15 October 2020

Kia Ora everyone, 

It is so awesome to be back to Level 1 and have our school gates open to all. We are all enjoying reconnecting with our community - long may it last! 

Learning Term 4 

The whole school is back and all of our children are buzzing with energy and excitement. Learning is in full swing already and as I visit each class there is a happy engaged vibe.  Whanau Kowhai continues with their Inquiry of ‘What’s in our garden?’ and each class has branched off into their own specific interests. Some are delving more deeply into life cycles, some are exploring how plants grow and some are satisfying curiosities around bee life.  Whanau Pohutukawa are continuing to study systems and are already straight back into learning how to find percentages including ratios and number work.  Whanau Harakeke is exploring the Arts this term and will be involved in Dance & Drama, Music and Art. Their core curriculum subjects continue and our year 6 students prepare for their transition to intermediate. EOTC for Whanau Pohutukawa and Whanau Harakeke is a big part of our final term. Information will be sent out shortly of the upcoming events. 

Learning Support 

We are incredibly fortunate to have a full time Learning Support Coordinator (Tania Chaney) who is committed and dedicated to supporting many learning support opportunities for our students. She has been very busy investigating how to further support our literacy programmes in the school.  

From Tania… 

We have just purchased a range of beautiful decodable books to be used as part of our structured literacy programme in the Whanau Kowhai. This is in response to the latest scientific research in the teaching of reading. Decodable books are different from the readers that children have traditionally taken home in that they follow a sequence and support the explicit teaching of letter to sound relationships. They begin with very simple sound patterns and gradually increase in complexity so that the children can use their knowledge of the phonic skill they have been learning to ‘attack’ or decode words with confidence. Children will also bring home other readers as part of a rich literacy programme. Our school has made it a priority to build on the decodable readers we have already purchased so that in the future we have a range for the older readers as well.

Reporting - End of Year 

The format for our end of year report has changed. We will no longer report against national standards but rather report the progress made by your child from end of 2019 to end of 2020 (slight variation for students who started this year). The new report will include your child’s photo as well as comments about how your child demonstrates our school values. Health and Social Sciences will also have a place in our new report. 

Planning for 2021 

Hard to believe but planning for 2021 is well underway! We will review our current charter and revisit our annual strategic goals for 2021 in the coming weeks. This is an exciting process which involves the Board of Trustees, teachers and students. Parents will be invited to contribute their aspirations for their children - more information about how to do this will be out soon. 

Our teachers met throughout the holidays to start planning class transitions for 2021. This is a complex process which requires many meetings and discussions and exchanges of learning data for our teaching staff. Please do not make requests for particular teachers for your child. Our teachers make these decisions with your child’s best interests at heart alongside a complex balance of numerous contributing factors to create a whole class. We thank you for your support with this. 

Maori & Pasifika Hui /Fono -  11 November 5:30 pm 

We warmly invite whanau to our Maori & Pasifika hui/fono on the 11th of November. We look forward to sharing our year with you based on the strategic goal Te Ao Maori and welcome your whakaaro for 2021. More information will be sent out closer to the time. 

Year 6 Poroporoaki/Graduation - Save the date 

Monday 30 November 1 pm 

Due to the unpredictable nature of Covid and the potential to transition between alert levels within 24 hours, we have made the difficult decision to step away from our traditional family night and graduation. We have focused our planning on a graduation ceremony that could still potentially go ahead with modifications, even if we were to go to a Level 2 again. This is to prevent disappointment should the inevitable happen. 

We have an open invitation to families of Year 6 graduates to attend the Year 6 Poroporoaki (Farewell). This special ceremony will celebrate the time our students have been at Woodlands Park and they will receive their graduation certificates as well as our traditional medallions - and certificates. We have William Pike booked to speak to our graduates. William is an inspiring speaker who will share his life journey as well as equipping our graduates with some advice to prepare them for their next big step to intermediate. Further details will be sent out soon. 

Finally, there are a number of events on this term - you can keep up to date via our website google calendar. If you are unsure or have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the office. 

Nga Mihi, 

Nardz Stephenson 

Principal