Newsletter Term 1 Week 6

Bulls School

School Newsletter

Positivity-Respect-Integrity-Determination-Excellence

2023 Term 1 Week 6

Tēnā koutou katoa,

First, thank you so much for your generosity last week. We had two days where we reached out to our community. One to support the efforts of many when helping to rebuild areas affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and the other to restock our Kapata Manaaki. Our community responded positively to both – we are so grateful for your support.

Our thoughts also go out to South Makirikiri School, Rangitīkei College and the Go Bus team who have had a sad event this week that will impact on the wider community in different ways.

We are making the most of the nice days and trying to fit in both end of season swimming opportunities and athletics skills and drills. This Monday we have our whole school athletics day. There is a poster with more information in this newsletter.

Tuesday afternoon next week we have an open afternoon planned. We are hoping the weather is favourable for that as well – fingers crossed! See the information flyer below for details.

I would like to say thank you for your support on Thursday when our teachers attended their union meetings. Yesterday I sent out an email providing whānau with a heads up with regards to a proposed teacher strike. In the email, I outlined some thoughts around some of the challenges we face in education that have a direct impact on your child/ren and their learning journey. We feel incredibly fortunate to have such dedicated staff here at Bulls School. For them, going the extra mile is their default setting! As soon as I have any confirmation I will let you all know via an updated email. The date to keep in mind is 16th March (next Thursday).

We are all waiting for news of an impending new bub in the McDowell household. Vanessa was hoping to work this week however baby seems to want to keep her resting at home which Vanessa isn’t thrilled about. When we know you will know.

Camp is approaching fast and everything is organised and ready to go. If you can’t make it to the camp information session (on the same day as the whānau open afternoon to make things easier for everyone) let Kerri know and she can email out the slides to you.

Finally we are reviewing our methods of communication as we work hard to keep our whānau well informed. We have many platforms (some would say too many) including: Facebook (Bulls School page and individual hub pages), our website, this newsletter and our Skool Loops app. I also email when neccesary. Please join the Skool Loop app if you haven’t already as we plan to work hard to make this a main source of important information. Checking the calendar regularly should keep you well updated on what is going on at school that you need to know about.

Kim Gordon

Tumuaki/Principal

We were so impressed with the support we received for this fundraiser. We were able to send $400 to the Hawkes Bay Principal Association for them to distribute to schools across the region. There were a lot of schools involved and I believe the total sum raised was in the thousands – so well done everybody. Big thanks to Kelly for her delicious cupcake treats – we are such a lucky bunch!

BULLS SCHOOL SUPPORT GROUP

We are still trying to organise a date and time that works for everyone. At the open afternoon, Kim and Megan will be available to answer any wonderings you have if you have considered joining the BSSG. It is a more the merrier situation – so don’t hold back! Get in touch :-).

SPORTS & CULTURAL

Last Monday, Tūrangawaewae held their first swimming sports for a while, at Marton Pools. It was a mixture of competitive swimming, both lengths and widths, along with some fun games at the end. The children did a great job and had lots of fun! Thank you to Mrs McDowell and Miss Guard for organising the event and to the parents who helped and came along.

Pou Tāhū

Pou Tāhū has been learning how to introduce themselves in sign language and we were very lucky to have Jess Perkins and Pippa Taylor come and help us learn.

ENVIRO SCHOOLS

The Enviro group has been extremely busy this term. They have taken on the responsibilities of being worm farm collectors, recycle bin monitors, watering plants monitors, litterless lunch monitors, and eco-warriors. They have helped clean out our garden shed (so that it can be ready to use for the rest of the year), chopped up the sunflowers to feed the worms, collected in the sunflower heads (so that we can gather the seeds), and nourished our school gardens with worm castings.

Lunch in School

The Ministry provides free healthy lunches daily, you will need to provide morning tea and a water bottle for your child. Please let the office know of any dietary requirements, alternatively, you can opt-out of the Lunch Scheme by contacting the office and then provide your own healthy lunch.