Kuratau Kōrero - Week 7, Term 2, 2024

We are drawing closer to the end of Term 2

As we approach the end of Term 2, it's been a busy and exciting time at Kuratau School. Here are some highlights from the past two weeks:

School Speech Competition

Our school speech competition was held on Thursday, 6th June. Congratulations to the students who earned placings in this competition. Public speaking is an important skill that develops confidence, communication abilities, and critical thinking. The top placing students from Year 4-8 will now be attending the Pinelands Speech Competition at Marotiri School on Tuesday, 18th June. We wish them the best of luck!

Kuratau School ATV Side X Side Bike Day

Our major fundraiser, the Kuratau School ATV Side X Side Bike Day, took place on Sunday, 9th June. Despite concerns about the possibility of low attendance this year due to the challenging economic times we are facing, we were pleasantly surprised by the fantastic turnout. The carpark was looking a bit empty at 8.45am, but a last minute rush of registrations meant we registered 173 bikes and approximately 345 riders.

A massive thank you to all our volunteers who kindly donated their time on the day. From kitchen helpers and BBQ staff to registration desk attendants, parking marshals, and course marshals, you are a wonderful group of people who do an amazing job supporting our school. We also extend our huge appreciation and thanks to the team that marked out an amazing course this year, encompassing: Waituhi Kuratau, Rangiatea, and Te Aputa Stations. Special thanks to the Farm Managers and their staff for ensuring the smooth running of the course. The feedback from riders was excellent, with many saying it is one of the best rides the country has to offer.

Initial calculations indicate that we have raised approximately $26,000 from the event. Well done, everyone! The Board will be working together to determine how to best use this money to benefit our students.

School Photos

This week, we also held our school photos. We anticipate that the photos will look amazing, especially with the creative use of our caretaker Geoff's tractor and Ali Reid's tractor trailer. Look out for the whole school picture we took this year! It's awesome.

Upcoming Events

Next week, we are excited to welcome Crispian and Harold the Giraffe for two days of Life Education. It's a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn valuable lessons and we always look forward to the annual opportunity to learn from the Life Education Team.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming Matariki Cultural Feast and Fancy Dress Dance. More details about this event can be found below.

A reminder that mid-year achievement summaries will be emailed home on Thursday, 27th June. We encourage you to read your child's report thoroughly. Please see the section below regarding changes to our reporting process this year.

Looking Ahead to Term 3

We are starting to look toward our Term 3 calendar. Snow Squad is all set to kick off from the first Wednesday of Term 3 (24th July). Let's hope the snow keeps falling and we have a bumper season up the mighty maunga.

Our major Physical Education focus for Term 3 is to prepare our tamariki for the school cross country, which is pencilled in for Friday 16th August. You might like to start some training over the school holiday period.

In Week 5 of Term 3, (Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th August) we will be holding Hui-a-Whānau, our parent, teacher, student learning conferences. We will be sending out more information about these, along with online interview booking instructions early next term.

Towards the end of Term 3, our senior Kapa Haka group, which includes all students in Karearea and Ruru, will be attending the Tūwharetoa Taiopenga Festival in Taupo. Whaea Lena will be honing in on our practices next term in preparation for this event. More details about this will come early next term.

Our annual Wai Whenua Day is scheduled for Friday 20th September. Mrs Hunt is busy devising a plan for the day, but it is likely to involve some weeding and releasing in our wetland area, planting some trees around our school grounds and some education sessions for our tamariki around what it means to be a kaitiaki.

We are definitely a busy wee school with lots of exciting and varied learning opportunities coming up.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Mā te wā

Shirley & the Kuratau School Team

Shirley Bailey

Let's work together to raise our 'regular' attendance rates.

One of the things we, along with the Ministry of Education, are continuing to focus on this year is student attendance. You will hear us increasingly start to talk about this with you - via newsletters, emails or phone calls. We have started talking about this with our students and it remains a strong subject of conversation in the staff room and in the media.

Did you know ... if a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent.

If you do not notify us of your child's absences, and we cannot get hold of you to check the whereabouts of your child, we record your child as Truant. Please ensure you either ring school, or use the Edge App to record your child's absence. Repeated unjustified absences, truancy or recurring medical absences may result in us taking further action - eg. sending attendance letters home, or informing our local attendance officers.

We know that autumn has certainly brought its crisp mornings and winter is coming with all its chills, bugs and colds. Knowing if your child is well enough to go to school can be tricky at times. Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora have refreshed their guidance for schools and parents to use to help make that call. Check out the Ministry of Education website for more information. If you are still unsure, get in touch with us.

At our school we have strong processes and hygiene practices in place to make sure our school environment is as healthy as possible for our students and our staff.

If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school, talk to us! Our school is committed to supporting your child to attend school and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance by having:

School staff who have strong relationships with students and whānau.
A school culture that recognises your child and your family for who they are, where they come from and who they want to be.
A school community that does everything to make sure students are at school, and they are participating, and progressing in their education.

Parents and caregivers can find more information here.

The Ministry of Education's goal is to have 80% of all tamariki attending school 90% of the time. This means missing fewer than 5 days across a term. Below is a screenshot of our Term 1 attendance summary.

Join with us and help our tamariki Go Five For Five!

As you can see, we currently only have 65% of our tamariki regularly attending school (90% of the time). Let's improve this together. If we can get our whole school data to 70% of our students attending regularly by the end of the year we will organise a celebration day at school in Term 4. School will shout a delicious lunch, and provide some awesome fun activities to celebrate meeting our target.

Additionally ...

If your child reaches 90% regular attendance at the end of each term (Term 2, 3 & 4), they will be invited to a special morning tea with me (Shirley). I'll put my baking skills to the test (or visit the supermarket) and shout our kids that GO FIVE FOR FIVE a hot chocolate and a morning tea treat.

Shirley Bailey

Your child's mid year Achievement Summary will be sent home via Edge email on Thursday 27th June, 2024.

The Mid Year Achievement Summary forms part of our reporting to whānau process. It is supported by the hui-ā- whānau opportunities we offer (Term 1 and 3) and by the evidence of learning your child and/or their teacher will post regularly on their digital portfolio (Seesaw). Evidence of learning posted on Seesaw will provide you with ‘real time examples’ of the learning your child has been doing at school across a range of learning areas.

The written report provides a summary of your child’s progress and achievement in relation to the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum (Te Mātaiaho) expectations in Reading, Writing and Mathematics & Statistics. Please NOTE: ‘Phases of learning’ have replaced the ‘curriculum levels’ of the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. The new ‘phases’ focus on progression and growth in learning and provide more clarity about what is expected to be taught and learnt in each phase. Te Mātaiaho (the refreshed curriculum) provides increased clarity around what students need to be able to UNDERSTAND, KNOW and DO at each phase of learning. Whilst the refreshed curriculum isn't expected to be implemented in schools until the start of 2025, we are beginning to trial working with the new phases for the remainder of 2024. We are excited about the release of the final refreshed curriculum as we are confident it will provide very clear expectations around the knowledge, skills, competencies and dispositions our students need for study, work and lifelong learning.

Teachers will carefully select a goal, or Progress Step that your child will be working on in class for each of the core curriculum areas (Reading, Writing, Mathematics & Statistics). Additionally, teachers are crafting a ‘general comment’ for each child that relates to the New Zealand Curriculum’s Key Competencies, your child’s learning dispositions, the progress they are making, and how your child is working towards upholding our school values.

The Curriculum Phase your child is working at is determined after considering a range of factors, including:

Knowledge of your child and their interests
Observations of your child as they learn
Learning conversations with your child
Your child’s assessment of their own work
Results from assessments

New Zealand Curriculum - Te Mātaiaho

Curriculum Phases
Phase 1 (Years 0-3)

Te tupu pāhautea i te taiao ako e haumako ana i te reo matatini me te pāngarau

Thriving in environments rich in literacy and numeracy

Phase 2 (Years 4-6)

Te whakawhānui i ngā pae o te mātaruanga me te mahi tahi

Expanding horizons of knowledge and collaborating

Phase 3 (Years 7-8)

Te aro atu ki te ao whānui me te kōkiri kaupapa hei hāpai tahi i ētahi atu

Seeing ourselves in the wider world and advocating with and for others

Important Dates

Community Notices

Kuratau Kōrero - Week 7, Term 2, 2024

Friday 14th June, 2024

In This Issue

Principal's Catch Up

Matariki Celebration, Cultural Feast & Fancy Dress Dance

Attendance Matters

Notifying the School of your child's absence

Mid Year Achievement Summaries

Term 2 Bus Fees - Due Friday 5th July

Oxford Pies Fundraiser

Teeth Tips

REMINDERS

School Docs - Policies & Procedures for Kuratau School

Principal's Catch Up

Shirley Bailey

Matariki Celebration, Cultural Feast & Fancy Dress Dance

Shirley Bailey

Attendance Matters

Shirley Bailey

The Ministry of Education's goal is to have 80% of all tamariki attending school 90% of the time. This means missing fewer than 5 days across a term. Below is a screenshot of our Term 1 attendance summary.

Join with us and help our tamariki Go Five For Five!

Additionally ...

Notifying the School of your child's absence

Rachel Mackey

Mid Year Achievement Summaries

Shirley Bailey

Term 2 Bus Fees - Due Friday 5th July

Rachel Mackey

Oxford Pies Fundraiser

Kuratau Friends of the School

Teeth Tips

Zenda Johns - Oral Health Educator Taupo

Important Dates

Jumping June

All Day

Life Education

All Day

Mid Year Achievement Summaries sent home

2:30pm - 3:00pm

Fancy Dress Dance + Matariki Cultural Feast

6:00pm - 8:00pm

Matariki Holiday - No School

All Day

End of Term 2

All Day

Term 3 Starts

All Day

School Cross Country

All Day

Hui a Whanau - Learning Conferences

Southern Lakes Cross Country

All Day

Inter-School Cross Country

All Day

Wig Wednesday

All Day

End of Term 3

All Day

REMINDERS

School Docs - Policies & Procedures for Kuratau School

Shirley Bailey on Behalf of the Kuratau School Board

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Community Notices

Phone

Email

Postal Address

Social

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