Kia ora koutou e te whānau,

We are nearly halfway through the term, which means King's Birthday is nearly upon us. Teachers are currently busy assessing and writing reports. We thank Constable Eddie for coming in over the last two weeks. There is a lot in this newsletter to share. With our school Disco happening on Thursday, I know many students are excited. Today, a raffle card will be coming home for our next FOTs fundrasier, details are below. If you do not receive this card, please contact Kellie in the office.

Ngā mihi nui

Aaron

Keeping Ourselves Safe 🚓

All the children across our kura have just completed the Keeping Ourselves Safe program with Constable Eddie Smith, our Police School Community Officer.

They covered various topics for safety for their age. He chatted with the students about staying safe online and encouraged them to have conversations with the adults in their lives about this. Having conversations about family expectations around this, which might include using devices in 'family' rooms (not bedrooms), impacts of Social Media, why time limits are important, and asking grown-ups for help and reporting things if they are experiencing something online that is worrying them.

FOTS Term 2 Fundraiser 🔖

This term, our FOTS are organising a firewood raffle. Tickets will come home with the eldest child today. Raffle closes on Thursday, 19 June, and will be drawn on Monday, 26 June. Tickets are now $3 each. Please return cards and money by Friday, 13 June. If you do not sell any tickets, please return the card anyway.

1st Prize: Trailer load of firewood (Delivered to an address in Dunedin)

2nd Prize: Hamper & $50 Food Room Voucher

Other Prizes: Hampers x3, Jumbo Soft Jenga Set

School Disco 🕺

Our Term 2 school disco is coming up, Thursday 29 May, $3 entry

Juniors (R1, 2, 3, 5), School Hall at 6pm-7pm

Senior (R6, 7, 8, 9), School Hall at 7.15pm-8.15pm

There will be sweets, bottled water, glow sticks/toys, and more for sale at the canteen, so bring extra money.

A reminder, at the end of the disco, all children need to be collected from the hall by an adult. Thank you for your support with this.

Assembly

School assembly is this Friday, 30 May, at 2:15 pm, in the hall. All are welcome to attend.

Scholastic Book Club - Issue 4 📚️

Orders are due back to the school office by 9am, Friday, 30 May, or order online at scholastic.co.nz/LOOP

Pink Shirt | Mufti Day 👚

We raised $180.20 from our Pink Shirt Mufti Day. All funds have been donated to the Mental Health Foundation of NZ. Thank you for your donation.

Year 7/8 Technology

Due to Balmacewen Intermediate having a Teacher Only Day, there will be
no tech on Friday, 30 May. Years 7 and 8 will come to school as normal.

Reporting to Parents 🌐

There are lots of changes currently happening in Education around our curriculum, especially Literacy and Numeracy, including how we report. This statement from the Ministry of Education helps to explain this.

As part of our focus on lifting student achievement, we have introduced a new, knowledge-rich and internationally-comparable curriculum this year for Maths in Years 0-8 and English in Years 0-6.

This means we are currently changing from the old to the new curriculum. We want to acknowledge that schools and kura will only have been using the new curricula from the start of 2025, which includes new teaching and assessment methods and content.

Because of this, you could see a change in your child's progress or achievement compared with previous years, which may be a result of changes in the curriculum expectations for your child's year level. If you have concerns or questions about your child's achievement, we suggest you talk with your child's teacher or kaiako. They will also have used their own observations, classroom tasks, and other tests to report on the progress your child is making.

As pointed out in the dates for Term 2, reports are due to go home Monday, 23 June, with Parent/teacher interviews happening Tuesday, 24 and Wednesday, 25 June. Booking forms for interviews will be shared in the next newsletter.

Winter Conditions☃️

Winter term conditions sometimes mean that the school may open late or be closed for the whole day. One of the main reasons for this is that staff cannot get to school at the usual time. For updates, please listen to our local radio stations (The Hits, The Breeze, More FM, Radio Dunedin). The Hits Facebook page also has regular updates. Once we have been officially informed, it will be put on our Facebook page, and you will receive an email from the school.

Visiting the School

If you need to come to the school during school hours, please make sure to go to the school office to check in. If you have something to deliver to your child, Kellie is happy to pass it on for you. We ask that you do not go directly to the classes. This helps us keep classes running smoothly and ensures everyone's safety. Thank you for your cooperation!

Attendance

At the last board meeting, our Term 1 Attendance data was shared. The attendance rate for Term 1 was 68%, with regular attendance (90%+). The term 1 2024 attendance rate was 61%. The board is really happy that our attendance continues to improve and move towards the 2030 government target of 80% regular attendance. 

- Present Overall 91%.

- Attendance Rate by Ethnicity

• Māori 55%

• Pasifika 45%

• Asian 92%

• MELAA 50%

• Pakeha 78%

Thank you to everyone for supporting your tamariki to regularly attend school. Together, we are making a difference.

Policy Review Term 2

As part of our review cycle in Term 2, we are reviewing policies and the Health, Safety, and Welfare Policy. If you would like to contribute, please click on the link below.

https://greenisland.schooldocs.co.nz/

login: greenisland

password: greenisland

School Online Lunches 🥖

At our recent board meeting, it was decided that from Term 3, we will offer online lunches as an option for parents. These will be Sushi on Tuesdays and Subway on Fridays. More information will be made available in future newsletters. We will continue to receive free lunches on these days.

Harraways Breakfast 🥣

As part of Matariki week, coming up in 3 weeks' time, Harraways, in conjunction with the Edgar Centre and the Otago Nuggets, are hosting a breakfast at Green Island School. This will be held in our hall from 8 am to 8.45 am on Tuesday, 17 June. This is open to whānau and friends as well as students.

To help Harraways with numbers and catering, please click on the link below by Tuesday, 3 June, if you or your child plan to attend. https://forms.gle/xSFgUF3pJ4yyMsyY9

Matariki Night ⭐️

On Wednesday, 18 June at 6 pm, we will be holding our Matariki evening to celebrate Matariki. This year, we ask families and whānau to bring a plate so we can share some kai, connect, and view the students' work in the hall after our performance and lantern walk.

Senior Kapa Haka

You will receive a letter home, in the next few days if your child is part of the senior Kapa Haka group. We perform on Thursday 19 June at Taieri College as part of the Taieri Hui Ako. At our Matariki night you will be able to watch some of this performance.

Presbyterian Support Octacan Appeal 🥫

Coming up on Thursday, 19 June 2025. We will be holding a non-uniform day where students are to bring a can, non-perishable food, and/or toiletry items to the school office.

Teacher Only Day Term 3

To follow up on the email sent last week, Green Island School will be holding a Teacher Only Day on Monday, 14 July, to help implement the changes in the Mathematics and Statistics Curriculum. The first day open for instruction in Term 3 will therefore be Tuesday, 15 July.

Te Roopu Tautoko Ki Te Tonga

We are an incorporated Māori Health and Social Service community-based provider. We provide health and social services that are conducive to the needs of Māori. Click on the link below to look at the variety of services they provide.

https://hail.to/green-island-school/article/rS01GzD