I hope you have all had a positive start to the 2024 school year. As usual, school continues to be a busy place. It has been awesome to see students reconnecting with their friends and teachers. We enjoyed two weeks of daily swimming lessons with the SwimWell team. Classes will continue to swim daily while the weather stays warm.
It has been awesome to wander through classes this term, hearing students and teachers unpacking our new school Values - whanaungatanga, kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga and mahi tahi. Many classes are also starting to look at the conditions required to LEARN. The first word in our new school vision - LEARN, GROW, LEAD,
We have our annual school Triathlon coming up in Week 7. See more information about this below.
For some time we have been working on securing grants to help purchase a new playground. The Board has committed a large portion of our 2023 Bike Day money towards this project and we have been fortunate to receive a significant grant from Pelorus Trust. We are still a bit short on the cost of the new playground, but are hopeful to secure some more funding in the coming months. We are extremely hopeful that we will have a new playground sometime in Term 2 or 3.
PROPOSED NEW PLAYGROUND
If anyone is interested, or know someone who may be interested in purchasing our existing playgrounds, please get in touch with Shirley - shirleyb@kuratau.school.nz or call 07 386 5801.
We have lots of exciting opportunities coming up this term, so make sure you check out the Important Dates section below. If you need any further details about these opportunities please contact your child's teacher.
We look forward to seeing many of you at this Thursday's Kai and Kōrero | Meet the Teacher evening. Remember to bring along some kai for a picnic ... and your togs and towel for a swim. We will provide a sausage sizzle and I think there may even be some venison on offer.
Kia pai tō ra.
Shirley Bailey PRINCIPAL
Kai and Kōrero
Shirley Bailey
We hope to see you this Thursday - 29th February, 2024.
Our Kai and Kōrero evening will be held on Thursday 29th February. The purpose of this event is to provide an opportunity for our parents/caregivers to meet their child's teacher and learn more about what happens at school.
FORMAT: We are running two sessions in each class and you are invited to attend whichever one suits you best. Both sessions will be the same, they will be repeated so that parents can attend two different sessions - ie. if you have two children in different classes. During these sessions teachers will be sharing some information about themselves; their classroom and their daily programme and share any specific things they do - eg. Technology for Year 7 & 8s.
At the conclusion of both sessions we warmly invite you to stay for a picnic. School will provide a sausage sizzle but we encourage you to bring along a picnic dinner as well. The swimming pool will be open for you and your children to enjoy a dip. During the picnic time staff will be available to catch up with. This is a great opportunity for our families to also get to know each other.
We look forward to seeing lots of you at this community event.
One Hour a Day of Reading, Writing and Maths
Shirley Bailey
Schools | kura with students in Years 0 – 8 are now expected to spend an average of at least an hour a day each teaching reading, writing and maths.
"From the beginning of Term 1 2024, schools and kura with students in years 0-8 will spend an average of one hour a day teaching each reading, writing, and maths. This could be in dedicated lessons and in other learning areas as students read, write, and engage with maths in a variety of purposes and contexts.
Teachers will deliberately and purposefully dedicate time to teaching these core skills. Teaching techniques like investigations, collaborative learning, and games will continue to be used so students stay engaged with their learning.
This change sets a clear expectation that all year 0-8 students should receive regular, focussed instruction in these core areas.
Learning to read, write, and do maths is important in everything we do. Daily teaching has been shown to lift student progress, when coupled with a high-quality curriculum taught using evidence-informed teaching practices. "
At Kuratau School we already focus a considerable amount of our daily programme to the teaching and learning of reading, writing and maths.
Last year we invested significant time and resources into developing a Structured Literacy approach towards the teaching and learning of literacy (reading, spelling, writing). This year we are continuing this professional learning with a greater focus on the teaching and learning of writing.
This year we are committed to 12 months of Maths professional learning with The Learner First. This learning will be reflected in the teaching and learning programmes across the school.
In addition to this we will continue to work with the Ministry of Education on the implementation of Te Mātaiaho | the Refreshed New Zealand Curriculum.
Below is flyer from the Ministry of Education that further outlines the legislative requirements for all schools.
Shirley Bailey on Behalf of the Kuratau School Board
The new Government has introduced regulations that require all state schools and kura to have student phone rules in use. Rules must be in use as soon as possible in Term 1 2024 and no later than Term 2.
At our recent Board meeting we reviewed our currently policy and made the necessary changes to ensure we comply with legislative requirements.
Key Points:
Our approach is “away for the day”, meaning the device should be turned off, and handed in to the teacher to be locked away during the school day. If a student does bring their cellphone for emergency contact or health reasons, these must be handed to the teacher to be locked away for the day.
There may be times when students will be able to access and use their cellphones. However, this is the exception and will always be monitored by teaching staff. If cellphones are used for a learning activity, this will be at the teacher's discretion and the phone's use will be supervised by a staff member. Guidelines on appropriate usage still apply.
If we see a student using a personal digital device inappropriately, we confiscate it. After the student locks the device, we place it in the office to be collected at the end of the day by a parent or guardian.
If a student uses a cellphone inappropriately multiple times in a week the cellphone will be confiscated and can only be retrieved by a parent or caregiver following a discussion with the principal or deputy principal.
Due to our location, we have very limited cellphone coverage, so this piece of legislation will not result in major changes to our current practice. However, I strongly encourage you to read the attached policy for your information.
Should you have any questions about this policy, please get in touch: shirleyb@kuratau.school.nz
Shirley Bailey on Behalf of the Kuratau School Board
Check out some of the policies we recently reviewed.
At every Board meeting we are required to review a range of school and Board policies. The following policies were reviewed at our February meeting, and we felt these were important policies to share with our school community. Please take some time to read the following policies:
If you have one of our triathlon trophies from 2023, please return these to school as soon as possible.
On Friday 22nd March, 2024 we will be holding our Triathlon at the Kuratau Boat Ramp. All students need to come to school as normal and we will be leaving school by bus at 10.00am. Events will start at 10.30am, starting with the junior classes.
You are welcome to join us for the day - we would love to see you there. However, there will be an area for parents only and students will be separate to that. You will not be able to take your child until after their race and will need to wait for a teacher to bring them to you. Please keep to these requirements as they are for the safety of your children.
The Year 1-4 students do a duathlon (swim and run) and the Year 5-8 students do a full triathlon (swim, bike, run). Kath, from Bike Taupō will provide some bikes, but if you are able to bring your child's bike out for them it would be a great help. If the weather is unfavourable for the event to be held at the lake, it will be held at school (as it was in 2023).
You are welcome to take your child at the end of the day, but again, please get a staff member to bring them to you. The buses will collect all remaining students from the boat ramp at 2.30pm and deliver them home as usual.
Your child will need to bring:
lunch and drink
sunblock / hat / warm jumper
togs, towel, goggles (optional)
Optional - their own bike and helmet
If you have any questions please contact Belinda Pyman - pymanb@kuratau.school.nz or call 07 386 5801
2024 Bike Day - First Meeting
Shirley Bailey
It's that time of year again! Time to start planning for our major fundraiser.
Our annual Bike Day is a our major fundraising event. Without this event we would not be able to purchase items like chromebooks, playgrounds, ipads etc. We will be holding our first meeting on Wednesday 13th March at 6pm, in our NEW staffroom. We welcome any new volunteers who would like to help with the planning and organisation of this event.
Important Dates
Kai and Kōrero | Meet the Teacher Evening
-
Come along and meet your child's teacher. See newsletter for more details.
Kuratau School
Immunisation Information Session - Year 7-8 Students
-
Our local health nurses will visit to talk to our Year 7-8 students and distribute consent forms.
Year 5 Cycle Skills
-
Cycle Skills day for Year 5 students
Kuratau School
GRIP Leadership Day (Year 6-8)
All Day
Leadership Day in Rotorua
Venue TBC
Year 6 Cycle Skills Day
All Day
Year 6's cycle skills day
Turangi
Rugby League Festival - Taupō
All Day
Taupō
School Triathlon
-
Our annual school Triathlon. Come along to support our tamariki as they run, bike and swim.
Kuratau Boat Ramp
Ki-O-Rahi Festival
All Day
Crown Park, Taupō
Good Friday - NO SCHOOL
All Day
NO SCHOOL - EASTER WEEKEND
EASTER MONDAY & TUESDAY - NO SCHOOL
All Day
No School Easter Monday and No School on Tuesday. Enjoy a long Easter Break.
Year 7-8 First Immunisation
-
Kuratau School
Last Day of Term 1
All Day
Enjoy your holiday break with your whānau.
Kuratau School
REMINDERS
Toys at School
Shirley Bailey
Please keep your child's toys at home.
We have seen an increase in 'toys' coming to school. We highly recommend you do not allow your children to bring their precious toys to school. These cause significant distraction at school and on the school bus. We have plenty of school owned resources for students to play with during break times. Additionally, we will NOT accept any responsibility for lost, damaged, or stolen toys.
Kuratau School Board - School Docs
Shirley Bailey on Behalf of the Kuratau School Board
You can find links to our School Policies and Procedures at School Docs.
Visit: kuratau.schooldocs.co.nz User Name: kuratau Password: respect
Community Notices
If you would like to add a community notice to our fortnightly newsletters please get in touch with Rachel or Shirley - (07) 386 5801
Is your child interested in playing SOCCER for a Tūrangi team in the Taupo Junior Football 2024 Season?
If yes, the time to sign up is Saturday 9th March at the Turangi Tongariro Sports Foundation Triathlon. This will be happening at Te Kapua park behind the Turtle Pools.
Tūrangi Wanderers Soccer Club will have a table set up from 8-10am and will be taking names and details of players.
The next step will be for the Committee to confirm Teams and official player registration will happen via the Taupo Junior Football Club. Last season we were able to create 3 Tūrangi teams and this year we are hoping for more!
We are also looking for parents to help with Managing and Coaching roles - previous experience would be awesome, but not necessary.
Coaching training is available for those who are keen to step into these roles and further develop their coaching skills.