Term 2, Week 3 – Wednesday 16 May 2018

Kia ora families

Today is a very special day in school. It is Support Staff Day. As such, I would like to tell the community how blessed we are with our amazing Support Staff. Our learning assistants support so many students in studios through specialist programmes and encouragement. This benefits all students and staff. Our administration staff keeps the whole school running efficiently with a smile. Their roles vary from organising relievers, running the library, supporting IT, manning the front desk and caring for the school environment…. and so much more. They are the glue that keeps the school, and in many cases the community together. I would like to sincerely thank them for all that they do and the positive, no fuss, way they do it. So, if our support staff have made a difference for you or your child please do make an effort to say thanks. The range and quality of support they give to the school is invaluable.

Thank you to the many parents who attended the School Cross Country last week! It was a great day and I could not be more pleased with the effort and encouragement from all students. Congratulations to those who have made it through to Zones next Wednesday. Please see later in the newsletter for a full list of winners.

For the past two weeks our year 6 students have been participating in Cycle Safety. This was very timely as it was also Road Safety Week last week. Please do take care outside school before and after school. We still have many parents parking on yellow lines, doing u-turns and encouraging students to not use the crossing. This is an area that we need to get better at for the safety of all our children.

Good luck to the children involved in the technology challenge next week to. We will give you an update of how they have gone in the next newsletter. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Ngā Mihi Nui

Andrew Barker, Principal

NZEI Teacher Union Meeting 26 June On Tuesday 26 June there is a NZEI meeting for teachers. School will close at 2pm to allow teachers to attend. We will have a small staff to supervise students that are not able to go home or to a friend’s house at 2pm. OSCAR will still be open from 3pm. If you need your child to be supervised, please email office@waitakiri.school.nz to add their name to the list. Thank you.

OTAKARO LEARNING HERO

MORNING TEA

Congratulations to the Learning Heroes from Otakaro

Studio who had Learning Hero Morning Tea with Mrs

Malham last week. Pictured right are Grayson, Zalan,

Lexi, Ella, Jack, Sienna, Amber, Jacob, Zsolt, Eddie,

Noah and Roselea.

In late May our school will be participating in a research project lead by NZCER and the Marie Clay Literacy Trust. The project aims to establish up-to- date statistics about the reading and writing of 5 to 7 year olds in New Zealand. Teachers use this information to help guide their teaching. This research will involve 10-14 of our students (selected randomly) completing some reading and writing tasks with a visiting research assistant, Dr Ann Ballentyne.

Your child’s name and our school will not be identifiable in the research information or any reports created from this project.

If you have a child at school, between 5 and 7 years old, and you do not want him or her to be part of the research project, please contact the school office or email jacqui.malham@waitakiri.school.nz

POLICIES & PROCEDURES UP FOR REVIEW We use Schooldocs to manage our Policies and Procedures. This term Reporting to Parents is the policy up for review. If you would like to review, rate and/or comment on the review, please follow the instructions below. This must be completed before the end of Term 1.

Here are the instructions on how to review the policy: 1. Visit the website http://waitakiri.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm 2. Enter the username (waitakiri) and password (waitakiri) 3. Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed 4. Read the policy 5. Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page 6. Select the reviewer type "parent" 7. Enter your name 8. Submit your ratings and comments

You can look at our Policies and Procedures via Schooldocs at any time via our school website under “General Information”.

SALVATION ARMY REAL

COMMUNITY CHALLENGE Congratulations to the students who collected for the Salvation

Army Annual Appeal at Fresh Choice Parklands last week. You

are all REAL Heroes in our community! Pictured are Sasha,

Tahlia, Daisy, Niamh and Sophie. Well done and thank you!

THANK YOU NEW ZEALAND COMMUNITY TRUST Big thanks to New Zealand Community Trust for providing funding for sports equipment for our

school. The students are having a wonderful time using the new gear.

SPORTS NEWS - CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS 2018

YEAR 1 GIRLS 1. Sophie P 2. Lilla M 3. Naomi 4. Shiloh 5. Paige C 6. Phoebe B 7. Niamh W 8. Aleirah M 9. Averie C 10. Lilah B YEAR 1 BOYS 1. Daniel L 2. Nikau 3. Hunter S 4. Oliver H 5. Zaiden H 6. Lewis H 7. Caleb D 8. Oscar S 9. Tom M 10. Zach B YEAR 2 GIRLS 1. Renee M 2. Lilly V 3. Emma V 4. Brylee M 5. Izzy W 6. Pippa F 7. Melissa T 8. Brooke E 9. Jayde W 10. Ruby R

YEAR 2 BOYS 1. Flynn B 2. Esten L 3. Nixon J 4. Jayce G 5. Dan F 6. Eli T 7. Jeston D S 8. Jaxon C 9. James H 10. Brodie S Well done to everyone who participated. It was wonderful to see so many children ‘giving it a go’ and helping others. It was heart-warming to see so many of our children looking after their peers and younger children. We are very proud of you all. Well done!

YEAR 3 GIRLS 1. Isabella A-S 2. Savannah W 3. Nicole P 4. Lexi L 5. Olivia K 6. Sophie P 7. Rosalea 8. 9. Emma O’N 10. Maddison H YEAR 3 BOYS 1. Ollie O 2. Marshall C 3. Jordan P 4. Chase L 5. Zsolt 6. Ryan C 7. Danny B 8. Lochlan C 9. Jett S 10. Xavier L YEAR 4 GIRLS 1. Lilah 2. Lucy L 3. Mikayla D 4. Neve A 5. Harlow 6. Makayla L 7. Amelie 8. Sienna 9. Olivia C 10. Opal YEAR 4 BOYS 1. Ben L 2. Joel 3. Zach T - Ben H 4. Jack L-W 5. Dylan McK 6. Liam McK 7. Theo W 8. Noah O 9. Jayden

YEAR 5 GIRLS 1. Samara 2. Shyla 3. Brooke F 4. Piper 5. Lilly B 6. Sophia S 7. Shanae 8. Taylah Z 9. Maddi M 10. Jessica B YEAR 5 BOYS 1. Jai T 2. Izzy T 3. Josh B 4. Kyle S 5. Matthew D 6. Korbyn B 7. Luka R 8. Quinn H 9. Jack B 10. Cole T YEAR 6 GIRLS 1. Brooke C 2. Tia M 3. Gemma S 4. Ayla H 5. Danielle C 6. Meg T 7. Layla T 8. Keishyia 9. Ella-Rose J 10. Grace W

YEAR 6 BOYS 1. JJ 2. Hiro 3. Noah W 4. Sam W 5. Sam D 6. Ollie M 7. Jack Mc 8. Logan W 9. Brad H 10. Jackson C

Cross Country photos – lots more on facebook

AMENDED SCHOOL ZONE Our school zone has now been amended by the Ministry of Education. Please see the Ministry of Education enrolment zone boundary roads below, or take a look on our school website www.waitakiri.school.nz for full details.

Te reo o te wiki Kia ora, this term we are looking at place names in our kura and classroom objects. Last week was also Sign Language Week. As another of our official languages I am trying to teach some signs alongside our Māori kupu (words). Whilst the following link to a song is in English, most tamariki should know the colours in Te reo. We also learnt the Māori part to the National Anthem in sign too. https://youtu.be/g5m3TLBmeuc - I can sing a rainbow https://youtu.be/CbDf0YG2xnA - E Ihowa Here are some Māori kupu you will find around our kura. See if you can say them correctly and match them to the correct meaning.

Korimako The world of light

Ruru Toilet

Te Ao Mārama Staffroom

Whare paku Bellbird

Tari A place of playing (Avon River)

Ruma Kaiako Office

Ōtākaro Owl

REAL CHALLENGE Matilda, Jack, Holly and Layla would like to thank everyone for their support at our REAL Challenge last week. We have just counted the money raised $200 from the sale of scrunchies and shell necklaces. Thanks for the opportunity to raise money for North Beach Surf Life Saving Club. This year the money will be going to helping to purchase another paddle board.

SCHOOL PHOTOS Orders close this Friday 18 May. Please place orders and payment into the drop box into the foyer. No late orders will be taken. Photos of studios and siblings that missed out last time will be taken this Friday, and we will advise of the closing date. Thank you.

PTA Update The Palms ‘My School Rules’ promotion is again coming up in June and the PTA would like to give a heads up to parents of this.

Last year unfortunately we did not place. If you have any big purchases eg a new fridge planned, and you could wait until June to purchase it during the My School Rules promotion, then the school earns points for every dollar spent at the Palms. If we get in the top 5 of spend, then the school gets some good prize money to help with PTA fundraising.

More details to come soon....... thank you in advance for your support.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Canterbury Volleyball has a great opportunity for kids to give Volleyball a go! Kids who sign up will get to learn all the Volleyball skills from our Kiwi Volleyball coaches and try these skills out in a game! This will be a fun filled session and is perfect for kids that have never played before or are just beginners. Venue: St. Margaret's College Gym Choose from the following options: July 11- 11-13 year olds- 9am-12pm July 12- 9 & 10 year olds- 10am-12pm July 13- 11-13 year olds- 9am-12pm Here is a link: https://www.canterburyvolleyball.org/kidsfest