He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa - Warm greetings to all.

Thank you to our teachers Katie Jenkins, Jacob Katsipis, Nicole Crow and Kellie Englefield for the huge amount of work that went into planning another great camp at Living Springs. Our Year 6 tamariki had a wonderful time participating in a number of fun activities including archery tag, problem solving initiatives, outdoor living skills, adventure stream, swimming, camp fire and much more during their three days. Also a huge shout out to the parents who survived the three days! Thank you to Amy Kendrew, Lance Muller, Anne Coolen, Darcy Arnold, Jeremy Rutherford, Scott Bowie, Shaun Magill, Devon Watson and Dale Buck. Once again the Living Springs management commented on our great tamariki and said how much they enjoyed having our school. Parents noted that you could really see the SMARTs-  children helping and encouraging one another, giving new things a go and the fantastic manners. Way to go, Somerfield Kids!

Attendance- Everyday Matters

For our tamariki to gain the numerous benefits of school, attendance is critical. Attending school helps set children up for life. It's important we all take our tamariki attendance seriously and that children go to school unless they are sick.

Nationally, the past few years have seen substantial drops in the number of students going to school ‘regularly’.  Alongside a trend of high absences on Mondays and Fridays and nearing the end of term, there has been a worrying rise in the number of absences due to reported ‘illness’ and an equally worrying rise in the number of students who report ‘skipping’ school.

Chronic absenteeism (defined as missing 10% of school days in a school year for any reason, including justified and unjustified reasons) is a critical national problem that puts tamariki at risk for falling behind academically, dropping out of school and serious long-term health, employment and financial consequences. So absenteeism not only impacts learning outcomes but life outcomes.

At Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo we are vigilant in monitoring our tamariki attendance, including late arrivals which often impact on a child's wellbeing as they try and "catchup".  We want all our Somerfield Kids to have great life outcomes! Please help us by getting your children to school unless they are sick. Check out your child's attendance on the school app now and see if they are above or below the 90% threshold.

On Monday night the Kahukura Community of Practice ERO report was presented to our BoT's and leaders by the CEO of ERO, Nicholas Pole. We are rightly proud of our work and this report gives evidence to the way we have chosen to collaborate for the last 9 years. I am proud to present this report to our community.

https://ero.govt.nz/our-research/exploring-collaboration-in-action-kahukura-community-of-practice

https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/2021/05/ero-praises-christchurch-schools-collaboration/