Final eNews for Term 1. Have a safe and happy school break.

06.04.2023  

FROM OUR PRINCIPAL MRS COOK

Kia ora 

What a fantastic end to the term! House Fun Day and the trips to Howick Historical Village, Botanic Gardens and Sonshine Ranch were definitely highlights. A big thank you to the staff who organised and attended the events, and the caregivers that helped for the day – your efforts are greatly appreciated.

With Easter this weekend I hope you manage to have some family time and get to have some much needed rest and relaxation. 

Over the school holidays remember to keeping practising your basic facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). We are working towards instant recall of these facts. If our learners have this knowledge, they have a great base for their mathematical learning. The other important learning you could do is 20 mins of reading a day 🙂

Most importantly though…….. stay safe over the holidays! We look forward to seeing you all again on WEDNESDAY 26TH APRIL.

Important Notices

Teacher Only Day:  Monday 24th April (No learners at school)

Mid Year Reports:  Go home to Whānau on Friday 26th May

Parent-Teacher Interviews:  

Tuesday 30th May:  School will close at 12 O’clock

Wednesday 31st May:  Normal School hours

We always look forward to making this time to connect with families.  All whānau will receive an email inviting them to make an appointment to meet with their child/children’s teacher to discuss the recent report.

The interview portal to book an interview will be live on Wednesday 17th May.

Easter Raffle

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of our recent fundraiser. The Holiday Hampers raised an amazing $4000 this year! This would not have been possible without lots of help from lots of different people. So thank you to you all for your big or small contributions. Last Friday in the parent assembly fifteen lucky winners were drawn. We have contacted all of these winners and all of the hampers have now been collected. We also recognised our learners that sold the most tickets. They each received a small token of appreciation for doing such a fantastic job supporting our school. Room 3 and Room 8 are celebrating their work selling tickets today with a movie and popcorn. Well done Rooms 3 are 8! We hope you enjoyed your movie and popcorn. Thank you everyone!

 Room 1- Learning

Some of our AWESOME Artwork!

Whanaungtanga Whānau 

Year 4 Howick Historical Village Trip

On Monday 3 April, the learners from Rooms 6 and 7 went to the Howick Historical Village to experience what it was like in the past. First, we went to the old Pakuranga School Hall to play with toys made out of wood that did not use electricity.

Next, we went to the village’s school. We did handwriting on chalkboards, read aloud as a class, and saw the world map. Soon it was time for lunch and while we were eating lunch we were visited by a lovely chicken.

After lunch, we explored some more old things that settlers from Ireland would have packed in their luggage for the journey. While we were looking around there was a children’s museum, an old courthouse, tents and much much more. We played with the old-fashioned toys until it was time to go home. It was a great trip!       By Ravneet (Year 4, Room 7)

Sonshine Ranch Trip 2023!

The instructor grinned at me as she assigned me a horse. The horses greeted me with a friendly neigh as I wandered past everyone and their organised mounts. I continued with a brisk walk as I read through the name plates on every horse’s stables. Every horse looked as beautiful as the next as I passed through the HUGE stable block.

Finally, I came upon my horse’s stable that sat in the centre of the row of loose boxes. The nameplate read, Spotlight. There, in the brightness of the stable stood a massive grey horse. It stared blankly at me for a moment, then took a small step forward and reached out its long, elegant neck and nudged my outstretched hand as if to say “Hey, where ‘dem treats human!”

The stable girl cupped her hands together and motioned me to come and get a leg up. I side-stepped past Spotlight’s head and put my leg in the girl’s hands. I bounced up on Spotlight’s back and adjusted my stirrups to the correct length. I tapped Spotlight’s sides with my heels and we were off!

Next, it was my time for the Zipline… As I tightened the straps around my waist I felt butterflies in my stomach with nerves. I wandered past the other students and reached for a helmet. I fastened my chin strap and tightened the helmet around my head. I lined up behind Simon, a member of Sonshine Ranch, and waited for all the students with helmets to line up behind me. Simon handed me the zipline clips and hooks and led me to the little shed with the zipline and take-off point. As I leapt off the steps, I felt all my nerves melt away, I couldn’t believe it, I was on my first zipline ride, and I LOVED IT!!!

Thank you Sonshine Ranch for this amazing experience and thank you to all the parents that put all their time and effort into helping us make this trip awesome for everyone. I know my class and I all enjoyed the trip and can’t wait for our next adventure!

By Gemma (Year 6, Room 14)

Kotahitanga Whānau

Learner Celebrations

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We will not be using Seesaw this year. Learning will be shared via newsletters (class, team and school) and a ‘Home / School Partnership Communication’ twice a term.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND WELCOME TO…

FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS FOR THE CHANGES TO PLANNING AND REPORTING

The Ministry of Education are holding face-to-face ākonga, parent, whānau and community workshops, where they will be talking about planning and reporting. The programme, Te Whakangārahu Ngātahi | Planning Together, is focused on preparing for the upcoming changes to planning and reporting legislation and requirements.

 They would like to share these preparations with you, to not only ensure you are in the know, but also to gather your feedback on the proposed supports – e.g. the tools, resources and support channels to be developed. They need your voice and help co-creating these supports, to ensure they are fit for purpose and add value where it is needed.

 These workshops will be held at the following places from 6 – 8:30pm:

• Tuesday 28 March:  Bluelight, Papakura.  159 Dominion Road, Papakura
• Wednesday 29 March:  Henderson Intermediate School: 70 Lincoln Road, Henderson

 If you’d like to take part in either of these workshops, you can email planning.together@education.govt.nz to register your interest.  Food and drink will be provided, and they look forward to seeing you there.

 Further information on planning and reporting and the consultation process can be found here: Te Whakangārahu Ngātahi: Planning Together for Ākonga Success – Our School, Our Community – Conversation space (education.govt.nz).