Photo by Danielle Tucker

Newsletter Week 7 Term 4

Christine Harris — November 28th, 2017

Special Thanks

Message from the Principal

In this newsletter I would like to acknowledge the work that the PTA does for our Thorrington School community. The recent Boot Market was a great example of the level of commitment and effort that the PTA commit to our school. Many of the PTA members contributed to the success of the Boot market but a special thanks goes out to Lou Tapper and her team who had been working for months to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Apart from the big events like Quiz Night and the Boot Market, the PTA are always at work behind the scenes organising sausage sizzles, sushi days, lunch online, calendars, lost property and smaller fundraisers like sales of Smencils and Entertainment Books. All of these activities enrich your child's experience of school, but also add to the community partnership between home and school that we value and seek to foster. During each year the PTA continue to contribute to the Home Base sports equipment stock as well as making more significant contributions like the soccer goals, the sandpit and the artificial turf. Fiona Johnston and Sarah Schaap work together to co-chair this great team of volunteers - they are always keen to hear from people who would like to offer their help in some small some way to continue the work that the PTA does for the school.

As the school year winds down the workload for our administration staff increases. You will be aware that Jude and Sandy work very hard to support the Board, the teachers and the children of Thorrington. The amount of extra work that piles up in our school office is tackled efficiently, cheerfully and within the end of year timeline - I am very grateful to work alongside these two capable women.

Last night we had our final school whānau hui for the year. Tirina Goldsmith was acknowledged by whānau (children and adults) for the work that she has done in implementing and celebrating all things Māori in our school culture and curriculum. It is our responsibility as a school to maintain the significant contribution that she has made to Thorrington and we will be looking for new ways to grow our whānau (family) hui (meetings) next year and into the future. As the name suggest these meetings are about family but not just Māori families and their children. Whānau Hui is about gathering together informally to share connections through our children and our families and to continue to learn about of the importance of the bicultural nature of our our nation. Look out for the Whānau Hui notice in term one next year - it is a meeting that is inclusive and open to all.

Teacher Placements for next year are still being finalised and will be emailed out at the beginning of next week. Class Placements will be made available via LINC Ed when Reports will be published on Friday 8 December at 4pm.

Ngā Mihi
Christine Harris
Principal

Kiwi Christmas Schools Art Competition

Some of our students in Tuakana 2 entered the Kiwi Christmas Schools Art Competition last week . This involved school students from around New Zealand creating an artwork depicting their favourite thing about summer holidays in New Zealand We are delighted to see that Danielle Tucker from HB15 made it to one of the top 3 entries in her age category. These entries are now open to public voting via Facebook: the artwork with the most likes will win a screening of Kiwi Christmas for their whole class so get voting!!! NB: Voting closes Saturday December 2 @ midday and the grand prize winner will be notified on Monday December 4 via the teacher or parent who submitted their artwork. All finalists will receive a Kiwi Christmas prize pack.

Here is the link to the Facebook album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1565283596898271.1073741833.1281785991914701&type=1&l=7cc19e6663

It would be amazing for our all of our school to get in behind her and support Danielle by voting for her!Tony Simpson the co-writer and director of the movie 'Kiwi Christmas' will be bringing in his sleigh and answering questions in regards to writing screenplays, directing and producing movies on Tuesday.

Trans-fo-minds - Opportunity for 2018

We have been approached by a member of our school community about the possibility of running after school enrichment activities at Thorrington in 2018. Attached is a flyer with more information and a brief blurb below. We are looking for registration of interest as to whether this is something our community would support. If you are keen please email chris.panther@thorrington.ac.nz. If there is sufficient interest then more information will be included in the next newsletter.

"Trans-fo-minds is delighted to offer a unique set of ‘enrichment programs’ to all our kids. This platform instills confidence, a sense of purpose, and grants children the ability to tap into their 'creative self'. The programs aim to transform learner’s giggles into “AHAA” moments through inquiry based and ‘hands on’ learning across various academic and extracurricular spheres. "

Dental Care over the School Holidays

The Community Dental Service will be providing emergency dental appointments on the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd December available at the following clinics:

Hornby Community Dental Clinic

Northcote Community Dental Clinic

Woolston Community Dental Clinic

Aranui Community Dental Clinic

and from Hillmorton Community Dental Clinic:

Tuesday, 9th January – Friday, 12th January 2018 (inclusive)

This service will operate by appointment only and if we are unable to see your child, alternative options will be given. If your child has dental pain as a result of an accident please contact your dentist in the first instance.

New Year Clinic Openings

An emergency dental service will also be offered from Hillmorton Community Dental Clinic and Northcote Community Dental Clinic on the following dates:

Monday, 15th January 2018 – 19th January 2018 (inclusive)

and

Monday, 22nd January 2018 – 26th January 2018 (inclusive)

You can phone and make an appointment for these clinics by ringing 0800 846 983.

Yours sincerely

Julie Denton

Service Manager

COMMUNITY DENTAL SERVICE

TERM DATES 2018

Term 1:

Monday 29 January Family / Whānau Connect meetings
Tuesday 30 January Family / Whānau Connect meetings
Wednesday 31 January first full day
Monday 29 January to Friday 13 April (102 half days)

Term 2:

Monday 30 April to Friday 6 July (96 half days)
(Friday 1 June – Cluster Teacher Only Day)

Term 3:

Monday 23 July to Friday 28 September (100 half days)

Term 4:

Monday 15 October to Friday 14 December (86 half days)

This is a total of 384 half days. The school is required to be open for tuition for 384 half days. The dates are in line with other schools in the area.

WINTER SPORT TEAM PHOTOS / CATCH-UP FAMILY PHOTOS - THURSDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2017

Winter Sport Teams:

Sport Teams will be organised by Helen Whitley on the morning. Please bring along your CLEAN winter sport uniform to wear for the photo, and leave this behind after the photos have been taken. If you are unable to be present for the photos, please return your clean winter sport uniform to the office as soon as possible.

Catch-Up Family Photos:

If you missed out on a family photo due to time constraints when Heritage Productions were at school, these will be taken throughout the morning. We realise it is Timatanga Sports Day and will endeavour to get the families with younger siblings done at morning tea time.

Please note, these photos are for current pupils and siblings only.

Please e-mail your children’s names and their Homebase numbers to sandy.vallance@thorrington.ac.nz if you wish to have a family photo.

LOST PROPERTY

Please keep checking the Lost Property – this is again building up into a large amount! Polar fleeces, lunchboxes, water bottles etc. Lost Property will be displayed all day on Thursday 14 December, so please take the opportunity to check for any lost items. Unclaimed items remaining at the end of term will be “re-homed” – either to the tip or a charity box. Many thanks for your co-operation.

VISION AND HEARING TESTER – FRIDAY 8 DECEMBER

This is for children who missed their B4 school check, children who are new to New Zealand and rescreens. If you have any concerns about your child’s vision or hearing and wish to have them tested please contact the office before Friday 8 December.

ENROLMENTS:

If you have a child turning five this year or even next year, please get your enrolment forms into the office soon. It's great to be able to plan ahead for a positive transition to school.

DISTRIBUTORS DIRECT – SCHOOL WEAR SPECIALISTS

Will be at school on the following dates:

Wednesday 22nd November 2.30 – 3.30pm in HB0
Wednesday 6 December 2.30 – 3.30pm in HB0

Will be open on the following dates at 7B Pilgrim Place Sydenham.

Sat 9 Dec 10am – 4pm
Sun 10 Dec 10am – 1pm
Sat 16 Dec 10am – 4pm
Sun 17 Dec 10am – 1pm
Sat 6 Jan 10am – 4pm
Sun 7 Jan 10am – 1pm
Sat 13 Jan 10am – 4pm
Sun 20 Jan 10am – 1pm
Sat 27 Jan 10am – 4pm
Sun 28 Jan 10am – 1pm

Any queries phone 021 559383. Layby Welcome

COMPETITION – Win a refund of half the value of your purchases. Conditions apply.

Important Update on School Uniforms

Dear Parents and Caregivers, Thorrington School has partnered with Schooltex to make it easier for you to shop for your school uniform, at great prices every day. Who is Schooltex? We are New Zealand’s largest school uniform supplier with over 18 years’ experience providing high quality, affordable uniforms to 163,000 kiwi kids. The Benefits for you: Put simply, our aim is to make buying school uniforms easy. · Uniform are available to buy any day of the week from your local The Warehouse store · We offer a wide range of payment options, from Cash & Credit cards, to layby and WINZ · All uniform is competitively priced and high quality · If you cannot find what you are looking for, please ask at the fitting rooms or Customer Services · If you need to place an order, you can do this in the fitting rooms or with Customer Services · We offer a call centre service, 5 days a week for any questions or concerns on 0800 507 807 Benefits for Thorrington School: We'll reward Thorrington School with up to 10% in cash rebates on nominated Schooltex uniform sales. All you need to do is nominate Thorrington School when purchasing uniform at the checkout and the spend will count towards the schools rebate.

Where to purchase? Thorrington School Uniform can be purchased in your local The Warehouse Store: The Warehouse Barrington, Barrington Mall, Athelstan Street, Christchurch 8024 Phone: 03 337 4427 Hours: 8:00AM - 9:00PM, 7 days a week We look forward to supporting you and your school

Roll: 522

School roll is now at 522. We welcome Jamie and Asha to HB3b.

If you would like a photo of your New Entrant child in the Southern View local newspaper, please send a copy of the photo to caitlin.miles@starmedia.kiwi