Kia ora whānau, talofa aiga, hi everyone,Our North Canterbury Kids Hunt Fundraiser is upon us!!!

This is a hugely important fundraising event for our kura and the sustainability of our Garden to Table and Paddock to Plate programmes.  Brooke Simpson and Amy Jarvis have done an outstanding job leading this fundraiser, seeking sponsorship and organising every facet of the hunt. A massive heartfelt thank you to you both. Our wonderful Home and School has supported the fundraiser by organising the raffle, bake sale, BBQ, and rostering helpers, amongst other things, in preparation for the weigh in on Sunday. Thank you all very much. 

We also really appreciate all the support you have given us by entering your children in the hunt, helping Brooke where you can, selling raffle tickets, sponsoring the event, providing baking for the bake sale and putting your name down to help at the weigh in on Sunday.  

We are very grateful to all of you, and very blessed to have such supportive families in our kura. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the weigh in on Sunday.

Thank you Rich Densem and John Cann

Referring to my comment above - 'blessed to have such supportive families' - yesterday, Rich and John, with the support of Eli, Louie and Jaxon Crocker, laid the concrete slab next to the trampoline, for our dear Jude's bench seat. The bench seat will be bolted to the concrete slab ready for our ākonga to enjoy. In time, we will have a ceremony to unveil the bench seat in memory of Jude. More details will follow in due course.

Awesome Bunch of Totara Parents Helping with Manure Today

Again - another bunch of awesome parents helping their children raise money for their camp to Kaikoura at the end of the year - Jenny Burgess, Megan Burridge, Louisa Robinson, Wouter Stegehuis, John Webb, Rachel Woodcock, and to all their children and some others that helped bag and shift manure today - a massive thank you to you all! It was hot, hard and heavy work - but it will be worth it when you receive your camp bill!! Thank you!

National Young Leaders Day

On Wednesday Chester Densem, Flynn Travis, Louie Tolman and Stella Hamblin joined me for the NYLD at the Christchurch Town Hall.  They heard an array of speakers from musicians to environmentalists who had some excellent messages.  Thank you Chester, Flynn, Louie and Stella for being such outstanding North Loburn School leaders.  I was very proud of the way you conducted yourselves, got involved and showed enjoyment throughout the day.  Tumeke team, and a big thank you to Mrs P for organising the day.

Whānau Conferences - Thank You

Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with your child/children’s teacher/s last week.  We find these conferences very valuable and hope you do too.  If you have any feedback please feel free to email me or come in and have a chat. Thank you.

Cross Country

Congratulations to all our students for taking part in our school cross country last Thursday and a special congratulations to the students who are going through to the Tri Schools Cross Country next Tuesday.  We wish you all the very best - karawhiua - give it heaps! 

The Rakahuri Cross Country takes place the following week on the 28 May.  Miss Sherriff will notify you if your child qualifies for this event following the Tri Schools Cross Country.

Thank you to all our whānau for supporting these events.

Rangiora High School Coffee and Chat for Year 8 parents, and Open Days.

Next Thursday 22 May is an opportunity for Year 8 parents to meet the principal/associate principal of Rangiora High School and hear about the opportunities on offer for your tamariki through a ‘Coffee and Chat’ at Ashley School, 6:30-8pm.  This is a very informal evening with plenty of opportunities to ask questions.  It would be great to see as many of you there as possible.  Thank you and please remember, RHS open day tours are available the following week so make sure you book a time to have a tour with your Year 8 student.

Policies Up For Review

Please head to our SchoolDocs site to see our policies up for review this term. Community username: northloburn, community password: giga, click the ‘Current Review’ tab at the top to navigate your way to the policies up for review this term.  Thank you.

Term 1 Attendance

For your information: We have received our attendance data from the Ministry which confirms our attendance at 73% for Term 1, compared to 57% in Term 1, 2024.  That is, 73% of our children attended school more than 90% of the time during term 1.  The Government’s target is for 80% of our children to attend more than 90% of the time. Thank you for your support with your child's attendance.

ERO Parent and Whānau Survey on Attendance 

Researchers at the Education Review Office (ERO) are doing some research about school attendance. They want to hear your thoughts about what makes a difference. Please help by clicking on this survey link: Parent and Whānau survey

Recent Education Announcements

Financial Literacy

Our school includes financial literacy in our curriculum and has done for several years.  We teach children about money as part of our maths curriculum and Mrs P runs financial literacy programmes - Banquer and Money Time with the Year 7/8’s.  We are also fortunate to have the Getwise financial literacy programme delivered by the ASB Bank whenever we can.

Parent Portal 

The Minister of Education launched a new online parent portal for parents and whānau, designed to help support your child/children’s learning at home. 

Our school has a parent portal called 'Hero' that you will all be familiar with. Hero provides you with information such as your child's individual progress and achievement, it send's notices to you, and it allows you to send a message regarding your child's absence. We highly value the partnership we have with you as parents and continue to encourage you to be involved in their education.  As always, please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions or concerns about their learning.

Again, thank you for your support of our North Canterbury Kids Hunt. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Sunday at the weigh-in.  For those off hunting - good luck and enjoy spending time with your family and friends! 

Ngā mihi nui

Kate