Tumuaki / Principal News

So much has happened in the last two weeks. We have set teachers, part-time teachers, teacher assistants, classes, class levels and rooms ready for 2021. Today the last class finds out who the teacher will be for 2021. We like the children to know really early on so that they can meet the new teacher and not worry about things over the Christmas holidays. 

The plans and costings for the landscaping are being advertised for tender and we are hoping to get a good competitive response. The future plans are fantastic and we want the dollars to stretch to complete the project. We may not get home to everything completed, but we want the heavy work to be undertaken as soon as possible. There will still be lots of opportunities for the community to be involved in replanting and final touches. The gaga dodgeball pit will be a community project. We are just waiting on materials and inspiration, and volunteers to lead the charge.

It was lovely to see so many at the thank you morning tea this week. It is our way of saying thanks for all of the work the volunteers have put into the school to make it successful in 2020. Even better this year Janice made her famous sandwiches and fresh scones.

School is on track for its original completion date. This means that we are getting ready to move home on the 15th and 16th of March 2021. The school Internet and phones will be disconnected on 12 March as we spend our last day in digital silence on the Hallswell Road site.

Before anything is moved onto our home site, we will be holding a blessing ceremony.

Teachers will start packing up the school almost from the beginning of the year and once again we are planning creative fine weather programmes so that children can continue deep learning amongst the packing boxes. 

School will be closed on the 15th and 16th of March as the movers come in and take all of our belongings back home. School will reopen on our Lyttelton Street site for the first time on 17 March. On the moving days we would love to have volunteers to help us to unpack all of our gear from the containers, and to work with the staff to put everything back where it belongs. This is going to be a huge job but lots of volunteers will make it happen. If you are interested in helping please send your name through to the school office and let us know if you are available on one or both of those days. Teachers will direct you as to where things belong. It will be an adults only project with no children or preschoolers please. We also need volunteers to help us to pack up and label boxes ready to be moved out from the temporary site.

We are planning to hold our annual school hangi near the end of March once we are settled back into our home.

In the meantime there is a huge amount of planning to complete to prepare us to return home.

Our sincere condolences to the Rolston family after the loss of their much loved husband, son and daddy. Thank you to everyone who generously contributed to support this family in their time of sadness. Please respect the privacy of the family as they struggle to come to terms with their grief. Arohanui whānau.

It took several attempts to get the athletics sports off the ground. Thank you to the team for their persistence. As always many parents and grandparents turned out to support the children. There were some wonderful results despite the fact that we had limited fine weather in which to practice. The Fretwell coffee caravan was a welcome addition. Thank you to everyone who helped to operate the coffee machine.

On Tuesday we had a visit from the New Zealand Police. There were many cars and vans here and I just know that people passing the school must’ve thought there was a major event happening. It was a wonderful opportunity for community connection where children got to meet police officers, look at some of the gear, and sit in the cars and vans. A fire engine was also due to visit but there was a large fire in the city and it was unable to attend.

We have made the decision to hold the final assembly on 16 December at the Southwest Baptist church hall because it would have been impossible for us to walk the children to that venue and return them to school on time for a 1 o’clock finish on the last day,17 December. The greater consideration was around safety. It is impossible for us to track all children if they are dropped at a venue before school. Sometimes parents take their children away afterwards  and forget to tell us.

Buses will run for the last time in 2020 on 17th of December.

Our 2020 data has given us a pattern of greatly improved student achievement right across the school. More accurately we have got better at collecting the data in ways that show what our children can actually do. We have been working for 15 months with an expert facilitator, Brent Langford from Evaluation Associates. It has been wonderful professional learning. Despite a very disrupted year, our children have done well. I also think it is a testament to many strong home/school learning opportunities that you made possible during COVID-19 lockdown. 

The weather worked against us and we were unable to celebrate the Kahukura Cultural Festival together. Our Kapa Haka group will perform at the final assembly. The Harakeke team performed at the ethical market and stole the show, along with our choir. Every year it is fantastic to see who will rise to a leadership role in the cultural groups.

Thank you for all the support that you have given the children. Our teachers go way beyond the school call of duty to ensure that our children have every opportunity to shine. Thank you team. 

On our School calendar we still have the Year 6 leavers dinner, our Fono Hui Celebration, the final assembly, zone sports, and staff dinner. Everyone is really tired and counting down the sleeps until Christmas.

Thank you again to all of the families who have contributed extra things so that no child misses out. You are generous and thoughtful.

At a recent meeting I was made aware again of the amount of domestic violence and family harm that is hidden in New Zealand society. This is Aotearoa  New Zealand and there is no excuse for violence against women and children. Culture, religion, gender, age, alcohol and drugs are no excuse. One of our school family’s has recently been the victim of a relationship gone sour and they are grieving the loss of a loved one. If you or someone you know is living in a family harm situation, please tell someone. There is help available. There are people who care.

We have an anonymous app on our website that you can click on and get help if needed. It is anonymous in the sense that we can’t see who has used it and neither can anyone else except the organisation you have contacted.

My sincere wish is that Christmas is a wonderful time for you as a family. Don’t get tricked by the advertisers into believing that you have to spend dollars to make Christmas special. Take the time to make some new family traditions that your children will remember even when they are grown-up. I still remember camping on the back lawn (and giving up during the night and going inside,) leaving a plate of cookies and a glass of milk out for Father Christmas, following the Sallies down the local streets to hear the Christmas carols over and over again, trying to stay awake all night to see if I could catch Father Christmas coming down the chimney, hoping like crazy that my name was not on the naughty list and trying to work out who had it so I could change it, and the sheer luxury of a shared family pack of mackintoshes toffees. One year I was convinced that I heard the reindeer on the roof when I woke up during the night at my grandads house in Masterton. It was a great disappointment to find out the next morning that a possum had got stuck in the chimney.

Stay safe and well and enjoy the last few weeks of the 2020 school year. 

Kindest regards

Marriene

News from Room 5

In Room 5 we’ve done some research around the bug life at our school. 
Much to Whaea Natasha’s dismay, at the top of our list was spiders. In our collaborative groups, we researched and design posters to inform our peers about the spiders or insects we liked best.

After sharing a book about dragons, we also produced some frightening, yet beautiful dragon eye art.
 

Here are a couple of beautifully written descriptions of the weather last week. We have been looking at similes and the children have really enjoyed working on adding them into their writing. 

Today’s Weather
I think today’s weather is bright and sunny. The sun is as shiny as a golden shiny flashlight. The clouds are moving like a slow turtle. They are as fluffy as a soft pillow. The clouds colour is like a beautiful whilte rose. The wind is racing at the huge trees like it is pushing them.
Written by Kirby Realubit

Written by Cecilia Muao