22 June 2021 

Kia Ora Koutou, 

Matariki signals the Māori New Year. It is a time of renewal and celebration in Aotearoa New Zealand that begins with the rising of the Matariki star cluster (the Pleiades or Seven Sisters). Our whole school will be participating in creative and engaging activities based around this special celebration throughout Week’s 9 & 10 with our dawn celebration on Friday the 2nd of July. More information about our dawn celebration is below. 

Learner Agency

“One way of thinking of learner agency is when learners have the ‘power to act’. When learners move from being passive recipients to being much more active in the learning process, and actively involved in the decisions about the learning, then they have greater agency.” 

At Woodlands Park we are committed to strengthening student achievement. To increase student agency our teachers have been implementing progressions of writing. Through the writing progressions rubric, children are able to reference back to the explicit progress indicators to support their development of writing. The progressions give our children the opportunity to be able to articulate the learning and the purpose of it. It also gives the opportunity to discuss what they can do and what their next steps for learning are, as well as develop persistence and motivation to learn. You can find the progressions for writing rubric on our website - go to the Learning tab and drop down to Literacy. 

Access to Free period products for students

I am pleased to inform you that our school has taken the opportunity to be part of ‘access to free period products’ in schools. We received our first order this month and our teachers will let our students know how and where to access them. 

 (from the MOE website)

Periods are a fact of life for half the population. Despite this, young people don’t always have access to the products they need to feel comfortable at school, engage in their learning, and manage what should be a normal and healthy part of life.

Poor access to period products can affect students’ attendance and engagement at school. Students also miss out on sporting and cultural activities and can feel embarrassed and ashamed about not being supported to manage their periods. This affects their achievement and wellbeing.

Providing access to free period products to those who need it in all state and state-integrated schools and kura will:

• reduce barriers to access and improve school attendance, sports involvement and tertiary participation

• improve child and youth wellbeing

• reduce financial strain on families and whānau experiencing poverty/material hardship, and

• promote positive gender norms and reduce stigmatisation of menstruation.

Access to period products is a necessity, not a luxury. The need to access period products exists for every young person who experiences menstruation. We also know that some families and whānau will be facing increased financial stress as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19. This initiative is also one of a range of approaches to mitigate the impacts of socioeconomic disadvantage and to reduce child poverty.

Information about the COVID-19 vaccine programme

The Prime Minister announced yesterday that Medsafe has provisionally approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15 year olds in New Zealand.

The next step is for Cabinet to meet to review advice from the Ministry of Health about the ‘decision to use’, which will occur next week.

In the meantime you can find more information about the vaccination rollout on COVID19.govt.nz

Baby News 

Congratulations to Shelley (accounts/admin) who safely delivered a baby girl Amy last Thursday and also congratulations to Clare Bates (relief teacher) who has also had a baby girl Jemma. We wish them all the very best and look forward to them returning to WPS next year. 

Finally, a warm welcome to all of our new students who have joined our WPS whanau over the past month - we look forward to getting to know you and your families! 

Nga Mihi 

Nardz Stephenson

Principal 

Health Education Parent Consult 2021

The Education Act requires that, at least once every two years, boards of trustees produce a written statement about how the school will implement health education.

The legislation requires schools to:

• Inform the school community about the content of the health education components of the curriculum;

• Consult with members of the school community regarding the way in which the school should implement health education;

• Describe, in broad terms, the health education needs of the school’s students.

Please click here to read the draft statement and provide feedback.  (This survey will close end of Term 2).

INTRODUCING WONDER-WILLOW.

Two Room 3 students, Willow and Emme are part of Starship’s biggest ever national fundraiser. The girls will be involved in efforts to raise 15 million dollars for 10 new PICU beds. We are super proud of Willow and Emme!

More information from Mecury Energy / Starship below:

In August 2018, Willow and her twin sister Emme were admitted to Starship with severe cases of Influenza and Pneumonia. Little Emme spent two weeks at Starship before making a recovery. Her twin sister, Willow, unfortunately had a longer road ahead of her.

On her second day in PICU, Willow’s lungs collapsed setting off a chain of events that resulted in a terrifying 77 day battle for life in the PICU ward and a further 51 days in recovery and rehabilitation. During the course of her stay, little Wonder- Willow bravely overcame incredible odds, defeating infections and internal bleeding, conquering comas and renal failure, and even the removal of 20% of her left lung. There are very few patients in the world who are ever placed on an ECMO heart and lung machine (the highest form of life support) more than once.  Brave little Willow was put on ECMO not only once, but three times.

Willow fought for a total of 128 days in Starship, gathering enough strength to be able to return home just in time for Christmas. A testament to her character, the care and support of her family, her constant companion Emme, and the incredible team of doctors and nurses at Starship.

Willow is the definition of brave, but she couldn’t have done it without help. You can help Willow, and hundreds of other little superheroes just like her by donating to Starship.

Become a sidekick to one of Starship’s little superheroes and donate today!

SUPPORT STARSHIP

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