Newsletter Term 2 Week 10

2022 Term 2 Week 10

Kia ora koutou,

Here we are in the last week of another busy term, mid year! Hard to get your head around.  

Home & School Partnership Hui:

You can’t let a term go by without acknowledging the mahi of all of you towards supporting our tamariki in their learning journey. Here are some awesome statistics related to our Home and School Partnership Hui:

The first percentage is whānau who booked a conference and the second % is those who have booked at a later date.

Ngā Kakano: 96%

Pou Tahu: 88% + 7% = 95%

Tokomanawa: 87% + 6% = 93%

Tuarongo Year 6: 89% + 3% = 92%

Tuarongo Year 7/8: 91% + 1% = 92%

Overall this data tells us we were able to meet face to face with more than 90% of our whānau.

We congratulate you on making the time (on what were quite bitterly cold evenings) to come along and discuss your child’s learning journey with them and their kaiako or teacher. Research is very clear that the partnership between home and school is greatly improved and strengthened when our children can actually see the connections in a way that these hui cater for. Teachers made attempts to contact every whānau – our initial figure was closer to 75% but via emails or phone calls we were able to capture a bigger audience. If for any reason you feel you missed the communication or were unable to be present, please contact your child’s whānau teacher so that something can be organised for term 3.

Tough Kids September 9th:

This is going to come along quite quickly once Term 3 kicks in. As the 2022 Host School we are going to need a group of individuals to assist with setting up the obstacles on Thursday 8th September and then assist with taking them down again on Friday after the event. I have an awesome BSSG group but their main focus for this event will be the fundraising side of things.

PLEASE if you think you could help on either of the days (Thursday is my main worry at this point because there will be people around on Friday I could shoulder tap) contact the office and let them know so I can build a team and plan the obstacle course and what we might need to provide to make the obstacles fun and challenging for our ‘Tough Kids’.

Matariki:

I hope you and your whānau had a lovely long weekend, our first ever Matariki holiday weekend. Your children have been learning about Matariki for the past 3 or 4 years if not longer. They will be able to share their knowledge with you about ngā whetu, the stars and much much more. Our Kapa Haka group performed to our community in the most heartwarming way – it was short but it was memorable.

Dr Mike Paki (Ngāti Apa Ngā Wairiki) shared with us his thoughts about Matariki and I want to share that with you all:

Many of us are so busy looking down that we limit ourselves, but when I look into the skies, the limits are removed. The star Puanga – reminds me of the past, those who have gone during the year, and the gains made. It makes me reflect on what I have gotten from the past year and how fortunate I am. And the Matariki cluster reminds me to think about the future, and how we must continue to work to ensure the future is better for those who follow in our footsteps. Heoi anō, ngā mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. Ngā mihi Matua Mike.

Rangitītkei Holiday Programme:

Bulls School will be the host for two of these days – Wednesday 13th & Wednesday 20th. See the flyer further down the newsletter for more details but take a look and consider sending your tamariki along. Sport Whanganui and Rangitīkei Active Gym are providing healthy holiday programme activities for our tamariki – lets get behind them and support this.

BSSG Update:

Their current fundraiser is the great Winter Pies Orders! Don’t miss out, we already have some tamariki asking for a second order form! Such a handy go-to when the days run away from you and it’s dark before you know it!

I hope you have the opportunity to get outside and enjoy some winter sunshine over the next 2 weeks and I hope your tamariki are kind to you! See you back Monday of Term 3 – we will start the day with Pōwhiri and you are all very welcome to stay for that.

Stay safe and well, noho ora mai, Kim Gordon, Tumuaki.

This week our KIND KID is: Michael 

POU TĀHŪ

Pou Tāhū have been busy learning about Matariki, reflecting, and setting goals for Term 3. We have been working hard to earn our end-of-term tiki reward and a Teddy Bear’s picnic was the option most voted for. This will happen tomorrow (Thursday) so please encourage your children to just bring only ONE of their favourite teddy’s or toys. Thank you for making the time to come to our Home & School Partnership Hui last week, we really value this time and it was so great being able to host you in our classrooms spaces once again.   .

KAPA HAKA

We are reminded about how fortunate we are to have received funds to provide us with a set of piupiu for our Kapa Haka. Like many other areas of our kura, sickness and absences had a big impact on our regular practices. For Matariki and then Pae Tamariki we were making changes right up until we were expected on stage. We think having such great kakahu and piupiu ataahua (beautiful kapa haka uniforms) helped lift our performances at both events.  We cannot thank enough the group that worked behind the scenes to support our ropu and get us to our performance ready state!

Ko koutou tonu a runga!

You are awesome! 

RANGATIRA

On Monday students from the Rangatira Challenge went to River City boxing in Whanganui. It was a great afternoon with Eddie taking them through a set of drills before being able to put on some gloves. The afternoon went very quickly with everyone getting involved. We look forward to some more events next term!

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. 

SEND HEADLICE PACKING!

If you find head lice or eggs – you need to treat them. Repeat the treatment: 7–10 days later for chemical treatments and every day for wet combing if you can manage it, but at least every 2 to 3 days.

For more information, talk to your pharmacist, doctor or nurse.

If you have any second-hand uniform you would like to donate we would greatly appreciate it.

Please drop off at the office. Thank you.

Term Dates 2022

Term One Mon 2nd Feb to Thur 14th April

Term Two Mon 2nd May to Fri 8th July

Term Three Mon 25th July to Fri 30th Sep

Term Four Mon 17th Oct to Fri 16th Dec (TBC)