August 2026 Edition

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Newsletter Week 4 Term 3

Hastings Christian School

12 August 2026

Careers Day

Connecting Today’s Classrooms to Tomorrow’s Careers

Last Friday, the school gym was buzzing with energy, inspiration, and a colorful array of uniforms as the Student Council hosted our very first Careers Day Expo!

Adding to the fun, students—and even a few enthusiastic staff members—came dressed up as their future selves or the professions they wish they had pursued.

The turnout was outstanding for this inaugural event. Primary students took full advantage of their lunchtime to explore the stalls, while our senior students spent the afternoon engaging directly with representatives from a wide array of fields. Between interactive challenges, freebies, lollies, and impressive product displays, students got a hands-on look at industries and career options they had never previously considered.

We were fortunate to host a diverse group of community members and parents sharing their professional journeys. Stalls featured everything from police officers, ambulance staff, and doctors to a librarian, architect, horticulturists, radiographers, social workers, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, software developers, builders, tradespeople, and several of our own teachers.

A huge thank you goes to our Student Council for planning and running such a seamless, high-energy event.

Most importantly, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the parents and community members who generously gave up their time to mentor, encourage, and inspire the next generation.

Photo Day

Photo Day is coming up next week on Thursday 20th of August. You will recieve your child's photo access key by email after photo day. From here you can place an order for any photos you would like to purchase.

An information brochure will come home shortly with your child. On the reverse side of this brochure is the request form for a sibling photo. If you would like your children photographed together, please fill it in and return it by 3:15pm on Wednesday 19th of August. Please note that this is a strict cut off time - we cannot take any sibling photo orders on the morning of the photos.

Please ensure your child is in correct school uniform - especially shoes and socks. Please send them in the HCS skort/short and NOT track pants.

Absences

With increased absences this term due to winter illness, we do ask that you please remember to notify the office by 9:00am if your child is going to be away for the day. Please send a message via the school app or give us a ring & leave a message on the answering machine. Thank you - this does save us a lot of time following up absent students in the morning.

Tummy Bug

The tummy bug has been doing the rounds :( This illness spreads very quickly through school environments. To help us stop the spread, we ask for your absolute cooperation with the following health directives:

The 48-Hour Rule: If your child vomits or has diarrhoea, they must not return to school until 48 hours (2 days) have passed since their very last episode. Even if they feel better sooner, they can still shed the virus and infect others. Thank you for your co-operation with this.

School Based Immunisation Service

New Zealand’s School Based Immunisation Programme offers free, routine vaccinations to students, primarily in Year 7 and Year 8. Administered by Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora Public Health Nurses, it focuses on the Boostrix (tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough) and HPV vaccines

HCS offers parents the choice of having these vaccinations done at school with the health nurse. Participation in the programme at school is entirely a parental choice and requires signed consent; parents who prefer a primary care environment can choose to have their child vaccinated through their general practice (GP) instead.

There have been some changes to the school-based delivery of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. You can read the details here. Vaccine Update

Primary Cross Country Day

On Friday, 21st August, all our Primary classes will be heading out by bus for our annual Cross Country event! It’s going to be a fantastic day of fun and adventure.

Event Details

Date: Friday, 21st August

Location: Still Waters (2501 Middle Road)

Time: 9.45am-2.30pm (Busses leave school at 9am)

We warmly invite our wider school community to come along, cheer on the runners, and enjoy the day with us!

We Need Your Help

Events like this can't happen without our awesome parent community. We are looking for volunteers to assist on the day with:

Track Marshals (guiding students along the course and cheering them on)
Food & Refreshment Helpers (setting up and serving snacks/drinks to our busy runners)

If you can lend a hand for a couple of hours or the whole event, please contact Nadia Saathof n.saathof@hcs.school.nz

Please Don't Stop the Music 2026

One Stage. Five Houses. One Unforgettable Night.

We warmly invite our school families to join us for one of the highlights of the Hastings Christian School calendar, our Secondary House Event, Please Don’t Stop the Music, on Wednesday 26 August.

Our five houses will take to the stage with performances celebrating iconic hits from across the decades. Expect plenty of music, creativity, house spirit and entertainment!

Come along at 6:00 pm and cheer on our five houses! We would love to fill the gym with families celebrating the creativity, teamwork and enthusiasm of our students.

Wednesday 26 August | 6:00 pm
School Gymnasium

All school families are welcome.

One Stage. Five Houses. One Unforgettable Night.

Save the Date - Senior Formal

Formal Attire

Need someting to wear to the formal?

The students are organisng a clothes swap/borrow. See dates below.

If any parents have items they would like to donate/lend please message Mrs Andrews. r.andrews@hcs.school.nz

Learning at Waitangi with NZACS and Karuwhā Trust

Recently, Whaea Marie Moore and Mrs Emma Nicoll had the privilege of travelling to Waitangi for a professional development opportunity facilitated by the New Zealand Association for Christian Schools (NZACS) and the Karuwhā Trust.

Karuwhā, meaning “four eyes”, was the Māori nickname given to 19th-century Church Missionary Society leader Henry Williams because he wore spectacles. Today, the Karuwhā Trust seeks to help Christians in Aotearoa understand our shared history, particularly the relationships between Māori and the early missionaries, the spread of the Gospel, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and what this history means for us today.

Our journey began in Auckland, where we joined educators from Christian schools across New Zealand, from Auckland to Dunedin, before travelling together by van to Paihia.

Our first evening was spent at St Paul’s Church in Paihia, a beautiful and historically significant church with strong connections to missionary Henry Williams. There we heard from Rev Michael Tane, Māori Missioner in the Bay of Islands. His kōrero challenged us to understand Aotearoa’s shared history more deeply, recognising both the significant Māori embrace of the Gospel and the harms that came through colonisation. He encouraged us not simply to know more about Te Tiriti and partnership, but to consider what this understanding should look like through practical action in our schools and communities.

The following morning began early at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. We had the privilege of being guided by Dan Busby, whose own whakapapa is woven into the history of the area. One of Daniel’s tūpuna was given the name Pūhipi, the Māori transliteration of Busby, by his godfather James Busby, and the name has remained within the whānau for generations.

We visited Ngātokimatawhaorua, one of the world’s largest ceremonial waka, before making our way through the Treaty Grounds to James Busby’s original home and Te Whare Rūnanga, the beautifully carved meeting house overlooking the grounds.

At Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi, we explored the stories and taonga that bring to life the events surrounding Waitangi and Aotearoa New Zealand’s founding documents. We learned more about He Whakaputanga, the Declaration of Independence, the nine Treaty sheets that travelled throughout Aotearoa, and the different perspectives surrounding the signing and subsequent interpretation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

From Waitangi we travelled to the Kerikeri Mission Station at Kororipo. Here stand Kemp House, completed in 1822 and recognised as New Zealand’s oldest surviving European building, and the Stone Store, which has stood since the 1830s.

What was particularly significant was understanding these buildings within their Māori context. The closeness of Kororipo Pā to the mission station is a reminder that the early relationship between Māori and missionaries was not simply a story of Europeans arriving and establishing themselves. Kerikeri Mission Station was established in 1819 because Māori invited Pākehā to live among them, under the protection of local rangatira who saw opportunities for relationship, trade, new technology and learning. Standing there brought to life the complex relationships being forged between Māori and Pākehā well before the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We then travelled to Rangihoua and Oihi Bay, a place of particular significance to the history of Christianity in Aotearoa. In the early 1800s, relationships developed between Ngāpuhi rangatira Te Pahi and later Ruatara, and the missionary Samuel Marsden. Through these relationships, Rangihoua became the site of the first Christian mission in New Zealand.

On Christmas Day 1814, Marsden preached the first Christian sermon on New Zealand soil at Oihi Bay, with Ruatara helping to prepare the gathering and interpret what was being shared.

It was both amazing and humbling to stand on this small and relatively quiet beach and reflect on the beginnings of the Christian mission in Aotearoa. For us as educators in a Christian school, it was particularly powerful to consider that the story of Christianity in New Zealand is deeply intertwined with relationships between Māori and Pākehā, and with the willingness of Māori rangatira to engage with and make space for the Christian message.

That evening, after returning to our accommodation at Haruru Falls, we heard from Ngāti Kawa Taituha, Chairman of Te Tii Marae at Waitangi and a descendant of local signatories to He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

He spoke openly about history, tikanga, whakapapa and the experiences of tangata whenua. His kōrero provided valuable insight into Māori perspectives and gave us plenty to consider and discuss.

Our final day brought us back together as educators to consider what all of this means for our own schools. We reflected on what it means to be responsive to Te Tiriti, how we currently engage with mana whenua and what genuine relationship and partnership look like within our school communities. Most importantly, we considered our next steps and how we can share what we have learned with our students, colleagues and wider communities.

Across the few days, one of the strongest messages was that our history is more complex and interconnected than can sometimes be captured in simple narratives. The stories of Māori, missionaries, Christianity, colonisation and Te Tiriti need to be understood together. For Christian educators in particular, there is an important responsibility to engage thoughtfully and truthfully with this history, acknowledging both the powerful relationships through which the Gospel was shared and embraced and the injustices that followed.

It was an extremely inspiring, challenging and enriching few days, and we returned with much to continue thinking about and sharing.

On behalf of both of us, we would like to thank our school leaders for investing in our professional learning and giving us the opportunity to participate in such an important kaupapa. We are very grateful for the opportunity and look forward to continuing the kōrero within our school community. - Emma Nicoll