Toohaina ō painga ki te ao: Share your gifts with the world.

We’ve had a great start to the term making connections. We had the working bee on 25 January and our picnic on 3 February. It was wonderful to see families enjoying the school grounds and meeting each other at our picnic. Our teaching staff value the time to get to know families in these informal settings. The goal setting interviews that we have recently held were another great opportunity for our staff to connect with whānau and to set some goals to look ahead. We really value these times to make connections with each other. We thank you for taking the time for these opportunities.

On Tuesday 4 February our school planned and prepared our first mihi whakatau. This is a special Māori celebration, where we welcome all our new whānau, kaiako and tamariki into our school. A group of students led our visitors into the hall with a haka. We were fortunate to have the guidance and expertise of Shaun and Deb Ogilvie who assisted the school and our Board Chair Dr Andrew Given in this mihi whakatau. Thank you to the families who attended this event and we look forward to engaging in these celebrations throughout the year.

Please remember to view our calendar, we have important dates and events on this and we endeavour to regularly update information.

Safety

The school day starts at 8:55am. We encourage families to arrive after 8:30am to connect with their teacher and other students. Please ensure you are supervising your children before school starts as our teachers are planning, engaged in meetings and getting prepared before the school opens at 8:30am.

Reading Room

We are looking for some parent volunteers to help put reading books away in the reading resource room again this year. This can be done any time of the day that suits and can be a casual or regular commitment. If you are able to help please let Emily know. emily.keenan@roydvale.school.nz

Assistance Dog Liam starting school

We are getting ready for our newest Kereru team member to start school soon. Samuel’s assistance dog Liam will be starting school soon and will become a regular member of the Kereru Team. Mimi from Assistance Dogs NZ came last year to talk to the whole school and also came to our teacher only day to talk to the teachers.

Liam will start by coming just a few days a week and will be based mainly in Room 11. Liam will have his rest breaks in the staffroom with the teachers when the children are in the playground at break times.

When in the classroom Liam will always be working. He will have his blue harness on which clearly states Do Not Touch. We ask families to remind their preschoolers and other children who may come into the class, as well as all adults that you are not to touch Liam or talk to him. Liam needs to be concentrating on his job with Samuel so as a general rule please pretend he is not here.

Weather

We thought it was important for you to know that we have discussed if there are possible high temperatures over the next few weeks and put in place a number of systems to ensure your children are managing the heat, as per our email. We will be opening three air conditioned spaces at lunch time that the children can go into so they are out of the heat, we will limit the time outside by ensuring the children are eating morning tea and lunch in their classrooms, when appropriate. The teachers are encouraging regular times for children to drink water and reminding children about reapplying sunscreen and taking off sweatshirts where appropriate. We will follow these practices throughout the term on days where the temperatures are high.

Camp

Our Year 5 / 6 students are heading to camp in a couple of weeks. These education outside the classroom opportunities are extremely important in creating a positive culture with our students and staff. We would like to acknowledge the many parents who indicated their willingness to support our staff as a parent helper for this event.

Mana Ake

A reminder that we have Mana Ake workers available for whānau. They are usually here every Tuesday from 8:30am to be available for families.

Mana Ake is a new service in Canterbury that provides early intervention for children in years 1-8 and their families/whānau, to support their wellbeing. The Mana Ake service is provided by people with a range of skills including social workers, whānau ora kaimahi, counsellors, youth workers, nurses and psychologists. They are available to support children and their families/whānau at school and at home and they will be part of our school for the next 2 years. The service provides support for teachers, families and whānau when children are experiencing ongoing issues that are impacting their wellbeing or have mental health concerns. The Mana Ake service can support individual children, groups of children and provide advice, information and workshops for parents. They are committed to providing some level of response as fast as possible. A representative of the team will be available on Tuesday mornings to talk with parents / caregivers confidentially in our interview space. If you would like to meet with workers or learn more please pop into the office.

Key Dates

Date Description

14 February:

Keeping Ourselves Safe Parent education session with Constable Richard Brunton at 2:30pm to be held in the hall.

20 February:

PTA - Papanui Working Men’s Club.

24 - 26 February:

Kahu Team Camp

Policy review - SchoolDocs

We are currently reviewing our Recognition of Cultural Diversity policy. You can click here to get onto our site and go the ‘Current Reviews’. We thank you in anticipation of engaging with this review. It is really important for us to receive feedback to ensure our policies are reflective of our community.

Outside of school sport opportunities

The following sports are currently available for registration for students wishing to play and Mini Jammers (basketball) years 3 & 4. For more information & registration forms please see Outside of school sports page on the school website.