Newsletter Term 1 Week 4

2023 Term 1 Week 4

Kia ora koutou,

So much can change in a fortnight! When I wrote the last newsletter Cyclone Gabrielle was sitting on the radar and Auckland was in clean-up mode. Many of us will be struggling with the current situation. What we can offer you is a space for your tamariki to come each day, learn new things, have kai for their bellies and feel safe and secure. Schools are often called the centre of their hāpori or communities but at times like this that what we offer really begins to focus on the care and protection roles we have in your children’s lives.

If we can help or you think we need to know something that might be affecting your child at this time, please pop in and have a chat, either with me or with the child’s teacher, whoever you feel most comfortable with.

In this newsletter there are reminders about camp, swimming sports and a Hawkes Bay fundraiser. If any of this is overwhelming for you – just breathe and give us a call for clarification. Remember the website has a calendar with relevant dates in it to keep you updated. 

In typical school fashion, we continue to seek ways to provide opportunities for our tamariki and the pace doesn’t slow down much. But it is wonderful to see how happy and connected our tauira are to their place, their turangawaewae: ‘Bulls School’.

Finally I want to acknowledge that while everyone is juggling many balls at the moment (our staff included) as we step our way through the curve balls life throws at us…ultimately showing kindness and understanding is the key to keeping us safe in the waka and moving forward together.

BREAKING NEWS: 

Tomorrow we will be giving out your child’s sports and cultural tee shirt. It has been named and we send our thanks to the BSSG who have purchased this first one for us! Yipeeeee!  Seniors Year 5-8 can wear their’s to our swimming sports on Monday and our whole school will wear them to our Athletics Fun Day.  

Ngā manaakitanga,

 Kim Gordon, 

Cyclone Gabrielle:
It is difficult to put into words how I am feeling right now. It would be almost impossible for any New Zealander to not have some type of connection to what has taken place across our country over the past few weeks. We have offered our support as a kura in the form of baking for those on the frontline and linen for those whose losses we cannot fully comprehend. We are also looking to raise funds to go directly to affected schools in the Hawkes Bay by joining a Manawatū/Rangitīkei initiative to have a Black and White (Hawkes Bay colours) dress up day – bring along a gold coin donation on Wednesday March 1st. We are fully aware that you may be assisting in other ways in order to support those you know personally or industries affected that are close to your heart – so pleaes don’t feel any sense of pressure to get behind this one as well. Children can come in black and white regardless, or in uniform if this proves difficult. Collectively I know of over 30 schools involved – so when we pool our funds I’m sure we will be able to put a smile on some faces in the region.

KAPA HAKA

We have started the year with a record number of students opting into Kapa Haka for 2023. We continue to be blessed to have Papa Doug on board and Whaea Di is awesome as well. Our staff capacity to continue to run kapa haka learning even when our instructors aren’t available continues to grow also – so it’s a win/win for everyone!

SPORTS & CULTURAL UPDATE 

Our kaiako/teachers are developing their knowledge of Tikanga Māori and Matauranga Māori through an awesome programme called Te Reo Tuatahi. Once we have done our learning we then work with our classes to do more learning together. It is a fun and exciting journey and we look forward to bringing our whānau along with us from Term 2. We are learning waiata/songs and kupu/words to help us establish our sense of belonging. This week we are looking at names of countries all around the world and would love to know where your ancestors came from so we can learn the countries relevant to our tamariki and their whānau. He waka eke noa – We are all in this together.

NGĀ KĀKANO

Four weeks into the school term and we are making the most of our amazing school grounds. Games on the courts, races around the bike track, swimming in the pool, fitness on the senior fitness track, the mud kitchen in the sand pit…there is so much for us to do and so many different ways for us to learn new things! We might be the youngest of the Bulls School Whānau – but we make sure everybody knows who we are!

A proposal has been sent to Miss Gee for us to make decisions around the next steps for our Enviroschool Warriors.

Watch this space for updates!

Whānau Meet the Team Afternoon

3.15pm on Tuesday 14th March we would love it if you could come along, wander around your child’s classes, meet their teachers and then come together for a sausie and a kōrero.    Teachers will be in their spaces until around 4pm.  From 4pm-6pm we will hang out. There will be a free sausage sizzle. Bring along your camp chairs.  Make an afternoon of it.  (Weather permitting).  

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. 

SECOND-HAND UNIFORM AVAILABLE

(from the office)

Polo Tees in sizes 4, 6, 12, 14,  & M

Polar Fleece in sizes 4, 5, 10, 12, 14, 16 & S

Term Dates 2023

Term One Thur 2nd Feb to Thur 6th April

Term Two Mon 24th April to Fri 30th June

Term Three Mon 17th July to Fri 22nd Sep

Term Four Mon 9th Oct to Tue 19th December (TBC)