Kai ora and Welcome to the 2023 School Year! The children have settled back into school life well and have lots of exciting learning ahead of them. I would like to extend a special Welcome to the new children and families who have joined us. This is a great community to be a part of and we look forward to getting to know you.

This year our over arching school wide theme is “Tūrangawaewae & Kaitiakitanga - Belonging and Guardianship”. Children will look deeply into these concepts through a variety of different curriculum areas over the year. Each term there will be a different curriculum focus and a Big Question which children will work towards answering. This term children will focus on the Health curriculum answering the question ''How can we be a positive contributor to our own and others’ wellbeing?’ Teachers will develop learning around this that is age and stage appropriate. 

It has been great to see the school pool well used over the holidays. The pool is already in full swing with classes going for instruction and a cool down. It is important children bring their swimming gear every day. 

Over the holidays the seating in our outdoor classroom was completed (pictured above). This has created a great space for classes to use or for children to use during break times. 

We are holding our Family Fun Night tomorrow night from 5-7pm. This is a great opportunity for families to come down to school with a picnic dinner or takeaways, catch-up with the teachers and other families, have a swim and a play. I hope to see many of you tomorrow night.

This year the whole school newsletter will go out every second week starting on the first week of the term. So expect a newsletter on a Wednesday in Weeks 1,3,5,7 and 9. 

A Few Reminders:

Absences If your child is going to be away it is really important that you let Debs in the school office know. This can be via email office@weedons.school.nz or by phoning the school 03 347 8740. If leaving a message please advise why they are away, the Ministry of Education have different codes for different absences. A reminder if your child has an upset stomach they are not to return to school until 48 hours after their last bout, they are also unable to swim for two weeks following their last symptom.

Hats - Are compulsory in Terms 1&4. They can be purchased from the office for $15

Uniform Expectation - We have a great uniform and need children to be wearing it with pride. We do not have specific uniform for the bottom half but expect children to wear tidy plain navy blue. White/blue or black ankle socks with either sports shoes or sandals. Jandals and slip on shoes are not part of our uniform nor are brightly coloured socks. Uniform can be purchased from Mainland Uniforms. We have a number of uniform items including track pants  and shorts "CCC - brand' available through the office.

School policies and procedures - All of our school's policies can be found on SchoolDocs the username: weedons - password: weedons

I am looking forward to a fantastic year.

Rob Naysmith

Principal