E te whānau, tēnā koutou katoa,

Welcome back to the start of a new year at KNS. A very special welcome to those of you who are new to our school.

It was great to be on road patrol this morning, seeing and hearing the happy buzz of children keen to get back to school, catch up with friends and looking forward to starting the 2023 school year well.

I’m extremely grateful to you for your quick response to our request that you collect your children early this Thursday afternoon. This has allowed all of our staff team who wish to attend Gaye McPheat’s funeral to be able to do so. One of our staff will be in touch with you today if you haven’t already let us know your plan for tomorrow afternoon.

I’m very hopeful that 2023 will bring a much more settled approach to us all. The last three years have been very reactive, as we’ve dealt with the challenges of COVID. Over the next few newsletters I’ll update you on our plans for the upcoming year including the commencement of major building upgrades.

Please remember that if you have any questions or concerns, to get in touch with us. If you haven’t been able to meet your child’s teacher, please feel free to make contact, it’s important that we work together to make 2023 a year in which our tamariki, ‘be the best they can be’. (Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa - Let us keep close together, not wide apart)

Kiss and Drop - Help Urgently Needed for Term 1 2023

As you’re probably aware we operate a Kiss & Drop service from 8.25am to 9.00am on Donald Street. The service is run by volunteer parents and caregivers. It is a simple but effective valet service, helping KNS kids and their bags from cars. It is a great way to help out our school community, making Donald St less congested and safer for our tamariki.

We were unable to run Kiss and Drop this morning and there are more than a few days this term, when a lack of volunteers will prevent us providing this service. It would be a real pity if we couldn’t continue Kiss and Drop because it has made a real difference to travel safety.

If you can commit to a helping out from 8.25am to 9.00am, even one or two days this term, it would be greatly appreciated, you don’t have to commit to every week.

If you are available to help out with Kiss & Drop please email Liz Beynon as soon as possible at lizziebeynon@yahoo.com

Communication

This year we will continue to use the Hero App as our main source of whole school communication. Early in the year we will also use email however, email will be phased out once we are sure all our new families are using Hero.

If you need support with Hero please contact Jacqueline Wee, jwee@kns.school.nz or 04 4767209.

Sun Safety - Reminder

Please support us with keeping our tamariki safe in the sun:

· Children need to bring their own hats to school as long as it is a sun-safe hat i.e. a bucket hat or wide brimmed hat. We would also like children to wear their hats to and from school.

· All children will be expected to wear a hat when they are outside at school. If children don’t have their own sun-safe hat at school, we will endeavour to provide them with a school sun-hat to wear when they are outside.

• Please reinforce the sun safe message with your children.

As always if you need any support or have any questions, please contact one of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT):

• Conrad Kelly ckelly@kns.school.nz
• James Appleton jappleton@kns.school.nz
• Phil McIntosh pmcintosh@kns.school.nz
• 
  

Whakataukī o te wiki:

• Toia te waka – mahia te mahi – Be actively involved

A thought to share with your children:

• “A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery.” (Sarah Ban Breathnach)

Ngā Mihi

Conrad Kelly

Principal

Ngā Mihi

Conrad Kelly

Principal