Tena Koutou, Talofa Lava, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Malo e Lelei, Ni Sa Bula, Ni Hao, Namaste and Warm greetings to all! A very warm welcome back to term 2 and a special SCC welcome to all our new families joining us for the first time this term!

Thursday 13th May - School Closed for Teacher-Accord Only Day.

A reminder that all Auckland schools will be closed for instruction on Thursday 13th May. Please note, the office will be closed and there will be no children supervision available on this day. The Teacher-Accord Only day is a government allocated professional learning day for Auckland Secondary and Area Schools.

Attendance

We have had a great first week of term with a number of new enrolments starting across the year levels.  It has been pleasing to see a high volume of children returning to school from day 1 in the first week – as a result, we achieved 90% attendance on two days... Awesome work parents and a huge thank you! This is the first time we have achieved this level of attendance in week 1 of a term...let’s keep up the good work for the rest of the term. We know that regular attendance is crucial for children to continue learning and improving. It also means they are likely to experience educational success.

Punctuality & Attendance Monitoring

This term, we are focusing on reducing our late arrivals and non-attendance and will be working with families concerned, as we know that this has a real impact on the students learning.  A reminder that school starts at 8.45am and finishes 3.10pm each day.  

Winter Uniform

As the winter season is approaching, we remind our families that all students should be wearing their winter uniform to school each day.  This should include the school purchased or school-issued KidsCan jacket and/or school fleecy along with full covered black school shoes and black socks.  It is important that our students are attending school warm and dry as we approach the cooler season.  

Buddy Reading

Also on the rise are the number of Buddy Readers and Buddy Tutors turning up to Buddy Reading each day from 8am - 8.30am.  I was pleased to see on my Friday morning walk-about the Buddy Reading awards being prepared...Keep an eye out for the "Stars" displayed on the Buddy Reading Wall of Fame in the library.

It was a real pleasure to observe Team Totara during their Oral Language time and I intend to be back in the spaces over the next few weeks to hear more ‘talking” – we were all looking and describing the minibeasts in the pictures last week as part of the science plan. 

Education Outside The Classroom (EOTC)

This term we have several trips/site-based events related to our science focus. Mangere Mt trip for the Years 3-8 and Butterfly Creek for Team Totara. MOTAT will also be onsite for some STEM work with the children. An exciting term ahead – please check the planners and watch out for the Knowledge Organizer that will be glued into the homework this week. 

We Farewell our Playground of 22 Years!

I was a little saddened to receive the news that we had to remove the junior playground (under the Oak trees) – it was just too old – the playground has given great service over the 22 years since it was installed… we will be looking at funding proposals to replace the playground and hopefully, it won't take as long as the Years 4-7 playground took to fund.  

We are looking forward to the term ahead working in partnership with our whanau/parents - "Working Together for Success."

Warm regards 

Karen Mose Director