The children had a great time last Friday for the ‘funky feet’ Friday and non-uniform day. It was great to hear their excitement as they entered the school showing their footwear or clothing to teachers and friends. Over the coming weeks we are opening the library (currently Homeroom 13) at lunchtimes for children to engage in mindful colouring and reading. It was great to see so many children come into the space with friends and enjoy the collection of books available.

We are providing a more ‘just in time’ model of reporting to whānau across the whole school through ‘Seesaw’ a digital platform. Our Pīwakawaka whānau received ‘Seesaw’ information about their child’s learning throughout last year and we received fantastic feedback from parents, students and staff. This year we are expanding this reporting into our Kererū and Kāhu teams.

We are very appreciative of the clear communication between whānau and the school and the way families are following the Ministry of Health guidelines around self isolating for household contacts. All family households are different and we know keeping a calm and considered household is really important for everyone's wellbeing. We are working well together over some challenging circumstances. We want to reassure our school community that we are actively monitoring the situation each day and our staff are working hard to adapt their programme to provide children with opportunities to learn outside the classroom.

At the moment we have a few staff away, this means that sometimes your child may not have their usual Homeroom teacher with them. The families who are isolating are able to request Distance Learning, please remember that there are no expectations that this work is completed, for the short period of time that your child is away we know they will be able to catch up on this learning once they return, we do not want to put any further pressures onto our families.

Our thoughts are with our Muslim community in Christchurch and the families that were affected on the 15 March three years ago. We recognise that this may be a difficult time for many. Please remember that we have Mana Ake (our wellbeing support worker) who is available for families.  

Board of Trustees

The Board Chair (Josh Pretty) and I are looking forward to connecting with whānau Friday morning at 9am via google hangout. Remember to email office@roydvale.school.nz so we can send you the link to the hangout, we will be sharing information about the Board Strategic Planning and information about the rebuild process.

Have you thought about being a Board member? We have board elections happening in September. The dates of the election process are indicated below. Our board is seeking members with backgrounds in finance, property and a cultural representative. Our Board will be able to meet with interested candidates to discuss the role of a trustee. You can use the NZSTA website to assist you in understanding the role of a trustee before meeting with the current board prior to making your decision to put in a nomination.

Close Main Roll

Wednesday, 13th July 2022

Call for Nominations by

Friday, 15th July 2022

Close Supplementary Roll

Wednesday, 3rd August 2022

Nominations Close

Friday, 5th August 2022

Voting Papers Issued by

Wednesday, 10th August 2022

Election Day

Wednesday, 7th September 2022

Count Votes

Tuesday, 13th September 2022

Board Takes Office

Wednesday, 14th September 2022

PTA

The PTA held their Annual General Meeting on 17 February. We would like to recognise those in office in 2021 Lisa D as chairperson, Tania as treasurer and Lynette as secretary. They have led the PTA in very uncertain times and did an amazing job of keeping the momentum going. We were pleased to have a good turn out with some new faces who have joined the committee for 2022. Congratulations to Louisa S and Jamie O (who are co-chairing) while both Tania and Lynette continue in their respective positions. Thank you for your continued support and commitment to this team.

Building update

On 9 March we received a phone call from ‘Frequency’ the project managing company for the rebuild, notifying us that the building works would not be starting now until early April due to supply issues. We have our first on site meeting on 22 March to plan and prepare for the start of the onsite works. Please note that there will be changes to the entrance along Roydvale Avenue for safety reasons.

Teacher Only Day

Our staff are engaging in professional development on Monday 21 March. We are working with external facilitators in mathematics and on this day we are focusing on learner agency, Aotearoa NZ histories and looking at our current school vision. School will be closed for all students on this day.

We would like to welcome Mikha, Hare, Ama, Noah, Benjamin, Kahurangi, Isaac, Oscar and Luna to Te Ara Maurea Roydvale School.