Term Four will be a busy one. Make sure you keep up to date with events by reading your hub notices each week, and school newsletters every fortnight.

Welcome back

We hope you had a lovely break, the lovely weather certainly made a difference didn't it. On the first day back, it was wonderful to see the children out at break time enjoying the sunshine. As I walked around I saw children playing cricket, basketball, making daisy chains, having sandpit fun, playing tag, and some just sitting in a shady spot having a chat with their friends. 

Although this is a ten week term, there are a lot of different events to be aware of. Our teachers actually only have 43 and a half contact days with their class before we break up (and there are only 74 days until Christmas...) You need to ensure you are up to date with our school calendar (link here) so you don't miss out on anything. 

Working Bee this Saturday (Election Day)

We hope you can join us for our working bee on Saturday 17th October from 9am - 1pm. If you can spare an hour of your time we would be very appreciative. Students are welcome - Year 4-8 students can use this as a PRIDE challenge activity. Come along and vote, and help out our school at the same time. Thank you for your support.

Bring along the following if you have it, or use the tools we have here:

• Garden chipper/shredder 
• Trailer if you have one (to remove branches off site)
• Wheelbarrow
• Pruning tools
• Shovel/spade
• Garden trowels (weeding)
• Rake/yard broom

Reporting on HERO

Thank you for your patience with our reporting. Our online provider (Hero) experienced a major problem with their servers recently, which resulted in a lot of stored data being corrupted. This included photos and many general comments. So while you should hopefully have been able to see my Principal Comment, and some of the achievement data (and next steps) the teacher comments are still not viewable at this stage. Our teachers spent considerable time and effort writing these comments last term, so we hope that everything will be back to normal and fully functioning as soon as possible. This is very frustrating for us, and I'm sure for you too, so we appreciate your understanding here. 

Planning Ahead to 2021

Over the holidays, we made two teacher appointments for 2021. Mik Scanlan and Chloe Boal were in fixed term, full time positions this year and have been appointed again for 2021. Mik in a permanent position, and Chloe fixed term. We are fortunate to have two outstanding educators back on the team for next year. You can feel assured that we have an exceptional teaching team at our Kura. 

I know that some of you might be starting to think about what our class placements and learning hubs will look like in 2021. Our management team are thinking about this a lot too. We still have one term of learning to work through - and this will be out focus for the next ten weeks.

Communication

I would like to acknowledge that there is a LOT for you to process this term.  Teacher Only Days, Food/lunch orders, Camps, Senior William Pike Trips, Athletic Sports, Beach Ed, Fundraisers, Prize giving, Film Festival, Leavers Dinner, Big Day Out transport - there is a lot to keep track of! I have asked our teachers to keep the communication lines clear and efficient. You will get a weekly email (usually on a Sunday evening or Monday morning) with all information relevant to the learning hub your children are in. Hero email notifications will be used for school wide events. 

Sun hats

Our children all know the rules around sunhats. We are a sunsmart accredited school and have strict guidelines in our policy. Our staff will all wear and model the correct hat and we will enforce the student wearing of correct hats. No exceptions. We have a few spare hats around, but children soon learn that when we say 'no hat, no play' we are true to our word! 

A reminder that New Entrant students are given a hat when they start school. These are kindIy paid for by the local branch of the Cancer Society. 

Digital Devices

Our amazing FAST team approved the purchase of 8 new Chromebooks with the funds raised from ARC. They are already unpacked, set up and stored in the Moana Technology Cupboard ready to go on day one. Our FAST goal this year was to address the shortage of devices for our senior students. With one term to go, they have so far added 14 Chromebooks, 6 MacBook Airs and 4 ex-lease MacBook Pros. 

The Quiz Night and ARC were great earners for our school. The next big events will be the Lego Show on the 28th November, and the sales of our historical calendar. Thank you for supporting these great fundraising initiatives.

Property Work

Other the break there was a flurry of activity at school! New carpet tiles were installed in Maungatere (and they look great!). A new window (and better ventilation) was installed in Te Ngahere. The old dental clinic (now the RTLB room) was given a spruce up with a repaint, new room and insulation. 

The next big jobs will be the installation of an Archgola along the front of Kowai/Arahura and a new storage shed beside the hen house.

Our school is looking great - and with lots of parent support at our working bee, it will look even better!

Bible in Schools

Our Board has a clear policy on the delivery of religious education. For Year 1-4 students, all children participate unless you have indicated otherwise on their enrolment form. Year 5-8 students only participate if you choose for them to opt in. Seniors are on Friday mornings at 10am in Arahura. We have noticed that a few children who have opted in to this are not attending. If for any reason you have changed your mind about this, you need to let Belinda in the office know ASAP. 

Thank you for your ongoing support of our school - it is appreciated.

Simon