Week Six News

 

Kaurihohore School Week Six, Term Three 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,  

 

We have not had the best weather lately unfortunately.  It always makes it harder to get children to school on dreary days.  Who wouldn’t want to stay at home in the warm on a wet day.   I know I will be first to put my hand up, sometimes it is just easier to stay in bed.

However, getting children to school everyday is very important.  Over the last two years children have had their schooling significantly interrupted.  While it is not impossible for us to help them catch up with what they have missed, they absolutely have to be at school for us to be able to help.

We totally get the irony…over the last couple of years the message has been, be cautious, stay at home if sick.  Now we are saying, get to school.  While the irony of this is not lost on us, the message is now, if your child is well or if they have a slight sniffle or cough, but are otherwise well, get them to school…they are now missing out! 

The impact of the last couple of years has seen a heightened sense of anxiety in our children and this is something we believe has had the most impact on them.  Being at school regularly, being part of our wellbeing programmes, developing strong consistent relationships with adults and peers are all a way to help them unpack and understand this anxiety. 

There are children at our school who have one to two days off every week.  This has a massive impact, they miss out on learning, they miss out on social interactions and when they come back this can cause even more anxiety.  

Across the board, those children struggling the most with their learning, are those with inconsistent attendance.  In turn, we are struggling to put in place remedial programmes to cater for their needs, these programmes wouldn’t be needed in the first place if children were just at school regularly.

These stats make alarming reading:

One day off a week = Ten days off a term = 40 days off a year (that is over a month of schooling missed.)

Two days off a week = Twenty days off a term = 80 days off a year (that is almost three months missed from school)  Wow that is almost a whole term!

 

As a school we are doing everything we can to help your children, socially, emotionally and academically, but it is impossible to really help if they are not here.

If there is a reason your child is not attending regularly, let your child’s teacher know, together you can sit down, discuss any issues and come up with a plan to help your child attend regularly.  Let’s face it, primary school is the easy part…if we are struggling to get them to school now, it does not bode well for their future schooling.

 

Ko te pae tawhiti, whāia kia tata; ko te pae tata, whakamaua kia tīna.

Aspiration - Seek out distant horizons and cherish those that you attain.

Leslee Allen

 

WPPSA Cross Country

All children that have been selected will run tomorrow at Barge Park.  Vikki Tuckey has set up a seesaw group for those involved and followed up with information on the phone for those that needed it.  Any last minute queries contact Vikki vikki.tuckey@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Good luck everyone!

 

The Nest/Te Kōhanga

We have had a few people let us know they are available to come in and work with our children in the nest.  If you know of anyone else, please let them know the more the merrier!  The opportunity to build trusting relationships is a huge part of success for our children.

 We are on the lookout for any other people that may be retired and have the time to come into the nest and be with our children.  If that is something someone you know would be interested in doing, encourage them to let us know.  There are no fixed times and any amount of time is appreciated.  Dianne and Chelsea will be able to help out with this, or you can talk directly to Leslee.

 

Weighty Warriors

Our first batch of weighty warriors have arrived at school.  They are currently being adopted by children and adoption posters will soon be on display.  We are so grateful for your generous sponsorship. I was personally blown away by your generosity.  We raised $1686 through your sponsorship, every cent will be spent on these warriors and the other fantastic thing is every warrior generates $5 towards Gumboot Friday. Gumboot Friday Helps connect young people with counsellors or therapists. All donations made to the Gumboot Friday Fund directly support kids in need.  The mental health of our young people is so important and I can personally vouch for the timely support that this charity provides.  Weighted items have a significant calming effect for children that struggle with anxiety, or who may be neuro-diverse.  Weighted items give a pressure, which is calming on the body and the mind.  Not only that they are great companions and super cute!  

 

Structured Literacy

If you have been watching the news at all recently, you will know there has been a lot said about a literacy strategy change for NZ.

We have been working with structured literacy for a few years now and staff are currently developing their own capabilities relevant to the level and need of their classes.  The expectation is that all classes will be delivering literacy in a structured way, following the Science of Reading by 2024.  This is not just about reading, but the link between reading and spelling and the development of the reader as a whole.  Our work has been driven by a commitment to all children, particularly those that have dyslexia, or dyslexic like tendencies.  The reality is, for a few children, reading comes easily (but they may still struggle with spelling)  for the majority of children, an explicit, structured approach is needed to help them become efficient, confident readers and spellers.  Practice is key, and your role in this practice is really important.  Structured literacy benefits most and harms no one.  

This has been a massive investment of resources as we have driven this development ourselves.  I would hasten to guess that we have spent over $20 000 in the last few years driving this forward ourselves.  We always have more we want to do, more books and resources we want to buy, but not always the finances to make this happen.  If you ever hear of businesses that wish to provide sponsorship for literacy in the school, point them in my direction.  I am very grateful to the Board of Trustees for prioritising literacy achievement at our school.

 

Seesaw

As you will know, seesaw is our main way of communicating with you.  We share learning and reports on your child’s progress on this app.  It is important you are connected.  We know that the app has been updated and for some has caused problems.  If you no longer have access to your child’s journal, try trashing or updating the app in the first instance, or send the team at seesaw a message, they are very helpful.  If you need to set up a seesaw again, please see your child’s teacher.  If you need to contact them and don’t have a seesaw, all of our emails are available via the school blog site, which comes up in a quick search online.

 

Screen Time

We are becoming really concerned about the amount of screen time children talk about having at home.  Too much time on screens can impact children’s academic progress, gross motor skills, ability to sleep and can desensitise them to aggressive/violent behaviour, leading them to think this is a normal way to solve problems.  Not all screen time is created equal, spending time on a learning app with a parent alongside providing support is much better than mindlessly using a screen out of boredom.  Children of primary age should be spending a max of one hour a day on screens.  Children deserve the right to get bored and to make their own fun, they do not need entertaining every second of the day.

 

 

 

Drop off/Pick Up

Please do not drop children off at school before 7.45am at the earliest.  However we do prefer them to be at school after 8am.  We understand that many people are trying to get to work across town, and this can be difficult, this is why we allow earlier drop off.   

Children also need to be picked up by 3.20pm.  The duty teacher is present in the courtyard until the bus arrives and then is considered off duty.  Please understand we all have work to do, meetings to attend and often appointments to get to ourselves at this time of day and school has been finished for 25 minutes by this stage.  If you are running late please let us know.  If you are later than 3.20pm you may need to look for children outside of after school care, as this is where they will be sent if we are not present.

 

Enrolments

We are currently advertising positions for out of zone new entrants for 2023.  We also have places at Year 2 and 4 (2023) available for out of zone children.  If you know of any families living in our zone that may have not alerted us to the fact their child will be attending our school, encourage them to let us know ASAP.  Chelsea Woods is the person they need to talk to.   If you know of any families wanting to attend our school, who are out of zone, let them know now is the time to apply for 2023.

If you know your family will not be coming back to our school in 2023 for any reason, we also need to know this.  Let the office know ASAP.

Contact Chelsea - kaurienrolments@gmail.com

An open afternoon is being held for any new families to attend on the 14th of September from 3.30pm - 5.30pm.

 

Social Conflict

As you will know, we have ways of assisting children with their wellbeing.  Bullying however is often a misused term and it is important that children are taught what bullying is and how to deal with it.  I found this post by Officer Gomez on facebook really useful.  In fact his page is a great source of information.  If you have any concerns about your child's wellbeing, please contact your child’s teacher in the first instance, many problems can be nipped in the bud.

—---------

Bullying Vs. Social Conflict

Definition: Bullying = Repeated one way harassment of any kind.

Repeated = More than one time. If someone calls your child a name in the hallway one time it is not considered bullying.

One Way = If your child participated in any way in any part of the events or disagreement this becomes social conflict.

Definition: Social Conflict = A disagreement stated or implied between two or more individuals. Social conflict if not handled properly can result in name calling, pushing, shoving, fighting, spreading rumours, and many other inappropriate behaviours.

Bullying is a term very often misused by kids and parents. The term bullying is often used when the actual interaction between the two parties is social conflict. Social conflict is part of everyday life for kids and adults. If you do not teach your kid conflict resolution as a child they might grow up to be an adult and still not know how to resolve conflict. Adult road rage is a perfect example of not knowing how to deal with social conflict.

As a parent you should actually welcome the opportunity to teach your child how to properly resolve social conflict. In reality, you are teaching your child to deal with social conflict every day as you set the example by your actions in social situations.

Online Bullying

Online bullying should be very easy to handle in nearly all cases. Block, Delete, and move on with your life. If you call me to tell me your 9-12 year old is getting bullied online I am going to tell you to get them off line as most social media applications require kids to be at least 13 for these very reasons. In my experience some kids and some adults will never be mature enough to handle social media. This again comes back to social conflict resolution skills.

Kindness: Teach your children to be kind, respectful, and empathetic so they can watch out for others who may be bullied. Teach them to let an adult know if someone else is being bullied, is depressed, or has some unknown problem. Your children are on the front lines of what's happening at the school and their input might save a life or at least make someone's day a bit brighter. I have had countless students inform me of situations I was able to help out with because a student came to me and let me know what was happening.

Awesome parent quote told to a child after a parent found out their child was participating in online social conflict and was not being bullied. " In our house we will NEVER for any reason write anything negative about people on a public forum".

Happy parenting,

Deputy Gomez

 

Thomas Online Fundraiser -this will continue to run using our code

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 ongoing support of our school!

Avos to Go School Fundraiser

The last lot of orders have been delivered to school.  Keep an eye out for the next order dates.

 

Lost Property

This term Rūma Ruru is looking after the lost property.   There is a massive lot of lost property in the box at the moment, please encourage your child to check this, or come in and check it yourself.

Board of Trustees Elections

Message from our returning officers:

Board of Trustees Election

We have had some great nominations for the BOT, eight in total, which is a bit of a record for us.  Thank you so much for putting your names forward.  Now we need our community to vote, read the profiles, decide on the five people you wish to vote for and return the form before 4pm on the 7th of September.

 

Fundraisers

Our current fundraiser is ‘seeds.’  Orders close for that this week on the 2nd of September, an order form was sent home, if you have not seen it, check seesaw messages, or come in and grab one.  We will also be creating calendars soon, for those that love to buy these as Christmas presents for the family.   What we have been doing with fundraising is try to appeal to a range of needs.  We certainly know you can not support everything and don’t expect you to, but hope you are able to support those fundraisers that do appeal to you.

 

2022 AGRICULTURAL/FLOWER DAY

WILL BE HELD ON THURSDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2022 

Each year a special highlight of the Kaurihohore School calendar is Agricultural/Flower Day.  It is part of being in a rural school and the Board and Staff are committed to keeping the rural character of the school.  

Children bring a pet lamb, kid or calf that they have reared to parade and compete in various classes.  

The Board and the school community wishes to encourage as many families as possible to enter an animal for this section of the day, and if you have not considered keeping an animal, or have thought about it briefly and felt daunted by the prospect, we invite you to take a moment to read on.

 Rearing an animal is a wonderful experience for a child and is a focus for their own learning and development.  They will learn how to care for their animal and train it.  They will learn personal skills such as commitment, time management and patience.  This can be a greatly rewarding experience for the child, seeing their animal respond to the care and attention they give it.

 

All classes will be involved in the creation of crafts for judging, more information will come home about this closer to the time.

 

 ANIMAL HANDLERS

• Children are encouraged to raise, feed and care for a lamb, kid or calf.

• Animals are eligible if they are born between 1 July and 31 August of this year.

• Calves are judged for leading, rearing (child’s effort) and beef or dairy type.

• Lambs/kids are judged on leading, calling and rearing.

• Any competitor may compete at the Whangarei Central Day at Barge Park, Maunu.  This will be held on Thursday 3rd November 2022 with the postponement date Friday 4th November 2022. 

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 5th September 2022, 7.30pm at the

Maungatapere Hall.  If you are wanting your child and animal to participate in this day, you would need to attend this meeting, as they would like all schools represented.

• Booklets on animal handling are available at the school office.

• Animal feed (Milk Powder) and teats can be obtained from farm supply outlets. Feeding regimes and mixing instructions are always on the container.

 

Dianne Wyatt in the school office is able to assist with any questions you may have.  Please pick up an entry form from her and make sure this is filled in early, so that we know how many animals we have on the day.  Get your entries in to Dianne now.

 

Term Three - Known Dates

19-27th of September - Life Education Caravan

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