Kia ora koutou e nga matua,e nga whanau,Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Konichiwa!

Whanaungatanga’ relationship, kinship, sense of family connection - a relationship through shared experiences and working together which provides people with a sense of belonging’

What a great opportunity to connect and acknowledge all the different ethnicities within our school community this morning at our Celebration of Learning.

To connect with people means to form, or establish a relationship with them in order to get to know them better.

Our community is filled with diverse groups of people who, though they share a common place, may not experience their communities exactly the same as other people in our community.

Celebrating our own and individual cultures is something we are focusing on this year and into the future.

We are celebrating with flags representing different countries in the world our school community is made up of. We also have a world map connecting our communities to our individual learners and families.

We want to build on these opportunities and resources within our community to help us understand, respect and build a sense of belonging for all.

Later this year we will be celebrating with a festival involving whanau \ families, different foods, customs, languages, games etc

We look forward to working closely with our families to engage and support our school diversity through varying activities and events throughout the year.

Any suggestions are welcome

Celebrations and Successes

Congratulations to all the high achievers who received awards and trophies especially our swimming champions. We were delighted with the number of bus tickets to choose from in our draw this morning! Check out the photos on our Facebook page!

Education Outside the Classroom

Congratulations to all involved in the successful camps over the last two weeks. It is another great learning opportunity to connect with our school community and to take learning to another level!

Many thanks to the parents who supported learners and staff, ensuring everyone was safe and had a great time.

Thanks to the staff for the organisation and time in planning and preparing for such important and successful events for our children. Staff will be seeking feedback on these camps from learners and parents enabling us to prepare for future experiences.

We wish the year 8 learners good times as they head off for their 3 day experience next week at Omaka.

Here are a few comments from our parents...

‘I just wanted to pass on my praise for our Manuka teachers! This is the 2nd year my daughter has had the same teacher and I cannot speak highly enough of her! She has been AMAZING with my daughter and helped her build much needed confidence and resilience. Her teacher has really taken the time to get to know my daughter, and my husband and I are so grateful.’

‘I was parent help on the Living Springs camp and really wanted to let you know how amazing the team of teachers were! Not an easy task taking that many Y4’s away but I was blown away by their professional manner and positive attitudes throughout. It was so much fun and I know that was down to their efforts.’

‘The recent yr 4 school camp to Living Springs was a terrific success.

Great location, great facilities, great activities, great food, & a great group of people.

Everything was well planned & organised, & ran like a well oiled machine.

Loads of fun and good times were enjoyed by kids, teachers, & parents, as well as all learning a few new skills along the way’

Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako

A couple of weeks ago the Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako celebrated connecting with other colleagues for all the schools and ECE centres within our area. It was a great opportunity to share best practices, what other teachers were doing with similar year levels, and what areas of focus schools were working on. It was also a time to have some fun!

The Leadership Team and Across School Teachers are currently evaluating the week in preparation for our next Connect Week in mid term two. This week includes a Teacher Only Day on Friday 29 May when the school will be CLOSED for instruction.

Strategic Plan 2019 - 2021

At the recent Board of Trustees meeting, the strategic plan for 2019 - 2021 was finalised. It sets the direction for the school during these years with more detailed annual plans for 2020. There is also a hard copy available to read in the school office.

Life Education Caravan

The Life Education Caravan and ‘Harold’ will be visiting school over the next two weeks. Programmes offer a shared planning approach to create individualised lessons, that could cover content across five major strands: food and nutrition, human biology, relationships & communities, identity & resilience and substances. The following are the areas of focus for our learners:

Kowhai - NE/Y1 – Teamwork and Friendship

Ti Kouka - Y2/3 – Teamwork and Friendship

Manuka - Y3/4 – Teamwork and Decision Making

Matai - Y5/6 – Teamwork and Decision Making

Totara - Y7/8 – Teamwork, Decision Making and Leadership