ECS Update Term 3, Week 5 – Thursday 20th August 2026

Emmanuel Christian

School Newsletter

Kia rite tā koutou haere ki tā ngā tamariki o te mārama – Walk as children of light

ECS Update Term 3, Week 5 – Thursday 20th August 2026

Kia ora e te whānau,

Book week has been a lot of fun over the last few days, lots of reading, stories and the colour of cook character day. The creativity shown by so many was great to see.

Can I continue to encourage you to take time as a family to share your favorite storybooks together, and also open the Bible and reflect on the wonderful light God offers us through His writen word.

This week we also had 4 teams involved in the annual Cantamath’s competition, joining with teams from across Canterbury and the Westcoast for a high paced Maths problem solving competition. It was great to see and hear the enthusiasm from students across the arena.

Can I also remind you that on Friday (21st August) school will be closed for a Teacher Only Day as staff will be involved in Professional development related to the updated national curriculum. Please note the School Office will also be closed on Friday.

Ngā mihi nui,

Alistair McKinnon
Principal
Emmanuel Christian School

This email contains information about:

Important Dates
Te kupu o te wiki – Word of the week
2027 Enrolments – Applications close 22 August 2026
2027 intentions
Disney Ooshies – please not at school
Cycle Safe Programme Notice
Car Parking at school
Book Week
Cantamath Competition
Cultural Day
Tonga Language Week
Summer Sport Registration
Scholastic Book Club Orders
Aurora Festival
Strum, Strike, Blow
Ezlunch orders
Hot Chocolate Stand
Second-Hand Uniform Sale

Important dates

Friday 21 August: Teacher Only Day

Monday 24 August and Tuesday 25 August: Cycle Safe Programme

Wednesday 26 August: Cultural Day

Thursday 27 August: Aurora Festival

Friday 28 August: Tonga Language Week Observation

Wednesday 2 September: Strum, Strike, Blow

Wednesday 9 December: End of Year School Prizegiving

(The School Calendar including 2026 Term dates can be found here)

Te kupu o te wiki – Word of the week

This week’s te reo Māori word/phrase of the week.

We would encourage you to try to use these at home.

This weeks word/phrase is: Hei konā – See you later

2027 Enrolments – Applications close 22 August 2026

Enrolment applications for places in 2027 are currently open and close on Saturday (22 August 2026). If you are aware of families with children looking to apply to start at Emmanuel Christian School in 2027 please pass this on.

Please note this includes applications for any younger siblings of current students looking to start at any stage in 2027.

2027 Intentions

As we look ahead to the end of 2026, we know that some families will be moving on from Emmanuel Christian School for various reasons.

If your child will not be returning to Emmanuel next year, please notify the school office as soon as possible if you haven’t already. While we are always sad to see students leave, having this information early helps us plan for the upcoming year and offer places to prospective families.

Note: Families of graduating Year 10 students do not need to contact us, as we have already accounted for these departures.

Thank you to those who have already informed us. We appreciate your assistance and support.

Disney Ooshies – Please not at school

We understand that many of you and your children are enjoying collecting the Disney Ooshies from Woolworths currently.

Unfortunately in a school setting these are causing some disruption and at times, some conflict, esp when being traded.

Can we ask that these are not brought to school please.

Thank you

CCC Cycle Safe Programme

As part of the Year 6 curriculum we have the Christchurch City Council Cycle Safe Programme coming to school on Monday 24 August and Tuesday 25 August.

Details will have been sent home with your child along with a permission slip to return.

Students should wear their P.E. uniform and may wear long tracksuit pants for warmth.

Please contact the school if you have any concerns/questions.

Parking

Can we please remind you to ensure when you are parking at school you only park in the appropriate marked carparks.

This includes:

Not parking in the marked accessible carparks (unless you are ceritified to do so) so these are available for those who need them.
Not parking in the area beside the admin block where student bike parking and the minivan is stored.

Thank You

Book Week

Cantamath Competition

We had the privilege of entering 4 teams into the Cantamath Team Competition held on Wednesday 19th August at the Wolfbrook Arena.

This consisted of teams of up to 4, having to answer 20 questions in 30mins. One of the team members had to be the runner, where their job was to run their answer to the marker to get it checked.

The results for each team were:

Year 7 team – 50 points out of a possible 100

Year 8 team – 70 points

Year 9 team – 50 points

Year 10 team – 45 points

All the teams did an incredible job and really worked cohesively.

Also, shout out to Derek from Year 10 for participating in Cantamaths every year since he was year 7.

ECS Cultural Day

We are excited to celebrate the rich diversity of our school community on Wednesday, 26th August (Week 6), a vibrant and memorable day for all of our students, staff, and whānau.

Morning Parade & Dress Code

The festivities kick off in the morning with our annual cultural parade.

Students are encouraged to wear (traditional) clothing that reflects their cultural identity.
Children with delicate outfits may bring their uniform to change into after the parade.
Students who aren’t wearing cultural outfits should come in regular school uniform.

Afternoon Cultural Stalls

From 1:15 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., students and teachers will explore cultural stalls run by our wonderful parent volunteers. These stalls will showcase incredible food, crafts, traditional garments, games, and cultural displays.

Whānau Invitation

We warmly invite parents, family, and whānau to join us from 2:30 p.m. onwards to share in the celebrations, explore the stalls, and enjoy the atmosphere leading up to pick-up time.

We look forward to coming together as a community to honour, learn about, and celebrate the beautiful variety of cultures that make our school so special.

Tonga Language Week

Mālō e lelei!

This week marks the celebration of Tonga Language Week. To honour this vibrant culture, our Tongan students are warmly invited to come to school dressed in their beautiful traditional clothes on Friday. Please note that because this Friday is a Teachers Only Day, we will be holding our official school observations on the following Friday, 28th August instead.

A Special Performance and Sharing

As part of our rescheduled celebrations on Friday, 28th August, our Tongan children will be taking the stage to perform a special item during the Junior Assembly. They will also be sharing elements of their cultural heritage with the school.

Event Details:

When: Friday, 28th August at 8:50 AM
Where: School Hall (Junior Assembly)
What to Wear: Our Tongan students are encouraged to wear their traditional attire on this day.

Join Us!

We warmly invite parents, caregivers, and extended whānau to come along to the Junior Assembly. Your presence and support mean the world to our young performers as they share their culture with pride.

Mālō ‘aupito (Thank you very much), and we look forward to seeing you there!

Summer Sport Registration

Touch Rugby

We are seeking expressions of interest for Years 3 & 4, 5 & 6 and 7 & 8 touch rugby players.

Registration is now open and a ‘sign up’ notice has gone home with students.

If your child/ren is interested in joing the touch rugby team playing in the weekly schools competition, please return the slip to the school office by Tuesday 25th August.

Games are on Tuesday afternoons at Nunweek Park, starting on 13th October with games held at the following times: Years 3 & 4 at 5.30-6pm, years 5 & 6 at 6.00-6.35pm and years 7 & 8 at 6.40 – 7.10pm.

The cost is $45 per child. PE uniform and appropriate footwear must be worn.

PARENT SUPPORT IS NEEDED: Teams can only be made if there is enough parent support/help.

Can you or someone you know:

Help manage a team on the night – orgainising players/subs etc
Help to coach a team during lunchtime of afterschool?

Please indicate your availabilty to help on the form when returning it.

*Other sports teams notices have gone out, so please keep an eye out and return any forms by the correct dates*

Scholastic Book Club Orders

Closing date : 6pm on Friday 21 August.

If you didn’t receive a brochure we have some at the Office and they are also available online on LOOP.

If you would like to order any of the books, this can be done online on LOOP. For your first time you will need to register in order to make a Book Club LOOP login.
We cannot take orders/payment via the Office so please order online.
Instructions are on the back of the brochure.
Once orders close, they will be sent to school and will come home with your child. On all orders the school earns 15% in scholastic rewards which benefits our school library.

Emmanuel Christian School does not endorse all material that is available for purchase from Scholastic Book Club. Please use your discernment when selecting reading material for your child.

Aurora Festival

This year 45 students and extras, (former members of our orchestra and players from our ECS community) involved in our Emmanuel Community Orchestra, will be performing in the Aurora Festival on Thursday 27th of August at 6pm in the Aurora Centre at Burnside High School.

This is a regional competition for mostly High School Orchestras and Bands to perform before a panel of adjudicators followed by a master class for half an hour with one of these high calibre judges.

We would love to have support from our community, the organisers encourage school communities to be part of the supportive audience.

We perform at 6pm for around 20 minutes. Admission is free!

As a practice run, we will be performing twice on Tuesday at 2pm in our school hall for our students. You are welcome to come and watch – the orchestra is performing at the highest standard it has been for many years!

Strum, Strike and Blow

Students have been working toward our spectacular performance with 49 other schools around Christchurch in the:

Wolfbrook Arena on Wednesday 2nd September.

This year we have 70 students playing either the recorder, the ukulele or a marimba.

This is always an exciting and memorable event for students! Once again many of our students will be taking the solos which is a huge deal! They not only perform in front of their peers, but also the audience, usually totalling over 2000 people!

Tickets are $5 and are available on the Strum, Strike and Blow website!

https://strumstrikeblow.org/

Ezlunch orders

Our school now uses Ezlunch, part of the Kindo platform, for all online lunch orders.

Ezlunch offers a simple, mobile-friendly way for families to order fresh, tasty lunches from the same local providers you already know and love (Sushi Factory on Wednesdays & Subway on Thursdays).

The ordering process is quick, payments are secure, and delivery to school is reliable and easy.

Parents can order using the Kindo app (iPhone and Android) and choose from a range of convenient payment options including card, bank transfer, Google Pay, Apple Pay and more. The system also includes helpful allergen alerts and automated reminders, so no one misses out on lunch day.

Marshmallow Mayhem – Hot chocolate stand

We’re back for Marshmallow Mayhem for Term 3!!

Hot chocolates will continue to be available every Thursday from 8.20 for students in Years 5 and up, located by the Senior School near the Shed.

If you already have a concession card, great news, it will continue to be valid this term.

For the rest of this term, hot chocolates are available for:
• $2.50 each (cash sales welcome as we end the term)

• $10 concession card

To purchase a concession card, please make payment to: ECS School Fundraisers Association Account Number: 06-0870-0073625-00. Once payment has been made, please email your child’s name and classroom details to ecsfundraiser@gmail.com, and we’ll organise their concession card.

Children are also welcome to bring their own reusable cup for us to fill. Please ensure it is clean and has a secure lid.

Thank you for your continued support-every hot chocolate helps support our school community!