Principal's Pānui - Week 1 - Term 1 2025

Paula Fleming-Connell — Feb 6, 2025

Kia ora koutou e te whānau,

Welcome to our new students and those returning to Cotswold in 2025, we have had a busy start to the year with 28 new students and their families joining the Cotswold Learning Community this week.

Here are a few dates to add to your calendar:-

6th February - Waitangi Day - School is Closed
7th February - Staff Only Day (Maths PD) - School is Closed
11th February - Senior Duathlon (pp 12th Feb)
13th February - Start Up Party
17th - 20th February - Year 6 Camp

Registrations for Summer Sport and Senior Duathlon went out via Hero yesterday. Remember to sign up so your child can participate in these events.

At Cotswold Mātahae Primary School, we strive to be proactive in strengthening positive partnerships between the school and our families.

We use a number of communication channels to provide up-to-date information as it relates to the daily operation of the school, including the Hero App, newsletter and our website.

Our school also considers email a vital communications tool and recognises the importance of appropriate email content and timely replies. There are some instances where the use of email may not be the most appropriate method of communication. Outlined below are the school’s email protocols and a simple guide to good practice email use.

Standard email protocols:-

Email is not always the best form of communication. As teachers are generally not online during school hours due to their teaching and meeting responsibilities, emails are not suggested when an urgent or same day response is required. In these instances, parents should phone the school office.
Always be respectful and constructive. It is always worth reminding ourselves about the importance of being respectful and constructive. Nothing should be said in an email that you would not say in person.
Is the information available elsewhere. Before emailing your child’s teacher, consider whether the information you are seeking is already available elsewhere, such as in the school newsletter.

Staff will respond to emails on weekdays between the hours of 8am and 5pm, excluding public holidays and term breaks.

Please note that some emails may take longer to respond to than others.

Attendance

One of the things we are continuing to focus on in 2025 is student attendance. You will hear us talking about this with you, with our students and it remains a strong subject of conversation in the staff room.

If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent.

If you have any attendance queries and issues, please contact us so we can work together.

Waitangi Day / Staff Only Day

Thursday 6th - Friday 7th February

Just a friendly reminder that school will be closed on Thursday 6th February for Waitangi Day and then Friday 7th February for Staff Only Day as staff will be participating in professional development around the new Maths Curriculum.

Helpers in the Gardens Urgently Needed

If you or a family member has a few hours to spare to help with some weeding and general gardening in our Student Garden Area please contact Kate Maloney in Room 6 or via email kate.maloney@cotswold.school.nz or Linda Wroth in Room 20 or linda.wroth@cotswold.school.nz

Pānui Proverb

He waka eke noa

A canoe which we are all in with no exception

we are all in this together

We are looking forward to another exciting year at Cotswold Matāhae with our amazing students and their families. Enjoy your extended Waitangi Day long weekend spending time with friends and family.

Ngā mihi,

Paula