From the Tumuaki
Tena koutou,
I hope that your child has settled into the school routines for Term 3. It is certainly a busy time in school with numerous opportunities for our students to be involved. Please take the time to read through this newsletter and see the events coming up as well as encourage your child to take note of the notices and the various activities they can be involved in.
Many of our sports teams are into the finals of their competition which is an exciting time to see how well we do against other schools. We had another Music event with Airways which showcased the students with musical talents and today is our school Cross country to have all our students push themselves for places and house points in this arena.
Sarah Foley-Smith - nominated for Year of the Farmer
As many of our school community will know, Mrs Foley-Smith runs our Primary Industries Academy and has given a range of pathways and opportunities for our senior students for a number of years. She has been recognised nationally for the work she has done and is currently part of a MOE national project looking at the context learning and outcomes of this programme.
Recently, Sarah has been nominated for our Otago Daily Times and Rural Life 2023 Year of the Farmer initiative and selected as one of our rural champions. The ODT has asked people across the South Island to nominate farmers and growers who work hard to create an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable future, while also making a positive contribution to their rural community spirit.
Mrs Foley-Smith has been chosen as one of the 52 finalists for the first stage of the competition and a profile story will be printed in a special publication on 30 August. Well done to Mrs Foley-smith and we look forward to seeing the outcome of this nomination.
Curriculum Refresh - NCEA
Our staff have been involved in the changes to NCEA for next year and will be part of regional workshops over the latter part of this term with national facilitators. These days will be important in preparing courses and content for teaching NCEA Level 1 for 2024.
Reports and Parent/Teacher interviews & Subject Expo - Wednesday 16th August
Reports will be sent out later this week and these will provide all parents/caregivers significant information about the progress of their child by looking at academic progress alongside capabilities development. Please take the time to read through these and at the parent interviews day you will have the opportunity to meet with the teachers and discuss the progress being made of your child.
I strongly encourage you to attend this day as there will also be sessions on a wide range of areas that you can sit in on and hear about as well as ask questions. This is on Wednesday 16th August - bookings are currently open.
Health Workshop - Tuesday 8th August
As mentioned in the first newsletter, I encourage all parents/caregivers to attend our Health Workshop where information will be shared and we will get feedback on the Health Curriculum Delivery statement. You will have received an email with details of this earlier this week.
Trips away during term time
I would just like to remind parents/caregivers that it is not ideal to have students away for long periods of time in term time. I understand there will be a number of reasons for this but our priority is to educate all our students which requires consistent attendance. We will be sending a letter to those who are away on family trips in term time with these points below:
Under 90% attendance at school will impact on achievement outcomes
If your child is doing NCEA - no extra time or classes are given if away by choice
Assessments due while on trip will be forfeited unless submitted to the teacher before going on the trip
Teachers will not set work to be done while away
After school pick up
A reminder that if you are picking up your child from Kennedy Park after school, please note that you have to wait there until the buses leave. There will be a cone to stop cars going through. If you are wanting to collect your child and leave straight away then you will need to park on McKenzie or Campbell Street.
I look forward to seeing you at our Cross country today, the Health Workshop on Tuesday or the Parent/Teacher/Student day over the coming weeks.
Tena koutou
