We have had a great term at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka

Kia ora Whānau,

As we head towards the end of another busy term, we reflect on a term that has been action-packed and fast-moving with lots of exciting events and child learning progress.  

Mid-Year Reporting to Parents

We are looking forward to the first session of our Mid Year Optional Learning Conferences this afternoon. Thank you to those parents who have booked to come in or have a phone /zoom conversation set up with teachers to discuss child learning progress for the first 6 months of this year.  We hope that you will enjoy hearing about the progress that your child has been making and manage to discuss next learning steps for your child. The second session is on Tuesday 2nd July. Please email your child's class teacher if you have not booked in and wish to do so.

Book Week

Congratulations to all the children who entered into the world of books recently and dressed up as a book character. 

This event culminated in a school assembly where the children's book themes were celebrated.  This was a week where there was a whole host of activities school wide from the sale of second hand books to special readings and plays and children and adults having the opportunity to share their love of reading and books. 

A big special thanks to Mrs Nichols, our school librarian who organised and coordinated this wonderful week.

Tāhuna Duncan had lots of fun dressing up as their favourite Book Character. Can you guess what book our character is from?

YR2/3 Animal Dress Up Day

The Year 2/3 Team had a great day dressing up as their favourite animal as part of their integrated topic 'Amazing Animals'. The children shared some very interesting facts about their animals and we learnt lots. Thanks to all the parents for supporting us!

Junior Cross Country

Congratulations to the children from the Nest to Year 3 who took part in their recent Cross Country event.  What a wonderful day this was with everyone trying their best. 

The weather was perfect and the children all stepped up and showed the many Mums and Dads who came along, just what they could do on the cross-country track. 

Special thanks to the hard working crew of senior students who helped out on this day by running with the children and supporting them along the way.

The Year 0-3 students were very resolute at their Cross Country. They had lots of fun and were great supporting each other.

Swimming Success

The Junior Team had 10 lessons at Taiora QE2 this term.

All the children were amazing at showing the 3Rs.

We had 2 water safety lessons where the children wore life jackets, jumped out of a lifeboat.

The next lesson the children wore their pyjamas in the water.

Lots of fun & self management skills!!!

Firewise with the Juniors

The Year 0-3 students have been learning to be Firewise. We finished our learning with a visit from the Firefighters in their Firetruck. 

PTA Coffee - start of the day

Thank you to those parents who have been supporting the recent PTA  " start of the day " coffees which were made from the school canteen.  The coffee is superb and this is an ideal chance to catch up with others or simply coffee and run on the way to work.

The next coffee morning is on tomorrow morning (Thursday 27th).

Keep an eye on the Hero notices for the next coffee morning coming up in Term 3.

Board of Trustees

Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka School Board of Trustees
Casual vacancy for a parent representative:

A casual vacancy has occurred on the school board for an elected parent representative.

The board has decided to fill the vacancy by selection.

If 10% or more of eligible voters on the school roll ask the board, within 28 days of this notice being published, to hold a by-election to fill the vacancy, then a by-election will be held.

Request for a by-election should be sent to:

Tania Morgan-Smith

Presiding member ( board chair)

Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka Board of Trustees

tmorgan-smith@queenspark.school.nz 

by: Monday 22nd July 2024

Year 4/5 - Farewell to Bridie Cassidy

At the end of this term we farewell Bridie Cassidy who will be heading overseas for an exciting adventure abroad. Bridie has been with us for 4 years and during this time she has made lots of positive contributions to our school team.  The children in her care have loved working with her and she will be greatly missed by our teaching team and children alike.  We wish her all the best and we wish her safe travels for the months ahead.

Appointment

Jess O'Callaghan has been appointed to teach the children in Bridie's class.  Jess has been working with the learning support team in recent years and she brings a wealth of experience to this position.  We look forward to the positive contribution that Jess will make with this class and the Year 4/5 team.

Matariki  Celebration

What is Matariki a celebration of?

Matariki is a special occasion in the New Zealand calendar which marks the start of the Māori New Year. Signified by the Matariki cluster of stars reappearing in our night sky, this is a time to reflect on the past year, celebrate the present, and plan for the year ahead. Māori proverb / Whakataukī.

We will be celebrating Matariki Day on the 27th June and involving our whanau on this day.  Following on from last year's successful Matariki celebration afternoon we are once again going to be opening our classrooms to invite whānau to come along and celebrate Matariki with us. 

We will be meeting in Te Taumatua our school hall at 12:30 Thursday 27 June for waiata and a kapa haka performance before heading back to our learning spaces for shared kai then Matariki themed activities.  Come along.  We look forward to seeing you on this day.

School is closed on Friday 28 June for the celebration of Matariki Day throughout New Zealand.

See the programme below:

Canterbury Primary Schools Gymnastics Competition

Recently 20 children represented  Queenspark Te Hua Manuka at the Canterbury Primary Schools Artistic Gymnastics Competition. They competed in Grade 2, Iron, Bronze, and Silver. Their hard mahi since the beginning of year really paid off with all girls achieving some personal bests and several placings on apparatus, team and all rounds! All of our gymnasts had an awesome day and representing our school with pride. Congratulations to you all, your results were OUTSTANDING! 

Grade 2 Results

3RD TEAM OVERALL !

Ashleigh Carroll-2nd Bar and Beam. 3rd Overall

Marina Shaw-5th Floor, 4th Beam

Katie VanArendonk-4th Beam 

Heidi Tarr-2nd Vault & 1st Beam

Sophie Davis-1st Vault & Bar. 4th Beam & Floor. 1st Overall

Millie Boyte- 4th Beam

Zoe Williams- Best Score 9.3 out of 10

Bronze Results  

1ST TEAM OVERALL !

Josie Musson-1st Beam. 5th Bar & Floor. 1st Overall

Jessica Collier-7th Overall

Julia Leota-5th Beam & 4th Overall.

3RD TEAM OVERALL !

Libby Overend-2nd Vault & 6th Overall

Chloe Douglas- Best Score 9 out of 10

Leah Ross-4th Beam

Iron Results  

1ST TEAM OVERALL !

Torah Ilott-1st Vault. 4th Bar & Beam. 4th Overall

Charlie Douglas-1st Bar

Iliana Lee-5th Vault and Floor. 6th Overall

Sophie Shawe-4th Vault & 10th Overall

SIlver Results  

1ST TEAM OVERALL !

Lilly Armitage-1st Floor & 3rd Beam. 5th Overall

Milly Tucker-1st Bar & Beam. 3rd Floor. 3rd Overall

Brooke Morahan-6th Beam & 9th Overall

Attendance Matters

Today’s learners are tomorrow’s leaders – attendance is the first step to learning.

We know that Winter has certainly brought its crisp mornings and all its chills, bugs and colds. At Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka we are continuing to work on our students attending school and engaging in their learning and greater school life.  

If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age! As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

NZ Girls Junior Rugby:

Please help us get the Team to Auckland!

A group of Queenspark students compete in the U13 Girls Rippa Rugby Team for the Parklands Rugby Club. Emily Sciascia, Brooklyn Ilott, Keira Ward, Jasmine Clark.

Our Team has been invited to compete in the NZ Girls Junior Rugby Festival in Western Springs, Auckland on 27th and 28th September 2024.

We competed in this tournament last year in Christchurch and our Team won the 'Best and Fairest Team' of the Festival.

To be able to get our Team of Girls to compete again this year in Auckland we are busy fundraising!

Any form of sponsorship or donation, whether it be an amount or an item we can raffle no matter how big or small would be HUGELY appreciated! We have been advised that we are the Team traveling the furthest to compete in September! 

Please contact Lana Ward - lanaward06@gmail.com

Ex Pupil Success
Congratulations to Isaac Brewster (SBHS) who won the Para Junior Cross Country at the NZ Secondary Schools Cross Country recently. What a great achievement Isaac. We are all very proud of you here at Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka.

Queenspark Kids Holiday Programme:

International Students:

We have a number of international students enrolled to start a short term study period with us at the beginning of Term 3. Your child may be asked to be a class buddy for an international visitor. The role of a buddy is to look after them and show them around. Buddies are to make sure these international visitors are feeling ok at break times and to include them in friendship groups and games. We are honored to have these visitors here over this time and we know our students will get just as much from this experience as they do.

Some tips and tricks for parenting:

Emotion Coaching:

When a child is showing a strong emotion, they often feel overwhelmed and out of control.

Don’t try to correct their behaviour – this needs a different approach. It needs Emotion Coaching.

Emotion coaches look for the emotions that are beneath the challenging behaviour. When parents respond to the child’s emotions, instead of their behaviours, the child feels connected, understood and safe.

Try to understand why your child is misbehaving, what are the emotions underneath?

Self care is vital in the parenting role, it’s like flying on a plane, put your own oxygen mask on first, then you can help your child most effectively. Take time to regularly invest in your own wellbeing, so you are able to care for your child.

If you and your child are locked into arguing, get out of there, put yourself into time out and find your calm. Fire on fire means people get burned.

Reapproach the issue once you are both calm, and able to talk rationally about the situation.

A script might be ‘Hey that was really awful this morning, what can we do to make mornings less stressful for us both?’

Try and get to the bottom of your child’s angry behaviour

Angry feelings are different from angry behaviour. Many other emotions underlie angry feelings. Causes of children’s anger include: frustration with limits, wanting to be independent, sibling issues (for example, fairness, rights) frustration (for example, at not being able to complete physical tasks) not being understood/not feeling heard, tiredness, hunger, sickness, being rushed, being bullied, embarrassment, feeling jealous, anxiety and fears, sadness, disappointment

Ways to handle siblings fighting:

Different levels of conflict between siblings may need different responses from parents. When children disagree and argue they are learning important skills that will help them in the world. But there are limits!

Level one: normal disagreements

• Ignore it. Think about something pleasant. Remind yourself that this is an important

learning experience about conflict resolution for your children.

Level Two: situation heating up. Adult intervention might be helpful. Acknowledge their

anger You two sound angry with each other! Reflect each child’s point of view Oh,

Belinda. You want to keep holding the rabbit because he’s just cuddled into your

arms? And John, you think you should have your turn holding him? Describe the

problem with respect. Gosh, that’s really tough. Only one rabbit but two children.. Express

confidence in the children’s ability to find their own solution. I know you two can work

out something that’s fair to each of you

Level three: situation potentially dangerous. Inquire Is this a play fight or a real fight?

State house rule: Play fights are permitted but real fights are not. Let the children know

that only play fighting is okay. Remember, it has to stop if it’s not fun for you both.

Level Four: Situation definitely dangerous! Adult intervention required. Describe what you

see: I see two very angry children who are about to hurt each other. Separate the

children: It’s not safe to be together. You both need to calm down. Into your rooms

now!

Parenting Course:

Mana Ake: Tuning in to Kids

Road Cycling Team

Three of our Year 8 boys have been competing in the Christchurch Road Cycling school competition in recent weeks.

They have been having some great results and will be competing in the South Island School Road Champs at the beginning of July. Good luck to Finn, Toby and Vadim for their cycling in the coming weeks.

Term 2 LEAP:

LEAP - Learning to Excel in Arts Performance.

This term we had 22 performers for Leap. It was wonderful to see so many children share their skills with the Queenspark family and whanau. It is not an easy task to get up on stage and showcase yourself. This comes with many internal emotions often not noticeable by others.

Thank you to all the amazing parents/whanau who support our children in individual lessons and the group lessons here at school. The itinerant teachers work very hard in sharing their skills and knowledge while teaching children to their needs. Thank you to all our itinerant teachers here at QPS.

I want to acknowledge every single person for their confidence and ability to give this a go. It's not always successful and often creates different emotions. This builds confidence and resilience in oneself. Our Shining lights programme provides many opportunities within the music field.

A message from the PTA

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Spellathon Fundraiser a huge success, with an amazing $11,303 received in donations!! These funds will make a huge difference and will go towards classroom resources and student-based activities. This includes more sport equipment and upgrading the equipment that is available in each classroom for play times and wet day activities such as board games etc.

Congratulations to our top 3 individual fundraisers:

1st – Nixon W
2nd – Maddox L

3rd – Lucas Uden

Congratulations to our top 3 teams:

1st – Kukuwai Cassidy

2nd – Ngahere Tait

3rd – Ngahere Bazley

Well done to all students who participated in the spellathon, you all did so well. The parent helpers involved on the day really enjoyed their time in the classrooms and were so impressed with all your hard work.

School Uniform

A reminder that our school uniform is stocked at Mainland Uniforms and The Warehouse Northlands. At this stage only Mainland Uniforms are selling our new style uniform. The Warehouse will introduce the new style next year as they still have some old style uniform to sell through. They have some at discounted prices if you wish to purchase these.

There is a uniform code located on the school website. Please make sure you are familiar with the school uniform rules.

The holidays are a good time to refresh your uniform stock. If you have any uniform you no longer require we would be happy to take it off your hands for spares or for those families in need. If looking to buy new uniform, and you know your child's size, you can order online with Mainland and it can be sent directly to your home (orders over $50). Saves you a trip! Perhaps give them a quick call prior just to check the sizes are in stock.

The new jackets are a real hit with the students and are nice and warm. There is also the option to purchase a lavalava if you wish. Please discuss this with the team at Mainland Uniforms.

What's coming up:

June:

Thursday 27th - Matariki parent time at school from 12.30pm

Friday 28th - Matariki Day - School closed for instruction

JULY:

Tuesday 2nd - Optional Learning Conferences - 2-7pm (Note: school will close at 1.45pm on this day)

Friday 5th - End of Term 2

Monday 22nd - First day of Term 3

Wednesday 24th - YR2/3 - 100 day celebration

Monday 29th - Mihi Whakatau for our new families 1.30pm

Tuesday 30th - BOT Mtg

August:

Thursday 15th - Strike, Strum Blow

Friday 16th - Zone Winter Tournament

Wednesday 21st - Cantamaths competition

Monday 26th - YR6 Cycle Safety week begins

Monday 26th - Rock Band Quest 6pm

Enjoy the rest of this term and the upcoming holiday break with your families.

Kind Regards

Ross Willocks

Principal

Queenspark Te Hua Mānuka