Principal’s Update
Kia ora Waitetuna Whaanau, I hope you have had a good week. Learning programmes are in full swing. It is an absolute treat for me to be back at school and seeing students diving into their learning. A reminder that teachers have a paid union meeting on Monday after lunch so if you are able to pick child/ren up at 12.40pm that would be appreciated. Supervision will be available for the afternoon block and all buses will run as per normal.
Dress up day for the Bay — Many schools around the Waikato are joining forces to have a dress up day to support the Hawkes Bay. We will be giving all money raised to the Mayoral fund. The students can dress in Black and White (the Bay colours) or their favourite colour next Tuesday 28th Feb and they can either bring a donation to school or you can do an internet banking donation.
Date Change — we have brought forward the School Tryathlon date to Thursday 23rd March. Bikes can come in from Monday 20th March.
Assemblies — in between lots of other Friday activities we have managed to include two assemblies — one next week and the other in week 8. Spelling — I occasionally get asked about the emphasis that spelling has in the classroom with the role of devices. The teaching of spelling is an essential part of our school Literacy pro- gramme. It is explicitly taught in all classes as part of our Structured Literacy. Learning to read and write doesn’t come naturally to the human brain that is why we need to be taught. With brain scan technology they can now see which parts of the brain are responsi- ble for which essential part of Literacy. See image on the second page. Each part of the brain needs to be taught about language acquisition and it takes many, many repeats to learn. We have a sequence of patterns which we teach over time and which increase in detail and depth as they move from year 1 to year 8.
Art to Wear—expression of interest for the Raglan shows— hopefully you have seen this notice, if your child would like to be a part of this?
Elvers release—I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the elvers release that the children were able to attend. Thanks to Ali, Travis and parents who made sure this could happen. I heard such positive feedback about our students. Their wonderful man- ners and the enthusiasm and interest they displayed in the elvers delighted the people who attended the event. When I visited the classes on Monday morning we talked about our special name— Waitetuna and all the students could tell me some special things about the Tuna (Eel). Ground work for addition to playground has begun. Very Exciting. Kia pai ō rā whakatā—
Have a great weekend. Noho ra, Amanda and staff
All The Happenings
Cricket sessions continue—27th Feb
Paid Union Meeting—27th Feb—school open for supervision from 12.40pm—pick up children if possible
Assembly—Friday week 5—3rd March— 2.15pm
Senior Room—Pirongia Lodge trip—6th March
School swimming sports—Monday 13th March !pm
Junior Room camp—school overnighter— 16th/17th March
Interschool Swimming—20th March
Science Roadshow—Senior Room—22nd March
CONFIRMED DATE—Tryathlon—Thurs 23rd March—starting from 1pm—11/12 yrs will start soon after 1pm.
Assembly—Friday—week 8—24th March
School Photos—Tues—28th March
Interschool Softball tournament—31st March
Last day Term 1—Thursday 6th April
Great week of happenings
Cricket action—all the classes got to work on their cricket skills this week. There are more sessions to come.
Pancakes—Before School—thanks to Travis for the pancakes before school on Tuesday morning.
GET-SET-GO Day The year 3 and 4 students had a fun day of activities at Horotiu School today.
Waitetuna Way
Well done Aryan & Felix for showing confidence and being brave enough to take risks. To Believe in yourself. And develop resilience to bounce back from difficulties.
Na too manaaki, na tooku manaaki, ka puaawai mai nga kaakano Together we are growing the seeds of success