Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēna koutou katoa

Welcome back to school for 2025.  We hope you have all had a wonderful break and are ready for a fantastic school year. 

We welcome new staff this year:  Terri Cochrane who is teaching in Eke Ngaru, Rebecca Blaikie who is part of the Te Wheke teaching team, Caitlin Dittmer who is teaching in Taniwha, Ursula Steiner-Grierson who you can find teaching in Hautonga, and Brooke Harper who is teaching in Hauraki.  Next week's newsletter will have more for you to learn about these fabulous kaiako.  

We also would like to welcome all our new whānau and tamariki to Lyall Bay School:  Cass, Felipe, Talia, Madeleine, Bella,  Max, Maya, Malia-Moa, Izarbellah, Ruby, Leopold, Arav, George, Lubaba, Abbas, Ubayd, Zoe, Salwa, and Aahil.  We know you will love your time at Lyall Bay School.  

Newsletters are sent out in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 each term.  This is an introductory newsletter, with some pertinent information for you.

You should have all received a welcome video from hub kaiako.  Have a look on HERO to see these. 

Kaiako will be sending out an email to you too - this will give you information about how to contact kaiako, swimming and library days, and how learning is shared with you.  Please let kaiako know if you need more information.  As this is a summer term, hats are compulsory.  Please make sure this is a hat not a cap.  Hats protect faces, ears and necks from the sun.  Named hats make it easy to return them if they get blown off in the wind!!  Our dates for 2025.  Some of the dates for Teacher Only Days (TOD) are guided by the Ministry of Education (MOE) for Maths Professional Development.  The Ministry has let us know which dates we have so the whole Kahui Āko (Eastern Suburb kura) can attend together.  These dates are below for you. 

It is important that tamariki attend school every day we are open.  Attendance is when learners are at school and in the class they are supposed to be in.  If learners miss a week or more of school in a term they have ‘non-regular attendance’. Learners who miss a week each term will have missed out on a year of schooling by the time they are 16!  We will be sharing your child's attendance with you through HERO, so you are fully informed.  If you are finding it tricky to get your tamariki to school, let us know and we will work something out to support you.  If we see attendance is dropping, we will get in contact with you to see how we can help.  Tamariki are expected at school unless they are unwell.  Contacting the office or putting absences through on HERO is important too.  We will contact you about any absences if you have not let us know.  This is to keep tamariki safe. 

This week we celebrate the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi with a public holiday on Thursday.  Tamariki will be learning about this  significant time in our history, so chat at home to hear what they have been learning.

Each term we have a hui where we can come together as a community, connect, learn more about each other and celebrate tamariki.  We have named the hui W.A.T.P. hui, standing for Waihangatia ngā Ākonga Tino Pai (Building the Best Learners). Some of our community have found the name confusing, so we are looking for a new name that encompasses our vision.  We have such a creative community we thought you might be able to help.  If you have any ideas please email principal@lyallbay.school.nz  Every idea will earn 10 whānau roopu points for the whānau roopu your tamariki are in.  If you think the current name is serving the purpose we would love to know that too.  This year our hui will be on the third Wednesday of each term.  The first hui will be sharing the Refreshed NZ Curriculum overview and visiting hubs and kaiako.  Term 2's hui will be a Dance and Music showcase, the hui in Term 3 is a Maths and English focus, and Term 4 will be a learning expo.  We look forward to seeing you at each of these.  If you have something you would like to know more about please let us know. 

Beside our vision Waihangatia ngā Ākonga Tino Pai - Building the Best Learners, we have our values.  We live the vision and values through our Strategic Plan.  Our school values are (click the links to hear the correct pronunciation):

Manaaki  https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=manaaki, 

Pākiki  https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=pakiki, 

Whakapono  https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=whakapono, 

Hiranga  https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=Hiranga.

Our School Expectations are explored in hubs at the beginning of the year and ongoing throughout the year.  These support our learning and to have spaces where learning is a premium.  Kaiako have been working with Positive Behaviour for Learning to develop these.  This professional development will continue in 2025. 

Along with Reading, Writing, and Maths, our learning is guided by our pedagogy within Learning Through Play and our local pūrakau.  We also have different curriculum focuses.  These curricula will be integrated into Learning through Play.  Kaiako will be sharing the pūrākau, play invitations and provocations that connect with the focus curriculum.  Kaiako will then design learning that stems from the Learning through Play that they observe.  They will be using the language of the curricula, guide, support and develop learning that further develops critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creator skills.  This year these are The Arts - Dance and Music, Science - Planet Earth and Beyond, and Technology  - Design Technology.  There is more information about these in the poster below.

Term 1 Sports

Have a look at HERO and you will find a post was sent out last week advising of the sports available for tamariki to sign up for Term 1.  To ensure all tamariki are placed in a team, please email sports@lyallbay.school.nz as soon as possible to secure a spot in the team.  State your child’s name, year level and sport/s they would like to play.

Term 1 Registrations for the following sports are welcome from today.  Registrations for each sport close at different times.  Your prompt registration will mean that we can register teams quickly and avoid disappointment.  Registrations close on Friday 7th February (except for Floorball which close on Wednesday 5th February as games begin on Tuesday 11th February).

(Fees for Term 1 are due by Feb 8 for inclusion in a team.  These will be payable on Kindo or at the school office from Monday 3rd February)  

Netball     $40 (Saturdays at Evans Bay Intermediate, Motu Kairangi Courts) – skills & game each week – time to be confirmed

Touch       $40 (Wednesdays - Wakefield Park) – game only at a scheduled time from 3.45pm

Floorball   $40 (Tuesdays - Akau Tangi) – game only from 4pm

Flippaball  $30 (Fridays - Aquatic Centre) – game only from 4pm

Our School is provided funding assistance from the UP Foundation.  This term they are covering the costs of team entry for:

Futsal     Free (Mondays – Akau Tangi) – game only from 3.30pm

NEW Volleyball Free (Tuesdays – Kilbirnie Rec Centre) – skills for first few weeks, then games from 3.30pm

The first Friday of the month (see dates to diary) there is an opportunity to come along and chat with me (Parent and Principal Chat) if you would like to.  It is an open discussion guided by what you want to talk about.  This is held in the library and tea and coffee is available.  If you ever want to chat privately you can make an appointment at any time. 

Kia pai te wiki
Melanie