Kia ora koutou e te whānau

We welcomed all new tamariki, whānau and Royce officially today with our Mihi Whakatau. This is now a regular part of our school tikanga to welcome.  We thank Te Hapū o  Ngāti Wheke and the Rāpaki Education Committee who have supported us with the Tikanga for the mihi whakatau process. 

At Ōhinehou we continue with well embedded teaching programmes and school systems following Positive Behaviour for Learning approaches. While supporting all children with the skills and practice required for positive behaviour is ongoing, we are fortunate at Lyttelton Primary to have developed proven systems of consistent practice using PB4L pedagogy, classroom practices teams, Tier 1 and 2 school wide systems and tier 3 interventions using external support and resources where available. Our teachers collaborate and work incredibly hard to support diverse learning needs across the school, manage complex learning environments and teach across all areas of the New Zealand curriculum. 

The school board is in the early stages of its planning to help shape the future of our school. This is part of the board's strategic review this year over terms 3 and 4. With your voice and experience, you can help shape your school into a place where all ākonga (learners) can thrive. Keep tuned for more information from the board about this.

Next week there is a nationwide focus on anti-bullying.  Bullying free New Zealand make the following statements regarding bullying.

What is bullying?
Bullying is a word that can have a lot of different meanings for different people. Making sure everyone in your school share the same definition of bullying is important.
- bullying is deliberate - harming another person intentionally.
- bullying involves a misuse of power in a relationship.
- bullying is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated over time.
Bullying can be verbal physical and/or social. It can happen in person or online. It can be obvious (overt) and hidden (covert).

Not every unkind thing is bullying.
Students, especially young children, are still learning how to get along with others. They need parents, teachers and other adults to model kindness, inclusion, conflict resolution and responsibility. Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying. These behaviours may be just as upsetting and serious, but may need to be dealt with in a different way.

We will culminate next week with Pink Shirt day on Friday and teachers are integrating a teaching focus on anti-bullying throughout the week.

Good luck to all students up in the Rakinui floor who are participating in the school cross country next Tuesday. All the details here.  If you are coming to spectate bring your gumboots!

Our teachers are involved in collaborative planning meetings on Tuesday after school with the teachers across Aupaki Kāhui Ako Schools (Sumner, Redcliffs, Heathcote Valley, Mt Pleasant, Lyttelton and OLSS).  Teachers are working in year groups to implement the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum this term, sharing our progress, practices, strengths and challenges.

On Wednesday I am touring a group of 12 delegates through the school  who are part of the Learning Environments Australasia Conference. The delegates are interested in learning environment school building design and architecture and Lyttelton is regularly asked to host these tours.

Next Friday there s a school assembly starting at 9:15am lead by the Totara students.  All parents and whānau are warmly invited to attend any of our school assemblies. We look forward to having you with us to celebrate learning at school from the previous fortnight

Winter certainly looks like it has arrived this week. Thank you for continuing to be mindful and exceptionally careful with your driving and parking at pick up and drop off times.

Kia pai to rā whakatā

Brendan