Term 4, Week 1 – Wednesday 14 October 2020

Kia ora, talofa lava, mālō e lelei and hello Kua hinga he totara i te wao nuia Tane! A totara has fallen in the forest of Tane!

It was with great sadness that we learned at the end of last term of the passing of Waitaha kaumātua Canon Wharehawa Kaa, known to us as Matua Sandy. He was a staunch supporter and advocate for schools in East Christchurch and especially for the tamariki of Windsor, Burwood and Waitākiri. We thank him for his support and aroha - he will be missed.

Welcome back for term 4! I trust that you have had a good break with your whānau! We have many exciting events planned for the remainder of the year. I will highlight some of the major events that are happening in the first few weeks of school.

We have our Whānau Hui next Thursday evening the 22nd. We really look forward to meeting and sharing with our Māori community.

In week 3 we have the year 3-6 athletics on Thursday 29th of October. This is always a great day for the students and parents. Please do feel free to come and support your children and their friends.

In week 4 on the 6th of November we have our PTA Extravaganza evening. This will have an environmental focus this year and will be a great community night where we will celebrate “our place”. There will be performances by all students and food vendors available.

Due to feedback that we have had from our whānau and students we have started more Kapa Haka groups for our younger students. If your child is not currently doing Kapa Haka and you would like them to, please email their homegroup teacher to let them know. Groups are taken by Rihari Walker, who currently takes our senior Kapa Haka. Students who are not doing Kapa Haka receive Te Reo / cultural tuition in the studio. Kapa Haka is on Mondays.

Rangi Community – Ruru & Korimako will continue as normal just before lunch

Wai Community – Ōtākaro & Travis. 2:25 - 2:55. Whenua community – Windsor & Burwood. 11:00 - 11:30.

Our Pasifika group is able to open up to more students too. If your child would like to join our performance group, once again please email your child's homegroup teacher. This is on a Monday at 9am.

Please check the school calendar for events for the remainder of the year. Thank you for your support in all that we do to make Waitākiri the vibrant learning place that it is! Noho ora mai (Stay well, look after yourself, good bye)

Andrew Barker, Principal

PTA Events We are having a sausage sizzle this Friday 16th October. There will be sausages and bacon butties. Sausages $2 and Bacon Butties $3. We will be outside the choice room serving at lunch time. If your child is gluten free, please get them to tell us or send a note. We keep some meat aside for the gluten free children so it isn't touched by gluten hands and we have gluten-free bread available. Don't forget to book your table for the quiz night this Sunday 18th October. It will be a fun adult only night. $10 per person teams of 4 - 6. There will also be raffles available on the night and dots to purchase for the quiz so bring your spare change. Our next school disco is Friday 30th October see the flyer for more details. We are in desperate need of helpers, so if you can help please contact Carole-Ann ASAP 027 777 2938 The School's Cultural Extravaganza evening is coming up on Friday 06 November 2020. The PTA will be holding a bake sale on the night. We will be giving the children a box to decorate at school (1 per family) and they will bring this home to be filled with baked goods, cakes muffins, biscuits. If you don't like to bake or don't have the time that is completely fine, we would love if you could purchase a cake or muffins from the supermarket and put this into your child's box. On Friday 6th November we ask that all boxes please be bought to the Choice room for pricing by the PTA. We know there is a lot going on this term now with covid mucking up our fundraising efforts this year we are left with fitting it all into term 4 so we thank you very much for your support. Mrs Hill has come up with an amazing idea of a whare outside the Windsor studio so there is a quiet space for the new entrant children to read and play away from the main playground. All the money that we raise this term will go towards this amazing project. Carole-Ann PTA Chair

Mana Ake – Stronger for Tomorrow provides mental health and wellbeing support for children in primary school years 1-8 across Canterbury.

Mana Ake kaimahi (workers) are employed by one of 13 providers and support schools, families and whānau when children are experiencing issues that impact their wellbeing such as managing emotions, friendships and bullying, parental separation, grief and loss.

Kaimahi have a diverse range of skills and include psychologists, social workers, counsellors, teachers and youth workers. Our Kaimahi, Lauren Drummond, is available twice a term for parents and staff to drop in for a quick chat via a zoom meeting. This is strictly confidential and Lauren will only pass on information with your permission. The sessions are free and are for Lauren to offer some support, advice or guidance for parents and staff.

Lauren will be available on Thursday 29 October and Thursday 26 November between 1.00 and 3.00. To make a 20 minute booking you will need to go school interviews and enter the code raf4d and your details. Lauren will then email you with a zoom meeting link. By using zoom it means that you, your partner or any other family member can join the meeting but don’t have to travel anywhere.

If you have any questions or issues with making a booking please email Cindy Hardy (Learning Support Coordinator) cindy.hardy@waitakiri.school.nz

Talking to kids about the news. Sometimes it can feel as if all we hear on the news is gloom, trauma, sensationalism etc. For children, this can be hard to process and might be the cause of worry for them. The following link is to an article from the Parenting Place titled Talking to Kids about the news. Topics covered are below:

making sense of the news. talking about natural disasters, traumatic events, racism, and future uncertainty. addressing worries that something bad might happen.

https://parentingplace.nz/communication/helping-kids-make-sense-of-the-news/

SPORTS NEWS

Sports Dates for Term 4

Monday 19 October Canterbury Primary School’s Duathlon at Ruapuna Park

Thursday 29 October Wai and Rangi School Athletics Day (pp. Monday 2 November) Thursday 19 November Junior School Athletics (1.30pm - 3.00pm) Wednesday 25 November Canterbury Primary School’s Triathlon

Wednesday 2 December Canterbury Primary School’s Athletics at Nga Puna Wai Wai and Rangi School Athletics Sports

These school sports are for all the students in Travis, Otakaro, Ruru and Korimako. There will be four practice days before the sports day, Thursday and Friday afternoons this week and next week, weather dependent. On the sports day the students can wear sports mufti with sensible footwear for running and jumping. School hats only will be worn on the day, no caps or other hats please. The cafe will be open on the day for adults to buy a coffee. If you are able to help on the school athletics day please text me with your name and child’s name to 0272 84201, and I will allocate you to your child’s age group so you can also watch them.

WAI & RANGI ATHLETICS TIMETABLE 2020 All students to wear SUITABLE MUFTI and FOOTWEAR for

Athletics. Named School Hats only to be worn.

THERE WILL BE COFFEE AVAILABLE FOR SALE FROM THE CAFE

RELAYS

HIGH

JUMP

SHOTPUT

LONG

JUMP

GAME SPRINTS DISCUS

LONG

DISTANCE

9.15am Year 5 Girls

Year 6 Girls

Year 4 Boys

Year 5 Boys

Year 4 Girls

Year 6 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Girls

9.50am Year 2 & 3 Girls

Year 5 Girls

Year 6 Girls

Year 4 Boys

Year 5 Boys

Year 4 Girls

Year 6 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Boys

10.25am- 10.50am

I N T E R V A L

10.50am Year 2 & 3 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Girls

Year 5 Girls

Year 6 Girls

Year 4 Boys

Year 5 Boys

Year 4 Girls

Yr 6 Boys

11.20am Year 6 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Girls

Year 5 Girls

Year 6 Girls

Year 4 Boys

Year 5 Boys

Year 4 Girls

11.55am

Year 4 Girls

Year 6 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Girls

Year 5 Girls

Year 6 Girls

Year 4 Boys

Year 5 Boys

12.30pm- 1.00pm

L U N C H

1.05pm Year 5 Boys

Year 4 Girls

Year 6 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Girls

Year 5 Girls

Year 6 Girls

Year 4 Boys

1.40pm Year 4 Boys

Year 5 Boys

Year 4 Girls

Year 6 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Girls

Year 5 Girls

Year 6 Girls

2.15pm Yr6 Girls

Year 4 Boys

Year 5 Boys

Year 4 Girls

Year 6 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Boys

Year 2 & 3 Girls

Year 5 Girls

Ōtākaro Cultural Showcase

Keep These Dates Free... The Ōtākaro Kāhui Ako are holding their Showcase of Learning from the many Early Childhood Centres, Primary Schools, Intermediate Schools and Secondary Schools in our area. With the current environment, we decided that we would showcase these events on-line. So put these dates in your diary and celebrate all the great talent in our community...

Tuesday 20th October @ 2.00 pm: Music Showcase Launch Wednesday 11th November @ 2.00 pm: Visual and Performing Arts Showcase Launch Tuesday 24th November @ 2.00 pm: Literacy-Based Showcase Launch

The links to these events will be sent closer to the time for you to watch together as a whanau.

Pātaka Kai We are very excited. Our Pātaka Kai is finished and is now open for business. It is a community pantry. The purpose of this pantry is to support our school community.

“Take what you need, give what you can, be mindful of others.”

A big thank you to the New Brighton MENZ shed who made it for us.