Wilson School, Term 3 Newsletter

Term 3 – 25th July – 30 September - (Term Break: 3rd October – 14th October)

Term 4 – 17th October – 16th December

Kia ora koutou,

Welcome to Term 3 everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed the term break. We send out a very warm welcome to all our new students and families.

Term 2 was a very busy one at Wilson School - we have continued our creative projects with Lake House Arts, celebrated Matariki, Pink Shirt Day, took part in Jumping June, and have continued with workshops from Circability. Lots of fun happening across the school!

We also held our first face-to-face whānau learning evening last term. This was presented by Jo Sutton from Autism New Zealand and focused on managing anxiety in children. Thank you to those who attended, we will be sending out details of our next events over the coming weeks.

For the first time, we also had a small number of our Glenfield College students take part in the National Dance Challenge. Our students were stars and loved the limelight of being on stage at Westlake Girls High School. This event was made extra special via the links we have with Glenfield College. Two of the mainstream students supported this, providing us with choreography, rehearsals, and moral support on the night.

COVID-19 is still very much with us, as we learn to work with the virus our COVID Safety Plan is still operating. We will continue to let you know if there has been a case of COVID-19 linked to your child or young person’s class group. We continue to ask our students and staff to stay at home if unwell. Thank you for playing your part in this and being vigilant, this helps us to create a safer school environment and to remain open for face-to-face learning. A copy of our COVID Safety Plan can be found on our website here - https://www.wilson.school.nz/our-covid-plan/

Have a great term everyone!

Noho ora mai

Neil Kefford

Why join a school board?

· School board members are active leaders in our schools. They have an important role of supporting strong professional leadership and ensuring effective teaching for all students through informed governance.

· Parents/caregivers and people in the wider community can be parent representatives. School boards need to represent the diversity of their school communities to ensure a bright future for all our children.

· The school board elections are the opportunity to vote for candidates who will make a positive difference for children’s education. We need more people willing to use their skills and experiences for the benefit of students!

Nominations for the next elections are now open. We are using the services of MySchoolElection to run this process for us. Nominations can be submitted here - https://myschoolelection.nz/mynomination

Further information on being a school board member can be found here - https://www.schoolboardelections.org.nz/ alternatively, please don’t hesitate to contact me to

discuss this further.

We use the services of School Docs who design policies for many New Zealand schools; updating them to reflect current legislation. Periodically parents are asked to review certain policies. This term parents are invited to have their say about the following policies.

• · Child Protection - Board review
• · Abuse Recognition and Reporting
• · Care and Management of Students
• · Supporting Student Wellbeing
• · Food and Nutrition
• · Sun Protection - Board review

Staff Wellbeing and Safety

• · Staff Wellbeing
• · Harassment - Board review

1. Visit the website https://wilson.schooldocs.co.nz
2. Enter the username and password
3. Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed or click ‘Current Review’
4. Read the policy.
5. Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
6. Select the reviewer type “Parent”.
7. Enter your name (optional).
8. Submit your ratings and comments.
9. If you don’t have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.

The students have been very busy last term participating in a wide range of activities. We were very lucky to have some extra funding to support our classes with more EOTC trips and fund our Junior satellite classes to go swimming at their local leisure centre.

The students absolutely loved the swimming sessions, and we are looking at doing this more often! Windy Ridge satellite went to the Glow show while Manuka satellite decided to get active and go to JUMP. There were also a few visits to the local McDonalds much to the delight of our students!

Room 1 and 4 also had sessions with Lake house Arts in school and at the centre. They worked with two mediums, clay and paper rubbings, to create some fabulous pieces of art which was exhibited at Lake House Arts centre last term.

In Term 2 the Intermediate and Senior students explored Space, created out of this world artworks, learnt how to play a harp, and had a visit from our local constable, learning about how they keep us safe.

We also enjoyed learning about the solar system and Matariki, attended the “Glow Show”, make our own planets and stars, created cloaks displayed at the amazing Matariki festival at Bayswater school and got creative at Lake House Arts centre.

Our Senior students also continued with their Community Experiences including Shakespeare Park, swimming at the Leisure centre and Horticulture at Base school. We also had some fun trips to the Zoo and JUMP.

Shared reading and games gave opportunity to practice our social and communication skills and we got physical with “Jumping June”.

At the end of term 2 we said farewell to one of our teachers, Judy Woodcock. Judy is an incredible teacher who has worked with Wilson School since 1994. Judy has worked across our satellite classes and base school, supporting so many of our children and young people. Judy’s work, support and dedication to our school community has been exceptional.

We hope you enjoy your retirement Judy!

If you are worried about getting the vaccine, you can talk to a trained advisor in the Healthline disability team. The team is made up of people who have experience of a disability themselves, or who have worked with the disabled community. They will support you, your whānau or someone you care for and answer any questions you may have about:

· Accessibility arrangements and getting mobility assistance at different vaccination centres.

· Getting your vaccination safely.

· Home vaccinations

· Any effects the vaccine may have on your or your medications.

The disability team is available Monday to Friday, from 8am to 8pm.

· Call 0800 28 29 26 and push 2.

· Free text: 8988

· Email: accessiblecovidvaccinations@whakarongorau.nz

Please report all student absence to the main school office for base and satellite students. Absence can be reported via phone/email or via our Wilson School website:

09 489 5648 - phone
office@wilson.school.nz - email

https://www.wilson.school.nz/absence/ - website

Principal: Neil Kefford – principal@wilson.school.nz

Deputy Principal: Kay Gunston - kay.gunston@wilson.school.nz