30th January

Kia ora,

Welcome back to school | kura. We hope you all had a wonderful summer break. An especially big welcome to our new tamariki and whānau. Happy school days to you and welcome to our school family! 

This notice will be sent out every fortnight (alternating with the school's newsletter). Both of these places are where you will find information regarding what is happening at kura | school as well as photos and how to help your child at home. Please let your child's teacher know, if you do NOT wish for your child to have photos on our blog. The links to these (our blog and newsletter) are found on our school web page. 

Sickness/Medication

If your child is sick, please notify the office before 9 am. It is great if you let the teacher know as well, but we don't always get the message in time or may be sick or away ourselves. Please follow your doctor's or Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) guidelines as to when your child can return to school. 

If your child requires medication, please bring it to the office. It must be clearly labelled, and a medical form will need to be completed. These forms are available from Justine or Trine at the office.

Clothing

Please ensure all items are well named. We quite often have brand new items lost that are unnamed! Your child may take their shoes on/off. Please make sure they can take them off and put them back on by themselves and are named. A spare set of clothing should be kept in your child's bag to use, if they get wet or have an accident. There is a lost property box in the foyer of the office and also one at Kelly Club if your child attends this. 

Sunhats: As part of the school's sunsmart policy, children are required to wear a full brim navy blue sunhat in terms 1 and 4 (no caps please - this does not cover the neck). Some parents like to sew a small item onto school sunhats (as well as naming it) so it is easily identifiable. Please keep the hat in the side pocket of your child's bag so they can access it easily. No hat = no play. Apply sunscreen to your child before school. 

Vests: a hi vis vest should be worn to and from school every day, even if you come by car. These can be purchased from places like 'The Warehouse'. Please name this well. Vests are required to be worn on all school trips. Please store this in a side pocket for easy access. 

Library

At this stage, library for all classes is on Monday.

Library books can be kept for two weeks. However, most children have them for one week. Please ask your child's teacher where to put the book once you have finished reading it together. Please note that lost or broken books will need to be paid for. 

Stationery

Please purchase this from Qizzle, name all items (apart from glue sticks, whiteboard pens and pencils), and bring these to the drop-in afternoon on Monday 2 February. This will enable us to prepare your child’s books. You can book a time for this via the Hero app. Please note that other families will also be present. As an Enviroschool, children from last year can bring their books in to be reused, along with their reading folder. The only new book is a handwritng book (GTE handwriting book 1) and triangular-shaped pencils and triangular-shaped whiteboard pens. 

Learning

Over the next two-three weeks your child will be assessed by their classroom teacher. This will enable us to monitor your child and ensure their progress over the year is at an appropriate level. As we work collaboratively, some children may have a different teacher for some subject areas e.g. structured literacy. Please speak to your child's akomanga teacher if you have any questions. 

• Literacy: poetry (rhyming words); structured literacy

• Mathematics: Woodin patterns (see Mathematics tab at the top of this page); finding maths within our environment ('maths eyes');  number, statistics

• Wellbeing: Zones of Regulation; Te whare tapa whā (school's wellbeing model); Circle time

• P.E./Fitness: fundamental skills and fitness games

• Māori: learning our school's karakia (copies to learn can be found on the 'Learning from home' tab above), pepeha (example also on the same tab), waiata

• Topic/inquiry: School values (Caring, Curious, Capable);  Sexuality Education - Classroom | hapori rules; Getting to know one another; Being a good friend; Who am I?

Dates for your diary (these will be updated over the term):

• Thursday 5th February: Mihi Whakatau (for all new tamariki and whānau) at 9.15 am. Please drop your child off as usual and then wait in the library. We will bring your child to you. All welcome. 

• Friday 6th February: Waitangi Day (no school).

• Tuesday 17th February: Community picnic and hangi from 5.30 pm. Bring your own picnic/food and a rug or seating. This is a great way to meet other families and a way to informally meet the wider staff. Please read the school newsletter for more information. 

• Wednesday 25th February: Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting - 6.30 pm in the staffroom. All welcome. 

• Friday 27th February: New Entrant meeting at 9.15 am in the staffroom. If you missed last year's meeting, you may wish to attend. The meeting is the same as last year's.

• CRT days: our specialist teachers (Megan, Alison, Annabel and Deb) will be taking the hapori classes on the following days: 18th February, 10th March & 18th March. Please see one of these teachers on the day, if you have any questions. 

• Thursday 2nd April: last day of term 1 

• Monday 20th April: first day of term 2

Please don't hesitate to pop in if you have any questions. We are looking forward to working with you and your child this year. 

Ngā mihi,

Nicky, Angela, Lesley, Ally, Tash and Deb

Teretere team