Nga mihi nui ki a koutou. Greetings parents, students and members of the Berkley Normal Middle School Community. 

Ngā mihi nui,

Nathan Leith

Principal

Pre-enrolment and Ballot Procedures

This week, our senior leaders have delivered the Berkley 2026 prospectus and enrolment packs  to Year 6 students at our local contributing schools (Tamahere, Matangi, Tauwhare, Newstead, Silverdale and Hillcrest).  

Our preference is that all enrolment applications are submitted online, along with all supporting documents.  However, if online is not an option, physical enrolment packs can be collected from our school office.  Please check our school enrolment page for more information.

The deadline for receipt of out-of-zone applications to be included in the ballot is 4.00pm, Friday 29 August.   Students who live within the home zone should also apply by this date to assist the school with planning appropriately for next year.

We will hold our ballot for out-of-zone enrolments for the 2026 school year on 12 September, 2025 and families will be informed of the outcome by email soon afterward.

Anyone wanting to know more about Berkley is invited to attend our annual Information Evening on Thursday 31st July - see below for details.

If you have any queries regarding enrolment, please contact our school office by emailing office@berkley.school.nz

Our School BOT triennial election will take place in September 2025. The current Berkley BOT has contracted a provider, Bernardine Vester of My School Election, to be our Returning Officer.  This year, the process will be conducted fully online, this includes both the nomination and election processes.  Please watch out for emails from the returning officer (returningofficer@myschoolelection.nz) to check that your contact details are correct.

Berkley will be looking to appoint five trustees as parent representatives, through the upcoming election processes. We are very fortunate that some of our current highly skilled trustees are willing to stand again, a testament to the excellent governance Berkley has enjoyed over many years. Please start thinking about whether this is a role you may be interested in, or if you know of someone who you could nominate, that would be suitable and has skills that could positively support the school.  

More information about the role of Boards in schools can be found here or you can email office@berkley.school.nz with any questions

On a cold and rainy Tuesday evening, warmth radiated from the Berkley Wharenui as our amazing Berkley whānau gathered for our very first kanohi ki te kanohi (face-to-face) hui. Despite the weather, the turnout was exceptional—proof of the strong connection between our kura and community.

As our whānau arrived, they were welcomed by our kapa haka rōpū with waiata and warm cups of tea and coffee. We opened the evening with our school karakia, followed by some brief admin updates, before sharing a delicious kai together. With waiata filling the room, the atmosphere was set for a night of togetherness and pride.

The hui had two key purposes:

First, to introduce our support team: Whaea Awatea, Matua Ethan, and Mr. V. Each spoke about their roles within the school and how they contribute to the growth of our tamariki.

Whaea Awatea leads our kapa haka and supports both staff and students in their Te Reo Māori journey.
Matua Ethan oversees our kura-wide Te Reo Māori programme, helping build both learner capability and teacher capacity.
Mr. V connects whānau and kura through his culturally responsive practice and pastoral care role.

Together, they form a dedicated team committed to nurturing our students as learners, performers, and confident young people.

The second purpose of the evening was to introduce our new performance bracket—the waiata and haka that form the heart of our kapa haka performances. Whaea Awatea, alongside members of the rōpū, explained the meaning behind the pieces and the cultural significance of their inclusion. Their passion and pride shone through as they shared the stories behind the songs and haka.

The floor was then opened for whānau to share their thoughts, and three parents stood to express heartfelt mihi. All spoke of their immense pride in their tamariki and the growth they had witnessed through kapa haka.

To conclude, our kapa haka rōpū delivered a breathtaking performance—full of mana, power, and grace. The crowd was moved and inspired, and many commented that it was the best performance they had ever seen.

A huge mihi to everyone who attended and helped bring this special evening to life. To those who worked behind the scenes, provided kai, or simply came with open hearts—ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.

“E ora ana te ngākau i te mihi – The heart lives in gratitude.”

WIMS Rugby

Thanks to Mr T, Oliver and Declan for their coaching and support to the WIMS rugby team who played their tournament in week 8.  They had a great day and played well together as a team - unfortunately missing out on progressing to play-off games by some very small margins in their pool play.  

WIMS Chess

Thanks to Jerry Hsaio, our Berkley chess coach for all his organisation and coaching support.  The WIMS chess day was a great success, hosted in our Berkley performing arts centre.  Our Berkley players performed to a very high standard with a number of them picking up individual awards on the day.   Impressively, our teams also place 3rd and 1st overall!

Waikato Gymsports Festival

Well done to Faith Moir, who was the only student to represent Berkley at the Waikato Gymsports festival held recently at Hamilton City Gymnastics.  This event is for recreational gymnasts, with another event for competitive gymnasts to be held later this year.  Faith performed very well and showed amazing sportsmanship on the day, supporting gymnasts from other schools - great job Faith.

By Eva Hilton, Room 25

On Saturday 24 May, the Berkley Lit Quiz team, “The Quizzards of Oz, “ went to Wellington to compete in the NZ finals 2025.  Our team was myself, Morgan Foley, Elliot Nicholson and Isla Duggan.

We got to the airport at 7:30, ready for the day. Our team travelled down early so we could have time to chill at the National Library, where we explored the history of the Treaty of Waitangi, the Declaration of Independence, and Women's Suffrage Movement. After learning on a Saturday, our team was ready to “ take up the challenge” at Lit Quiz.

After challenging questions and stressful rounds covering topics such as Hybrids, Titles, Authors, and Picturebook opening, we had to do a tie-breaker between three teams to secure fourth place! That makes us fourth in New Zealand out of eighteen teams.

We are all really proud of what we have accomplished and want to thank Miss Bailey for all her mentoring and support.

We are proud to share this fantastic book review writing, by Hilary White, Year 8

Please note - this book is recommended for 12yrs and over as it contains a small amount of coarse language 

We continue to have significant issues with students losing uniform items at school and our lost property bins are full to the brim.   Please remind your children that they are responsible for their belongings, so should keep a close eye on their jerseys, jackets and PE uniforms!  

IMPORTANT - If students do misplace something at school, they need to check the lost property bins which are located outside the Food Tech Room.  Parents are also welcome to check these bins for missing items.  Also please note - the office does not hold any lost property, so please just go straight to the bins instead of asking at the office.

A few other helpful tips and tricks

• If items are named, there is a much higher chance of it finding its way back to the owner so please take some time over the school holiday break to clearly name any unnamed items.
• Jersey's/Jackets and shoes often go missing from the playground/outside areas as children take them off when they are playing during break times and forget to pick them up - a good habit to get into would be taking these off and leaving them in classroom cubby's or in your school bag before going out to play.
• Unforms and PE gear often go missing in bathrooms when children are changing for PE class and teaming activities - remind children to keep a close eye on their own items as they are changing and put items they have taken off into their bag or cubby.
• If a student leaves something in a common space (such as a Tech classroom, the PAC or the Rec centre), they should go back to that area ASAP and check there - most of those spaces have a small lost property bin which is normally emptied into the main lost property bins every few days.

Berkley offers all students the opportunity to sit the ICAS exams.  Please note this is OPTIONAL.  If you would like your child to sit these exams, please read the instructions for registering below.

If you are registering a child to sit these exams and would like to access practice exams, please see information below the registration instructions

2025_ICAS_Letter.docx.pdf

2025_ICAS_Letter _docx _pdf 165.01 KB

Berkley is proud to partner with Scholastic for our annual Book Fair Week, which will be held throughout week one, term three (14 to 18 July 2025).  There will be fun activities throughout the week and students or caregivers can visit our library to purchase books for sale.  There will be plenty of stock available and we can order in titles not in stock - so you won't miss out!

On Thursday 17th, students are invited to dress as their favourite book character for the day.  We will have a school parade for all those dressed in costume and there are some prizes to be won for best dressed.  The Library will be open for book sales until 6pm on Thursday 17th and also on Friday 18th (8am-3pm) while our Student Learning Conversations are being held - so plan for some extra time around your learning conversation booking so you have time to visit the book fair!

Congratulations to Audra Moore, Year 8 - who was recently awarded the prize for Junior Runner Up in a tote bag design competition run by Hamilton City Council.  See the announcement below for further details

At our annual Tote Bag awards night at the Hamilton Transport Centre, we had 11 finalists from various Hamilton high schools and intermediates.  Our guest judges deliberated, and we are pleased to announce Berkley Intermediate had a runner up this year.

Junior Runner up: Audra Moore

We are very impressed with the entries this year that were open to intermediate and high school students on sustainable travel. I have attached photos from the night. Audra won a prize bag, and her artwork is on display with other finalists at the Transport Centre. The Grand Prize winner’s artwork will be printed on our 2025 tote bag to be distributed as merch by Hamilton City Council and BusIT]

Please see the information below regarding the Hillcrest High School open day for prospective students considering enrolment for 2026.  PLEASE NOTE - Berkley School does not take students to the open day, this is an event for students and their parents/caregivers to attend and as such, arranging to get there is the responsibility of parents/caregivers.  

Hillcrest High School Open Day – Wednesday 23rd July 

Hillcrest High School warmly invites prospective students and their whānau to discover what Hillcrest High School has to offer. Join us for our Open Day on Wednesday 23rd July, with sessions at 9:30am, 1:45pm and 5:30pm.

Explore our vibrant learning spaces, meet our passionate staff and students, and see why so many choose Hillcrest as the place to grow, thrive and succeed. Come along and find your place at Hillcrest High School.

Want a deeper look into school life? Tune into our student-led podcast Beyond the Bell to hear authentic voices and stories from our kura.
https://open.spotify.com/show/37YielY2ZWP9flxv1QV07d