Kaurihohore School Week Nine, Term Two News 2022
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,
This term has been interesting to say the least, and now with so many children being hit by illness, and staff just hanging in there with a touch of just about everything going around, it has become just that little bit more difficult.
Our attention during this time turns to just doing our best and hoping that the term break will give an opportunity for a bit of a reset.
I am very grateful to our staff for continuing to soldier on and to maintain normality as much as possible. As you are probably away, relievers are in short supply and at times we are having to split classes around the school. While this is not ideal, it is often the only way we can keep classes open for learning.
A big shout out to Chelsea Woods, Shelley Buckton and Savannah Henare, our learning support team. This terrific trio have been really stretched this term as they provide support for teachers and the learning and wellbeing needs of our children. We are very grateful to have such a fabulously dedicated team, we would be lost without them, as would our children.
This term we have continued to fundraise to cover curriculum items at school. I am yet to calculate everything together but it looks like we have made over $5000 so far, which makes it about $10 000 raised towards the $26 000 we are aiming to raise this year. On top of this we will be raising money for a new turf, so if it seems like fundraising is constant, you would be right. We are very grateful to the people that have been able to give up their time in any way this term, now that we don’t have a PSG it is up to everyone to do their part to assist. It is a sad reflection on our funding system that we have to fundraise in this way, but it is a reality we just have to work within.
Your child’s teacher will be sending the next instalment of your child’s report via seesaw in the last week of school. Please click on view original, so you can read it more easily. When you have read it, please like the post, just so we know it has been read.
Over this last week every class has been nominating a good citizen for school voting. This process sees children nominating a child they believe demonstrates the qualities of respect, kindness and empathy…in each class the child with the most nominations gets put forward for voting. The overall citizen will be announced at our end of term assembly at 2.30pm on the 7th of July, you are welcome to attend.
And lastly I remain grateful for your support as a community. Our children don’t always have an easy time, there are sometimes problems and challenges that they need our support with and behaviours that are not always easy to deal with in a classroom that have to be provided for.
When things are difficult it is always important that we come together as a team, that our children see we are a team and that they can count on the support of everyone that is on their team. I know that staff are always grateful for your support when they need it. A positive, supportive relationship makes all the difference to the success of our children.
E hara taku tao
i te toa takitahi
he toa takitini
My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective.
Leslee Allen
Empty Classroom Day - Matariki Celebration - Next Friday!
Our empty classroom day will be the 8th of July (last day of term.) Set the day aside if you can, come in, do some planting, check out our canopy, buy a sausage, play some games, we’d love to see as many of you as possible on this day! All whānau welcome.
Thomas Online Fundraiser - Ends This Thursday!
If you have been meaning to pop on and buy something, you still have time, but get in quick!
This fundraiser is being held in conjunction with Thomas Online. The school will get the profits from any purchase you make using the details below.
If you are looking for gifts for the children in your life, this is the place to go.
Head over to our website www.ThomasOnline.co.nz, use coupon code KAURIHOHORE SCHOOL, receive Free Shipping and all profits of your order will be sent back to the school. All orders received will be sent directly from us at Thomas Online to your requested address on the overnight courier.
Thank you so much Kylie for your fabulous support of our school!
End of Term Assembly
This will be held at 2.30pm on Thursday the 7th of July. At this assembly teachers will give our certificates recognising a range of achievements. We will also recognise those nominated as citizens and announce the overall winner. Everyone is welcome to come along, this will be held under our new canopy.
Lost Property
Lost property is being looked after this week by Rūma Tūī (6). The box will be outside of this class and can be accessed any time, by coming into school, you are even welcome to come and look through it on the weekend. The lost property is kept for two weeks and then washed and taken to charity. Children get an opportunity at least twice to walk past the lost property and can look in the box at any time. If any of these belongings are named, they will be returned to your child. We will also endeavour to photograph or video it twice in this time and pop it on facebook. Children often don't recognise their belongings and this causes issues when we try to tell them that the items belong to them. It is important children can recognise the items that they wear and bring to school each day as theirs.
Please encourage your child to be responsible and look after their belongings, generally most classes will keep any property left behind in the classroom, before it is sent to the lost property box. Ensuring items are named, means items will be returned if lost.
The location of the lost property will be written each week on a sign outside the office.
School Disco
Thank you to Lacey Owen and team for organising this great event for our children. A lovely way to celebrate Matariki. Raising just over $2000 this was a mammoth effort. Thank you to everyone that helped in some way. Thank you to our sponsors!
Coming Soon - Board of Trustees Elections
These are coming up later this year. A Board of Trustees is in charge of the governance of the school, looking at the big picture in terms of property, strategic goals and finance. Our board has always remained committed to retaining the special nature of our school while setting strategic targets that continue to drive this forward. Time commitment is two evening meetings a term and a job here and there relative to the position held. If interested in what this entails, you could talk to Emma Campbell, Richard Smales, Kasey Hindrup or David Pilkington and get more information.
You can find some useful information here…with some lovely short videos to listen to.
https://www.schoolboardelections.org.nz/becoming-a-board-member/
Matariki - Memorial Garden
You may have noticed the area next to the native garden has been sprayed and roped off. We are planning a Matariki-Memorial garden for this area. It will form an extension to our native garden and eventually link to a junior sandpit. Crofts have donated the mulch, which has been added to the area and then all going well we will plant next week. This area will be planted as a way to mark Matariki, but will also be a memorial to the time during the first World War, that the school grounds, along with property from several surrounding farms, were requisitioned by the Army, which stationed the Maori Battalion and the 2nd Hauraki Regiment.
If you would like to help with, or support this garden (or future sandpit) in any way you can email Michelle. michelle.douglas@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz
Once planted the area will remain out of bounds while plants get established. We will formally open this area of the native garden later in the year.
The Nest - Te Kōhanga
You may have heard your children mention this space in our school. This space is based on creating a safe haven for children when they are having big feelings, or a place to work out of when the classroom is just a little too much. Our lovely team of teacher aides work out of this space and their main aim is to form strong, connected relationships with the children who come into their care. The nest is based on ‘grandma’s house.’ It is a place to reset, calm and restore. Children are allowed to use the nest when they need to and it is seen as a great strategy for assisting with big feelings. We have based this approach on trauma aware and developmentally responsive practice along with what we know about the needs of neuro-diverse children. It works well and is a fantastic tool for regulation at our kura.
Teacher Only Day
We will be having a teacher only day on Monday the 8th of August. This is one of the days allocated to us by the Ministry for staff professional development. On this day the school will be closed to children, only staff will be on site.
Ag and Flower Day
This will be held on the 29th of September, the second to last day of term. This will be back to normal after last year, with crafts made in classrooms and lambs, goats and calves being judged. Dianne will put out more info next term.
School Cross Country
This will be held on the 17th of August, children can start training now! More details will be put out next term.
Term Two and Three - Known Dates
7th July - 2.30pm End of term assembly (everyone welcome, held under the canopy)
8th July - Last day of term and Empty Classroom Day - Matariki planting
Term Three resumes Monday the 25th of July
Monday 8th of August - Teacher only day, school closed to children
17th August - School cross country
29th of September - Ag and Flower Day
30th of September - Empty Classroom Day
School Bank Account Details -
Now that the PSG has come under the umbrella of the school, we only have one bank account for all payments.
Account 12-3093-0200709-00
Kaurihohore school board of Trustees
Food for thought...
Noho ora mai - stay well, look after yourself and look out for others!
Leslee Allen
