Tēnā koutou e te whānau o te Kura A Rohe o Whaingaroa
This newsletter was due to be published on Thursday but I wanted to get it out early. We are in week 7 and this week it is National Schools PRIDE Week. Schools Pride Week is the first ever nationwide Pride Week campaign based in schools, with a range of activities that schools, QSAs or rainbow diversity groups, students and staff can get involved with.
Schools Pride Week has been created by InsideOUT, a national organisation that works with youth, whānau, schools and communities to make Aotearoa a safer place for all rainbow young people to live and be in. We hope that by celebrating and affirming rainbow identities through our pride campaign we can help reduce the experiences of bullying and distress for our rainbow rangatahi. We are supporting our Rainbow young people to have a sense of belonging in our school and community and will be providing opportunities for interested students to learn more. Our teaching staff will also be engaged this week in the first of 4 professional development learning sessions that will increase our understanding and ability to support our rainbow students.
WINTER SPORTS SEASON
The winter sports season is well and truly underway and many of our students participate either as representatives of our school teams or club teams. This participation provides real learning opportunities for our children to engage in an activity that can be competitive and also full of fun. We have great representation in our kura in four major codes. They are netball, football, basketball and for the first time in a number of years we have two hockey teams. Sincere thanks go out to all of the teachers and whānau members who give up their time to coach, manage and support our students each week. Our students thrive with this support and it is easier for them to enjoy their games.
WINDFARM COMMEMORATION
We welcomed the month of June with a combined 10th year commemoration and celebration of the Te Uku Windfarm with some of rou staff and studnets representing us at the celebartions and visit to see the windfarm turbines. Our student leaders, Sophie, Ashton, and Sienna presented to assemblies and classes to share the contents of the time capsules (from 2011) and the story of the Te Uku Windfarm. My thanks to Mrs Pauline Sweetman for leading our contributions to this years celebrations and contributions to the 2021 time capsule… to be opened in 2031 !!!
VAPING WHANAU INFORMATION EVENING: TUESDAY 29 JUNE 7pm STAFFROOM
We currently have a significant number of our senior students who continue to find opportunities to vape at school. We have spent a lot of time in Term One at assemblies, in classrooms and in small groups and 1-1 conversations, speaking with our students about our Zero Tolerance to vaping, smoking – and indeed the use of any drugs or alcohol at school. In spite of our internal efforts to manage this concern, and to keep the involved students at school, their persistent choice of non-compliance in this area continues. While parental / caregiver contact will always be sought so that home and school can work together, the students have been made aware that a Stand Down is one of the options that may need to be used as a consequence and step in a plan for support for the student and as a deterrent for other students who are observing and / or considering following their example. Come along to our information evening and be a part of our discssions to create a community response.
TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING (Kura Teina) FRIDAY 4 JUNE
Kura Teina (Y0-6) teachers spent this time doing further learning about Zones of Regulation. They also set up their classrooms with visual displays to help their students to recognise when they are in different emotional states (zones) and how to use strategies or tools to stay in a zone or move into a more expected zone. Have a look at what is being done the next time that you visit your child’s classroom and ask your child to talk to you about it at home. You can find further details (https://www.zonesofregulation.com/learn-more-about-the-zones.html) us. We have adapted this information to align with our Positive Behaviour For Learning expectations.
TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING (Kura Tuakana) FRIDAY 4 JUNE
Kura Tuakana (Y7-13) teachers spent time doing further learning about an online writing tool (WTE – Write That Essay) that is providing teachers across our kura with strategies to improve writing outcomes for students. We are seeing evidence that this is working in Kura Teina. Our years 7-13 teachers are learning more about implementing the tool as students who are coming into their classes have been working with WTE for 2-3 years now.
NZEI TEACHING STAFF PAID UNION MEETING – Wednesday 23 June
Many of our teachers are members of the NZEI teacher’s union and will be attending a union meeting in Hamilton on Wednesday 23 June beginning at 1.30pm. Kura Teina (Years 0-6) students’ school day will end at midday to allow our teachers to have lunch and to travel into Hamilton to arrive at the meeting on time. Please note:
- School begins and ends at the regular time for all Kura Tuakana (7-13) students.
- All Kura Teina (0-6) students will be dismissed from their classrooms at midday. Please ensure that you have made arrangements for your child to be picked up from school at this time.
- The school bus schedule will operate at the usual times. Kura Teina school bus students will be supervised at school if they are not able to be collected at midday.
MATARIKI SCHOOLWIDE CELEBRATION – Friday 2 July 2021
Please mark this date on your home calendar. We look forward to welcoming whānau into school to share in our celebrations. More information will be provided closer to this date.
UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE
| Friday 18 June | Mobile Ear Clinic 1: 9.30-2,00pm |
| Friday 25 June | Senior School Ball (Years 11-13) in the TOWN HALL |
| Tuesday 29 June | Vaping Whanau Information Evening 7pm |
| Friday 2 July | Matariki Celebration |
| Saturday 3 July | Y12/13 Drama Production TOWN HALL 7-10pm |
| Friday 9 July | Mobile Ear Clinic 2: 9.30-2,00pm |
| Friday 9 July | Last day of Term 2 |
Your questions, comments, wonderings and affirmations of what we are doing in our Kura are always welcome.
Ngā mihi nui – Louisa Barham TUMUAKi / PRINCIPAL
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