In this week's newsletter:

School Life

• School Goals
• Working Bee
• Studio Placements - English Medium

Other Opportunities

• Holy Moly
• Hawke Sea Scouts

School Life

Last week I shared our plan for a whole school goal to improve achievement in writing across the school. This means both supporting students who find achieving in writing a challenge and extending those children who are doing well, but whose achievement in writing suggests they may be able to do even better.

Another goal that we are keen to receive feedback on is building the mental health of students. We know from past newsletters and surveys that this is important to you.

Over the last two and half years we have been working alongside the John Kirwan Foundation on the Mitey Programme - building the mightiest children in the world. The programme supports teachers to teach specific units of work alongside the tools that we already use. Zones of regulation and size of the problem are tools that we have shared with you in newsletters. We use these across the school in both te reo Māori and English.

We know that there is a lot more that we can do to attend to the mental health of students. Over the next two years we want to;

• embed the role of the sports co-ordinator and school engagement with sporting opportunities
• promote activities (like walking to school) that we know promote positive mental health
• grow our leadership programmes
• re-brand our school values and hoe to make them more concise and practical for students
• work more closely with students and whānau to build a visible and consistent approach to mental health

Don't forget, you are welcome to drop into the staffroom for a cup of tea and a chat on Monday mornings (9-10) or Fridays from 2.30. You can also email any time - teresa@westmere.school.nz

Working Bee
Thank you to everyone who came and helped at the working bee on Saturday, and to those who provided baking to keep everyone going. The small group of volunteers worked so hard and made a massive difference.

Thank you so much.

English-medium Studio Placements for 2024
We are in the process of beginning studio placements for 2024. We generally have this completed by midway through the term in order to ensure we can provide any necessary transition for our learners with higher needs. This also allows our teachers time to meet and pass on information to the next teachers about our children. Knowing our learners means we can cater to their learning needs right from day one of the new year and make the transition as smooth as possible.

We aim to meet the needs of each of our 420 children and go through a rigorous process with our teachers to place each child in a situation that will be best for them and their learning.

As you can imagine this is a big job as we take into account friendships, learning and other factors in this giant puzzle.

For children currently in Year 1, Year 3 and Year 5, we will provide children with as much stability as possible. Where possible we try to provide continuity with the teachers they had this year.

If your child is moving to a new area of the school it is more complex. Their current teachers will be looking to provide children with continuity and stability in their friendship groups.

There may be some staffing changes for 2024 so please note that we cannot accept teacher or studio requests.

If you have any information that you think will be useful to help us with this process please email us at studioplacements@westmere.school.nz by Friday 3rd November at 3pm.

Freaky Friday Tickets on Sale Now - Don't miss out!
The countdown is on…. A few reminders ahead for Freaky Friday:

• Tickets are on sale. Everyone needs a ticket and remember, your children need to come with an adult.
• The Costume Swap Event is on this Thursday - under the super top (or LS4 if there’s heavy rain). If you’d like to donate a clean costume please drop them at the office by Wednesday. If you’d like to purchase a costume, remember to bring gold coins on Thursday.
• These school events always need helpers… please sign up to help on the night also, what can you bring for the bake sale.
• We also need Lemons! So if you have a full tree we would be grateful for these to be dropped off at the office.

Thanks to our event Supporters - Lemonade Design, Kane Taylor at Ray White, The Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop, Auckland Polo and Farro.

Other Opportunities

Holy Moly Arts and Crafts

Hawke Sea Scouts 
Hawke Sea Scouts is situated in the hall overlooking Coxs Bay and provides youth with a range of water activities and land-based activities.

We organise camps, sailing, kayaking and take part in other community events on occasional weekends. 

Lots of fun and adventure, gaining life skills and making new friends.

• The Kea section is aged 6-8 years and is on Tuesday evenings. 
• Cubs are aged 8-10 years, on Thursday evenings. 
• Scouts are aged 10+, on Monday evenings.

Learn more and sign up here: https://www.hawke.org.nz/