Kia ora e te whānau

Lets start by acknowledging the crazy week we have had as a region. I hope everyone has got power back on now and that you are able to get back to a bit of normality. I want to thank my staff for keeping the children safe and sound last Thursday, and also to everyone who managed to make it into school to collect children early. Now is a good time to check that we have everyones correct contact information. If you didn't receive a text and email from eTap last Thursday then that might mean that we don't have your correct contact details. If this is the case please contact Jan asap. 

Last night I sent out an email about an alert that came from the Ministry of Education about an increase in measles cases in New Zealand. There are currently no identified cases in Southland but now is the time to ensure that we are prepared. Please read through last nights email and if you or your child develop symptoms, please let us know immediately and seek advice. The Ministry will continue to keep schools informed and we will pass this information onto you as soon as possible. 

We are getting close to the mid way point of the term which means things like Year 4 and 5 Camp are just around the corner. Please make sure that you have everything on the equipment lists ready to go. If you have lost the list please get in touch and we will email one out to you. 

Next week we have 16 golf players heading to Mataura Golf Course for the Eastern Southland Golf Champs. Good luck to all the players and thank you to our parents who are going along as team managers. This is a very well run competition and I know that the kids will have fun.  

   
That's about it for this week whānau. Please read through the rest of the newsletter as there are some important dates for you to remember. Have a great weekend!

Ngā mihi nui

Glenn Puna
Tumuaki/Principal
Te Kura Matua o Māruawai
Gore Main School

We are so pleased to welcome Peyton Takurua and Francis Cerna to Gore Main School. We hope your first few weeks have been amazing and welcome to the GMS Whānau.

Hello school community, 

At our meeting last week it was confirmed we made just over $6500 for the baking mix fundraiser!!! This is an amazing effort from everyone involved and well worth it! A massive thank you again if you helped, organised, purchased, sold any baking mixes.

Farming Families, a reminder that Gore Main School is registered for the Cash for Communities scheme with PGG Wrightson. We’d really appreciate it if you could nominate our school as your chosen recipient when purchasing the required products from PGG Wrightson. Please see the graphic below for more information or talk to your PGG Wrightson rep/store.

We are also looking at a stock scheme drive in the near future… more details to come but if this interests you please email us goremainpta@gmail.com and we can make sure we get the information to you. 

Business sponsorship is our target this term and we’re in the process of asking local businesses connected to the school community if they’d like to support our playground upgrade. Please have a think if you’re connected to any business that might be interested in this opportunity. 

That’s all from us, there’s lots happening in the background for some exciting events/ideas coming in the near future and also into 2026 (what who’s thinking that far ahead you say!).

Till next time.
Trudie and the PTA committee.

Room 1 -  Frankie Mackintosh - amazing knowledge in maths.
                  Oskar O'Brien - becoming a reader superstar.
Room 2 -  Lulu Wilson - being a superstar helper and showing the GMS values.
                  James Cumming - amazing progress in writing and building independance.
Room 3 -  Bryden Stewart - for joining Room 3 activities. We love to see you!
                  Georgia Hughes - great reading progress, specifically in fluency.
Room 4 -  Flynn De Groot - showing great interest in our learning about 'space travel'.
                  Spencer Nichol - being ready to help others and brighten their day.
Room 5 -  Kyle Johnson - such a settled worker, trying super hard.
                  Kahtel Messerschmidt - trying really hard with your Maths and reading.
Room 6 -  Molly Lowry - your reading and comprehension is outstanding.
                  Hudson Unahi-Taumata: a great attitude and positiveness towards learning.
Room 7 -  Bethany Assen - you are an excellent writer!
                  Victor Leith - wonderful work in art!
Room 8 -  Jackson Williams - excellent fractions learning.
                  Yuvraj Singh - brilliant biography writing.
Room 9 -  Johanna Taylor & Reid Marwick - putting in an excellent effort in to all your Mahi.
                 
                  

Room 1 -  Aria Blakely - showing respect to our new friends and being a great leader.
Room 2 -  Maycee Cumming - always showing respect to your kaiaka and class mates.
Room 3 -  Kaydence MacKay - showing respect during learning times by looking and listening to the teacher.
Room 4 -  Kyla Hellier - always being a role model of respect.
Room 5 -  Rukson Basnet - such a great role model always showing respect.
Room 6 -  Neela Andrews - a great role model  for respect.
Room 7 -  Lukah Quertier - you show respect inside and outside the classroom! Mahi pai!
Room 8 -  Ivy Swindells - you are ever respectful.
Room 9 -  Bailey Scott-Rowe: always showing teachers respect.

Well done everyone, keep it up!!!

Room 1 -  Thomas Sanders
Room 2 -  Hunter Bonisch
Room 3 -  Lucy Smith
Room 4 -  Indiana LIttlejohn
Room 5 -  Ellie Moyle 
Room 6 -  Hosea Esveld
Room 7 -  Rose Stevenson
Room 8 -  Amber Reed
Room 9 -  Isla Stewart

This term we are looking at how to correctly pronounce local Māori place names. We are surrounded with places that have a Māori name and we want to ensure that we are saying them correctly.

These are the place names we will be working on next - Manapouri, Aparima, Oreti, Takitimu 

 

Here is the Kupu we have done so far this year.

Kia ora e te whānau, 

How exciting that we are in the last term for 2025! Only 5 weeks left to jam pack as much learning and fun into the school year before everyone can relax and hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) we can enjoy some sun! Last Thursday was a crazy day with the winds, but Room 2 really impressed Miss Walker with how calm they were during the weather. 

With everything going on around us, Room 2 are still busy bees and completing as much learning as they can. Our overarching theme for Inquiry this term is Space Travel, Space Missions, SpaceCrafts and Rockets. We have started the term looking into the Apollo 11 Space Mission, the First Man on the Moon, and now we will delve more closely into rockets. 

Room 2 has also been working closely with Room 8 on Thursday afternoons with planting and weeding in Adventure World. So far we have planted 12 strawberry plants, and next we will be planting sunflower seeds and two raspberry plants. This has been amazing rich learning for Room 2 and they have loved getting their hands dirty and learning what is a weed and what is a plant. 

Our math brains continue to expand each day while we continue to use the Numicon Equipment to delve into deep math questions. Tamariki are even using their knowledge of doubles to 10’s to help them answer questions such as 400 + 400 = 800!  

This term we have also had a big focus on Māori colours and numbers to 20. We love a competition in Room 2 and always play games and sing waiata to help our understanding. 

That's all from us in Room 2. Hope everyone has a restful weekend!

Ngā mihi nui, 

Miss Walker 

Term 4 is certainly flying by — we can hardly believe we’re already nearly halfway through! It’s shaping up to be a busy and exciting few weeks ahead. The Year 5s are counting down to their camp at Dolamore Park in Week 6, where they’ll be tenting and enjoying the great outdoors. We’re all crossing our fingers for fine weather! Later in the term, our Year 4s will have their turn at Camp Columba — another highlight to look forward to.

This term, we’ve been exploring space travel. We have loved watching videos from the International Space Station, discovering how astronauts eat, sleep, and carry out their daily routines while floating in zero gravity. It’s been fascinating to see how different life is up there! 

We’ve also learned about the first animals sent into space. Did you know that fruit flies were the very first living creatures to go? They were followed by Laika, a brave dog from Russia who orbited Earth aboard Sputnik 2. Other animals such as monkeys, cats, and tortoises have also been sent up! We were fascinated to learn how these early missions helped scientists understand the effects of space travel on living things.

Last week, we put our artistic skills to the test with some astronaut art. After following a step-by-step drawing tutorial about how to draw an astronaut, we let our creativity soar as we designed funky space backgrounds. We are super proud of our vibrant artwork. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

From Room 7

At the last board meeting the GMS Board of Trustees approved a teacher only for the 28th November 2025. In 2025 all NZ schools have been granted 2 teacher only days to use for teacher professional development around the new maths curriculum. We had one of these days in term 1 and we will be taking the second day to review our progress in maths and to set up next steps for 2026. Teacher Only Day 28th November 2025.

If your child is sick and staying home or you have something on then please let Jan in the office know. Please don’t just email the teacher. If you let Jan know then she will pass it on. You can use your @school app, text the school phone (0274562495), ring or email Jan directly: office@goremain.school.nz.

STAR - Stepped Attendance Response https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BKb6_My_zX9K_9RPd5S0ds1VvKLRGr2e/view?usp=sharing

Bible in Schools (Terms 2-3 Only)
Bible in Schools is every Thursday at 2.30pm. If your child is not attending then they must be picked at 2.30pm.

Every Friday (only) children can bring an item of food that can go into our heat up oven so that it is nice and warm by lunch. All food should be pre-cooked and only require heating (No raw meat). Pies, mini pizzas, savouries, mac n cheese etc etc. All items must be clearly named (first and last name and class number). No plastic wrapping please. All items go straight to your classroom each morning and get placed into your class's heat up container. 

Road Crossing
Safety and role modeling is top priority. Please use the crossing at all times. We have seen a few parents crossing the road up by the middle gate. Other children see you and may follow you. It's only an extra 50 metres so please come to the crossing and cross there. Also please be at school before 8.50am as this is when road patrol finishes.

This is a friendly reminder that school starts at 8.55am. Please ensure that children are at school before this time so that they are ready to start class at this time. Road Patrol also finishes at 8.50am so for safety reasons please make sure children are here before that time so that they can cross the road safely.

8.30am -   Kids allowed in class

8.55am -   Off to class

9.00am -   Session 1 starts

11.00am - Morning tea

11.30am - Morning tea ends

12.30pm - Spelling time

1.00pm -   Lunch time

1.45pm -   Lunch time ends

3.00pm -   Home time

School Docs Policies and Procedure
Go to https://www.schooldocs.co.nz/ then search for Gore Main School. Enter the user name and password.
Username: goremain
Password: GMS39Ardwick

School Bank Account
Please take note of the Gore Main School and PTA Bank Account numbers. These are 2 different account numbers. Please remember to add the child's first and last name as a reference.

03 0915 0253014 00 - Gore Main School BOT. Please add the student's name as a reference - This account is for things like after school sports, camps, payment of school accounts etc.

03 0915 0255562 00 - Gore Main School PTA. Please add the student's name as a reference - This account is for all things related to the PTA, Xmas raffle money etc.

Merino jerseys are available to order and will now be the black merino jersey. The price is $90.00 per jersey. 

If you still have the blue merino or purchased a  second hand one these are still able to be worn as part of the school uniform. There is a sample of the new jersey along with sizes for anyone to view at the office.

Sun hats
Sun hats must be worn when outside during Term 1 and Term 4.

Be sure to stay up to date with what is going on at Gore Main School by liking our Facebook

If you don’t have the @school eTap app setup then please contact the office asap!

Gore Main School

39 Ardwick Street, Gore

Email: office@goremain.school.nz 

Phone: 03 208 7615

From time to time you may have concerns about things happening at school. Discuss your concern with the class teacher. Most concerns can be addressed at this stage.

If you are still unhappy, contact the school principal to arrange a meeting to discuss your concerns.

email: principal@goremain.school.nz