Nau mai, Hoki mai - Welcome back - what a wonderful start to the year.
The students are excited to be back and are well prepared. Thank you for your support with this. We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new students- Gustav West in the Middle room, Anya Boggs, Aryan Kereopa and Jackson Klee who have joined the Junior room. Happy School days.
A whakatauki that I shared with the staff on Teacher only day - this was a fitting connection to our school vision and what we strive to do at our kura.
“Poipoia te Kakano kia Puawai, Nurture the seed and it will blossom.”
It has been great catching up with many of you already this week. Hearing about everyone's much needed chance to slow down, albeit only a little for some and hear some great holiday stories. The board, staff and I have developed a strategic plan and annual plan which looks closely at the Ministry of education expectation for all schools to develop their local curriculum. We have made great strides in what this looks like but it is a continually evolving document. There are many things to celebrate in how Waitetuna school makes the most of our local community and resources and we want to continue this moving forward. Our local curriculum will develop through exploration of Tiriti o Waitangi - Structured reading - Enviro education - Digital curriculum
Waitetuna Way this week goes to - Harlow Bidois for friendship and aroha, her amazing focus and independence in class. Jade Penn who has been working with our school with the Whaingaroa Enviro Centre has decided to formally become a teacher. He is doing the one year teacher course through the University of Waikato and asked if Waitetuna school would be his base school. We were delighted to have him. So Jade is working in the middle
room for the first two weeks and then one day a week for 13 weeks and then starting in week 6 of term 2 he will be in the Senior room. Welcome Jade.
Late Arrivals - If your child/children arrive late to school (after 9.00a.m.) please make sure that they check in at the office.
It is another action packed term 1.
Dates for term 1
Maui dolphin talk 15 Feb
Assemblies this term - 19th Feb, 5th March, 19th March, 26th March, 9th April
First Board Meeting - 23rd February
PTA Meeting - 25th February
School swimming sports Thursday 4th March
Senior room camp - 8/9 March
Get-Set-Go day - yr 1 and 2 - 12th March
Inter-School Swimming sports - Thursday 18th March
Waikato full Primary Swimming - Fri 26th March
School Triathlon - 29th March
Teacher only day Monday 22nd March - please note change of date - due to inter-school softball date change.
Softball tournament - Thursday 1st April
Good Friday- 2nd April
Easter Monday - 5 April
Easter Tuesday - 6 April
Last day of term and Teacher only day - 16th April
Communication - Schools are busy places with lots going on. We don’t want any of our school community to miss out on the things that are happening. As much as we try and share information, we ask that you actively seek out and use the following sources to keep upto-date with key events and information. Dates do occasionally change.
School Newsletter -
Our school newsletter is published once a fortnight, on a Thursday. This is usually emailed to families but a hard copy can be requested.
School Website - Our school website has a school event calendar. We have identified a technical issue with this. Will let you know when it is available to be viewed again.
The Skool Loop app - can be downloaded onto your smartphone to receive instant notifications of events, reminders and cancellations.
Facebook - The school Facebook page is a great way to see photos from events and read good news stories and the occasional urgent notice.
Seesaw - The Learning Journey app is used by students and teachers to share their learning with families. This app is available. Teachers can provide the log in details for your student.
PTA - the PTA and community managed to pull together a successful trail run in 2020 and they were able to purchase some very important reading resources that the students will all be benefiting from. Staff are continuing to do some excellent professional learning to support the implementation of structured reading in our school. The PTA play such an important role in supporting our school. There is a meeting at 3pm on Thursday 25th February in the staffroom- ALL WELCOME.
Digital Online Safety - Family wise are the company that support us with our online protection measures for our students. They also provide additional support while at home. See below for these some of the key things they can provide protection with. Under our current contract I have been offered these services for all families for no extra cost. They will provide a range of protection services for use at home. All you have to do is email
me and Family Zone and myself will organise the bulk of the set up for you. When you let me know I will send you an invite to accept if you would like to be able to monitor your child’s online use.. There is more information on a flyer with the newsletter.
Attendance - this is a key to learning success. Of course sickness is a reason for absence and tangi/funerals are justified absence. Research shows that reducing your child's days absent from school contributes to learning success. There are many justified reasons why a student may not be at school and we ask that parents contact us by telephone, email, in person or via the school app; ideally before 9.00 a.m. so that the absence can be
appropriately recorded. When notifying the school please let us know the reason for their absence. Any unexplained absences on the teachers’ roll after 9.15 a.m. will be followed up. If the school is not notified of the absence and a reason the child will be marked as Truant. Absences are monitored by staff, as this is a requirement of the Ministry of Education.
Swimming lessons - there are still spaces available if you would like your child to be a part of these lessons. Ten sessions for $80 - starting on Monday.
Murals for Waitetuna school - now that the bulk of the building work is completed, for a while at least. We do have some demolition work of the older outside storage spaces but we have been wanting to resurrect and create a wonderful new mural outside the office on the wall to the left. If you or anyone you know would like to help us with this please see Amanda.
Clothing, A plea from the staff – please ensure that all items of clothing and towels are named. Every term we have a volume of clothing that continues to increase due to not finding the owner. Children, especially students, often do not recognize their own clothing. For younger children it is also handy to have a change of clothing in their school bag in case of accidents.
School Donations - Our school donation remains at $70(if paid by the end of March) otherwise $80 per child. Additional children remain at $50 per child or $60 after the end of March. This is used to support your child’s learning with a range of resources. All donations are gratefully received and can be paid online or at the office. You are able to claim a tax credit from all donations.
Tech
Our Year 7 & 8 students continue to be involved in Tech at Raglan Area School. The Technicraft fee for the year is and this can be paid to the school office. They need to wear closed in shoes to attend. Note - our bank account change -
Medication
Please ensure that any medication your child needs during school hours comes to school in a named bag with dosage and time required. And if your child needs to use an inhaler please ensure that they are brought to school, named and in a sealed plastic bag.
Ngaa mihi nui,
Amanda