Ki te wātea te hinengaro, me te kaha rere o te wairua, ka tāea ngā mea katoa. When the mind is free and the spirit is willing, anything is possible.

Tēnā koutou, talofa, kumusta, nǐ hǎo, xin chào, hallo, namaste, heita to all in our community.

Doing things that stimulate and refresh our minds is great for our overall well-being. This is especially important at this time of the year when we have winter illnesses, fewer sunshine hours and poor weather. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my update. I hope you are feeling well and ready for a great weekend.

Content:

• Winter Illness
• Immunisation Records Update
• Reporting an absence
• Pink Shirt Day - The Importance of Talking about Bullying 

Winter Illness

All schools and ECEs every year experience illness and typical childhood illnesses. We aim to ensure we keep our community informed and that we take extra steps to maintain good hygiene practices at this time of year. 

Over the past few weeks, we have had a growing number of tamariki absent due to everyday winter illnesses. It is important that tamariki stay home when sick. This helps reduce the spread across the whole school community. 

When we receive information that a contagious illness comes into the school, you will be notified as soon as possible. You should have already received an alert that we have a case of Chicken Pox and what to look out for.  

Immunisation Records Update

At present, we are updating our school immunisation records. This is part of our yearly records update and is required by the Ministry of Education. You will only get a call or email if we are missing information. This means we hold a record of what immunisation a tamariki has had. This is not a mechanism to ask people to get their children immunised. Immunisation remains, as always, a parents' choice.

Reporting an Absence

If your tamariki is absent from school, needs to be picked up early or goes home/to an event with another parent, please let the school office and their homeroom teacher know. You can do this via email or voice message on the school's phone system. Letting the school office know is an essential step. Office staff will let the teacher know. You report an absence in the following ways:

• Through School App
• Emailing general@taitapu.school.nz
• Reporting the absence on our phone messaging system.

Pink Shirt Day 

Aotearoa to Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu, Mauri Tū, Mauri Ora – Speak Up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying!

The tamariki and Kaiako/teachers celebrated Pink Shirt Day by dressing up in pink. The student council collected a gold coin donation and gave out Pinky Bar spot prizes to tamariki that put extra effort into their styling.

During the day, Kaiako focused on how bullying affects tamariki. We did this by sharing a selection of excellent picture books by Trudy Ludwig as starting points for discussion. Trudy Ludwig is the author of the following books:

• The Confessions of a Reformed Bully
• My Secret Bully
• Just Kidding
• Sorry
• Trouble Talk
• Better than You
• The Invisible Boy
• Quiet Please, Owen McPhee
• Brave Everyday
• The Power of One
• Gifts from the Enemy
• Calling the Wind 

I have included the link to her work. You may like to check the books out for yourself.  Trudy Ludwig

The storybooks provide tamariki and Kaiako opportunities to talk about the many and various forms of bullying that can happen over their childhood. 

Although we had a particular focus on Friday for Pink Shirt Day, Kaiako provides weekly opportunities through 'Circle Time' to discuss and problem-solve topics important to our tamariki. This type of discussion supports tamariki in understanding the importance of our school values and how to develop positive friendships. It also provides opportunities for tamariki to develop the skills that enable them to be Upstanders rather than Bystandings to the bullying behaviour of other tamariki, in or outside school.

If you have any questions or worries about how your tamariki, please do not hesitate to talk to your tamariki Kaiako/teacher, Helen Schulte (Deputy Principal) or me as Principal.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Ki te wātea te hinengaro, me te kaha rere o te wairua, ka tāea ngā mea katoa. When the mind is free and the spirit is willing, anything is possible.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Bernadette