Dear Parents, Carers and Friends of Whītau School. Kia ora koutou katoa! Talofa lava! Mālō e lelei! Greetings everyone.

This week our technology has continued to test us!  Thank you whānau for your support with keeping in touch using alternative methods when our phones were down. It is great to know that our multiple communication methods work.  Our school mobile number 027 758 1467 in case you need to add it to your phone in the future.  Sandra Dentice's mobile is still in action but with her being on her two-term sabbatical and at times travelling it is hard to get messages passed on to School so please refrain from using this number until Term 4.  

The internet is back up and running in Karawhā which is good news.  Kaiako and tamariki were happy to come to school to find the problem solved. It turns out it was rats in our underground ducts that had eaten the network cable that went into the wall, needless to say, we've started a student-safe rodent campaign to avoid any further damage. As you can spy, they've had a go at a few other cables! 

Room 3 and Pen Licenses

In Room 3 we've needed to do some reteaching around using whiteboard pens for the right thing at the right time and taking care of them by not pushing too hard and putting the cap back on by making it click. Miss Leah Harvey and I created a plan around earning a pen license once the learner showed they could be respectful and earn their pen back. It was great to see students striving hard for success. Today our first students earned their pen license! Congratulations to these learners! How delighted and proud do they look!

Open Afternoon to Share Our Learning About 'Our Planet'

Hopefully, you have received an invitation from your tamaiti/child to our Open Afternoon next Thursday at 2.00pm.  This is an opportunity for your child to share their learning around the topic 'Our Planet' which has been occurring since Week 5, Term 1 until now.  Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided for whānau. We hope you can join us!  

Board Family Night

On Tuesday night at 5.00pm in the School Hall, we have our Board Family Night.  This is a chance for the School to share our learning and attendance data with the Community and capture your thinking. The Board is keen to capture your voice through some consultation.  Some food/kai will be provided.  This will be similar to our recent Hui ā Whānau and Fono sessions that we have run in Term 1.  All families are welcome!  We hope you can join us! 

Woodham Road Carpark

We have had complaints about school families using the Niu Kindergarten car parks.  The car parks beside the Kindy are just for the Kindy. Please show our school value of Respect by not parking in them.  I have observed increased poor car park behaviour in this car park recently and leadership will be patrolling it to try and create improvement.  

Please remember we have entrances on Holland Street, Ngarimu Street and Rowcliffe Crescent also.  

I challenge whānau to park a little further and hikoi/walk in together and use the opportunity to have a chat about the day ahead or highlights of the day.  

Also, we have observed a number of whānau not using the car park footpaths and mini car park crossing in the Woodham Road Car park with whānau.  Please model this with your tamariki and encourage them to always do this.  This is the safest way to enter and exit school.  Cars backing out can't always see little people and we want to keep everyone safe!  

School Travel Survey 

The Christchurch City Council annual School Travel Survey is now live! This 5-10 minute survey will improve understanding of school travel patterns across Christchurch and Waimakariri. This will help with improving safety, especially for those using active transport. The survey is open to all school community members until 5.00pm on 31 May 2024. There are 10 x $50 supermarket vouchers up for grabs. The survey can be found here.

Winter Illness

This week the Ministry of Education advised us that winter illnesses are taking hold across the motu/country, with ‘flu season’ arriving earlier than normal. Please remember the flu is not just a cold.  Aotearoa is also at a high risk of a measles outbreak with immunisation rates dropping off since COVID-19. Please follow Te Whatu Ora advice, that the best protection against an outbreak of measles is the MMR vaccine.  Measles information can be found here.

Music with Nikki - Creatives in School

Did you know?   Whītau School is collaborating with The Muse Community Music Trust, to employ music specialist, Nikki Berry to provide a 30-minute intensive music lesson to all our year 1, 2, 3 and 4 students in Kākano, Kehakai and Karawhā. In 2025 and 2026, we are hoping this can be extended to all years as students progress through the school. We are delighted to have received funding through The Creatives In Schools Programme.

The lessons are based on the Kodály approach. This approach, which is based around singing games, is a highly structured programme that allows the children to sequentially build skills and understanding, becoming fluent, lifelong musicians who can read, write, sing, play and compose to a high level. It is an approach that leans heavily on the abilities of the teacher, who must be an excellent musician, as well as have a thorough understanding of best practice music teaching pedagogy.

After thirty years of running adult courses and choirs, and ten years of study, Nikki has recently completed her Kodály Certification training and she and The Muse Trust have chosen Whītau School to be their 'Lighthouse School', to demonstrate the benefits to children in participating in a regular, high-quality music programme.

Nikki said, "Teaching at Whītau School on Fridays is the highlight of my week. The students are enthusiastic, kind and respectful and we are growing together as I learn about working in this way and the children develop their musical skills. I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to many years of collaboration."

We plan to have some 'open classrooms' where parents can observe and Nikki is also keen to meet with parents who may like to share songs from their culture, that she can incorporate into the programme.

The Muse is always looking for people who would like to train as music specialists. This includes classroom teachers who wish to develop their musical skills or experienced musicians who would like to develop their teaching skills. Feel free to reach out to Nikki to discuss this.

You can read more about Nikki and the approach and get in touch with her on her website: sing.co.nz

Next week it is Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa - Samoa Language Week

The 2024 theme for Samoa Language Week is 'Tautua i le alofa, manuia le lumana’i – Serve in love for a blessed future'.  This theme derives from all of the overarching Language Week Series theme for 2024, 'Sustainability'.  What does the phrase ‘Tautua i le alofa’ mean? The concept of tautua focuses on the phrase – “Serve in love”. Love is the driving force of service. No matter what service looks like or who is doing it, service is accomplished through the power of love.  A big thank you to Miss Ioane, our Room 10 teacher who has planned this special week for us!  

What do we have planned?  

• Monday - Gold Awards Learning Celebration where we open Samoan Language Week with Mihi Whakatau
• Tuesday - Lāpe at morning tea
• Wednesday - Fa’afiafiaaga by Catholic Cathedral College for the whole school to attend
• Thursday - Our Pasifika Group performs for the school
• All week - Activities in classes to support learning and opportunities for our Samoan speakers to lead. 

Mihi Whakatau and Gold Awards 

On Monday we are welcoming anyone through a Mihi Whakatau that has started school after week 2, Term 1 until now. This will be followed by our Gold Awards Learning Celebration. We'd love whānau to join us!   

A special thank you to Qizzle who donated our lovely felt pens for our Gold Award winners. 

Just a few reminders...

• Next Friday 31 May is our Staff Only Day.  This day has been gifted to us by the Ministry of Education and we have another one in August for Curriculum Development.  Our Teachers are learning about Structured Literacy, the Science of learning and cultural responsiveness. Our Learning Assistants are off to Te Waka Unua School to upskill their digital skills.  
• Monday 3 June is King's Birthday and is a Public Holiday so there is no school on this day.  
• Please return Raffle Books if you have unsold books or if you need/want another book, please return the money and stubs to the Office and then they can give you another one.  The Raffle closes on 11 June and we need all books returned before then.  

Ngā mihi nui

Amy Collins

Acting Principal | Tumuaki

amy@whitau.school.nz