Tawatawa News

16 October 2026

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa
Bonjour à toutes nos familles

Ridgway School Inaugural Quiz Night

Gather your smartest friends for our first-ever Ridgway School Quiz Night on Friday 27 November, here at school!

Teams of up to 8 per table - $25 per person - $200 per table  (includes platter and pizzas)
Up for grabs: the prestigious title of IQ GOATs (Inaugural Quiz Greatest of All Teams of course) and the bragging rights that go with it.  This is also your opportunity to try to beat the very smart teachers. 

Our theme is Iconic New Zealand…interpret it however you like! Dress up individually or coordinate your whole team, with prizes for best dressed individual and best dressed team.

We’re raising money so all our children can take part in school camps and trips out of school.  We need our wonderful, supportive, intelligent, creative and surprisingly good-looking community to rally around and help make it happen (flattery gets us everywhere).

We’re looking for:

• A qualified duty manager to help with alcohol service.

• Someone with auctioneer skills.

• Portable pizza ovens.

• Raffle prizes and auction donations.

Our previous auction featured an amazing mix of community donations: mountain bike lessons, gardening, weekly sourdough deliveries, bach stays, 4WD adventures, commissioned artwork and more. We’d love to see what talents, treats or experiences our community can offer this time!  It would be great if every family could support in some way, either through donating a service or an item or taking part in the quiz.  Please email us at fundraising@ridgway.school.nz with any offers for the auction and if you’re able to help out as an auctioneer or duty manager. 

Sooooooooo……save the date, start assembling your team and get those Kiwi costume ideas brewing. 

Hero app - a must have!

Please download the app as this is the main way we communicate with you wonderful humans!  If you’re not sure how to do that get in touch with Nicole and she will help you out. You don’t want to miss any of our crucial communications. 

Noho marae for Year 5 - 8

If you haven’t filled out the consent form that Nicole sent again on Tuesday this week via Hero to those who hadn’t completed it, please fill it out. If we haven’t heard from you by the end of the week, your child may miss out as we need to finalise numbers with the marae. Any questions, get in touch. 

Drop offs and pick ups 

We have a lot of new families in our community who may not know the drop off zone outside school is for dropping off only, rather than getting out of the car and escorting your child into school. Stop, drop and roll…on, rather than stopping and getting out.  Traffic flows safely when it’s just used to drop off! 

Also, obviously yellow lines are not to be stopped on to drop off or pick up, it’s illegal and it blocks the view of the pedestrian crossing. You can always go around the block if there’s nowhere to stop - this also applies to the crazy u-turns happening out there.  Go for a peaceful wee drive around the block instead of doing a dodgy u-turn! 

27 October - Teacher Only Day

School will be closed but if you need the services of Rascals you can sign up here. 

Spare pants request

If your child has grown out of their pants (if you’re British we don’t mean undies, we mean trousers) we’d love to have them at school as spares.  There are often occasions when pants are needed and all our spares have vanished into the ether! 

Kapa haka opening the Brooklyn Twilight Festival - Saturday 14 November

Every year we get asked to open this festival. We’d love to have as many as possible so please fill out this form if your child would like to take part.

Safety message - Ōwhiro Bay School

This past week, one of the children at Ōwhiro Bay School was approached by a man in a car on Happy Valley Road, just north of the school. The individual asked if the child wanted to come home with him, mentioning that he had a special meal for them. This incident occurred on both Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.

The police have been informed, and an official case report has been logged.

Please take a moment to remind your children about basic safety precautions when walking to and from school, such as staying aware of their surroundings, walking in groups, staying on trusted routes, and immediately reporting any suspicious behaviour to a trusted adult. 

Upcoming events

• 20 October - Tūī trip to Island Bay Marine Centre

• 20 October - Kākā trip to Te Papa - Kōrero Pūrākau

• 22 October - Bike Monitors’ Trip to Makara Peak

• 26 October - Labour Day School Closed

• 27 October - Teacher Only Day (Rascals available)

• 28 October - Cricket lessons across the school

• 3 - 5 November - Noho marae for Year 5 - 8

• 5 November - Southern Zone Athletics

• 6 November - Kākā Shakespeare Performance

• 9 November - Road Patrol Training for Year 5s

• 14 November - Brooklyn Twilight Festival

• 23 - 26 November - Year 7 & 8 at Camp Makihika

• 27 November - Quiz Night!

• 4 December - Ridgway’s Got Talent

• 10 December - Year 8 Leavers’ Celebration

• 11 December - final assemblies

Community Notices

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