Week Five News

  

Kaurihohore School Week Five, Term Four 2023

Manaaki te katoa - be kind to all. 

Respect - Empathy - Kindness 

He aroha whakatō, he aroha ka puta mai

“If kindness is sown, then kindness is what you shall receive”

Kia ora e te whānau,

Well in true Kaurihohore fashion, we coped with the rain this morning to get our athletics events done.  Events were hotly contested and it was great to see enjoyment being had through sport.  Special shout out to Mack Hammond who today cleared 1.38m in the high jump!  We are unsure if that is a school record, but fairly confident that it must at least be very close to it.

Athletics isn’t everyone’s thing, but it is great to see children turning up and just giving it their best.  Nothing makes me prouder than to see our children just giving their absolute best and being good sports along the way.  

Last week saw a second fabulous Halloween Event.  We had an incredibly dedicated (but small) team of parents that made this possible, led very ably by Kim Christensen and supported on the night by many hard working volunteers.  The feedback we have had about this event has been outstanding and we are grateful to everyone that made it possible.  It was certainly a very long day and night, but well worth it.

The event, even in the rain, raised $12 796.84, which is an outstanding effort!  That effort with our compost fundraiser (Thank you Vikki and Sean Tuckey) which raised $2400 our total for fundraising is a whopping $38 537.75.  This has blown our target of $26 000 out of the water, which we are exceptionally grateful for.  

It is a sad reality that schools have to fight tooth and nail for  learning support funding, it is really sad that to keep our classes small (which is vital for our children and teachers) that we have to fundraise to such an extent.  I know it feels like we are always asking for money, but it is our children that are benefiting and so to keep giving them the best and meeting their diverse needs, we must keep plugging away.    I would love to promise that next year will be better, but sadly it is not.  I am very grateful to anyone who has helped us knock this goal out of the park this year, please know that because of this, children get extra help when they need it and smaller roll numbers in classrooms, both these areas directly assist learning and wellbeing.  You are helping to keep Kaurihohore the awesome place that it is!

Leslee Allen

Teacher Only Day - Friday the 24th of November

A reminder that we have set this down as our Ministry allocated TOD to work on curriculum delivery as a staff.  No children at school on this day please, staff only.

Empty Classroom Day - 22nd of November

On this day children will be self-directing their own play.  They are allowed to bring along items they would like to use on the day, but please make sure you are happy for them to bring these items along.  We have our fingers crossed for a fine day.  Please no phones or digital devices on this day!

Sponsorship

We are currently sitting down to work out our budget for 2024.  Unfortunately for us, 2024 and 2025 are going to see us relying very again very heavily on fundraising and sponsorship.  We've predicted this for the last five years with a massive group of Year 6 children leaving.  Schools are funded on their roll, and of course a massive group going out, means a drop in funding.  Technically we should be running eight classrooms next year, but we choose to operate nine, this is where the shortfall comes in.

We have set a target of $35 000 to raise through fundraising, which is a massive ask! 

Currently our budget, even with this fundraising hoped for, is sitting at a $50 000 deficit, and that is being conservative.  We prioritise people over things and so direct the money we raise goes towards learning and wellbeing support inside and outside of classrooms and towards keeping our class rolls as small as possible.

Sponsorship of businesses is something we have considered in the past, but now it is something the school desperately needs to ensure we can keep it running the way it currently is. 

 There are some items in our budget that really work well for sponsorship, so I am putting it out there, in case you know of a business that may currently be thinking about 2024 sponsorship and like something concrete to support. 

If you know a business that may just like to contribute a small amount towards a specific area, then that would also be fabulous!  We will make sure they are acknowledged and promoted.

*Learning support - this includes the purchase of the Nessy application children currently work on $2000

*Wellbeing support - ensuring we can provide wrap around services for our children that need it. $2000

*Seesaw - the way we communicate and celebrate learning $2500

*Life Education - $850

*Kindo - the app that makes online payments possible $500

*Bike repairs to ensure children can make use of the bikes - $1000

*PE equipment to ensure what we have is up to day and in working order - $1500

*Art supplies - ensuring our classrooms can continue to be creative places, helping to fund murals that reflect our school identity. $2000

*Environmental learning - ensuring children have access to resources that help them be active participants in helping make our environment healthier. $1000

*Chapter books for classrooms to use as whole class readers. $500

*Donations of chrome books for class use

We will of course keep applying for grants, but if you do know of any business interested in sponsorship, please let us know.  We know that many already support Halloween and the raffles and don’t expect them to be giving again unless in the position to do so.

We are very grateful for the support of our school community and we will work together to get through the next couple of lean financial years.

Contacting Us

You can find all staff emails on our blog page under the tab  ‘our staff,’ however the best way to contact your child’s teacher is via seesaw message.  Teachers will endeavour to answer when they have  time during the day, however please don’t expect replies to messages or emails after 5pm.  We will respond the next day as soon as we can.  Please refrain from using Facebook messenger, or our personal phone numbers to contact us.

Our school blog is kaurihohoreschool.blogspot.com

Office emails are: 

Chrissie - admin@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Dianne - reception@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Chelsea/Enrolments - kaurienrolments@gmail.com

Leslee - principal@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz

Reporting Absence - kauriabsences@gmail.com

Raffle

Please sell your tickets that have been sent home, there are some awesome prizes!  If you are unable to sell the tickets, please return these as we have families that may be able to sell more.

Cookie Time 

We sent home order forms for these yesterday, in case there is anyone that would like to order and pick up through school.  

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Term Four - Known Dates

22nd of November - Empty Classroom Day

23rd of November - Class swap 9am-9.30 (children visit their class for 2024)

24th of November - Teacher only day

28th of November - Class swap 9am-9.30am (children to visit their class for 2024)

4th of December -  Class swap 11.30-12.30 (children visit their class for 2024)

7th of December - Junior Award Picnic 2pm Year 1-3

11th of December - Year 4-6 Senior prizegiving 1.30pm

15th of December - Last Day (12.00pm finish)

First Day Back 2024 - 5th of February 

School Bank Account Details - 

All payments now go through the one account.

Account 12-3093-0200709-00

Kaurihohore school board of Trustees

Food for thought… 

Noho ora mai -

Leslee Allen