.nz (free online tool from the University of Auckland for managing stress, low mood, and anxiety)
- Kidsline – 0800 543 754 (4pm–9pm weekdays)
- What’s Up – 0800 942 8787 (Mon–Fri 1pm–10pm, weekends 3pm–10pm) | online chat 7pm–10pm daily
- 1737 Need to Talk – free call or text 1737, 24/7, any time, any reason
- Netsafe – 0508 638 723 | netsafe.org.nz (for online bullying, harmful content, or anything that’s happened online)
Parenting a child or teenager who loves gaming can feel overwhelming at times. You might be worried or feeling guilty about the amount of time your child spends playing video games. Or perhaps struggling to monitor the games they’re playing and who they’re playing with. Or maybe you’re unsure about how to handle the outbursts that can happen when it’s time to switch off.
As a parent or carer, you may be wondering whether playing video games is good for tamariki at all. Or perhaps, on the flipside, what all the fuss is about. It might seem like everyone you talk to has a different view on gaming. Some parents allow unrestricted play, others ban it outright, and many try to find a happy medium.
Parenting in the digital age isn’t always easy, but there are ways to reduce the guilt and find a healthy balance. By understanding the benefits and risks involved with gaming and using positive parenting strategies, you can level up your tech parenting skills to help your child have fun and stay safe.
Read Triple P’s latest article and find out how to help your child play video games in a healthy, safe and balanced way.
And don’t forget, their comprehensive online courses are available now for families in New Zealand.
As we move into cough and flu season, we kindly remind parents and caregivers of the following:
- Keeping Sick Children at Home:
To help prevent the spread of illness, please keep your child at home if they are showing any signs of being unwell (e.g. coughing, fever, sore throat). This helps protect other students and staff. - Medical Certificates for Extended Absences:
If your child is sick for more than three consecutive school days, a doctor’s note is required. Without it, any further absence will be recorded as an explained but unjustified absence. - More Information:
For full details on our absence and sickness policies, please visit our website: ANI Code of Conduct – Absences and Sickness
Thank you for your support in keeping our school community safe and healthy.
A quick reminder that pads and tampons are available in the reception bathroom for students who may need them during the school day. They’re welcome to collect these at any time—no need to ask.
Please feel free to let your child know this support is there for them if needed.
Just a quick reminder that lost property is kept at reception for any students who may have misplaced items. Please encourage your child to check regularly, as the lost property is cleared out at the end of each term.
Thanks for your support!
Ngā mihi,
Kate, Megan and Gabi
Side Quest Holiday Heroes combines the excitement of Dungeons & Dragons with storytelling, creativity, problem-solving and collaborative play for children aged 8–14.
Across the week, adventurers create their own character and join an experienced Game Master for an immersive campaign filled with quests, puzzles, monsters and challenges.
Alongside the adventure, children take part in creative workshops including illustration, 3D character modelling and miniature painting, with activities designed to support writing, critical thinking and social skills.
Weekly attendees also receive their own set of dice and activity workbook to take home.
This September/October, choose from two unique adventures: Midnight Manor, a spooky mystery of haunted halls, ghosts and vampires at Mt Eden Village Centre Hall (28 September–2 October), or Scales of Destiny, an epic high-fantasy adventure featuring two legendary dragons, at Kaurilands School in Titirangi (5–9 October). Both programmes run 8am–5pm
side-quest.co.nz for more information.
