Term 4 Updates 1.12.22

Kia ora koutou,

Thank you to all whānau who came in for our Ilam Connect. It was lovely to see so many families come in to enjoy the learning that has taken place over the year. We know that strong relationships with whānau are vital to the success of our tamariki. We are looking forward to building upon these relationships in the coming year.

On behalf of the staff at Ilam School, we would like to sincerely thank the local Noel Leeming Riccarton branch for generously donating a brand new microwave for our staffroom. It has been a great addition.

Please note it is a busy time of year so please keep an eye on our Parent Calendar, Class Newsletters and the Ilam Updates as they will help keep you informed about what is happening at school in the coming weeks.

We have our first-ever Bake Sale fundraiser next week. We hope you can support us with this venture. Please see the PTA section of the Update for further information.

Please also note that there are Road Works happening from the 3 December for a week. Apologies for any disruption to your commute to school. The University of Canterbury has kindly informed us that we can park in their car park for drop off and pick up. See below for further information from Fulton Hogan.

Ngā mihi nui

Belinda Kennedy and the Ilam School Team

Please find the following information in this Update:

• Learning Conferences

• Knowing our Learners Conferences - 2023

• Road works starting Saturday 3 December until Monday 12 December

• PTA Updates

• PTA Disco Highlights

• Assemblies for Term 4

• Primary Sport Canterbury Athletics competition

• Cricket in Action

• Lost Property

• School Pool - Summer Holidays - closed

• Policy and Procedures Review

• 2023 Term dates - a reminder for your information.

• Hall Hire

• Free Event - Christmas Crafternoon Tea @ Ilam School

• Term 4 Term Dates

Wednesday 7 December from 3.15 pm - 8.00 pm

Thursday 8 December from 3.15 pm - 6.00 pm

Learning Conferences are scheduled to take place next week. We invite you to book an interview online. Please follow the steps below.

Alternatively, if you do not have access to a computer at home you can call the school office to make a booking.

To book your Parent Teacher interview, go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

• Simply enter the school code 239mn and press ‘GO’.

• You will be guided through three simple steps, and a few moments later you will get an email confirming your interviews. You can return to the site at any time and change your interviews whenever you wish.

31 January 2023 9 am - 7 pm

1 February 2023 9 am - 5 pm

We're moving to align our practice to that of other schools in our area and changing the timing of our learning conferences. From 2023 learning conferences will be held at the start of the year to set goals for the first two terms, and again at mid-year to review goals and set new ones for the second half of the year. These start-of-year conferences are commonly called Knowing Our Learner meetings and next year will be held on Tuesday 31 January and Wednesday 1 February.

Getting to know each of our students and their families is an integral part of establishing strong relationships and making a positive start to the year. By having face-to-face conversations, teachers will have a deeper understanding of each child, enabling them to plan teaching and learning programmes that cater to student needs and build on their strengths and interests.

Our aim is that by the time children start school on Thursday 2 February, teachers will already know each of their students and will have connected with families.

Some evening appointments will be available on Tuesday 31 January to support parents who cannot take leave during the school day. We would be grateful if the evening learning conference slots were left for those parents who can't attend during the day.

The Knowing Our Learners meetings will be 20 minutes in length. We believe it is important for children to be part of their goal-setting, and would prefer that they attend with their parents. If you would like to speak to the teacher without your child present, we suggest that your child stays for the first 10 minutes of the conference to contribute to the discussion, and then they can move to the playground while a private conversation takes place.

Bookings for learning conferences will open on Friday 9 December via our online booking system. Details will be sent home with your child's 2022 end-of-year report. If you do not book an interview time we will book one for you and email you the details. Alternatively, if you do not have access to a computer at home you can call the school office to make a booking.

Please note that children are expected to attend their learning conference on one of these days, but classes do not begin until Thursday 2 February. We look forward to a year of working in partnership with you to achieve great things for Ilam’s children.

Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

With your contribution and my contribution, everyone will thrive.

From Saturday 3 December until Sunday 11 December - between 7am and 7pm daily (including weekend days) - we will be removing and resurfacing the existing road surface on Ilam Road (as per the work area defined in yellow below). After the resurfacing works were completed during the Nor’west Arc cycleway project, we noticed some cracking in the asphalt within the work area highlighted below. This has progressively worsened over time with the volume of daily traffic, including buses. We completed testing to investigate the composition of the road and discovered there was insufficient gravel underneath the new asphalt layer. We will remove approximately 315mm of the existing road and rebuild it in three layers. Fulton Hogan

2nd Hand Uniform Donations

The PTA are appealing for good quality second hand uniforms please. There is also a need for winter jackets and coats if you are having a clearout. Please drop these off at the office. The donated items are an important part of our fundraising at Ilam School.

The PTA Disco on the 18 November was an absolute blast. Memories are made extra special with the help from the entire PTA Team. Thanks PTA! We hope to be able to provide you with a way to access some of the photos taken at the disco by the end of the school year.

Dates for your calendar

Week 8 - Cultural Leaders Leading Assembly on Wednesday 7 December at 2.15 pm

• Cultural leaders, Student Council, House Captains

Our Senior Choir and Orchestra will perform

Week 9 - Excellence and Leadership Assembly on Tuesday 13 December at 2 pm

At this assembly, we will acknowledge the following:

• ICAS Distinction/High Distinction

• Music Excellence

• Maths Excellence

• Literacy Excellence

• Arts Excellence

• Sports Excellence

• Citizen Excellence

Our Middle School Choir will perform.

Week 9 - FINAL Assembly on Thursday 15 December at 11 am

Please note school closes at 12.30pm

At this assembly, we will acknowledge the following:

• The winning House for 2022

• Orchestra - Most improved

• Excellence in Orchestra

• Choir Cup

• Language Support Cup

• Sports Achiever Cup

• Sportsmanship Cup

• Literature Cup

• Maths Cup

• Arts Cup

• Citizenship Cup

• Academic Cup

Our Kapa Haka group will perform and the Year 6 team will showcase their Dance.

We will also do a final roll call for our Year 6 leavers.

Primary Sport Canterbury Athletics competition was held on Wednesday 30th November at Nga Puna Wai. This year we had a team of 8 athletes, competing in Year 5-6 events.

Congratulations to all students who competed, it was an awesome achievement to be able to attend.

Well done to the following for their great results:

• Hadassah Ekekwe: 2nd Year 6 High Jump, 3rd Year 6 Long Jump

• Ariel Chou: 3rd Year 5 High Jump

• Hadassah Ekekwe, Maia Tang, Mia Stevens, Shaini Arachchi Mudiyanselagem 1st Year 6 Relay.

We have a significant amount of lost property in the school at the moment. If you would like to have a look through this, it is located outside the brick building at the end of the Senior School Courts.

This year we are unable to open our pool over the summer holidays. The pool will be ready for Term 1 2023.

This term we have a number of policies up for review. Our login details are on our website. You can find the link here. To view, our school policies click on the link to the School Docs site. The 'current reviews' section is where to complete these.

Information regarding our Knowing our Learners conferences in 2023 will come out in our week 7 Ilam Update.

In the past our hall has been fairly heavily booked in the evenings due to groups that hire the hall on a regular weekly basis. This year we have had two groups that have left and our hall is now available for regular hire on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday evenings. If you know of any groups looking to hire a venue (for example, martial arts, dance etc) please ask them to contact the school office.

Please check our Parent Calendar to keep up to date with events at our school. Find the link here

• Senior Day Camp 5-6 December

• Student Learning Conferences 7-8 December

• Year 6 Leavers Night Tuesday 13 December

• Last day of Term 4 - Thursday 15 December 12.30 pm finishing that day