South Wellington Intermediate School

13/06/2026

This year, I was lucky enough to be one of the 8 students representing SWIS at the 2026 Kids' Lit Quiz New Zealand. Passionate readers from all over Wellington gathered at Wellesley College on 22 May. We were all very excited as we arrived. The quiz always has 10 rounds with 10 questions per round. This year the rounds included Fables, Horror, and Illustrators. Each team got to choose one “trump round”, where you get double points. For each round, the teams that got the highest “raw’’ score (not counting trumps) were each awarded $5. If there are two teams that got the same highest score, the Quizmaster reads a head-to-head question and the fastest correct response wins. Our team went head-to-head once, but unfortunately missed out on the cash. For each round, there are also two “money questions”, one for the audience and one for the competitors. Two competitors from the other SWIS team each won a money question.

In the end, our team came 11th tied, and the other SWIS team came 30th out of 60 teams. I hope that heaps of students from SWIS sign up to come to the 2027 Kids Lit Quiz; I couldn’t recommend it more! - Livie G

12/06/2026

🥟🍱 Making Lunches Healthier at SWIS! 🥗👩‍🍳

Our Food Tech students have been busy in the kitchen this term, creating healthier versions of favourites like chicken nuggets and sausage rolls 😋✨

They've also made delicious rice paper rolls, ANZAC biscuits 🍪, dumplings 🥟, and a versatile homemade sauce perfect for nachos, wraps, or pasta 🌮🍝.

We're always impressed by our students' creativity, growing food skills, and the fantastic ideas they bring to each lesson. Ka pai, everyone! 👏💚💛

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11/06/2026

💚🌿 Celebrating Kapa Kākāriki! 🌿💛

Our SWIS Kapa Haka group has had some fantastic opportunities recently, proudly sharing their passion for kapa haka and representing our school with pride. 👏✨

Our students visited Wellington High School, where they learned alongside talented tauira and were supported by wonderful tuakana who generously shared their knowledge, skills, and encouragement. 🤝💚 A huge thank you to Wellington High for the warm welcome and support.

We were also incredibly proud to see Kapa Kākāriki open the National Ballroom and Latin American Dancing Competition at Wellington College 💃🕺🎶. What an honour to showcase their talent, culture, and mana on such a special stage!

Ka mau te wehi to all of our performers. We are so proud of the confidence, commitment, and enthusiasm you bring to every opportunity. 💚💛✨

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10/06/2026

SWIS Reporters launch Edition #2!

Check out the latest edition by our very own SWIS reporters here! https://drive.google.com/file/d/15fDaQ0rGs7wfolZ01YagugK8trG8q5h2/view?usp=sharing

09/06/2026

SWIS speller takes out top award!

On Wednesday 27 May, the Spell It Out and Spelling Bee for Intermediates across Wellington was held at Maidstone Intermediate. We started from SWIS in 2 different cars where the parents of 2 candidates of the Spelling team drove us there. (Huge thanks to David and Joleen)

We got there at about 9:30 and about 20 minutes later, all the intermediates that were participating had arrived. Then around 10am the instructor from Maidstone Intermediate called Shawn started giving out the instructions and the timetable for the day. Shortly after the Spell It Out competition had started. The first activity was identifying the mistake. There were 4 different activities including animal related words and spelling them. After that, there was a test which had to be taken individually where Shawn read out a couple of words and we had to write them down correctly. The top 15 candidates got selected for the Spelling Bee.

The Spelling Bee was extremely stressful. Hundreds of eyes watching you, your teammates having high expectations for representing your school. But honestly, it was finished before it had even started. The words were extremely hard, people getting eliminated as we went. Before we knew it, we were down to the final 2. One of the finalists was Bhavishya from the SWIS Year 8 team. Shortly after Bhavishya won the spelling bee and beat the other candidate - a Year 8 candidate: Phoenix from Fergusson Intermediate. They both did an amazing job, remaining strong and confident. Soon after, Bhavishya had spelled the last word correctly and got the title of the 2026 Spelling Bee Champion. We were all extremely proud of her for representing SWIS, and remaining confident throughout. After she had gotten her prize, the top 2 winning schools from the Spell It Out competition were announced. The SWIS Year 8 team had gotten second place, extremely close to 1st which was Wairarapa Intermediate.

We received an award, which was presented to the SWIS Year 8 team, and had a photo taken as well. Afterwards, we were all packing up to get back to SWIS and got there 10 minutes before lunch ended.

The 2026 Spelling Bee and Spell It Out competition was an awesome experience for both Year 7s and Year 8s. Thank you! - Apeksha, Rm 10

08/06/2026

🤝🎨 Connecting Through Art and Memories 💙
Ms Shuker and the Art for Art's Sake Enrichment Group visited residents at Village At The Park. We had a blast talking to the residents about their childhood memories. To encourage them to talk about their memories we asked questions. We drew their memories as well as ours. For my memory I drew a piece of toast and for Eileen's memory I drew a horse and a tree. We all had a banana and juice then returned to SWIS. By Niamh, R3

08/06/2026

SWIS | School Open Tomorrow - Tuesday 9th June

Kia ora whānau,

We are aware of the weather alert that has been issued for our region this evening.

At this stage, school will remain open and learning programmes will continue as normal tomorrow. We encourage all whānau to make the decision that is right for their family based on local conditions and any travel considerations.

If your child/ren will be absent from school, please let us know by recording the absence through Hero or by calling our absentee line.

We will continue to monitor official updates and will communicate any changes as soon as possible.

Please take care, stay safe, and thank you for your support.

Ngā mihi,

South Wellington Intermediate school

07/06/2026

🎸🎤 Rockquest Success for The Cavemen! 🎶🔥

Congratulations to The Cavemen, one of our talented SWIS bands, who recently competed in the regional competition with an original song! 👏✨

The group were thrilled with their performance and showcased fantastic creativity, confidence, and musicianship on stage. 🎵🌟

They're already looking ahead to later in the year, when they'll be aiming to defend their title as Wellington's top intermediate school band! 🏆🎸

Ka pai, The Cavemen — we wish you all the very best! 💚💛

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06/06/2026

🌟🙌 Our SWIS Leadership Team had an inspiring day at the National Young Leaders Days New Zealand in Wellington!

Joining students from across the region, our leaders heard from a range of motivating speakers and explored what it means to lead with courage, resilience, and action. 💡✨

One of the key messages of the day was Tūwhitia te hopo, mairangatia te angitū — Feel the fear and do it anyway. 💪🌱 A powerful reminder that growth happens when we step outside our comfort zones and embrace new challenges.

We are incredibly proud of how our students represented SWIS and the ideas and inspiration they brought back with them. 💙💛

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06/06/2026

Check out this fortnight's newsletter, hot off the press!

5 June 2026 Kia ora whānau, Connecting with our Community Last Friday, Karl Emson and I visited Village at the Park (our neighbouring retirement village) to see our Art for Art’s Sake enrichment group spending time with residents, drawing images inspired by childhood memories. Organised …