Tuia Burnside Primary School

18/05/2026

Evelyn is one of our fantastic Tuia whānau. This is her story. Aren't we lucky to have such amazing people in our community.

"Originally, we came from Colombia, but we moved to Ecuador for about three years, and then we came from Ecuador to New Zealand in 2018. We moved to Nelson first.

I used to work with a big immigration organization. They offered a job here and an opportunity for my daughters and my son. I couldn't see it myself, but they said, ‘No, you must have this opportunity to go into New Zealand, because we need people like you on it’. Okay, done. They got me the interview, and I received all the paper forms. I had to learn English, but I'm happy now because it's good to have a chance for good communication with people and involve more in the communities as well.

I’m studying for a Diploma in Psychology. For a long time I see how hard it is for Spanish people in the community. No one in Spanish is coming to receive any treatment or counseling support, I need to do something. I chose to study there to support all people, not only Colombia, you know, all Latin Americans. It's not about money, it's about supporting other people. We just want to bring something that's a gift, we care, we have a purpose.

My mom is a chef, she supported us with education through cooking. That's why I finished school. My mom gave me a lot of values. She taught me how you need to survive and I learned a lot of skills from her.

I have a hair braiding business. It's not easy to find some products when you live in a small town, but in Christchurch, we have everything that we need.

I never knew New Zealand existed in the world, honestly. I only hear about Australia, but not New Zealand. I'm happy, I'm grateful, we found lovely people, kindness.
I like to do some walking, have a picnic.
My son is more like an explorer…"

- Evelyn

"I love going on hikes. Me and my friends, we go on adventures. I love caving as well, I do a lot of caving in my free time. I studied hospitality because my main goal is to become a chef, and at the moment, I'm planning on studying at the New Zealand School of tourism, to do a tourism course for my level four, because I completed NCEA level three in Nelson.

When I first arrived in New Zealand, I had no clue what I was doing. I couldn't speak or communicate with anyone. I always had to use the translator. The teachers were very nice. The treatment was beautiful, it was very welcoming.

My mom has worked very hard to get us here. Yeah, very proud of her. My mom has gone through some struggles, because that was one of the main reasons why we left Colombia. She worked so hard while having me at such a young age.

One of the biggest struggles for her, because English is the barrier, there was always a lot of misunderstanding in those areas. She wants to help our community. She wants to - not just help Colombians - any Latino that comes because we can understand each other a lot more, And she knows how it feels to be put at the bottom. She wants to help those who are at the bottom.

I always tell my friends, you guys live in a bubble. New Zealand is a bubble. Protected.

I can say I'm very open minded because I've lived here for the rest of my young years, but I know what it was like living in various other countries. We can help so many people. I mean like culture, we come with experiences that people here don't have.”

- Jordan

11/05/2026

24/04/2026

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day when we remember those who have served, fought or died in conflict or peacekeeping missions. Because this falls on a Saturday, we have Monday as a day of remembrance. This means NO school on Monday 27th April. See you all on Tuesday.

08/04/2026

The NBL, in partnership with LINK Tuia Burnside Primary School, have partnered for a unique fundraising opportunity.

If you use the code

GLOBETROTTERS6

when purchasing tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters at

Christchurch

Wolfbrook Arena

14th July at 7:00pm

you will be raising funds for LINK Tuia Burnside Primary School!

Get your tickets now - it’s The 100 Year Tour and not something you’re going to want to miss. See you there!

https://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/event/24006389EDA94899?did=specialoffer

Please use the dedicated link provided above. This will ensure that you pop in our special code which will unlock access to the tickets, ensuring the offer is applied correctly.

We will receive 10% of the ticket price for every ticket purchased using the above code.

31/03/2026

Kia ora whānau,

It seems we have a mystery on our hands… sometime around 12:30am this morning, a very determined individual decided they simply had to have two of our shoe racks — and came to collect them under the cover of darkness!

If you happen to know who might have been in urgent need of late-night shoe storage solutions, we’d love to hear from you. No judgement… just keen to reunite our racks with their rightful home 😊

24/03/2026

What an awesome time we had at the Easter Egg Hunt tonight! The weather was great, the music was fab and chocolate was enjoyed by all. It was lovely to see so many of our community supporting this event which we hope can become an annual event we all look forward to. Was super cute having our pre schoolers start the hunt and then the collective congratulations and excitement for all that won prizes! Early counting looks like around $2500 has been further raised as well for our shade sails.

LINK would like to thank New World Fendalton and Pak n Save Riccarton for their kind donations of product to the value of $100 each. We would also like to thank Frederick Ashley/Little Franks at Fendalton Village for their kind donation of a $50 voucher and Fendalton Pharmacy for their donation of a food storage container. We also had a generous donation from 0800 Candy Floss of two massive easter eggs and a signed All Whites Soccer Ball. We also had many families who donated an amazing amount of eggs and some that paid so that other members of our community could be involved.

We would also like to thank the many donations of Easter Eggs, Chocolate and food items at our non uniform day. We had SO many prizes to give at the end of the hunt and also for our raffle. Those people who were at the Easter Egg Hunt and either won a prize themself or sold the prize were able to take them and we have safely stored those that were not there. We will be in contact with you to let you know you have won and to arrange collection over the coming days.

Thanks also for those that offered their help for this event and a special thanks to Robyn, Lily, Cindy, Maddy, Nic, and Justin who were able to come along and have it all set up before anyone arrived! We appreciate you staying after a long day and enjoying the fun as well! If only Miss Rickard could remember how many sticks we were allowed to get!

With 23 prizes in the raffle and 20 for the Easter Egg Hunt, along with chocolaty goodie bags for all there are going to be some well sugared young people out there! We hope they have enjoyed themselves and are so tired from swimming, they were easy to get to sleep tonight. Please let us know if you think we should make this an annual event!

15/03/2026

Kia ora koutou

LINK would like to thank everyone who participated in our non uniform day on Friday and brought along an item for our raffle baskets and prizes. We have managed to make 19 different prizes from these donated items! They look fantastic and we have a great range of items to be won.

Please continue to sell raffle tickets until next Monday when we need all raffle forms back to school, whether you have sold any or not.

Don't forget to register for the Easter Egg Hunt, happening on Tuesday 24th March, where the raffle will also be drawn. Register with the link on HERO before the end of this Friday, 20th March, to enter the Easter Egg Hunt.

Kind regards

The LINK Team