Term 1, Week 1
Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai. Nurture the seed and it will bloom.
Kia ora koutou e te whānau,
Welcome back to returning whānau and a special welcome to new whānau, I hope you are made to feel welcome and your tamariki flourish and grow while at Green Island School.
Over the holidays we have had builders on site upgrading our senior toilets. They look amazing. They look like they will be ready by the end of the week, so our seniors will use the toilets in the junior block for the first 2 two days. The old shelter outside Room 2 has been removed and the shelter outside Room 4 now has clearlite. What a difference this has made. Finally, our library has been painted inside, and our new shelves will arrive tomorrow in time for us to open the library next week.
You can get the opportunity to have a look at our new library space, and toilet renovations as well as meet our new staff next week during our Meet the Teacher evening, more details below.
We look forward to seeing you then.
Ngā mihi nui
Aaron
Welcome New Students ☺️
A special welcome to our new students - Zara Linwood, RJ Hansen-Singh, Amaia Hansen-Lamond, Abi Brazil, Evie Brazil, Noah Youn Tuaitau, Cassius-Jay Araiti, Bennett Bray, Amber Peat, Cordelia Mackey.
Welcome New Staff 😃
A huge welcome to our new Staff Shayla Darvill-Jackson (R6 Tui), Sophie Dempster (R5 Pukeko) as fulltime classroom teachers, Sarah McArley (R9 Takahe) and Maggie Clink (R3 Kereru) working Thursdays and Fridays releasing our Deputy Principals, Sue Miller and Felicia Ward. We also welcome Angela Beazley who will be working 3 days a week releasing teachers. We welcome teacher aides Amy Conley and Nikita Bathgate as permanent members of staff.
Finally, Ms Jones is in a new role this year, working as a literacy specialist teacher. She will be working across the school to help students with their literacy.
Meet The Teacher Evening 🏫
Next week we will be having a Meet the Teacher Evening on Wednesday 5 February 5:30pm to 6:30pm. This is a great way to meet the new teacher of your tāmariki. It will start at 5:30pm altogether outside the junior classrooms, to welcome everyone. You will then have a chance to chat with teachers in their classroom and even check out our freshly renovated library. This is a nice informal way to connect. A free BBQ will operate so you can help yourself to a little food too.
School Lunches 2025 🥪
Green Island School continues to offer healthy school lunches this year. Compass is the company that has taken over nationwide. For more information, including the menu for the first 3 weeks.
Absences 🛌
If your child is going to be late or absent from school please contact the office. As the office can be busy first thing in the morning, the preferred way to leave an absence is by text (021 244 4833), but you can also leave a message on the answer phone before 8.30am or phone the office with your child’s first and last name and room number.
Students sign out 📝
If your child is leaving the school early they will need to be signed out by the person collecting them. You will need to come up to the school office and fill in the sign-out sheet, while this is being completed your child will be called to the office. Please allow enough time as the students are sometimes outside and this takes longer for them to get to the office.
Contact Updates 📧
If any of your contact details have changed recently i.e. Phone Number, Email Address, Physical Address, or Emergency contacts, please email or phone the school office so we can update our records.
Uniform 🎽
New uniform is available from the Uniform Shop in Moray Place. Students need to wear suitable shoes for school that allow them to take part in sports and fitness. In Term 1 they may wear sandals, but crocs are not suitable. Socks need to be black or white, students may wear a necklace/taonga and a wristwatch (smartwatches need to be on school mode). Fake nails and makeup are also not suitable for school. Finally, in line with our school policy, sunhats are compulsory during outside play in Terms 1 and 4. During the first week, students will be given a grace period.
PLEASE remember to label your child's belongings, especially polar fleeces and sunhats, to avoid mix-ups and make it easier to reunite lost items.
Second-Hand Uniform 🎽
We have a selection of second-hand uniforms, depending on the viability of sizes, for sale for $5 each. If you have any second-hand uniforms that you would like to donate to the school, please drop them at the school office. Thank you.
Cell phones 📱
If your child brings a phone to school, it needs to be brought to the office for storage and collected at the end of the day. In line with the Government policy, cell phones are not to be used during school time.
School Hours 🕒️
School hours are from 8.30am (school begins at 9am) to 3.00pm. There is no supervision before 8.30am, this is for teachers to prepare for the day. If you need before school care, we have a before-school and after-school programme with Kidz Active (https://www.kidzactive.co.nz/). Likewise, students should have left the school grounds by 3.15pm.
Sports🏉🎾🏐⚽️
This term we have 4 sports available for students to play; Futsal, Volleyball (Year 7/8), Tennis and Touch. To streamline things we have created links to sign up. There is a quick turn around with the Term 1 sports with most closing by the end of next week. Please sign up early to avoid your child missing out. Click on the link to take you to the sign up page.
Junior Swimming 🏊️
In Term 1, our junior syndicate will have swimming lessons. Date are yet to be confirmed, we will update you in due course.
Year 6 Camp⛺️
In week 3 our Year 6s spend the week at Bannockburn. Thank you to Mr Heron for organising this. If you have any questions, please email him andy@greenisland.school.nz
Scholastic Book Club - Issue 1📕
Orders are due by 9am, Friday 14 February 2025.
Year 7 and 8 Technology 🏗️
Our Year 7 and 8 students start technology at Balmacewen Intermediate on Friday 7 February. We bus from Green Island School. It is important that students are at school by 8.30am in time for the bus. Closed shoes are required when at technology.
Local Business Support 💚
I want to acknowledge all the wonderful local businesses and suppliers (see the graphic below) that have donated to our Kura in 2025 to help us offer the William Pike Challenge, Epro 8 Challenge and to keep our bikes maintained. IIf you have a business and would like to support our kura with a donation please email principal@greenisland.school.nz Any help is gratefully appreciated.
2025 Student Stationery Packs 📚️
Each child will have received their stationery pack today with everything they need. Invoices with payment details will be emailed in the next few days.
Room 1 = $53.00
Room 2 & 3 = $41.00
Room 5 = $45.00
Room 6 = $36.00
Room 7,8 & 9 = $35.00
FOTS Zombie Run 2025 ☠️
At the end of Term 1, Saturday 5 April, we will be holding our Zombie Run, run by the FOTs. We are looking for new blood to support our FOTs If you are interested in being involved next year please email: fots@greenisland.school.nz