Principal’s Message
Our school motto is “Empowered to learn and achieve”. This is our aim and our goal for all students. We want them to want to learn, to do the very best they can, to achieve. In order to feel empowered, students need to have a variety of experiences and opportunities, and ownership over their learning and choices in what and how they learn. Student agency is important and we will be providing opportunities for our students to have the voice, choice and ownership which will foster this. They need to be excited about wanting to learn more. We will provide rich learning experiences for them at school, and you can help them by showing you are a learner too, being curious about the world, and being interested in their learning.
There are 10 attributes that we know make a successful learner who is a global citizen and lifelong learner, one who acts with empathy and justice. This Learner Profile will be promoted in all classes as we help our students understand what these attributes mean and why they are important. These attributes are: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.
We are receiving regular updates from the Ministry of Education about the Coronavirus, the latest being this morning. At this point, the information received is that the risk is still very low, with no extra precautions than we already have in place and have asked of our community. They have sent out two information brochures, one in English and one in Chinese, which are attached to this newsletter. There is also a Ministry of Health link here which you can visit for additional information. We are also being mindful of the powerful message that ‘viruses don’t discriminate, and nor should we’, and are hope to see extra tolerance and compassion from everyone in the coming weeks. Please look after yourselves, and look after each other.
The APPA (Auckland Primary Principal’ Association) has joined with our Australian counterparts, asking schools to hold a fundraising event next Friday, 14 February (Valentines Day).It is a day called “Sending our Aroha to Australian Primary Schools” to focus fundraising efforts for the primary schools. We will hold a mufti day (children wear their own clothes that day) and bring at least a gold coin to school. All money collected will be sent to the SchoolAid campaign to help support primary schools in communities affected by the bushfires.
Safety is a high priority for us, and as you will see, there is a lot of work going on at the school. When you see safety fencing in place (around scaffolding, the new playground etc) please keep your children out of these areas. The safety fencing is there for a reason, and that is to keep everyone safe, so please keep out. Once again, I implore you to think of safety around the school gates. Please do not pull into driveways or the school entrance ways to drop off/pick up children, as in backing out you create a hazard to pedestrians.
Our wonderful whole school assemblies will continue to be held every second Friday (each even week of the term eg Week 2, 4, 6 etc) and led by different year levels. The first of these will be next Friday, 14 February, at 2.15pm, led by the Year 6 team.
A reminder that the Meet the Teacher evening for parents is on in the school hall next Wednesday starting at 6pm, and we would love to see you all there.
Hoping you all had a wonderful Waitangi Day, and spent some time reflecting on why this day is so important for us as a country. I also wish you all a very happy Chinese New Year, as we commence the Year of the Rat.
Ngā mihi
Sue Cattell
Principal