Malo e lelei

We have had a busy start to the term, as usual.  We started with the Education Review Office (ERO) visiting us in week 1.  We had sent them many documents so they knew and understood our kura, and then after they had analysed these, they came and visited us for two days.  They met with board representatives at the beginning and end of the visit, spoke with the Senior Leadership Team, and visited some hubs.  They used all of this to triangulate their information so they can write a report for us.  Some of the feedback they gave us verbally was that our conditions for learning are strong, that we are focussed on accelerating learning and we have well-considered practices around this.  There are warm relationships throughout the school, clear expectations are in place, classrooms have strong routines, there is student voice around learning and we are very inclusive.  Our next steps (which may or may not be in the written report) are to sharpen our focus on attendance, reduce disparity in data, and to strengthen our schoolwide understanding and use of data. 

Attendance came up as an issue as 'regular' attendance is when ākonga are at school for 90% - 100% of the time.  We only have 55% of our ākonga attending more than 90% of the time.  This is missing fewer than 5 days across a term.  84% of ākonga are at school for 80% - 100% of the time, which is still low.  55% are away for sickness, 28% away on holiday, 10% are away for a reason which is not justified (e.g. visiting cousins, have a family day, day off for a birthday, etc), 5% have not given a reason, and 2% are justified (e.g. family funeral).  Letters will be sent out to whānau whose absences for tamariki is more than 20%. Regular attendance at school helps build and maintain learning, positive daily habits and routines, as well as promoting wellbeing by connecting them to their peers and learning new things.  We want our ākonga to thrive, to be the best learners - waihangatia ngā ākonga tino pai, attendance matters. 

As it is now term 4 the pool is open for swimming.  Please check the swimming days for your tamariki.  Hats (not caps) are to be worn when outside.  Please name these as the wind does like to take the hats for an adventure sometimes, and it is easily returned if it is named. 

We welcome Jules May to Lyall Bay School.  Jules is teaching in Hauraki with Mrs Wallace and Whaea Jo.  We also would like to welcome Anna-Louise Manley and Stan Goodhart who are with us part-time, both are working across the school.  Max Cervin, Riley Willis, and Georgia Wang have joined us as Kaimahi.  We welcome you all to our team. 

Breakfast Club will continue running in Term 4.  If you would like to help by setting up (8.20 am), cooking (8.25 am), supporting (8.30 am), or clean up (8.50 am) then please email david.dean@lyallbay.school.nz with your preference for times and days and a roster will be made up.  It would be great to have some extra hands with this. 

Last Friday was Aotearoa Teacher's Day.  Kaiako were celebrated with photos and words from tamariki, such insightful comments for each of our kaiako. 

Congratulations to our athletes who competed at Eastern Zone Atheltic Sports in terrible weather last week.  We had to cancel our school athletic sports because of the bad weather, but kaiako had already taken note of those athletes who would qualify for Eastern Zones.  The feedback has been very positive.  One comment was that this was the team who showed the most manaaki on the day. 

Our placegetters at Eastern Zones were:  Yr 4 Boys:  Maihi 1st - quoits, Billy 1st vortex, Relay 2nd;  Yr 5 Girls:  Relay - 2nd;  Yr 5 Boys:  Paddy 1st - Long Jump, 1st - 150m, 1st - Vortex, 1st - 80m, 1st -150m,  James 2nd - 800m, Relay - 1st;  Yr 6 Boys:  Floyd 3rd - Long Jump, 3rd - Quoits;  Yr 6 Girls:  Rosa 2nd - Quoits.  Tino pai tō mahi. 

We are already starting to plan for 2025.  If you would like some input into the kind of environment that your child does best in, then please let me know (principal@lyallbay.school.nz).  Kaiako are not yet in set spaces, so please do not request a particular kaiako, as that kaiako may not be in that room for 2025!   We also ask that you do not ask for your child to be with a particular group of friends.   This can get tricky if other parents have asked for something quite different.   Our kaiako do know our tamariki well and always try to make sure they are with others they know.   As our classes all work collaboratively, there are always opportunities for tamariki to be with different groups.

Our next W.A.T.P Hui is all about the beach!  Meet us at Lyall Bay Beach, bring a picnic, learn more about Beach School, have your say, chat with the community, and have a great time.  Here is a link to a movie about our Beach School https://www.lyallbay.school.nz/   See the flyer for details. 

Board Of Trustees meeting September

The Board met on Monday 9 September.  A draft cultural narrative was presented and discussed – the Board agreed this is a fantastic document and reflects how integrated the cultural narrative is across the kura.  This will be available on the website by the end of the year. 

At every meeting we discuss health, safety and wellbeing of all at the kura – Melanie noted the increased use of the sensory room and that an art therapist is helping some children.  In addition, there’s a new driftwood pit for building and digging.

Pasifika, Maori and Pakeha comparison data – the board were presented with high level information on the comparative data across reading, writing and maths. Good discussion ensued with more detailed data requested for the next meeting.

Jo Graham was recognised by a global education network for her Learning Through Play work – great stuff Jo!

Planning for the ERO review was discussed.  The risk register was reviewed with some minor adjustments made.  The Protected Disclosure and Teacher Aide Procedure policies were reviewed with no changes.

The next meeting was set for 4 November.

BoT Trustees:  Lloyd Percival- Presiding Member, Julia Blackburn - Deputy, Matt Hunt, Vito Lo Iacono, Karl Emson, Michelle Duff, Amanda Willis, Melanie Dean.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Hui at the Beach.

Kia pai te wiki
Melanie