South Wellington Intermediate School

11/08/2026

🪵💚 Strength, skill and tradition in action!

This fantastic photo captures some of our boys practising mau rākau during Kapa Haka on Monday.

Mau rākau is the traditional Māori art of weaponry, helping students develop coordination, discipline, focus and teamwork while strengthening their understanding of te ao Māori and Māori cultural practices.

It's wonderful to see our students embracing this important aspect of Kapa Haka with such enthusiasm and respect. Every practice is an opportunity to build confidence, learn new skills and connect with the rich traditions of Aotearoa.

Ka mau te wehi! 👏💚

10/08/2026

🌍💚 SWIS Smashes the 40 Hour Challenge! 💚🌍

We're incredibly proud of our students who took part in this year's World Vision 40 Hour Challenge!

Earlier this year, 14 of our student leaders attended the World Vision Youth Conference, where they learned about the challenges facing communities in the Solomon Islands, where rising sea levels are affecting food gardens and making it harder for families to grow enough food.

Inspired to make a difference, our student leaders returned to school with a goal of raising $3,500. They promoted the challenge at assemblies, encouraged their peers to get involved, and helped organise the event.

The results were nothing short of amazing! 🙌

✨ Around 50 SWIS students took part
💰 An incredible $9,272 was raised
🥈 SWIS earned a Silver Award
🇳🇿 31st highest fundraising school in New Zealand

A huge congratulations to our top fundraisers:
🏆 Livie G
🏆 Xander M
🏆 Ishmael F

Thank you to everyone who donated, participated and supported this fantastic cause. Your generosity and leadership have helped make a real difference to communities in need. We couldn't be prouder of our SWIS whānau! 💚
“I stayed in my friend's garage with no electricity or furniture for 40 hours. Even though our torches ran out of batteries at one point and we had to go around in the dark, I think everyone should do the challenge because you can hang out with your friends!”
-Amaia rm 14

“I did the silent treatment where I can't talk for the challenge. It was very hard to communicate with my parents so I used my phone to talk to them. It was hard but I enjoyed being challenged.” -Emily Rm 2

I didn't talk for 40 hours for my challenge. It was hard because I did it during school time. My favourite part was being able to ignore my siblings!” -Aurora Rm 8

“For the challenge I went without electricity. The hardest part was the toilet light but I soon realised that candles are very fun and useful! The challenge was a great way to see things differently.” -Ishmael Rm 8

08/08/2026

🧵⚽ Our students have been stitching up something special this year!

As part of their learning, classes have been creating their own patchwork balls from scratch. Using pentagons as their pattern, students have been developing practical sewing skills including accurate measuring, seam allowances, overstitching, tacking, threading needles—and even learning how to use an iron!

We're also proud to make sustainability part of the project. All of the fabrics are recycled, and the stuffing has been generously supplied by the Sustainability Trust, giving new life to materials that might otherwise go to waste.

The most exciting moment? Carefully removing the tacking stitches and paper templates before stuffing each ball and seeing their hard work come to life.

The finished patchwork balls are colourful, unique, and a wonderful reflection of our students' patience, perseverance, and creativity. We think they've done an amazing job! 👏💚

08/08/2026

❤️ Nau mai, haere mai! Welcome to the SWIS whānau! ❤️

It was a privilege to officially welcome our new students and staff to South Wellington Intermediate at our pōwhiri last week.

We were delighted to welcome our new students, our visiting international students, our German teacher intern, and our new Kapa Haka tutor into our school community. We hope your time at SWIS is filled with learning, friendships, and unforgettable experiences.

A special congratulations to everyone who helped make the pōwhiri such a meaningful occasion. Ka mau te wehi to:
✨ Escher for delivering the whaikōrero.
✨ Te Poiakino, our new Kapa Haka tutor, for your leadership and contribution.
✨ Tyler, Māreikura, Niamh, Emma, Daisy, and Skyler for their beautiful karanga.
✨ Our incredible Kapa Haka group, whose powerful waiata and performance created such a warm and memorable welcome.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this special occasion. Together, you helped create a welcoming environment that reflects the values of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga that are at the heart of SWIS.

Nau mai, haere mai—we're so glad you're here! 💙

07/08/2026

✨ What an incredible Open Evening and Open Days! 💚

This week we loved welcoming so many Year 6 students and their whānau to SWIS! It was fantastic to see our future students exploring the school, meeting teachers, trying new activities and getting a taste of life at SWIS.

Thanks to Island Bay School, OWHIRO BAY SCHOOL , Houghton Valley School for visiting! We were so impressed by the enthusiasm, curiosity and confidence shown by all of your Year 6 students. Whether they were asking thoughtful questions, getting involved in activities or making new friends, they embraced every opportunity with big smiles and a willingness to give everything a go.

🔬 One of the highlights was the Magic Milk experiment during the Science rotation, where students discovered the colourful science behind surface tension.

A huge thank you to our wonderful staff and student leaders who made everyone feel so welcome and helped showcase what makes SWIS such a special place to learn.

We can't wait to welcome our new Year 7 students in 2027—we're already excited to see you back through our gates! 💚
Enrol here if you haven't already https://www.swis.school.nz/enrolment/

07/08/2026

🎉 Celebrating 30 Years of Inspiring Students at SWIS! 💚

This year we proudly celebrate an incredible milestone—30 years of service from our amazing Textiles teacher, Christine Sangster! 👏

Over the past three decades, Christine has made a lasting impact on generations of SWIS students. From inspiring creativity in the Textiles classroom to guiding students as a caring homeroom teacher, she has always gone above and beyond to help young people grow in confidence and discover their strengths.

Christine has also been the driving force behind our popular PEAK Enrichment Programme, creating opportunities for students to explore new interests, challenge themselves and build lifelong skills. Alongside this, she has generously given her time to countless extracurricular activities, helping make school life richer and more memorable for so many students.

And who could forget her unforgettable performance as "Miss Sangster the Gangster" in last year's school production? 🎭 She had audiences laughing and showed, once again, her willingness to throw herself into every aspect of school life!

Thank you, Christine, for your dedication, passion, creativity and unwavering commitment to the SWIS community. Your impact has been immeasurable, and we are so grateful for everything you have given to our school over the past 30 years.

Here's to an incredible legacy—and many wonderful memories. 💚✨

Congratulations on 30 years, Christine! 🌟

07/08/2026

Our SWIS Children's University students had an incredible day at Children's University Australasia Massey University - Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa , discovering that learning really can happen anywhere!

Throughout the day, our students rolled up their sleeves and took part in four hands-on workshops:
🍴 Food Technology – exploring, creating and tasting while learning about food science.
🌿 Conservation – discovering how we can protect our natural environment and become better kaitiaki.
🎨 Printmaking – unleashing their creativity through artistic design and print techniques.
🎤 Communications – building confidence and learning new ways to share ideas and connect with others.

The Children's University programme is all about inspiring a lifelong love of learning by connecting young people with exciting experiences beyond the classroom. It encourages tamariki to explore new interests, develop confidence, and discover that learning can happen anytime, anywhere.

A huge thank you to the fantastic team at Massey University for creating such engaging and inspiring experiences for our students. We loved every minute and can't wait for our next Children's University adventure!


📷Chris Holloman Photography

06/08/2026

📰 The latest edition of SWIS Reporters is here! 🎉

Our amazing SWIS Reporters have officially released Edition 3, and it's packed with fantastic stories written by students, for students.

Over the past few months, our reporters have been busy researching, interviewing, writing and editing—putting in countless hours (both in and out of school) to create what they believe is their best edition yet. 👏

A huge thank you to journalist Adam Ray for sharing his expertise with our team, and to our dedicated teachers and Lisa for their ongoing support. We also extend a warm SWIS welcome to our new international homestay students from China, who feature in this edition. 🌏💚

We hope you enjoy the read! 💚📰
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xyRTx4B0U0kiCRzQEITU8HFzhBtt_RdS/view?usp=drive_link

03/08/2026

17/07/2026

🏃‍♂️ Axel Represents SWIS at Regional Cross Country! 💚

Congratulations to Axel, who proudly represented SWIS as part of the WRISSA Representative Team at the Regional Cross Country held at Harcourt Park.

Competing against the fastest Year 7 and 8 runners from intermediate and full primary schools across the lower North Island, Axel put in a fantastic performance to finish in a very respectable 25th place. 👏

We're incredibly proud of Axel for earning the opportunity to compete at this level and representing our school with determination and resilience.

Well done, Axel! 💚🏃‍♂️