Kia ora Waitetuna whanau, A big Thank You to the people who were able to make it to the working bee. Thanks to Jason and the board for coordinating. The new sandpit is a big hit. Thank you to Barry's Bobcats, Raglan Landscape Supplies and Tudor Painting for the work they did for the school at very reasonable rates. As we work towards the end of the year it is important to remember that children do struggle with their tolerance levels and do get short with each other at this time of the year. Students are getting tired and it is a busy time of year. If you have a concern about another child's behaviour please see the classroom teacher as they will address this and support a resolution for you.
Waitetuna Way this week goes to - Sofia for amazing sportsmanship at the Cricket tournament and Noam for your improved positivity with different and trying situations.
Self Esteem It can never be underestimated how important a child’s self esteem is. There are many ways to boost self esteem and it is something that just takes a little effort for big reward.Kids who feel good about themselves have the confidence to try new things. They are more likely to try their best. They feel proud of what they can do. Self-esteem helps kids cope with mistakes. It helps kids try again, even if they fail at first. As a result, self-esteem helps kids do better at school, at home and with friends. Ban criticism in your family - Remind children of their strengths - Remember to find the good stuff - tell them what they did do well.
Reminder - School Athletics - Tuesday 24th November - 9.30am start.
Decile rating - you will remember that we sent in a decile review to the ministry in term 2. We have heard back from them and unfortunately it was not the news we were hoping for. Waitetuna school will remain at a decile 8. The government is working on the removal of the decile rating system and replacing this with an equity index. This is likely to be rolled out over the next three years. We are unsure as a school what this means financially for us but obviously we are hoping it will be positive from a funding perspective.
Waitetuna trail run tomorrow.
Raglan surf day - staff and students would like to thank parents for your support of this day. We thought the life guards ran and facilitated this day very well.
Next week we have our annual school disco organised by our Senior leaders on Thursday 26th November from 5.30-7pm. The Senior leaders have decided on a Medieval theme. Children are allowed to dress up for this. They thought this would allow the juniors to dress up in Princess outfits for example if they so choose but students can dress up however they would like.
The Pool is open. Pool keys are on sale. Thanks Richard for getting the pool ready for swimming. A pool key is available for immediate family to use from Dec through to the close of summer season in April - including the school holidays, after school and weekends. With increasing costs associated with the pool upkeep the Board agreed that an increase of $10 was needed. Pool keys will be $80 this season (5 months swimming) and this includes a $10 refund on return of your key.
Reminders
Wind farm trail run - Sat 21 November
Dog safety talk - Mon 23 November
School athletics - Tues 24 November
Logging truck visiting - 9.15am - Thurs 26 November
School disco - Thurs 26 November
Netball exchange with Te Uku - re-match from last term - 27 November
Inter-school athletics day - Mon 30 November
Matua X in - Enviro education - 7, 8, 9th December
End of Year prize-giving - 5.30pm - Monday 14th December
Last day - 16 December - finish at 2pm
Assemblies
27 November (Week 7)
4th December (Week 8)
AN UPDATE FROM THE LOGGING COMPANY ● Since the original communication, the product mix coming from the forest has changed considerably, which means that most of the product is now being exported. This has resulted in the majority of the logs now needing
to travel to the port of Tauranga. This in turn also means that many of the ‘empties’ (unloaded trucks) will be travelling to Aramiro Forest via Tauranga. This will occur via Whatawhata, along State Highway 23, and let into Waitetuna Valley Road.
This will equate to approximately 10 truck per day at present.
A directive has been given to all trucks to treat the school areas as if it were drop off and pick up times at all times, and so to drive past the Waitetuna School at a speed of no greater than 40 kph at all times, for both empty and loaded trucks.
With the permission of the school and council, we would also like to erect some signage in this area specifying this rule, as a reminder to all truck drivers.
In addition, we will be sending out someone with a speed camera next week for a couple of days, just to check adherence to the advised and legal speed limits. When we undertake such monitoring, we measure all traffic, which can often be quite interesting. This type of monitoring will take place from time to time.
As well as speed camera monitoring, we can also set up what is known as a ‘Geo Fence”, which is set geographic spatial locations on a road, which are linked to the truck’s GPS units. This allows us to see the exact speed of trucks in those stretches of road.
We will also be providing a hand held radio with our Hancock Forest Management truck channel on it to the bus driver that services the Waitetuna Valley Road. This will allow the driver to hear trucks calling in (as they regularly do), as well as letting them know that the bus in on the road. We have done this in other locations, and it has worked well.
As mentioned in the original community letter, where we become aware of houses affected adversely by dust, we will also (with the approval of the council) be applying dust suppressant. The one that we use currently is called GRT Wet-Loc.
As always, we welcome any feedback.
Kia Ora, Amanda Nasilasila
Together we are growing the seeds of success Na tō manaaki, na tōku manaaki, ka puāwai mai nga kākano