Principal Pānui - Week 3 -Term 2 2023

Tēnā Koutou Katoa, 

I hope this newsletter finds you all well and settling into the second term of the school year. We have had an active and enjoyable start to the term, with students and staff alike throwing themselves into their work and extracurricular activities.

One event that has been a highlight of the term so far has been our preparation for the upcoming Showquest Performance.  I am thrilled to report that both our staff and students have put in excellent preparation efforts, practising their dance moves and perfecting their routines. There has been a high level of dedication and commitment from kaiko and tamariki.  I would like to thank you at home for supporting everyone involved in Showquest. 

Thank you to the parents and whanau who attended this afternoons Full School Assembly.   Special thanks to Rooms 1, 2, 3 and 4 for their items.

As we move forward into the rest of the term, I encourage all members of our community to continue to work together to create a positive and inclusive learning environment. Your support, whether it be through volunteering, participating in school events, or simply encouraging your child to do their best, is invaluable to our school's success.

Thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming events.

As always, if I can be of assistance please do make contact.

Nga mihi nui,

Chris

Pink Shirt Day -  Friday 19th May 

Next Friday 19th May 2023 Cotswold School will again be supporting and celebrating Pink Shirt Day to Speak Up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying! 

We ask that the children wear pink to show our support for the day. This can be from a pink t-shirt, skirt or shorts or even wearing a pink ribbon or colour their hair pink.

The day is to celebrate diversity, spread aroha and end bullying in Aotearoa. We will be collecting a gold coin donation at the Front and Back Gates before school, and all funds raised will go to the Mental Health Foundation.

It will be a mufti-day for all, however, we are encouraging children to wear the colour pink in some way.

Junior Cross Country  - Friday 19th May 

As this the Junior Cross Country coincides with Pink Shirt Day junior students can choose if they wear pink or their house colours but do need to be wearing appropriate footwear and clothing for running.   

In the event of postponement we will notify via the Hero App.  

(Postponement date is Friday 26th May) 

Science Badge

This year, more than 30 Year 5 and 6 students have decided to participate in Science Badge.

Science Badge requires students to work through a range of science-based activities, relating to the Physical World, Material World, Living World and Planet Earth and Beyond.

Each year it is exciting to see the time, effort and creativity students put into these activities. Students will be working on tasks during Term 2 and 3 so keep your eyes peeled for updates of their amazing work!  

Senior Syndicate Travis Wetland Trips

Our Travis Wetlands Trip by Oakley Chandler Room 18

On Monday 8th of May 2023, we went to Travis Wetlands. I was so excited but also a bit nervous. First, we hopped in the bus and drove to the Wetlands. When we arrived Jen and Peter introduced themselves. Next, we walked to the bird hide and the other group walked to look at insects. I went bird watching. We got a pair of binoculars. I saw lots of ducks and swans. There were five different types of ducks. One of them was black with yellow eyes. I also saw a beautiful kingfisher. There was a bird nesting in the bird hide. After that we went to the insect thing. It was really fun. We got to scoop up some bugs and insects with a sieve and put them in a container. Next, we had to scoop them with a spoon and put them into separate boxes so they don’t eat each other. I caught some water boatmen and some backswimmers. We put them in separate boxes because the backswimmer would eat the water boatmen. Then we ate our morning tea. We also did the last activity learning about the importance of different parts of the food chain. It was fun.  Finally we went on the bus back to school.

Written by Oakley Chandler Room 18

ANZAC Activities in Room 24

Room 24 has enjoyed learning about the ANZACs in World War One this term.

We had a great day on Wednesday this week; as we immersed ourselves in life in the trenches, our classroom was transformed to allow us to see how the ANZAC soldiers lived during their time in Gallipoli.

We learnt about life in the trenches, how they communicated using Morse code and what trenches looked like and in response, we had a go at creating our very own trench models to show what we had learnt.

Matariki Community Celebration  

We are holding our Matariki Celebration on Thursday 29th June from 5.30pm.

This will be a community wide event for our community with free kai and entertainment for our whanau during the evening.

Classrooms will be open and showcasing their Matariki art, and we will have performances in the Hall.

In order to organise and run such a large event for our community we do need your help.

A huge thank you to Retaining Canterbury Landscaping and Construction Ltd for their very generous $200 donation towards our Matariki Celebration, we are very grateful for your support of this new event. 

If you own a local business, or know of a local business who would be willing to support this event by contributing time, expertise and/or a financial contribution, please contact Marie Bianco in the School Office or via email marie.bianco@cotswold.school.nz

Thank you for supporting this exciting new event.

Sports Update -  Week 3 / Term 2

Year 5-6 Hagley Sport - Term 2 program starts on Friday 26th May - thank you to the parents who have offered to assist with coaching.  Mr Harper will be in touch with you all shortly.   Uniforms and team lists to be issued next week (Week 3) and bus transport cost will be added to your Hero Account.  

Hagley Sport is an Opt In Activity we would appreciate payment by the due date.

- Junior Cross Country (Year 0-3)  is scheduled for next Friday 19th May / pp. Friday 26th May - see flyer above for more information.

- Year 5/6 Zone Cross Country - Wednesday 17th May (pp 24 May) - Jellie Park

- Year 3/4 Zone Cross Country - Tuesday 30th May (pp 6th June) - Avonhead School

Bull Rush is back for Term 2/3

Bull Rush began on Tuesday with some super excited participants.  We have had an incredible 52 students sign-up for Bull Rush this year !   

If you would like your child to participate please complete the online permission form sent out on Hero by Mr G on Friday 5 May 2023.  See Link 

For more information see Mr Guthrie or Mr Harper.

School Donation 2023

The Board has set the 2023 school donation at $150.00 per child to a maximum of 3 children – i.e. $150.00 for one child, $300.00 for two children and $450.00 for three or more children.

During 2022 we used the money received from the school donation to provide additional learning support programmes for all our students. This has had a very positive impact on student achievement. We will continue to use the money received from donations during the 2023 school year to provide additional learning support for our students. This will include both book and people resources.

While school donations are not compulsory, we do appreciate the commitment made to our school by a large number of our parents who make the requested donation. We also appreciate and acknowledge a number of donations made by parents over and above that requested and for special school activities like camps and swimming.

A School Donation request was sent to parents in Term.  Receipts can be accessed via the school Hero App.  End of Financial Year Tax Receipts are now available to download via Hero.

Parents Association Update - April 2023

Welcome back to Term Two I hope everyone had a great break.

During our April meeting we covered a lot of information and planning for the rest of the year ahead. We have some awesome news for the school community:

• Disco – We will hold our first disco of 2023 on Friday 26th May. Link to Information

• Parents’ Association will run the Sausage Sizzle for the Matariki Celebration on Thursday 29th June. Link to information
• Precious Labels Fundraiser - Link for information

We also approved several purchases for the upcoming year:

• Two drinking fountains for senior areas – A big thanks to the support we received from the Easter Raffle so we can go and ahead and purchase these.

• We also approved the purchase of outdoor equipment for the junior school to keep younger children off the ground during the winter months. These will be the focus for our fundraising events in 2023.
• 10 large picnic tables and 5 extra bench seats around the school

The Parents’ Association are a great team of volunteers that help with our yearly planning, events such as Disco’s, Sushi lunches, various fundraisers, secondhand uniforms and allocating funds for extra school resources. We would love for anyone interested in what we do, to come along and join us at our next meeting, meet our friendly parents and see what we do for our school community. You don’t need to make any commitments, feel free to contact us if you have any questions or let us know if you would like to be on our list of helpers when we need extra volunteers. We look forward to seeing some new faces throughout the year.

Next meeting: 7:30pm on Tuesday 30th May 2023 (Staff Room)

Parents Association Meeting Dates for 2023 (7:30pm)

• 27th June 2023
• 25th July 2023
• 29th August 2023
• 26th September 2023 (School holidays date TBC)
• 31st October 2023
• 28th November 2023

Rachel Powell - President - Cotswold Parents’ Association

Precious Labels Fundraiser 

The Parents Association are excited to announce their latest fundraiser with Precious Labels.

For more information or to order click on the link :- https://www.preciouslabels.co.nz/current-fundraisers/

• Choose the school name "Cotswold Matahae School PTA"
• Check out the specials and order a pack or two
• Remember to include the schools name in the "Notes Box"

The Parents Association earns you 20% commission on all regular priced items and 5% on promotional items including GST.

School Disco - Friday 26th May

The Parents Association are looking forward to hosting this year's first School Disco on Friday 26th May.

They are excited to have secured the services of the amazing DJs and Team from LOOP.

• Junior Disco - 6.00 to 7.00pm
• Senior Disco - 7.30 to 8.30pm

Tickets are $5 and this includes chips, drink and a glow product.

So save the date, and we will advise of more details and how to purchase tickets closer to the date.

Community News

Link to this weeks Community News

Health Nurse Information

Kia ora, My name is Kirstin and I am the allocated Public Health Nurse for your school. I work within a team of Public Health Nurses. We are Registered Nurses with knowledge and experience in child/tamariki and family/whānau health. We work with children/tamariki and families/whānau where health and wellbeing concerns impact on their home and school lives.

Please contact me if you have any health concerns for your child/ tamariki.

My details are:

Phone: 027 512 6357

Email: Kirstin.lambie@cdhb.health.nz

Referrals to service: https://www.cdhb.health.nz/wp-content/uploads/08e86c56-referral-form-public-health-nursing-service.pdf

Repeats:-

Hell Pizza Challenge is back for 2023

Library Catalogue from Home

Waste Free Lunches from Term 2

End of Financial Year Tax Receipts are now available to download via Hero.