Kia ora e te whānau, welcome to the start of week 4. I trust you have all had a great weekend. Fernside School is looking pretty impressive thanks to the many hands who helped on the weekend.

The newsletter this week is a full one. It has some important information about parent interviews, a proposed mufti day to support the recovery in Napier, the upcoming triathlon, a Paid Union Meeting for teachers that is coming up that will affect our school and a number of other notices. Thank you for taking the time to have a read.

Ngā mihi nui.

Darryn Ward

Working Bee -Thank you!!!

I would like to extend a very big thank you to all of those families who came along on Sunday to assist at our working bee. 

It was lovely to see so many of our families coming along to lend a hand. It was also great to be able to connect with different families and work alongside them to make our school look great. The weather certainly helped as did the many little hands of the children who came long.

Simon has written this special note:

As the caretaker of Fernside school I would like to put on record that I am absolutely thrilled with the amount of people who gave up their weekend time and provided tools and machinery on Sunday.

To those people I have this to say - Your commitment to this school has inspired me to strive harder to provide a green growing and safe environment for Fernside school.

Thank you all once again 

Junior School Shared Activity

I would like to congratulate everyone who was involved in the Junior School shared activity last week on Wednesday. There was so much to celebrate in this event. It was collaboration at its very best and the end products are stunning. You can see all of the amazing banners that were created below hanging in the library. Thank you for coming along and supporting us. And, thank you to all of the junior school staff for the organisation of this event. It was certainly worth it!

MUFTI DAY - Thursday 23rd February

We are going to be holding a Mufti Day this week at school on Thursday 23rd February in response to Cyclone Gabrielle. All schools in North Canterbury will be holding a similar event over the next week or so.

We are asking children to come in their favourite clothes for the day and to bring a monetary donation. We have not put an amount as we know some families may wish to give more. 

The money raised will be going to Clive School in Napier. I have been in contact with them as the principal is a good friend of mine from when I was principal of Patoka School in Napier. He will use the money that we raise to support members of his community who have been badly affected.

Parent  / Teacher Partnership Interviews

The interviews are set down for Tuesday 28th February and Wednesday 1st March. The BoT has approved a request for the school to close at 12:30 on the 28th February to allow us to start the interviews at 1pm. For those who are able to collect their children from school this can be done at 12:30.

Please note: 

Our bus will be running its normal run but at the earlier time. The first bus will leave at 12:30. 

Pick up for all non bus children would be at 12:30 to allow staff time to set up their rooms.

We will have staff available at school in the afternoon to help supervise any children who are unable to go home early. We would respectfully ask that you contact the office to confirm if your child will be remaining at school so that we can plan ahead. 

(My apologies for the previous information that was sent out about the bus as this was incorrect)

The following link can be used to book your interviews. You will be asked to put your name, email address, phone number and the name of each child. You will be given the options of which teacher to choose and you can then go ahead and book the interviews.

https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code/mnshj

If you have any issues please let Andrew Spencer know.

Primary teachers PuM

There is a paid union meeting for teachers on the Friday 3rd March.

We will not be closing however, we are asking that if parents would like to collect their children early on that day, they are welcome to do this at 12:30. 

A number of our teachers will be attending this event. There will be a small number of staff staying back at school to supervise those students who are left behind for the afternoon. 

Our school bus for this day will be running its normal timetable including the first pick up i.e 1st bus leaves at 2:45. 

We would ask that if you are planning on collecting your children and they would normally use the bus, that you let Sandi know so that we can plan ahead.

School Triathlon

Great to see entries starting to be returned for the triathlon. Keep them coming. Due to our wonderful support out there every child that has a go on the day will receive an ice block and certificate. 

For anyone that is new to this community event please note that your child will be well supported in the pool. Year 8 students will be in the pool helping the junior children and teachers will be poolside assisting anyone that needs it. Children can use kickboards/doggy paddle/whatever stroke/style to get across. Wetsuits are fine too. Six year olds and younger only have to do widths in the shallow end. For the bike- preschoolers are allowed to use balance bikes.

Extra prizes will be given out to kids and parents who have shown great sportsmanship and/or determination. We need more small prizes so if you or your business/employment can donate anything it would be appreciated a lot!

Reading Afternoon

Thank you to those parents who came along to the Kātote reading afternoon where the teachers shared how we teach reading using the structured literacy approach. The link below will take you to the Emma Nahna sounds video which is well worth viewing and will help you with teaching your children the sounds that we are teaching them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SePU-T4S-js

Twilight Football

Please see the information below that provides details about the Twilight Football Competition that is held on a Monday night at Maria Andrew's Park.

One of our parents, Katarina Johnson is the point of contact if you are interested.

Competition Details

Dates - 27th February 2023 - 3rd April 2023

Times - Subject to entries, games will be played at 3.45pm, 4.30pm, 5.15pm. Additional rounds may be added.

Venue - Maria Andrews Park, Coldstream Road, Rangiora

Grades

Year 3/4 – 7-a-side, max of 10 players per team – Junior Pitch

Year 5/6 - 7-a-side, max 10 players per team - Junior Pitch

Entry fees for Term 1 2023

Year 3/4 teams - $15 per player

Year 5/6 teams - $15 per player

Competition Information

• Players MUST wear shin pads as these are compulsory under FIFA laws.
• 20 minute halves with a 2 minute half-time

My contact email is katarinajohnson27@gmail.com
Any questions, please contact Katarina on the email above.

Sports Information  - Golf, Triathlon and MTB

There are 3 cool sporting opportunities for you to participate in locally. GOLF and MTB. Both of these events raise much need funding for our Primary Schools' Sports' programmes and it would be cool to have our parents and businesses take part.

The Rakahuri Rage on the 5th of March (6 hour endurance team relay Mountain Biking event)• Corporate • Mixed • Family • School • Solo riders (10 only) • Junior (12-17 years old) • Open Men’s & Women’s (18 years & older)
• Veteran Men’s & Women’s (over 35 years)
• Old Cranks (over 50 years)

Our own Fernside School Community Triathlon is on 12th March in teams and individual events, and a Golf Tournament is being held at Pegasus on Friday 5th May. Please email Wendy if you need info at schoolsports@sportstrust.org.nz

McDonalds 2023 Duathlon

Many students from your school are eligible to compete in the upcoming McDonalds 2023 Duathlon, to be held at South Hagley Park on Sunday 2nd April.

This event, involving run and cycle stages, is for individual entrants aged 7 to 15 years old.

The Rotary Club of Garden City has organised this event for many years to promote the development of healthy, fun loving and well adjusted young people.

Our emphasis is on participation rather than competition and in line with this, all entries go in a lucky draw for two mountain bikes and helmets.

All competitors will on the day receive a competition shirt, which they must wear to compete as well as a medal, certificate and goodie bag.

We hope you will encourage your students to enter by including the attached promotional poster in any electronic newsletters that your school distributes. (PDF & Jpeg files attached)

Online entries are now open with full information available at www.mcdonaldsduathlon.co.nz

Coat Hangers - a few more if possible

Sandi in the office is looking for a few more coat hangers for us to use with our second hand uniforms. If you have any spare hangers at home and would be willing to donate them to the school, we would certainly appreciate it. 

North Canterbury Junior Bowls

North Canterbury Junior Bowls support our school with our Friday sports programme so we would like to promote their programme. Please see the flier below.

Swannanoa Country Fair

The Swannanoa Country Fair is coming up soon. This is normally a huge event. 

Some dates for you

Wednesday 22nd February - School swimming sports

Thursday 23rd February  - Mufti Day

Friday 24th February  - North Canterbury Junior Bowls Starts

Tuesday 28th February - Partnership Interviews (Parent / teacher) - Early finish 12:30

Wednesday 1st March  - Partnership Interviews (Parent / teacher)

Friday 3rd March - Paid Union Meeting for teachers

Sunday 5th March - Rakahuri Rage

Sunday 5th March -Swannanoa Fair

Tuesday March 7th - BoT meeting

Wednesday 8th March - NE Morning tea

Sunday 12th March  - School PTA Triathlon

Monday 13th March - Rakahuri Swim Champs 

Tuesday 21st March - Netsafe Parents Evening (please note that this date will differ from last week's newsletter)

Tuesday March 21st  - North Canterbury Swim Sports

Sunday 2nd April - McDonalds Duathlon

Tuesday 4th April  - BoT

Thursday April 6th - Last day of Term 1

Monday 24th April - ToD

Tuesday 25th April  - ANZAC day

Previous Notices

Celebrating success in assembly

Our fortnightly assemblies continue to be a way of celebrating and sharing the many different activities that our students are involved in throughout the term. If your child has success in any event, or has had a great time in an event and you have some photos that you would like to share, please send these to me at principal@fernside.school.nz

Teacher Only Day - April 24th

The Ministry of Education has gifted all schools in New Zealand 2 Teacher Only Days that can be used in 2023 and will not need to be made up. They are asking schools to use these days to assist with the New Zealand curriculum refresh.

Unlike previous years where schools have been able to decide where to use these days, this year we have been given a window of time where we can take one. We have also been asked to work in with local schools to coordinate these days. The MOE have asked all schools to take their first day within the 1st 2 weeks of Term 2.

After talking with the staff and getting approval from the Board, we have decided that we will be take our 1st Teacher Only Day on Monday 24th April. This is the 1st day back of Term 2. Given that the next day is ANZAC day and a public holiday, we felt that this would be the least disruptive day for us to take.

At this stage we have not planned a second one and will not be able to do this until we are advised by the MOE of the next time period for us to consider. 

Netsafe - Whānau and Community Online Safety Presentation

Please mark the date of the 21st March in your calendar for this very important event.

A free event for parents and whānau about keeping young people safeonline is being held at school. Netsafe's Relationship & Education Advisor, Paula Wistrand, will be talking about the risks, challenges and opportunities of digital technology, and the practical ways we can all help young people to be safe online. The session will look at how parents / whānau can support and enable children and young people to navigate online opportunities, challenges and complexities.

For further information visit: netsafe.org.nz/parenttoolkit

This event is being held on 21st march 2023 @ 6pm at Fernside School. Prior to the parent meeting, Paula will be running a session with our staff.