Welcome to Term 4!
Greetings Ten Feet Tall families and students,
Term 4 is a busy one, with students preparing for Speech NZ exams, Trinity College London exams, end-of-term Christmas performances, and debates.
Celebrating Student Success
Our Year 2–5 students at Kristin School, along with our Grade 5–Diploma students, sat their Speech New Zealand exams during August and September.
We’re proud to celebrate the achievements of all our students — not just those who received the highest grades — as our focus is on developing confidence, communication, and performance skills. For some students, simply standing in front of an examiner and performing is a major achievement.
Congratulations to every student on their excellent results and the dedication shown throughout their preparation. Parents, all exam reports have been emailed to you. Please take time to read them with your child, focusing on all they’ve achieved. Certificates will arrive by November and will be handed out in class.
Special congratulations to our Year 9 Debate Squad — Ally, Annika, and Oscar — who recently won the EduDrift Junior Asia Junior Championships Debating Competition! A huge shout-out to Annika, who was named top speaker of the tournament. This dedicated team meets online weekly with Kim and is already preparing for their next event. If your child would like to join an online debate squad and compete in upcoming competitions, please let us know.
Northcote Primary School Recital It was an honour to watch our Northcote Primary School students bring their creativity and confidence to the stage. Thank you to all family members who supported this event.
Holiday Programme Highlights
Our September Holiday Programme was a huge success — thank you to everyone who supported it!
We had a fantastic time running our Learning to Lead course, where students developed teamwork, creativity, and leadership skills across three inspiring days. We’ll offer this programme again from January 19–21 to help students prepare for the year ahead. If you have a group of 7–10 friends who would like us to run the programme, please let us know.
Our Intro to Public Speaking and Debate programme was sold out! This programme will run every school holiday for students in Years 6–10 to develop foundational public speaking skills. Aspiring debaters who attend this programme can progress into our foundation debate programme.
We also loved welcoming creative kids to our Worlds of Wonder drama days at Kristin School, Pinehurst School, Lake House Arts in Takapuna, and the Rose Centre in Devonport. These themed days gave students the chance to build confidence, explore creativity, and have fun performing. A big thank you to Ella for leading the programme with such passion, and to Abby, Caleb, and Keeley for their fantastic support throughout the two weeks.
In December, we’ll offer a Holiday Programme week at Kristin School from Monday 8 – Friday 12 December, followed by a week of programmes at Kristin and Lake House Arts from Monday 15 – Thursday 18 December.
Want to be the first to hear about our Holiday Programmes? Join our VIP Group by clicking below and entering your details.
Celebrating Student Success
A huge congratulations to all exam students who sat examinations from August – September
Trinity College London August Examinations
Claire Wei -Distinction, Grade 8
Sonia Zhao -Distinction, Grade 8
Speech NZ Year 2-5 Examinations at Kristin School
Honours Plus [for Initial and Grade 1 exams – extra mark given for outstanding performance]
Amira Lenzi – Grade One
Oliver Redgwell – Grade One
Steven Zhang – Grade One
Kleio Katira – Grade One
Mila Stulich – Grade One
Crystal Zhou – Grade One
Jae Kim – Initial
Elena Shen – Initial
Renee Tai – Initial
Vivienne McDaid – Initial
Charlotte Han – Initial
Mabel Li – Initial
Honours [Highest Mark for all Speech NZ Grades]
Mehr Kashyap – Grade One
Leo Soulsby – Initial
Alisa Peerbhai – Whero
Rosalyn Yuan – Whero
Raelyn Taylor – Karaka
Alice Wu – Karaka
Catherine Chen – Karaka
Abigail Redgwell – Karaka
Pak Hei (Hayley) Chen – Whero
Chanel Luan – Whero
Tyan Qiu – Whero
Kayden Yu – Whero
Adam Noormahomed – Whero
Harriet Tompsett – Whero
Rohaan Chand – Whero
Vivaan Chand – Public Speaking, Grade One
Paige Brock – Grade One
Suya Wang – Initial
Clarie Wang – Initial
Ryan Yang – Initial
Taylor Secor-Maderazo – Initial
Joshua Secor-Maderazo – Grade One
Anvay Singh – Grade One
Duncan Hu – Initial
Jasper Smith – Initial
Senior Speech NZ August and September Exams
Honours Plus
Amanda Hao – Public Speaking, Grade Eight (Module 1)
Bella Yuechen Zhang – Public Speaking, Grade Six (Module 3)
Jacqueline An – Speech and Drama, Grade Five (Module 2)
Jessica Zheng – Public Speaking, Grade Seven (Module 1)
Jennie Liang – Speech and Drama, Grade Six (Module 1)
Keen Leung – Communicating in Leadership – Communication in Leadership
Natalie Kwok – Speech and Drama, Grade Seven (Modules 1 & 2)
Reagan Liang – Public Speaking, Grade Five (Module 2)
Amelie Cox – Public Speaking, Grade Five (Module 1)
Honours
Austin Yueyang Zhang – Public Speaking, Grade Eight (Module 1)
Connor Donovan – Public Speaking, Grade Eight (Module 1)
Tim Kasayapanand – Public Speaking, Grade Eight (Module 1)
Joanne Sun – Speech and Drama, Grade Five (Module 2)
Ryan Qiu – Public Speaking, Grade Five (Module 1)
What’s New This Term
Public Classes Now 45 Minutes
Thanks to parent feedback, our Year 4–10 public classes trial of 45-minute sessions went well. Please note: exam and in-school classes remain at 30 minutes with just 3–4 students per class.
Debate Checklists
All students enrolled in debate classes will receive a skills checklist at the beginning of the term. Once students demonstrate competence in the required skills and coaches sign off, they can progress to the next level. To achieve these levels, students must attend with their 1B8 exercise books and pens.
Recommend a Friend and Save
Refer a friend to our classes and receive $30 off next term’s invoice. Thank you to all our clients who’ve referred friends and saved on their fees! Recommend a friend here.
Make-Up Classes
Our trial of unlimited make-up classes has gone well. Please note: our admin team does not book make-up classes — they must be booked via the portal or Ten Feet Tall App by parents. Make-up classes can be booked in advance if you register an absence. All make-up classes must be taken by Week 8 so we can prepare for end-of-term open classes.
2026 Timetable and Improvements
In Week 8, we’ll launch our new TFT Curriculum, and parents will be able to register for 2026 via the portal or Ten Feet Tall App.
Getting Started This Term
- Log into the Parent Portal — download our new app!
- Check your child’s learning outcomes for the term
- Review your billing and settle payments
If you wish to opt out of direct debit, please notify accounts@tenfeettall.co.nz. You only need to opt out once — if you did so last term, it will be saved as a setting on your account.
All payments are due by Friday, 10 October, after which the direct debit will be processed.
If payment is not made by this date, your child may be refused entry to classes. We appreciate your understanding.
Key Dates
Monday, 3 November – Wednesday, 12 November — Speech NZ exams at Kristin School and Windsor Park Baptist Church. Timetables are being sent to parents this week.
Monday, 24 November – Trinity College London exams at Kristin School
Thursday, 27 November – Trinity College London exams in Auckland Central
Friday, 28 November – Sunday, 30 November – Speech NZ Zoom exams
Monday, 1 December – Thursday, 4 December – Final Classes at Kristin School, ACG Sunderland
- Monday 1st – Saturday 6th December -Final Classes at all other locations
Calling All Stars
In late November, Ten Feet Tall will host a professional photo and video shoot to create fresh content for our website and social media.
This is an exciting opportunity for students to experience a real professional shoot and showcase their confidence and creativity on camera.
Keep an eye out for registrations opening mid-term — spaces will be limited!
Welcome and Goodbye to TFT Staff
We’re excited to welcome Nick to our coaching team. You can learn more about him, and the full Ten Feet Tall team here.
This term, we say goodbye to Travis and Abby. Travis has been with Ten Feet Tall for three years, and we’ve greatly appreciated his dedication to his students and classes. He leaves to focus on the final weeks of his degree and will be stepping into a new role in 2026.
After three years with Ten Feet Tall, Abby has decided to focus on establishing herself in Australia and building her career. We wish her all the best as she settles in with her family in Melbourne.
Suki, our valued accounts team member, left at the end of Term 3. She will be greatly missed by our admin team. Sarah Hartley will be taking over the accounts role. Please note that we will no longer be offering a service via WeChat.
Leave us a Google Review and receive a $10 credit for Term 3!
We’ve extended our Google Review reward! Leave us a review and receive a $10 credit towards your Term 4 fees — it’s our small way of saying thank you. Your feedback helps other families discover the magic of Ten Feet Tall!
A heartfelt thank you to all the parents who’ve already shared their kind words — we’re truly grateful for your support!
Best wishes for the Term Ahead!
Sarah Hartley and the Ten Feet Tall Team
