Calendar
Latest News
Report Absence
Enrolment
Nestled on the hill in the rural township of Browns, just 9 kilometres from Winton in Southland, Hillside Primary School enjoys a stunning outlook across farmland towards Otapiri Gorge and the Hokonui Hills. Our unique setting provides a peaceful and spacious environment where children can learn, grow and thrive, surrounded by the natural beauty of the Southland landscape.
Hillside is a full primary school catering for students from Years 1 to 8. Our two classrooms provide focused learning environments for Years 1–4 and Years 5–8, supported by a well-resourced library in our third learning space. As a small rural school, we are proud of our strong family atmosphere, where every child is known and valued. Our small class sizes allow us to personalise learning, respond to individual needs, and nurture each student’s pathway.
We are committed to preparing our learners for life in a global and ever-changing world. We hold high expectations for our students and work closely with whānau and our wider community to ensure learning reflects shared values, priorities and aspirations. Our students are also fortunate to have access to 1:1 devices, supporting digital fluency and enhancing learning opportunities.
At Hillside Primary School, community connection, personalised learning and high expectations combine to create a place where children truly thrive.
We warmly welcome visitors to come and experience the Hillside difference for themselves. We welcome your questions and look forward to having you become part of our Hillside whānau.
Sarah Wilson
Principal
28 Jul 2026
Good evening everyone,
An extremely late update for next week, my apologies, team!
I hope you've all managed to keep warm over the weekend. It was certainly exciting to wake up to a dusting of white on the ground. While the snow is always a beautiful sight, I know it also brings extra challenges and work for many of our farming families. We hope everyone has stayed as warm as they could.
Week 2:
Tuesday 28th July
Friday 31st July
Looking forward to Week 3:
We look forward to seeing all the smiling faces tomorrow.
Thanks,
Sarah
Kia ora whānau,
There will be no assembly tomorrow.
As we're settling into our new routines and continuing to fine-tune our classroom structure for the term, we've decided to skip assembly this week. This will give us a little more time to establish our new way of working and ensure everything is running smoothly.
We'll be back to our regular assemblies next week and look forward to welcoming you along then.
Thank you for your understanding.
Good evening all,
A reminder that the Launchpad notice is due back tomorrow please. Please fill it out regardless of if you give permission or not.
Thanks heaps.
Welcome Back to Term 3!
We hope everyone has enjoyed a restful break and is feeling refreshed for another exciting term of learning.
Term 3 is shaping up to be a busy one, with plenty of engaging learning, special events, and opportunities for our students to grow and shine. Our whole-school inquiry this term is "Discovering Aotearoa New Zealand," where we'll be exploring our country's geography, unique landscapes, natural wonders, and what makes New Zealand such a special place to call home. It lends itself to the area of Science, many experiments, and exploring a lot of learning around the physical world.
We're also excited to welcome some new faces to our team this term and look forward to introducing them to our school community.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support. Please keep an eye on Skool Loop throughout the term for important notices, event reminders, and celebrations of the wonderful learning happening around our school.
An email regarding the class structure moving forward has been sent out, so please check that if you haven’t already done so.
Week 1:
Monday 20th July
· We welcome Miss Poole to the teaching team
· Miss Burr is in teaching
Tuesday 21st July
· Miss Burr is in teaching
· 9:30am Central Southland College are coming to visit the Year 8s on site.
Wednesday 22nd July
· Miss Burr is in teaching
Friday 23rd July
· Bible in schools, Junior School and then Senior School. A permission slip is coming home on Monday. This will run each Friday afternoon for the term.
· Assembly at 2:20pm in the Library.
Here's to a fantastic Term 3, we can't wait to see what our students achieve and look forward to seeing their faces on Monday.
Sarah
Athletics
For those children who would like to try out for the 800m and the 1500m, the details are:
800m – at Central Southland College on Wednesday 6th March at 3.30pm. 9 years and up.
1500m – at Central Southland College on Thursday 7th March at 3.30pm. 10 years and up.
Pop along and have a go you may qualify for Central.
John Parsons
A notice about John Parson’s visit on Monday 11th March went out last week. If you are intending to attend the parent session from 3.30pm – 4.30 pm. Please fill in and return the slip at the bottom of the letter.
Parent Teacher interviews
Interview times went home last week. If you are unable to attend, please let us know so another time can be arranged. We will mainly be talking about how your child is settling in to the new year and any concerns you and the school may have.
Central Athletics
Central Athletics is scheduled for this Friday 8th March at Central Southland College. If your child has qualified for the Central Athletics, they will be given a letter and a timetable of events today or tomorrow. Parents will need to take their child to Central.
Parents, please support our local businesses
Call Direct
Send Email
Call Direct
Send Email
Visit Website
Call Direct
Send Email
Visit Website
Visit Website
Visit Website
Scan this code to download the app
Download our Skool Loop App, a simple and free download. In Google Play & App Store search ‘Skool Loop’ and choose our school once installed.
