Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Kia ora, Hello, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Bula, Hola, Fakaalofa atu, As Salam Alaykom, こんにちは, Hallo, Hoy, હ લ ો, Hē leu, Mauri, न म त, Ola, Chum reap suor, Kumusta, Nihao, Xin chào.
The countdown is well and truly on until the end of the year. As stated in previous newsletters, if you know that your child/ren won’t be returning in 2020, please let us know ASAP as we are finalising classes etc for 2020. Also, if you know of people who are in-zone looking to enrol, please point them in our direction. Please have a good read of the end of year details so that you are totally informed as to what is happening.
2020 Donations and Costs
Next year, as we are not seeking a school donation, we will receive an additional payment from the NZ Government. As a result of this payment, all class trips, sports events and outdoor education activities will be provided free of charge. Schools will still be allowed to charge a donation for School Camps, but at our most recent Board of Trustees meeting, the Board, as a trial, decided to make our camps donation free for now. This is some excellent news going into 2020!
End of year report comments via Linc-Ed.
As stated in previous newsletters, end of year reporting, assessment and progress comments will vary depending on what you have already received throughout the year. Please look at all of the information that you have received throughout the year as one big ongoing report/portfolio of your child’s learning. We have been looking over this information this week and there is some really impressive information for each child.
Staff Leaving 2019
As is normal at this time of year, we will be saying farewell to a number of staff.
Jeff Case will be leaving us to go to Casebrook Intermediate. Jeff has been an excellent teacher for the learners in Room 1 (year 4 and 5) and the class has made excellent progress this year. We would like to thank Jeff for all of his efforts!
Jade Pettinger will be leaving us to go to Ashgrove School. Jade come to us as a second year teacher and has done an excellent job in our Year 7 and 8 team. Jade has also led and organised all of the physical education and sport. This is a very big job and one that she has done well. We would like to thank her for her efforts.
Amanda Skinner will be leaving her part time position to take up a position at West Rolleston School, which is close to her home. Amanda is one of our longest serving teachers, having starting with us as a first year teacher in 2009. Since then she has had numerous leadership responsibilities, including some time as the second Deputy Principal. In more recent years she has been on parental leave and working part time. Amanda is an exceptional teacher and person and it has been a pleasure to watch her career develop at RPS. We would like to thank her for her service and wish her all the very best for the future.
Jeaneen Waterman has taught in the Year 7 and 8 area of our school this term. Thank you Jeaneen for your ability to seamlessly slot-in and provide continuity for our Year 7 and 8 learners. This has been greatly appreciated.
Jesse Davis (JD) has been working with us as a learning assistant for this year. He is moving on to take up other career options. Jesse has been an excellent young male role model for a number of our learners and we wish him all the best for the future.
Delia Talili has been working as a learning assistant in our English as a Second or other Language (ESOL) department. We have been very fortunate to have had Delia for over the past two years, as she is a highly qualified trained teacher. She is moving on to teach at Riccarton High School and we wish her all the very best.
School Structure for 2020
We will be starting the year with twelve classes and four teams, as we did this year. They will look like this;
Team Patiti: Year 1-2
Team Harakeke: Year 3-4
Team Kāpuka: Year 4-6
Team Kahikatea: Year 7-8
Please note that these are subject to change, based on further enrollments and leavers that occur over the summer break.
End of year details
We are fast approaching the end of the school year. The last week and a bit of school looks like this:
Monday 9th - Wednesday 11th December: Normal school days.
Thursday 12th December: A normal school day but the whole school goes to Riccarton High School at 9:15am for a practice of the final assembly and prize giving.
Friday 13th December: We have our final school prize giving and assembly starting at 1pm at the Riccarton High School Hall. This is a formal occasion with a number of invited guests and items. This assembly generally finishes between 2 - 2.30pm. All learners return to school following the prize giving.
Monday 16th - Tuesday 17th December: Normal School Days
Wednesday 18th December: The last day for Rooms 4, 5, 6,12, 13 and Year 3s in Room 1, 2 and 3. Last day for learners in Years 1-3.
Thursday 19th December: This is a clean-up half day for our Year 4-8 learners and we close at 12.30pm (no lunch). We also have Riccarton Idol in the last part of this day. There is no after school care programme on this day and all students must leave the school grounds as soon as school closes.
Start of 2020
Riccarton Primary School opens at on Monday 3rd February at 8.55am. All students/families are to meet outside Rooms 1-3 (weather permitting, or in the hall) and we will announce the new classes. Please note that different schools have different opening dates, so do take note of ours and not that of any other schools.
Stationery lists for 2020 will be emailed out soon. They will also be on our website. It is just a matter of purchasing the stationery required for the year level that your child/ren are in for 2020.
Final words for 2019
As this is the last newsletter of 2019, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who help contribute to make Riccarton such a fantastic school. People are our best and most valuable resources and the attitude that everyone brings to RPS each and every day is fantastic and adds to the culture that we have here. We held our annual helpers' morning tea last week and it was fantastic to see the wide-ranging people who are volunteering at RPS.
It was very pleasing to see our Year 7 and 8 learners working together so well on their recent camp to the Waipara Adventure Park and to specifically see the Year 8 learners at their leavers' dinner last week. We have produced an excellent group of young people! They were perfect examples of respectful, responsible, real learners and they have developed so positively over their time at Riccarton. I would like to wish them all the very best for their futures.
When we look back on the year, it is the many and varied experiences that the students have had that makes us proud! We have continued to develop our curriculum to meet the needs of our learners and create engaging learning opportunities that excite our learners and enable them to have fun.
To our hard working staff, thank you for your efforts this year. You all work extremely hard! Enjoy a well deserved rest over the summer! To our Board of Trustees thank you for your continued fantastic work for our school, your contributions are appreciated and valued! To our volunteer helpers, thank you for your time and effort. I would like to make special mention of the La Vida Youth Trust for the work that they contribute to our school and the Big Brothers Big Sisters programme for providing mentors to our students - thank you for your ongoing support this year.
To the wider parent population, thank you for the effort that you put in to supporting your children’s education. To our amazing Riccarton kids, thank you for being Respectful, Responsible and Real learners. You are the best!
I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year. Put on your jandals and relax!
Ngā mihi nui
Paul Irving
Tumuaki - Principal