Kia ora whanau, talofa aiga, hi everyone, We hope you and your children have had a great start to Term 3. It’s hard to believe we are up to week 3 already!

Even though we have had a pretty wet, cold week your children have been amazing with their inside play. Today Mrs Connelly arranged our Physical Friday activity - crab soccer. Much fun for everyone! Thank you very much Mrs Connelly.

We are loving seeing your children embracing their learning around science and the physical world this term - forces and motion.  There are many great activities planned across the classes so make sure you ask your children what they have been up to and feel free to pop in and take a look for yourself. (Please note - the juniors will begin their topic after the swimming safety lessons are over. In the meantime, they have become ladybird experts and very keen bug hunters!)

Mrs P and a Special Milestone at Tihiraki North Loburn - Wow!!

I know Mrs P might have thought that this was going to sneak under the radar but it hasn't. We want to recognise her massive contribution to Tihiraki North Loburn School.  I would like to have had a photo of Mrs P at the top of this article but unfortunately she is the one that is always behind the camera - and never in front of it!!

Just recently Lois has reached a special milestone.  She has been teaching at our kura for 35 years.  Lois has been an extremely dedicated and committed staff member who has had a huge impact on the learning of so many children who have passed through our school gates. 

Not only is she the Year 7/8 classroom teacher but Lois does many things that help our school function efficiently and run smoothly - many things that go unnoticed and often unrecognised.  She organises and helps coordinate the band/s, chess, Kapa Haka, Epro8, Cantamaths, ICAS tests, Science badges, Maths badges - to name a few.  She started us on our Enviroschool journey a wee few years ago.  She conned her husband into coming to school to teach the children how to play croquet.  She drags her mum into helping with sewing, making and creating. When we have our productions she is the props and backdrop artist extraordinaire, and prompter.  She helped sew our Kapa Haka uniforms and continues make and alter them to this day. She takes beautiful photos of our tamariki for us to treasure in the years ahead.  She planned and wrote our very memorable ANZAC service. She brings our milk to school every week and every Friday afternoon she cleans out the staffroom fridge and tidies up the staffroom, taking the tea towels home to wash.  She keeps our storage shelves in the hall in order - which is no mean feat!  And this isn't the end of the list...I'm bound to have forgotten something!!

Lois lives and breathes our values and is a staunch advocate and supporter of all things North Loburn.  Thank you very much Mrs P for everything you have done, and continue to do, for our tamariki and kura.  You hold a special 'trophy', (that I’m not sure we will ever manage to challenge!) the longest serving staff member of Tihiraki North Loburn School. Congratulations on this amazing milestone!! Nga mihi ki a koe mo o mahi katoa mo matou. We truly appreciate everything you do for our tamariki and this very special kura.

PRIDE values

This term our PRIDE values focus is integrity.  We explain integrity as being honest, and doing the right thing even when no one is watching - that’s the tricky bit.  The children know and understand what our values are and what they look like.  The challenge is to demonstrate them on a daily basis.  We all have hiccups on our journey, but as long as we can learn from these and find a way to get back on track, that's what matters.     

Picking up and Dropping off Children

We had a very close call this week at school, one that we do not want repeated.

When you drop off and pick up children from school there is the carpark beside school and there is the drop off zone right outside school on the roadside. Please do not park your car on the yellow lines on the opposite side of the road to school.

I know this might seem inconvenient as I have seen some parents parking on the opposite side of the road in a rush to pick up their children, but the consequences of doing this are too horrible for us to imagine. We have adults amongst us who have witnessed the horror of children being run over because they have run in front of a car wanting to reach their parents on the other side of the road. The yellow lines are there for a reason. Please show integrity and ensure you park your vehicle in the carpark or on the same side of the road as the school when you drop off or collect your precious tamariki. Thank you for keeping your children safe.

Building and Remediation Projects

The fencing is complete, Manuka’s roof has been replaced and we are almost at the end of the tank replacement project that began in the holidays.  Next week you will be able to access our school through the gate by the new water tanks at the back of Kowhai.  Thank you for your patience while the tank project is being completed.

In approximately a week's time, possibly longer, there will be more building projects occurring here at school.  The office administration block and staffroom are being altered so this area will not be accessible for the remainder of term 3.  We will relocate to Kauri class in the interim until the building project is completed, so please come and see us there when you need to.  

There will also be some building work going on with the Kauri/Kahikatea verandah and roof. Access to this area will be limited by fencing.

School access during this time will be through the tank gate at the back of Kowhai, Totara gate or Waharoa/front gate.  The office gate can not be used during the building period by our whānau.

Water Safety Lessons Begin Next Week

Kowhai, Manuka and Kahikatea begin their Water Safety lessons next week.  They are structured differently in two ways.  It is important for whānau to understand that these are no longer swimming lessons but instead the focus is all about being safe in the water, knowing how to respond in different situations and using safety equipment such as life jackets.  The lessons are now every afternoon over 10 days, rather than once a week over 10 weeks.  We understand that the children may well be very tired as a result of attending consecutive lessons, however please be assured that our teachers are all well aware of this and they will keep a very close eye on them. Please feel free to chat to your child's teacher if you have any questions or concerns.

Fundraising - Thank You

Thank you very much for all your efforts with our Jolly Soles sock fundraiser.  We have so far raised in excess of $1,200!  If you haven’t managed to credit the Home and School account with your sale proceeds yet, please do so as soon as you can:

03-1582-0090580-00.  Thank you.

We can now confirm that we have raised $7,700 from the North Canterbury Kids Hunt!! Again - a huge thank you to everyone involved for all your mahi and commitment to this fundraiser.  We are extremely grateful.

Students Representing North Loburn School

Amelia Rothschild-Stewart entered the Canterbury Primary School Aerobics Competition and came first in her category.  Fantastic Amelia - we are super proud of you and we loved that you were able to come back to school and perform to us in your beautiful costume.  Tumeke!!

We had a year 7/8 Basketball team compete in a tournament on the first Monday back at school.  It was a tough tournament but a great experience.  Well done team and a huge thank you to Mike Robinson for coaching them.

HSPA, Wizard of Oz Production

A number of North Loburn students, past and present, were involved in the HSPA Wizard of Oz production in the school holidays.  Well done to Ella, Lara, Lenie and Olivia for all the work you put into this show. I hear you were all absolutely amazing! 

North Cantamaths

All the very best to our teams heading to the North Cantamaths competition at Clarkville School next Wednesday. 

Year 6 - Ben, Jan, Manaaki and Sophie

Year 7 - Chester, Cooper, Fergus and Will

Year 8 - Conrad, Damon, Eleanor and Olivia

Thank you to the parents who are able to transport the teams and a huge thank you to Mrs Pettigrew who was asked to help with organising the competition this year.  A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes - not only organising the competition but also preparing the students.  Thank you again Mrs P!

Epro8 

Our Year 5/6 Epro8 team, The Banshees, have made it to the semifinals which will be held at Christchurch South Karamata Intermediate next Thursday.  All the very best to Ben, Clyde, Jesse and Logan!  We are very proud of you all and we know you’ll represent us with PRIDE!!  Give it heaps!

We’re coming to the end of some winter sports over the next few weeks so make the most of those moments on the sideline! 

Stay warm and have a lovely weekend.

Take care

Ngā mihi nui

Kate