A message of kindness and understanding, what I love most about our school

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../teacher-to-parents.../

A message to just be kind and have understanding.

To have empathy and understand that kids do well if they can, and if they can't each teacher, here at our school goes above and beyond to ensure that we do the best we can for that child. For each and every child, for your child.

That is what I love most about our school, that we will never give up helping or doing our best to support. We ask that you understand that for many reasons, some children have a harder time fitting in than others. Like every adult, each child is facing their own individual struggles, for some, this makes school a difficult place to be at times with some many personalities and expectations to navigate.

I have not speech pepared this year, but this is a message that resonates with me, please take the time to read it. We work hard here to provide the best for everyone. We are always doing 'something about it.' Will our 'doing something about it' work first time...unlikely, but with grace, space and time, mixed in with empathy, understanding and aroha, it eventually will.

If your child, is ever that child, we promise we will always do our best for them and you.

Have a lovely Summer everyone!

Leslee Allen

End of Year Wrap Up

 End of Year Wrap Up - 2021

Prize givings

Prize giving this year will be held on the 10th (Friday.). Year 1 - 5 will have their prize giving without any other adults on site.  This will be live streamed via Facebook at 11.45am.  

Year 6 Prize giving will be at 1.30pm.  One adult per child are able to come to this prize giving and again it will be live streamed via Facebook.  As prize giving is not counted as a curriculum event red light protocols have to be followed.  One adult per child sees us at our maximum number.  We understand this may be disappointing, but doing it this way ensures ALL children are able to have an adult attend and not miss out on sharing this special time with them.

Last Day

Our last day is Tuesday the 14th of December, we finish at 12.00pm and ask that all children are picked up by 12.30pm at the latest.  The school office will remain open between 9 and 3 for the rest of the week.

Class Lists and Stationery

These will come home in an envelope this week.  Keep the stationery list somewhere safe.  For children remaining in Room One they have not stationery list as they do not need to purchase new stationery.

You can purchase stationery online easily by visiting myschool.co.nz and finding our school, then your child’s class, or by visiting nzschoolshop.co.nz and doing the same thing.  You can also purchase in store from Baigents Office Products.

Lost Property

We have a mountain of lost property, please come in and check this before next Monday as we will be packing it up, washing and giving to charity.  Over the weekend someone took it upon themselves to steal a large amount of our lost property, a good lesson to the children of why they need to look after their belongings.

Return to School Term One

Children return to school on the 2nd of February next year.    The office will open again on the 24th of January, but be closed on the 27th of January as all staff will be off site professional development.

We have not yet set the date for our beach picnic as we are waiting to find out more about the regulations around this and how we can make it work for our school.

As per traffic light protocols Year 4 children up may be required to wear masks in 2022 when inside.  We will update you when we know if this will apply.

Thank you

The staff and I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support over this year.  It has not been the easiest and we have faced and continue to face challenges, but we will get there together.  Thank you for your kindness and a massive thank you to everyone that has helped us in some shape or form over the year!  We couldn’t do it without you.

Have a lovely Summer with your family, I hope you get some time to rest and recalibrate and we look forward to seeing all those returning next year.

For many of our families, this is your last year with us as your Year 6 children move on.  For some of you this has been a very extended journey and one we appreciate you taking with us.  Forever part of our Kaurihohore Whānau!

Leslee Allen - Arohanui e hoa ma

2022 Teaching Staff

 Teaching Staff 2022

We have minimal changes for 2022, with just a couple of our teaching staff moving year levels.

We welcome back Laura Stanners from maternity leave and farewell Sue Jensen who was filling in the maternity leave position during this year.  We will be very sad to see Sue go, she has been an absolute asset to our school and a brilliant team member.

Staffing in classes:

(1) Rūma Piwakawaka - Michelle Douglas and Laura Stanners

(3) Rūma Kāhu - Leslee Allen and Tracey Angelo-Jones

(4) Rūma Pukeko - Jo Kake

(5) Rūma Kōtare - Ronda Gibson

(6)Rūma Tūī - Nicky Cleaver

(10)Rūma Kereru - Vikki Tuckey

(9)Rūma Miromiro - Yvette Wyrsch and Samuel Wyrsch

(8)Rūma Kiwi - Cathy Hadfield

(7)Rūma Huia - Kelly Glasgow

Learning Support Coordinator - Tanya Gwyn

Classroom Release Teacher - Jill Moscrip

Week Six News

 

Kaurihohore School Week Six, Term Four News 

Manaaki te katoa - be kind to all. 

Respect - Empathy - Kindness 

He whakatauki. Ehara tāku toa i te toa takitahi. Engari, he toa takitini.

Success is not the work of one but the work of many.

Kia ora koutou,  

We are fast approaching the end of a short term.   I have appreciated your support, flexibility and kindness during what can only be called an ‘interesting’ year.  I appreciate the understanding you have shown to the  implementation of ‘requirements’ around the COVID response, that may not fit nicely with our personal beliefs and values.  

I thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and avail yourself of the information that you need, it certainly takes me a substantial time to put it together and appreciate the time you take to read it.

 We are noticing children are becoming hot, tired and generally less tolerant of each other.  This is normal at this time of the year but has been accentuated by a difficult, interrupted year.  Make sure children enjoy down time at home, we have the tendency to fill their schedule up, rushing here and there.  Just like us, children need the opportunity to ‘chill’ to have time out and rest.  Being bored is a good thing.

We are really worried about some of the access our children have to R rated games, TV shows and movies.  Children are still forming their views of the world, their morals and values, access to social media and R rated games are problematic.  They can lead to changes in behaviour, mood and how they interact with others.  This behaviour not only flows over into the home, but it also comes to school.  We see this in their language, the way they speak to each other and the inappropriate nature of some conversations and verbal interactions.  

We have had it reported to us that some children are having problems with messenger junior and even instagram (which has an age restriction.)  It is much easier to say unkind things to someone's screen.  Please monitor what your child is doing, know who they are talking to and require access to read everything they type or are having sent to them.  For more information and guidance you can visit netsafe.

Children are growing up in a different world, social interactions often don’t stop once they are home, they creep into every aspect of their life if we let them, and while there are many positives, there are a huge amount of negatives and a lot of damage that can be caused.

Let’s keep our children safe.

Level Two Guidelines

Thank you for adhering to level two guidelines, please continue to do so.  Please remember children must have their own bottle at school filled with water, no juice or sugary drinks please.  Please remember that you need to wear a mask as a precaution when outside picking up or dropping off children, if you come into classrooms you must wear a mask, just like any other indoor location right now.  

We have decided to allow you to go to classrooms to drop off items or collect children if you are here early.  Please however wear a mask, practice distancing and avoid entering classrooms where possible.  We ask that you only do this when you really need to.

If there is a case in a school, it is unlikely that the school would close.  What we would need to do is gather a register of close contacts and ensure the MOH had that information in a timely manner.  To do this, we would need your help.  Please keep tracing wherever you go, take note of locations of interest and stay away from school if you feel you may have been in contact with COVID or are feeling unwell.

Sponsored Run - Thursday 2nd of December

Extra sponsorship forms have come home with children.  Please support them to gather some sponsorship, every little bit counts with our fundraising so limited this year.

You are welcome to come along and watch, just adhere to level two guidelines.

Please encourage children to dress up, anything goes, but consider how hot they may get when running or walking the track.

Outline for the day:

We have decided to run this event at a different time (10-11am) as we are conscious of the heat! Sorry for any inconvenience.

9.50am - All classes will gather on the courts. They will then move to their starting position with a numbered cone.

A honker will signal the start and the end of the Sponsored Run. Music will play for the duration of the Sponsored Run.

10am - 11am - Students will run or walk around the bike track. They will collect a mark from their teacher after each lap at their class cone.

11am - Students will gather back on the courts, spot prizes will be given out for best dressed as well as some kindness and sportsmanship prizes. The PSG will also give out pre-ordered Moozies and Juices at this time.

11am -12pm - Early lunch/morning tea families are welcome to bring a picnic blanket and have a shared kai with their own whānau as long as they are distancing and wearing a mask while walking around.  Please sit in your family bubbles distanced from each other.

During this time the PSG will have a market day stall set up with jolly jars, seedlings, toys and other bits and pieces so please send along some coins in an envelope for your child if you would like to. Prices range from 50c to $5.

12pm Lunch finishes

1.30-2pm - Afternoon Tea

If you are wanting to take your child home at the conclusion of the events, you are welcome to do so, but the school day will resume as normal after lunch.

Last year's record for laps was set by Cooper Hindrup who completed 27 laps in the hour.  Last year Room One completed 483 (with significantly more bodies going around the track) and Room Nine completed 331.

 

I wonder if we can beat these totals this year?

Honey

Don't forget our Bee Friends honey is still available from the office!  $10 for a 500g tub. 

This would make a great Christmas gift.

This is the honey collected from our hives by our BeeFriends 2020/2021 group.

Thanks for supporting us and thank you to Tahi Honey!

Just come along to the school office with payment and they will be able to help you out.

Prize-giving

We will go ahead with prizegiving on the same day as intended, the 10th of December.    The school prize giving will be videoed and hopefully with a microphone will be easier to hear on livestream via facebook.  No whānau will be able to attend this.

Year 6 leavers prize giving will then go ahead at 1.30pm.  Families are welcome to attend this, but asked to wear a mask and distance from those not in their bubble.  At this prizegiving we will hand out the relevant trophies and certificates.  It is likely that this will be concluded within the hour.  We will also endeavor to live stream this and hope that the microphone allows you to hear a little better.  

We will photograph both events.

Vaccination Mandate

I know that this has caused many questions and quite a degree of stress for some.  

Just a reminder that vaccination status of individuals (including staff) is private. Your own vaccination status is also private, you do not need to tell us as a matter of course,  but do need to provide evidence to the office if you will be volunteering in some way (transporting children, helping supervise groups, attending camps etc)  Once we have this evidence recorded as sighted, you will not need to do this again.

For usual school events, meetings with teachers, coming onto school grounds, transporting and supervising your own child there is no need to declare your status to us at all.  You are welcome to come into school and enjoy school events etc as you usually have.

As the ministry puts it, if you are just a “parent, being a parent.” you do not need to provide any evidence of vaccination status.  

Level two guidelines do stand, mask use, distancing and using the COVID tracer app.

 

Harold - Life Education

We have an upcoming visit scheduled for Harold (Health Caravan.)  This will happen from the 29th of November.

The children love these visits and Nadine the educator teaches a range of areas of health and wellbeing.

It is usual practice for us to have this visit sponsored, or to use our operational funding to pay the $4 per child towards this visit, so that it is free for all children.

This year has been a struggle financially, with most of our fundraising unable to go ahead and unexpected costs.

We would appreciate a koha towards this visit if you are able to do so, to help us cover the cost of the life education visit.  We are so very grateful to those that have donated so far, we appreciate your generosity.

This is not a fee, children will attend regardless of payment, but any donation you can make would be appreciated.

This can be sent to the office when you are able to do so.

Topics by class:

Rūma Piwakawaka Healthy Eating

Rūma Kāhu What is the importance of Kindness and Friendships

Rūma Pūkeko How can our feelings influence the way we act?

Rūma Kōtare Why do we need to eat a variety of food?

Rūma Tūī How can our feelings influence the way we act?

Rūma Kereru What are the impacts of the decisions we make?

Rūma Miromiro Body systems and how the work

Rūma Huia What are the impacts of the decisions we make?

Rūma Kiwi Body systems and how the work

Year 6  Will hopefully have one puberty session as well if time allows

Teachers Only Day

A reminder that Friday the 3rd of December is Teachers Only Day.  On this day, school is closed to children.  Teachers will be spending the day on professional development for 2022.

Last Day

Our last day is Tuesday December the 14th.  On this day we finish at 12.00pm and children need to be picked up by 12.30pm at the very latest.

Reports

You can expect a report home by the end of this term.  This will include an updated term 3 comment and levels reached in reading, writing and maths.  By this time you will have also received blurbs on your child's progress in the core areas.  Teachers will have provided these to you either last term, or in this term.  This will all be provided via seesaw.  

The graph at the bottom of the report gives you guidance on expected progress according to NZ curriculum levels.  If  you need this interpreted, you can find a video on our facebook page explaining how to read your child’s report according to their levels.

 

Lost Property

We have mountains of lost property, in fact Room 8 found over 80 pieces of lost property in their school clean up yesterday.  Please feel free to come into school to check this out before the end of the year.  Once again, following level two guidelines.

Raffle

Each child was sent home ten tickets to sell.  Please return money and ticket stubs to the office as soon as possible.  This is a school fundraiser and we appreciate your support greatly.  If you can not sell your tickets, return them to the office for others to sell.

School Bank Account Details

 Account 12-3093-0200709-00

Kaurihohore school board of Trustees

Term Four - Known Dates

2nd of December - Sponsored Run

30th November - 7th of December - Life Education Visit

3rd of December - Teachers Only Day (school closed to children)

10th of December - School Prizegiving (no audience) 1.30pm Year Six Prizegiving, whānau welcome.

Ends 12.00 December 14th

2022 - Return to School 2nd of February

Food for thought... 

Noho ora mai - stay well, look after yourself and look out for others!

Leslee Allen

School News

 

Kaurihohore School Week Three, Term Four News 

Manaaki te katoa - be kind to all. 

Respect - Empathy - Kindness 

He whakatauki. Ehara tāku toa i te toa takitahi. Engari, he toa takitini.

Success is not the work of one but the work of many.

Kia ora koutou,  

Wow...what a strange time we live in right now.  I don’t know about all of you, but the last few months have felt like a never ending rollercoaster with many twists and turns.  COVID has certainly changed the landscape of what we call normal, and certainly has fueled many emotions for everyone.  Everyone has different perspectives and opinions on our current situation, and we are all entitled to these varying perspectives.  As a school right now, it is our job to find the middle ground, to do the best for our children and to communicate clearly to you the information as we have it.  

Often the advice we are getting is not as clear or concise as we would like, it also often changes and it is up to us to interpret what it means for us and our school whānau.  We are doing our best and will continue to do our best.  

It is important that we think about the messaging we are giving to children at this time.  At school, we don’t talk about COVID, we just get on with making our place as normal as possible...at home please think about the messaging you also give to children, children overhear our conversations, they see and feel our stress and they do take it on board.  We all must tread carefully.  While there will continue to be mandates and recommendations that as a school we need to work our way through, we will continue to do this in a careful and thoughtful manner.  Please know that there is a lot of behind the scenes work and questioning that is going on right now.

Hats-Toys

We are now in Summer term, children must wear hats with a brim or a flap...they are not to bring caps to school over Term 4 and 1.  Please name these hats and try to help children be responsible for bringing them each day.

Please also note that toys are not to be brought along to school, these get lost, broken and cause great upset.  If children do bring items to school, we can’t take responsibility for looking after these items.

Level Two Guidelines

Thank you for adhering to level two guidelines, please continue to do so.  Please remember children must have their own bottle at school filled with water, no juice or sugary drinks please.  Please remember that you need to wear a mask as a precaution when outside picking up or dropping off children, if you come into classrooms you must wear a mask, just like any other indoor location right now.  We however do ask that you avoid coming into the office or classrooms at all right now.

School Athletics

Year 0/1 tabloid event will be held on Friday the 12th of November after lunch.  You are welcome to come along to watch, we ask that you maintain distance from those not in your bubble, sign in, do not come if you are sick or have been in a location of interest and we highly recommend mask use.

Year 2-6 events will be held on the 17th of November.  More details will be sent home in a separate notice.  You are again welcome to come along to watch...please sign in, distance from those not in your bubble, mask use is highly recommended and we ask that you not come if you are sick, or have been in a location of interest.

Messaging Teachers

We have noticed an increase in the amount of parents using facebook messenger to communicate with teachers about their child.  Please do not do this.  A teacher’s facebook page is their personal account and shouldn’t be used as a regular means of contact.  You are welcome to contact teachers via seesaw, email or by phoning the office.

Sponsored Run

This will take place on the 2nd of December...if you have lost your sponsorship sheet, please come in and get another one, we understand things are very tight for many families, so any little bit that can be fundraised would be so gratefully received.  Due to the current situation as a school we are down thousands in our budget.  The sponsored run is a small chance to raise some of this back.  We do really appreciate any small amount that children can raise.

We are going to endeavor to make this day a bit of a celebration, a bit of fun and will also add a bit of a market day twist to it, with some items for children to purchase on the day (this money will go to the PSG as it will be items that would have been sold at the gala.)  We also invite you to bring along kai on the day, a picnic blanket and sit down and share food with your bubble. We will spread ourselves out on the field, it could be hot, so umbrellas or other shelters would be a great idea.  We will have music playing and try to make it as festive as possible.

More information about this event will come home about this closer to the time.  

As this event is outside and distancing can be maintained you are welcome to come along or even take part.  We do however need everyone to comply to this mandate:

Everyone must dress up, something weird and wacky to celebrate a weird and wacky year, normal attire will not be tolerated!

 We simply ask you sign in, distance where appropriate and don’t come if you are sick, or could have been at any locations of interest.  We highly advise mask use, however this could be incorporated into your dress up for the day.  Keep in mind with dress ups that it is likely to be quite warm.

Agricultural and Flower Day

 We were so happy to be able to make this event possible at level two and in the pouring rain even! 

 Massive thanks to Dianne Wyatt who brings all of this together for our children.

A massive shout out to our sponsors for Ag day today. 

LIC, FARMLANDS & FMG.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our school.

Also to our amazing Judges.  You all came out in this terrible weather and made this happen for our children who have put so much effort in this year.

SAM MOSCRIP, BOB WOOD, LINDA HENWOOD, JILL MOSCRIP.

 

 

 

 

Community Support/Environmental Action

It was so lovely for Rūma Huia to have the opportunity to take part in some community work yesterday.  This combined some aroha for our local place and some great environmental action.  It was just by chance that we heard about this opportunity to get out into our community, if you know of any local groups, or local places that we could get involved with, let us know, we are always keen to help our children think and act beyond themselves for the place that they stand whilst they attend our school.  Tūrangawaewae is one of the most well-known and powerful Māori concepts. It literally means standing place (tūranga) and feet (waewae); and is often translated as ‘a place to stand’.

Tūrangawaewae are places where we feel empowered and connected. They are our foundation, our place in the world, our home.  Through projects like this we can help children develop this concept.

 

 

Prize-giving

This was supposed to happen on the 10th of December.  However we have been told that under level two conditions with the amount of people and the inability to maintain distance, that this should not go ahead as it has in the past.  

We are currently working through how this may look, but it is likely we will go ahead with the children and video/photograph the awards to share with you.  We will also video a school item we have been working on to share with you.  

For our Year 6 children we plan to organise a leavers assembly, so they can receive their awards, leaving certificates and be acknowledged in a formal way. Parents of Year 6 children will be welcome to attend this event as we can ensure distancing between bubbles in the space we have outside.  We will send home more information as and when we have it.

 

Vaccination Mandate

Yesterday I sent home information on this mandate and implications for our school whānau.  As I am sure you are aware this is an emotive issue and everyone has their own opinion.  As a school we are doing our best to navigate this and communicate information to you as we have it.  For now if you are volunteering in a way that involves interacting closely with a group of children, you will need to provide us with proof that you have had your first vaccination by the 15th of November.  We plan to ask for this evidence as and when school trips take place, so there is no need to do anything now if you will not be volunteering to be part of these.  

We are receiving new information every day, but the information I have for now means that if you are simply carrying out normal parent duties...school events, coming into class, talking to your child’s teacher, coming into the office, interacting as you normally would, supervising or transporting your own child we do not need to know your vaccination status.   We only need this evidence if you are volunteering in a way that sees you needing to interact with a group of children that are not your own.

Be reassured I am in daily contact with the Ministry to clarify any questions in this evolving situation.  I will continue to communicate with you in a timely manner when I have any information that you need to know.

For now however level two guidelines do continue to apply.

 

Term Four - Known Dates

17th of November - School Athletics

2nd of December - Sponsored Run

30th November - 7th of December - Life Education Visit

3rd of December - Teachers Only Day (school closed to children)

Ends 12.00 December 14th

2022 - Return to School 2nd of February

Food for thought... 

Noho ora mai - stay well, look after yourself and look out for others!

Leslee Allen

Strategic Review - Towards 2024

 In this blog post you will find information related to our strategic plan.  The video includes my voice over to give a bit more clarity and this link is to the PDF if you would rather read it on your own.  The text on the video is quite blurry, so you may want to listen first and then go back and read the PDF which is much clearer.

We would love it if you could take the time to either review the video/the PDF or both documents and then use the survey linked in the PDF to give us feedback and your ideas on property, and the health curriculum.

This survey will close on the 22nd of this month to allow us to get on with planning.

You can also find a link to the survey here but please take the time to either watch the video, or read the PDF before filling in the survey, so you know where our strategic review has led us to so far.

A lot of time and thought goes into the strategic planning for our school, so we appreciate any ideas you have to put towards this.

Please note we will be compiling all responses into one document for everyone to view.

Ngā mihi nui

Kaurihohore School Staff and Board of Trustees

End of Term Wrap Up

 

End of Term Wrap Up:

We have come to the end of a very disrupted term.  We thank you for your support and have our fingers and toes crossed for a smoother one in Term 4.  

We had a great open afternoon on Monday this week, we were very proud of our ten Year 6 children who welcomed visitors in, took them on tours of the school and connected them in with us at the end of the tour.  

Our out of zone enrolment applications have closed today and we will be going to ballot, with a huge amount of applications for 2022.

While we remain in level two we remind you that the Ministry of Health mandates mask use for all adults in public areas.  As the school is a public area, we require you to wear a mask when on site.  Please only come on site if you have to and please avoid coming into classrooms.  If you do have to come on site, please make it quick and ensure you sign in.  As a school we are simply following guidelines set down for us, if asked to put on a mask, please do so.

We look forward to seeing everyone back next term.

Below is some just in time information to end the term:

1. Lost property, there is a huge amount of lost property.  If you have time, come in quickly to check it (mask on) and sign in.  If you are not able to come in, encourage your child to check for any of their belongings.

2. We are sorry for the delay in receiving calendars for those that have ordered these.  Due to a lockdown our order has not been able to be delivered.  The company is in Auckland and is not an essential service.  Unfortunately the delay is out of our control.

3. School photos will be week 2 Term 4, payment needs to be made by Friday 22nd of October.

4. We have set the date for our Teacher Only Day (that was canceled this term) for Friday the 3rd of December.  School will be closed on this day to allow teachers to catch up on missed PLD.

5. We need items for the jolly jars that will be sold at the gala.  Any small toys, other small items or wrapped lollies would be kindly recieved.  There will be a small container outside of the school office for you to put any items into.

6. Ag and Flower day will be held on the 22nd of October.  Classroom items will only be made and judged if we are in Level 1.  We will let you know in week one what needs to come in from home if this is the case along with timings for the day.

7. We are currently reviewing our current strategic plan and working on a strategic plan for the next three years.  I will be sharing some information with you soon about this process and we would love your input.

Term Four - Known Dates

Begins 18th of October

22nd of October - Ag and Flower Day (calves, lambs and goats, classroom items only if level 1) 

25th of October - Labour Day

27th of October - School Photos

10th November - Girls multisport (Year 5 and 6)

17th of November - School Athletics

20th of November - School Gala

1st of December - Whangarei Athletics Day

2nd of December - Sponsored Run

3rd of December - Teacher Only Day

3rd of December - Disco (evening)

10th of December - Whole School Prize giving 1.pm

Ends 12.00 December 14th

2022 - Return to School 2nd of February