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Principal's Catch Up
Shirley Bailey
Welcome to Term 3
Hard to believe we're already into the second half of the 2024 school year! I trust you all had a lovely two-week break with your children.
During the break, our school was bustling with activity as we removed the old playground and installed a new one. Our playground project, which the board has been working on for almost two years, included; earthworks, the purchase of additional bark, and the installation of the new playground structure, with a total cost of approximately $76,109 + GST. This project was made possible by various funding opportunities, including Bike Day fundraising, a $30,000 Pelorus Trust Grant, and another $34,356 from the Lotteries Community Facilities Grant. A big shout out to Lakeside Earthworks, Ground Scan NZ, and Playground Creations for their excellent service and support throughout the installation process.
A special thank you to Stuart Humphrey for pruning the fruit trees in our orchard during the holiday break. They look amazing, and we appreciate his expertise.
Snow Squad 2024
Snow Squad kicked off this week with a fantastic day on the mountain. I had the privilege of joining, thanks to Mrs. Pyman. After a bit of a 'hairy' first run down Happy Valley, I quickly found my feet and had an absolute blast with our tamariki. It's incredible to see how quickly our first-timers get up and going! Snow Squad offers our students unique opportunities to learn physical education skills while developing resilience, problem-solving, and collaboration skills, all while enjoying being outside in our local environment. Big thanks to Mrs Pyman for all the mahi she has done to prepare for this season.
Upcoming Events
CROSS COUNTRY:
- Week 4: School Cross Country (Friday 16th August). We will start Cross Country training in Week 2. Please make sure your children wear appropriate clothing to school. They will get muddy and dirty and possibly wet. It may pay to pack a spare set of clothes!
- Week 5: Southern Lakes Cross Country (Friday 23rd August) held at Kuratau School
- Week 6: Inter-school Cross Country (Tuesday 27th August) held in Taupō
Week 5: Hui-a-Whānau | Learning Conferences
- Purpose: To meet with your child's teacher to discuss their learning, progress, and current goals in reading, writing, and mathematics.
- We encourage you to bring your child to these conferences.
Relationships and Sexuality Programme
- Teachers will begin this programme this in Week 3. Please see an email that was sent home to all whānau explaining this programme.
Other Exciting Opportunities
Week 6: Dog Safety Education
- Ashleigh, the Animal Control Educator from Taupō District Council, and Hunter the Education Dog will visit to educate our tamariki about dog safety.
Week 8: Civil Defence Education
- Another representative from Taupō District Council will teach our tamariki about what to do during a Civil Defence Emergency.
Week 9: Māori Language Week and Taiopenga Festival
- Taiopenga Festival 2024 will likely be on Tuesday, 17th September. This date, and our time slot, are still to be confirmed. Our Kapa Haka sleepover is scheduled for Thursday, 12th September, with all students in Ruru and Karearea expected to attend. Our final dress rehearsal is on Friday, 13th September and we warmly invite parents to attend (1pm). Whea Lena will soon start Kapa Haka practices with our Karearea and Ruru students.
Learning Focus
This term, some classes are starting the term learning about the Olympics. Our major topical focus for the remainder of the term will be centred around Kaitiakitanga and its meaning. All classes will explore this value through various lenses. We will hold our annual Wai Whenua Day on Friday, 20th September. Please mark this on your calendars – it’s a great opportunity for our school community to come together and care for our local environment. This year, we'll focus on releasing and weeding in our wetland area. Mrs Hunt has organised for some guest speakers to lead some sessions about trapping, water quality and how to care for, and maintain our wetland area.
Professional Learning
Our teachers continue to attend regular professional learning opportunities in Literacy and Mathematics. We are in our second year of implementing a school-wide Structured Literacy approach and are continuing our mahi in this area, utilising the strengths of our PLD provider, Kirsty Tatere (Learning Adventures). Kirsty works alongside our teachers twice a term, modelling teaching practices, observing teachers teach and providing feedback.
Mrs. Pyman and Whaea Emma will continue to attend regular Mathematics professional learning days throughout the term, and all teachers will participate in online Maths workshops to further develop their curriculum content and pedagogical knowledge around best practice teaching and learning of Mathematics.
Mrs. Pyman and Whaea Emma will continue to attend regular Mathematics professional learning days throughout the term, and all teachers will participate in online Maths workshops to further develop their curriculum content and pedagogical knowledge around best practice teaching and learning of Mathematics.
Classroom Release Time
We are pleased to announce an increase in the Ministry of Education's Classroom Release Time allowance for our teachers this term - now up to four days per teacher. This means that each teacher will have approximately one day per fortnight released from their classroom duties. This valuable time will be dedicated to professional development, planning, and collaboration, enabling our teachers to enhance their instructional practices and better support student learning. We believe this will contribute significantly to the overall quality of education at our school - allowing our teachers more time to better plan and prepare engaging, purposeful learning opportunities for our tamariki.
We certainly have another jam-packed term ahead, with plenty of opportunities for our tamariki and kaiako to grow as leaders of their own learning. We look forward to seeing you throughout the term!
Mā te wa
Shirley
Mā te wa
Shirley
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