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Hobsonville Point Secondary School Communication13 March 2026 PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGEKia ora e ngā whānau, It’s hard to believe how quickly the term is moving along. Thank you for your continued support in helping students arrive at school on time and for prioritising attendance. Being present and ready to learn each day makes a real difference to students’ progress and wellbeing. Our recent Extracurricular Expo was a wonderful success. It was fantastic to see so many students exploring the wide range of sports, clubs, and activities available and enthusiastically signing up to get involved. These opportunities help students build friendships, discover new interests, and feel connected to our school community. We also appreciate your ongoing support for our “Phone Away for the Day” approach. This helps create a focused learning environment where students can fully engage in their classes and with one another. If you do need to contact your child during the school day, our school office is always happy to assist and ensure messages are passed on. Thank you for being such an important part of our school community and for supporting the positive learning environment we aim to create for all students. Ngā mihi Kirsty Dowding Tumuaki Principal
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ATTENDANCEHoliday During Term Time / Overseas and Extended AbsencesNotification Requirement
If a student will be absent due to overseas or extended travel, the parent/caregiver must notify the school in advance by emailing: The school will acknowledge the request and confirm how the absence will be coded in accordance with Ministry of Education attendance guidelines. Depending on the duration of the absence, as long as a return date is provided, students may remain on the roll. Coding of Extended Absences Years 11, 12 & 13: Trips during term time may have a significant impact on achievement. Attendance is a key factor in success at NCEA qualification level, and extended absences could result in missed internal assessments, deadlines, and important learning. The absence will be coded as G (Holiday in term time - unjustified absence), and parents/caregivers should be aware that: Teachers will not provide additional work, feedback, or extensions on assessments. Students must take responsibility for catching up on any missed content via Google Classroom. Prolonged absences may put NCEA credits and overall achievement at risk. Any concerns about assessments should be discussed with the student’s whānau coach or community leader, and subject teachers before travel is confirmed.
Ensuring regular attendance (90%+) is vital for student success, and we strongly encourage families to plan travel outside of term time wherever possible.
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CONNECTEDNESS: INTER-COMMUNITY TURBO TOUCHThe inter-community spirit was fierce this week with the start of the turbo touch competition. Each lunchtime, the junior representatives of the four communities battled on the court for community pride. After a series of tightly contested preliminary rounds, the finals were held today. Onekiritea were impressive, but the mighty Waiarohia ultimately secured first place with their teamwork, communication, and determination. Next week, the community competition will further heat up with the Senior Turbo Touch competition and the always-popular Learnletics.
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INSPIRE: EXTRA-CURRICULAR EXPOThe Extra-Curricular Expo was a fantastic start to the year, with the auditorium absolutely buzzing with energy. It was great to see so many opportunities on offer across sports, clubs, and competitions running throughout the year, and even better to see the student-led clubs and committees, as well as the large number of students signing up to get involved. A special mention goes to our Year 9 students, whose enthusiasm and willingness to try new things really stood out. Their energy set a great tone and reflects the strong culture of participation and belonging we’re building at HPSS.
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ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE BREAKFASTOn 25 March, HPSS will be hosting our second Academic Excellence Breakfast. This is an annual event, intended to recognise and celebrate the 2025 academic success of our senior students and to thank their whānau for the ongoing contribution they make. An invite has been sent to all Year 13 students who gained Merit and Excellence Endorsement in NCEA Level 2 and to the top 25 students in Year 11 last year. The Senior Leadership Team are looking forward to celebrating their achievements and welcoming their whānau.
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CONNECTEDNESS: RAMADAN IFTAOur school recently hosted a Ramadan Iftar, which was a really special event for many students and staff. Ramadan is an important month for Muslims, during which they fast from sunrise to sunset. It is a time to focus on being humble, grateful, and helping others. At sunset, Muslims break their fast with a meal called Iftar. Our school brought people together to share this meal and learn more about the meaning of Ramadan. It was a really nice evening where students, teachers, and families could connect and celebrate together. The event went really well and created a welcoming and supportive atmosphere. It was a great way to bring our school community together and show respect for different cultures and traditions. Iyah Hassan, Yr 13
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EXCELLENCE: SPORTSCongratulations to Neth Abeywickrama who competed in the New Zealand Auckland League One, Karate Tournament. Neth competed in four events winning medals in each category, two of these were gold medals for the Kata Female, Senior Intermediate and the Kata Female 16/17 Intermediate. We also want to recognise Luca South and Imogen Clark for their involvement in the College Sport Sailing Competition on 6 March at the Wakatere Boating Club. Both Luca and Imogen have been rewarded for their commitment to sailing by being selected to sail on the prestigious Spirit of Adventure later in this year.
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CONNECTEDNESS: MOTOR INDUSTRY TRAINING ORGANISATIONLast week, the Pathways team organised for a group of senior students to attend the MITO (Motor Industry Training Organisation) "Bus Tour". We jumped on a bus with students from several other local schools and toured a range of automotive organisations - Precision AutoWerk, Continental Cars, and Truckstops Albany. We enjoyed getting behind the scenes and finding out about the varied opportunities that exist for on-the-job learning and apprenticeships in the automotive industry.
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SPORTS: HARBOUR ZONES ATHLETICSHarbour Zones Athletics was held on Tuesday 10th March. A huge congratulations to our Athletics team - Aryan Joshte, Sigfried Gascon, Xander Yap, Palu Uhatahi, Kaitlyn Miskelly, Elliot Chan Chui, Noa Andersson and Maia Peterson - who competed at the Harbour Zones Athletics event this week. The students competed against athletes from schools all over the North Harbour region. Some notable results were: Maia - 2nd Junior Girls 300m, 6th Junior Girls Long Jump Kaitlyn - 3rd Junior Girls 300m, 5th Junior Girls 1500m Elliot - 4th Junior Girls 1500m, 6th Junior Girls 100m Palu - 4th Intermediate Girls Shot Put
Best of luck to Maia, Elliot, Kaitlyn, Noa and Palu who are all going on to complete in the Auckland Secondary Schools Athletics Championships next week at Mt Smart Stadium.
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STUDENT WELL-BEINGThis week we begun our HPSS Hauora Survey with Year 9 students. The survey will capture the general well-being of students and look at what else HPSS can offer to meet the needs of our young people. Other year levels will be surveyed at various points in the year. Please contact Vic (victoria.marsden@hobsonvillepoint.school.nz) - Head of Student Services - if you have any questions.
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YEAR 13 BUSINESS STUDIESDuring this term, our NCEA Level 3 commerce class has been working on running a business and participating in the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES Programme). The YES programme is a competition programme where students around New Zealand set up and run a business over the course of a whole school year, giving students the opportunity to experience the start-up world first-hand and be their own entrepreneurs. Our student group have created HobbyJobs which is an easy-to-use service that promotes and connects students or people seeking work to available jobs in our local community such as dog walking, lawn mowing, and small household tasks. Students who want to get a job can sign up through our website or this Google form to get advertised to the local community. Clients who want to hire people to do services for them can fill out this interest form to get updates. More information can be found on their social media accounts. Check out their website https://hobbyjobs.company.site/ and follow them on Instagram for updates @hobbyjobs.nz
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FUNDRAISER: QUIZ NIGHTIn July, some of our physics students will be going to Europe to experience places like the CERN Supercollider, the largest science museum in Europe and Space City in Toulouse. This is an excellent opportunity for our students. To help with the cost, we are running a quiz night at Little Creatures (with a silent auction too). We would love to see people's support for our senior physics students, so we encourage you to sign up for a great night (and an excellent dinner menu). To sign up, get in touch with Thalia at thalia.rutherfurd@hobsonvillepoint.school.nz
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KEY DATES 2026
Term 1 (10 weeks) - Friday 30 January - Thursday 2 April
Term 2 (11 weeks) - Monday 20 April - Friday 3 July Public Holidays: ANZAC Day Observed - Monday 27 April, King’s Birthday – Monday 1 June IEMs: Yr 12-13 - Wednesday 20 May 2pm - 8pm
Term 3 (10 weeks) - Monday 20 July - Friday 25 September IEMs: Yrs 9,10,11 - Wednesday 1 July and Thursday 2 July IEMS: Yr 12-13 - Wednesday 16 September Staff Only Day: Friday 4 September
Term 4 (9 weeks) - Monday 12 October - Thursday 10 December Public Holidays: Labour Day – Monday 26 October IEMs: Yrs 9,10,11 - Wednesday 2 December and Thursday 3 December Staff Only Day: Friday 6 November
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