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

Week Nine - News

 

Kaurihohore School Week Nine, Term Three 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,  tamariki are slowly settling back into kura, for some this has been harder than others, so across classrooms we have been making wellbeing a priority.  We have noticed a higher level of irritability and a lower level of tolerance for others, so we are doing our best to assist children with this.  

We have also found a trend for those struggling to get back into the flow of school and this trend heavily features device use.  Research shows that prolonged time on devices does have an effect on mood and ability to focus, particularly in children, but also in adults.  Children have spoken to us about playing device based games (some not age appropriate) for hours on end.  While we know it was really difficult in lockdown to keep children entertained, we hope that this is not a habit that continues.  Time on devices really impacts emotional regulation and how children relate to others, it certainly does not make learning in a classroom easy.   Please also be aware of the games your child is playing and the R rating on these.

If you have not watched the ted talk called device zombies by Kathryn Berkett I urge you to do so. Device Zombies.

The best remedy for this is simply time spent playing, allowing children to be bored and to find things that they can entertain themselves with, that do not require devices.  Extended time outside also really helps.  Please don’t feel the burden to entertain your child or to fill their time up with activities, while this often comes with the best of intentions, it can have the opposite impact then the one we desire.

Kathryn Berkett is actually having a free evening for parents. I urge you to go to this, her work is based on the research of Bruce Perry.  Bruce Perry’s work is what our wellbeing and developmental approach at our school is based on.  Kathryn also has a set of podcasts on spotify called I’ve got questions.  These are worth a listen.  In my opinion all parents should know this stuff and I wish I had!

I also really recommend this book by Ross Greene.  It will introduce you to an approach that will really change the way you deal with problems at home with your children.  It is also an approach that focuses on helping children develop interpersonal skills and empathy.  Children that have behavioural challenges generally have lagging skills in the areas of frustration tolerance, flexibility, problem solving and perspective taking.  These skills need to be taught in the situations where they lack these skills.  The approach detailed in the book is one I wish I had known about as a parent and I really urge people to read the book, particularly if you are having difficulty with an explosive child at home.  It is a process that can be used with all ages and centres around collaborative problem solving.

This is a good talk that shares the ‘why’ of this process.

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.

Dealing With Problems Appropriately

Please note that it is not acceptable to talk ill of another person’s child in front of other parents, or to go directly to that parent to complain about something that has happened in school.  Remember as parents we always only have one interpretation of events...and sometimes our children’s viewpoints can be slightly skewed in their favour.  The appropriate action in response to a problem is to go directly to your child’s teacher (either via email, seesaw, or catching them quickly when we are in level one.) To explain your child’s viewpoint and allow the teacher to have an open conversation with all parties.  This process allows us to get to the truth, use it as a learning experience and assist children to own their actions and if needed restore and learn from this.  This process also allows children to hear all sides and understand another's viewpoint, to hear directly what impact has been had.  This fosters and grows the ability to empathise, which research shows us needs to be taught.  While you may think talking to the other parent is the most efficient way to deal with the problem, it actually has a negative impact for all parties, does not allow all sides to be heard and often does not result in a true reflection of what has been going on.  We will not want to act on only one side of a story.  Please before you even think about talking to another parent about their child, put yourself in their shoes.  This is your child’s learning journey, not yours.

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.

 

Agricultural and Flower Day

This will be held on the first Friday back next term, 22nd of October. The agricultural side of this day will go ahead in level two, depending on the number of entries we may need to limit the amount of adults with each child.  If we are level 2, classes will just take part in class based crafts on the day, no viewing of rooms will be available as we won’t be asking judges to come on site.  If we are in level one, we will send out the items children will need to bring in on the day, but will keep this as simple as possible.  

 

Zero Waste

As an enviro school one of our main initiatives is zero waste.  We are noticing a lot of plastic creeping back into lunchboxes and into our playground.  We encourage children to understand the damaging nature of plastic in our environment and to look for ways to incorporate the actions of reduce-reuse-recycle.  Our local environment forms a big basis for our teaching and we aim to instil in children the understanding that they are kaitiaki (guardians) of our place.  We hope that this will enable them to make decisions that will benefit the environment that they live in.  Think globally, act locally.

 

Trophies

If your child won a trophy at last year's prize giving we need these back before the end of this term.  We will be sending the majority of these trophies off for engraving in the second week of Term 4.

 

Lost Property

This is growing by the day.  Please ask your child to check this regularly and allow them to take responsibility for this.  You may come on site to check the lost property, but please wear a mask and check in using the app.  The amount of clothing unnamed makes the returning of items almost impossible.  

 

Facebook

Our facebook page is used as a form of communication and sharing.  We will always update you with information when we have it as soon as we have it, using seesaw, facebook and email.  Please do not use our facebook page to ask questions unless it is really important, instead phone the school office if you can not find the information you need.

 

Pick up and Drop Off

Thankyou for not parking on yellow lines, not blocking entrances and not parking out the front blocking visibility, we appreciate your cooperation with this.  If you are picking up an intermediate child, please avoid coming before 3.10pm to ensure others can get a car park.  If there are spaces free in the small staff car park at the end of the day, please feel free to use them, but avoid blocking in staff cars.

 

School Photos

These will be held on the 27th of October.

 

Term Four - Known Dates

Begins 18th of October

22nd of October - Ag and Flower Da (calves, lambs and goats, classroom items only if level 2) 

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 - Disco

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

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

Week Seven Catch Up

Kaurihohore School Week Seven, Term Three 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 

Quite ironically in the last newsletter I commented about the term rushing by.  Little was I or anyone

else to know, that that would be the least of our concerns.  In the blink of an eye, we were all locked down. 

No time to think, let alone prepare for what the last few weeks would look like.  In a matter of weeks our

lives again were turned upside down, events cancelled, work stopped, schooling once again virtual.  This

would have looked different for all of us, but one thing we have in common is a great sense of unknown,

probably a sense of dread and a great degree of stress and trauma for ourselves, or whānau, and our

country.  We will all of felt this to some degree, some more than others, but what it has left us with is a

sense of unease and anxiety.  Now more than ever it is a time for kindness, patience, respectful

communication and empathy for each other.

 If this is true for us as adults, it is also very true for children.  There is this old saying, children are

resilient, they bounce back.  This is one of those old sayings that is completely untrue. 

Children are far more sensitive to trauma and stress than adults, the younger they are, the harder they

will find it.  They need our reassurance and love more now than they have ever done.  If they want to talk

about how they are feeling, let them, but when they stop, don’t push. Children at a time like this will look

for therapeutic doses from adults around them, this means they may make a statement, or pose a

question, then walk away, they are just looking to momentarily explore how they are feeling, then to step

back out of this feeling.   Children look to you for reassurance, to co-regulate with them, to allow them to

have big feelings and to assist them to calm down.  Times like these do have an impact on them, they

may melt down more often, or be more anxious, not wanting to take part in activities they usually love,

or not wanting you to be out of sight at this time. Just accept these things may happen, try to be calm,

and give them time.

They may not have any idea why they are feeling that way and that is ok.  They just need your support,

reassurance and love.  

This newsletter is just intended as a quick catch so we are all on the same page for the remainder

of this term and what impacts there will be for next term with the moving of or modification of school

events.

Communication

In times like the ones we have just experienced and are still experiencing to some degree now,

we rely on you keeping yourself informed.  Quick, current and informed communication is important

to us and we do our best to let you know information as soon as it is relayed to us..  We will always

use facebook for urgent communications, along with seesaw announcements to allow this to happen. 

For other  important information we will also use email.  Please make sure you have access to and are

using these forms of communication so that you can stay as up to date as possible.  

Level Two Guidelines

A detailed letter was sent out via facebook, seesaw and email.  Please follow these guidelines to

assist us to make school as safe as possible for children. 

Wear masks if you come on site as a precaution.  If you come on school site, please sign in using

the covid tracer app.  Please don’t walk into classrooms without a mask and if possible avoid getting

out of your car when picking up or dropping off children.  Please don’t allow children to bring in their

bike, scooter, balls or toys to school and in level two we are not allowed to share food or other items. 

Children also must have their own drink bottle full of water, as the fountains are off. 

Breakfast club does not operate.

We ask that you distance yourself from other adults if you are on site.

If you act like the teachers and students are one big bubble, and that any visitors or other adults

like yourself could possibly be carrying the virus and act accordingly, that will really help us greatly.  

Please don’t send children to school if they are sick and please understand that if we suspect they

are sick, we have to send them home.

Family Challenges

Thank you to all those that participated in the family challenges on facebook.  I hope that these

managed to break up the time for you over lockdown.  I will have the prizes ready for you at the

office for those families that won one of the four challenges, please send your children to the office

window to pick these up.  

Teachers Only Day

This has been cancelled due to our lockdown.  We did not see this as fair in the current environment. 

We will endeavor to have this next term, but will give you lots of notice in advance.

Sponsored Run

We have had to postpone this event, but we urge you to still seek sponsorship.  If you have lost your

form, we can give you a new one.  We are postponing the event to early next term in the hope that we

will be able to run it under level one conditions.  We will advise you of a date as soon as we have it.

 

Agricultural and Flower Day

This will be held on the first Friday back next term, 22nd of October. The agricultural side of this day

will go ahead.  If we are still level the flower/Craft section of the day will be cancelled and there will be

guidelines around distancing and the amount of adults per competitor for the animal side of the day. 

We will be guided by how things unfold over the next few weeks.

 

School Photos

These have been postponed and the deadline for payment pushed back.  Shelley will advise you of the

new date and deadline for payment as soon as we have one.

 

Empty Classroom Day

Due to the disruption in our class based learning we have decided to cancel this for Term 3.

 

End of Year Awards Assembly

This has been cancelled for this term, any children that have been awarded a Good Citizen nomination

in their class in the first few weeks that we were at school, will be carried over till next term's voting.

 

School Reports and Assessments

As I am sure you are aware, teachers have not been able to conduct assessments on your child that

would allow them to send out up to date, useful information any time in the immediate future.  We will

not be adding to the cumulative report this term as it would just not be possible to do so.  It often takes

days to complete assessments and then write the paragraphs up for seesaw comments, so teachers

will be doing this as they can over the next few weeks and then into Term 4.  It would also be entirely

inappropriate to throw assessments at children in their first couple of weeks back, given the fact that

they have had such an extended time away from school, so please bear with us as children and teachers

recalibrate and find their feet again.  This however is a good time to make an appointment with your

child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns.  They are more than happy to talk to you about

these, so make an appointment via seesaw and a meeting will be arranged at a time convenient to

everyone following level 2 guidelines.

Term Four - Known Dates

Begins 18th of October

22nd of October - Ag and Flower Day (calves, lambs and goats only if level 2) 

25th of October - Labour Day

20th of November - School Gala

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

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

Out of Zone Information - 2022

The Kaurihohore School Board of Trustees have determind we will have

10 - Y1 Out of Zone Places priority 2-6 available for 2022

6 - Y0 Out of Zone places priority 2-6 available for children born after the 1st May 2017

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 29 September 2021. The outcome of any ballot, should a ballot be necessary, will be advised shortly after 20 October 2021.

A link to Leslee’s New Entrant Information can be found here this information gives you an insight into our school and starting school.  

We will also be having an open afternoon where whānau can come in for a tour of the school with their perspective new entrant children.  There will be an opportunity to look around the classroom and to talk to the teachers for 2022.  Everyone wishing to or thinking about applying for an out of zone position, or anyone in zone with a child coming are welcome to come along.  This will be held on the 27th of September between 3.30pm and 5.30pm.  

At the bottom of this post is a link to the application form that needs to be filled in for any out of zone applications.

If you have a child starting school in 2022 and you already have an older child in the school and live out of zone you will still need to fill the out of zone form to secure the spot for the younger sibling for 2022.

We will not be accepting any late applications, so make sure you have these back to us by 3pm 29 September.

The Out of Zone forms were sent as a link on the New Entrant Information email sent out yesterday. If you for some reason did not get this e mail please contact Chrissie via e mail admin@kaurihohoreschool.co.nz or phone 094350041. or use the link to Out of Zone form for 2022 below.

Out of zone application form