I love how our community support our school-wide initiatives so well. This includes our amazing staff who ALL dressed up [at their own cost] for our book week character parade last Friday.

The children respond so well to these initiatives, and to the enthusiasm of their staff and parents. Hopefully, book week has encouraged lots of reading at home. With all of our teaching there is always a component of manaakitanga or care and this includes how we care for books. We are teaching our children not to leave books lying on the ground in the library or the bookshelves but to put them back where they belong.

Another way our staff show care is through part of our wellness model lead by Miss Katie Talbot. Last night several staff went and cooked some Asian Fusion at Ronald McDonald House. We do this each term as a way of 'giving' and caring for the community. The staff pay for all of the food as well.

This week the children have filled Wish Jar #2 as part of our Positive Behaviour Plan which means that each whānau group will have bouncy castle time tomorrow courtesy of GROW. It is still normal school uniform for the day please.

We are now half-way through the term and we still have lots more exciting initiatives planned. Look out for information regarding our Talent Show, ambassador fund-raisers, The Arts drumming session, Koru Games for Y7/8 and information on mental health awareness week. Thank you for helping keep your child's energy levels up by removing devices from bedrooms at night, getting them to bed early and providing healthy food options and lots of water.

Finally, there is a free parent/whānau session tonight on Family Zone's Cybersafety platform at Rolleston College from 7pm -8pm 

Topics to be covered:• Why parental controls are important and how to mentor children, not just monitor them to make responsible choices when using social media• Dangers of being able to access adult content• Cyberbullying• The gamification of apps• Minimising distractions, and setting routines to ensure enough sleep is being had.

Ngā mihi nui

Sylvia