Our Year 5/6 team visited Quail Island this week . . .

Thursday 7 March /Rāpare 7 Poutū-te-rangi/ Aso Tofi 7 Mati / Huwebe 7 Marso 2024

Tēnā tātou i raro i te maru o Ngāi Tahu, Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa,  Hola, Talofa lava,Malo e lelei, Kamusta, Namastee, Namaskāra, Ni sa bula vinaka, Kia orana, Fakatalofa atu, As-salamu Alaikum.

 Kia ora e te whānau,

We are zooming through the weeks of Term 1. We are halfway through already!

 Our Year 1 and 2 tamariki/children have been having swimming lessons at Te PouToetoe/Linwood pool and our Year 5's and 6's have had the wonderful experience of travelling to Quail Island. A couple of Year 5 ākonga/students told me it was their best day ever!

Behaviour 

Te Huarahi/ Linwood Avenue School aims to provide a safe and healthy place for our tamariki, staff, whānau and visitors.

We have four values

• Be Respectful/ Kia Whakaute

• Be Your Best/Kia Manawanui

• Be Strong/ Kia Kaha

• Be Brave/Kia Maia

These values were chosen by parents/caregivers, whānau, staff and tamariki/children to create a supportive learning environment that encourages personal growth and development. It is a positive step towards growing not only academic success but also the overall well-being of our tamariki.

As members of the Te Huarahi/ Linwood Ave School community it is important that we work together to maintain a caring and safe environment.You can play your part by reinforcing the way we do things at our school.

In the first five weeks of the term we have been talking about what it is to be respectful/kia whakaute at our school.

We show respect by

• speaking quietly and calmly
• using our manners
• greeting others
• listen to the speaker- don't talk over adults 
• listen and follow instructions straight away
• understanding that others may feel differently to you, or look different
• think how our words or actions can affect others
• treat our school property with care
• knowing that we are all the same but different and that's ok
• being able to say sorry and give a heartfelt apology
• knowing that all adults are role models for respectful behaviour

We encourage you to talk with your child about the importance of being respectful, following instructions and doing the right thing at our school. Working together will help grow a positive and respectful school community.

Social Media 

As you well know social media is a big part of life and many of our tamariki/children are involved in this.

Our tamariki are tech savy, but with the click on the keyboard could well access something that is too explicit or well beyond their developmental level.

Please take time to understand the sites/games your child uses. Learn how they work, what works well and what the challenges might be. Have coaching conversations with your child before they use social media about what would they do if...? How would that make them/others feel? Just as we teach our children to swim and be safe in the water, we need to prepare them for the online world.

You can get support from Netsafe and the Parenting Place websites.

Please name your child's uniform!! 

Already there is a huge amount of unnamed items in the  Lost Property.

Stationery 2024

 Our school heavily subsidises the stationery. Stationery is $35 per child for tamariki in Years 1-6. You can pay in instalments online banking, or by eftpos.

Staff Only Day

Monday 11 March is a Staff only day for this term. On this day teachers will be having professional development in Mathematics.

Paid Union Meeting

Tuesday 19 March,NZEI, the teacher's union has called a paid union meeting for the afternoon. The schools in Tamai are all sending their teachers to this meeting.

It would be very helpful if you could pick your tamariki/children up on this  day at 1pm. We will have a few staff available to look after tamariki after 1pm. Normal classes will not be able to run.

NB : Dates for Term 1

Staff Only Day: Monday 11 March:  School closed 

Union Meeting for Teachers: Tuesday 19 March- Pick up children at 1pm

Have a lovely weekend ! Kia pai tō rā whakakatā! Manuia le faaiuga o le vaiaso umi!

Gretchen Smith

Tumuaki