Kia ora e te Whanau. We had a great day on Sunday at the pool and your kind donations raised $242.40 for the Port Hills Fire Welfare Fund. We hope to have another open day before the end of the season. We will advertise this via Hero. It was also great to see so many families at our Connect Night last Tuesday.

Year 6 Camp: Our Year 6 students have had a fabulous time away at Woodend Camp and the weather has been great.  Thank you to the many adult helpers that put their hand up to help.  We were unable to take everyone that offered and balloted for spaces.  We appreciate the time, effort and energy you put in to making this such a memorable experience for the children.  More photos will be posted on our Facebook page. 

Swim Events: The weather has meant classes have been able to have lessons in the pool most days.  The children have increased in confidence and skill over the season.  Information will be coming home shortly regarding the Fun Swim days. 

Hero: We hope you are enjoying the Hero app.  If you have not been able to connect yet, please get in touch with the office or your class teacher as this will be our main form of communication.  Hero doesn't allow direct messaging to teachers, so please email staff if you need to get in touch.  A list of emails is available on our website and staff check these regularly.

NZ Airforce Band Trip: Thank you to those who have kindly put their name down to be an adult helper for our whole school trip to the Events Centre on 1st March to see the Airforce Band perform.  This is an amazing opportunity to see a live band and we are grateful to be able to walk to the Event Centre to see this performance. 

New Whanau Afternoon Tea: We would like to invite all families that are new to Hampstead School to an Welcome afternoon tea on Wednesday 28 February straight after school in Room 1.  This is an opportunity to meet other families and staff.

Hampstead School Home and School partnerships: Our PTA (Parent Teacher Association) is looking to rename itself to better reflect the many types of amazing families we have.  Look out for a survey in Hero over the coming weeks to help us come up with a new name (some examples other schools use are Home and School, Friends and Family of School etc) and let us know what community events and activities you'd like for our school and also if you'd like to be involved in supporting these events. It's a great way to get to know other families and connect with the school. 

Casual Board of Trustees vacancy: A reminder that any requests to hold a bi-election must be sent to our Board Chair - Dayle Prichard at boardchair@hampsteadschool.co.nz by the end of the day Monday 26 February.  An email was sent at the start of the year to all families letting you know that the board have a casual vacancy.  The board have followed the NZ School Trustee Association procedures and opted to select a new member, however this will go to bi-election if we receive over 10% requests from families.  Please get in touch if you have any questions. 

Student of the Week: Last week, we celebrated Samuel of Rm 13. Samuel is a bubbly student who goes out of his way to be helpful. He is kind and courteous and always puts his best foot forward. Samuel is motivated to learn and always follows instructions carefully. He is an excellent Year 6 role model and is always super polite to everyone. Keep up the awesome work Samuel! This week, we celebrated Noah of Rm 16. Noah is a kind and caring student. He is a wonderful role model to his classmates. Noah challenges himself to always do his best and enjoys learning. He has beautiful manners and enjoys being around his friends. We are so happy to have him in our class. Keep up the amazing work Noah!

Upcoming Dates:

PALs Training: 5 March for Physical Activity Leaders at EA Networks
County Swimming Sports: 12 March
Duffy Assembly: 15 March
Good Friday: 29 March (no school)
Easter Monday: 1 April (no school)
Easter Tuesday: 2 April (no school)
End of Term 1: Friday 12 April

Kind Regards,

Claudine Campbell (Principal)