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Newsletter Issue 2

Term 1 - 21 February 2024

Newsletter Issue2Term 1 - 21 February 2024

Principal’s Update

Kia ora, Nameste, Talofa, Konnichiwa, Guten Tag, Gidday, Vannakkam, ni Hao, Kia orana, Hola, Salam, Sa wat deekha, Dia Dhuit, Goeie Dag, Bonjour, Καλημέρα, Mālō e lelei, Greetings everyone


Principal Update

After just 15 days back at school, it is wonderful to see our students so well settled into their new classes and routines.


Learning our National Languages

In every classroom or hub the day begins with karakia and waiata to bring us together and set the tone for the day.

We have embarked on the Te Reo Tuatahi journey this year. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn te reo (language) and tikanga (customs) Māori alongside each other as a whole community - in classrooms, at home (whānau learning for 2024 is in its final stages of development and we will share more about this soon), in our staff meetings and everywhere in between! There is more information later in the newsletter about what your children have been learning and how you can engage with them about this.


Learning Our Values - Ko te mea nui, ko te aroha

In the first few weeks of the year we focus on establishing the conditions, skills and mindsets for effective learning. In my ‘wanders’ through the school I have seen some wonderful self portraits, hub kawas (agreements about how we do things in our hub) and learning around what it means to live our Aroha values of Integrity, Creativity, Resilience and Empathy. This includes:

  • rewriting stories where the main character (eg. Goldilocks) demonstrates more integrity!

  • problem solving challenges where effective collaboration is the key

  • learning about the resilience required to demonstrate a growth mindset - ‘I can’t do this YET’, ‘Let me give it another go’, ‘Its good to be challenged’, ‘I need to practise a little more’

  • practising for our upcoming Athletics day in a couple of weeks

  • visiting the Goodtimes Music bus which is back for another year of providing small group lessons for our students


A Learning Community

As a teaching team, we too are focused on the learning we need to do to continually respond to the needs of the children entrusted to us. With Literacy achievement as a big focus for us in 2024, this week five of our junior teaching team have been refreshing their learning in the Better Start Literacy Approach which we are in our third year of this year. Our staff and hub meetings are focused on delving into our students’ achievement data to explore individual strengths and next steps so that the planning of teaching programmes is founded on this. Our Year 3-6 teaching team will be working with our Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour to explore Effective Literacy Practices that align with the Science of Reading approach (broadly a similar methodology to the Better Start Literacy Approach).


'An Hour a Day' Initiative

Although our Mathematics results from the end of 2023 continue to be strong, we have not forgotten about Mathematics!

You will have read about the government's new policy regarding an hour a day for Reading, Writing, and Mathematics.

Our new Education Minister Erica Stanford has made it quite clear this policy does not mean primary children will now be sitting for an hour of each subject a day. Common sense prevails in that this policy is based on the appropriateness for the age group. She acknowledges that all three of these subjects happen across the curriculum in a range of subjects, not just as stand alone learning. You can be assured that literacy and mathematics have their specific teaching time in our curriculum, as well as being integrated through Play, Science, Technology, The Arts, PE, and all manner of other activities and experiences we provide. We will continue to ensure that we provide quality teaching and learning in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics with explicit teaching and appropriate time given.

More resourcing and guidance is yet to come from the ministry on their expectations, resourcing, andmonitoring processes, but in the meantime our key focus is to continue ensuring we have robust planning and implementation in place to meet the learning needs of our tamariki.

More information for parents and whānau can be found here, as well as an interview with Minister of Education Erica Stanford here.


Education Review Office (ERO)

The school was informed at the end of 2023 that we would begin an ERO partnership with a new Evaluation Partner after the partner we began with in 2022 retired. This used to be a visit once every 3 years from this Ministry of Education team, however, the new model assigns an ERO partner to each school. Their role is to forge an ongoing partnership with us, to support and help us strengthen our school’s strategic initiatives, curriculum development and system checks. This week our leadership team met with our Evaluation Partner, Jeanette Duffy, for her to get a sense of our school context and to begin the process of checking the school’s compliance through policies, procedures and school processes.


Whānau Inventory - Please complete this ASAP

Thank you to the 22 families who have completed our Whānau Inventory.

Please follow this link to the Whānau Inventory and complete the form for your child by Friday 1 March.


Finally a reminder to take a look at our new approach to reporting which we are trialling in the first half of the year in case you missed it last week.

Bellevue School Reporting To Families 2024


Ngā mihi nui


Annette


Remember to take a look at the Bellevue Website for longer term information (Parent Portal) or follow our closed group Facebook Page for quick updates or reminders.

To assist our families with locating our Attendance Procedures, please note that the below link now takes you to a 'quick link' onour website to the Attendance Procedures in PDF form.

2024 Whānau Inventory - Complete by 1 March Please

Bellevue School continues to gather our general family information digitally. Please follow this link to complete the whānau inventory for the 2024 school year.


Emergency contact information is not included in this form as it was last year. This will be sent home in paper form at a later date, prior to our Emergency Evacuation. In the interim, please contact the office directly if your Emergency Contact information has changed since our Emergency Evacuation last year.


We look forward to receiving your completed form before 5pm on Friday 1 March. If you require support with this form or would prefer a paper copy, contact the school office or see the below information.

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Welcome

Haere mai ki te kura o Bellevue. Welcome to the following students and their whānau. It is great to have you in our Bellevue Learning Community.


Room 2 - Agamjot & Jordan

Room 3 - Jerrence & Mahika

Room 11 - Nimrat

Room 13 - Casen

Room 14 - Billy & Tarendra

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Thank You

Cara Warboys-Clark for the beautiful flowers provided for the staffroom from your garden! They really brightened the place up.

Username bellevue-newlands, password 'grow'

Staff News

Sadly for us we are losing Michele Clarke as our Office Manager at the end of this term. After more than 25 years at Bellevue, Michele has supported many new families and students to settle into the school, taken care of their first aid needs and been a warm and welcoming ‘first port of call’ for many, many families. There are parents in our school today who remember coming to see ‘Michele in the office’ when they were young children!

Michele has made the decision to spend more time with her five grandchildren and focus on her family so it is good news for her, but we will be very sad to lose her as a major part of the ‘glue’ that holds our school family together.

As many of you will know, Michele is a private person who has been very clear that she does not want ‘any fuss’ so we will be having a quiet staff celebration of her time with us towards the end of the term, though you are, of course, free to acknowledge her in your own way should you wish.


On a more positive note, we also welcome three new teacher aides to the school over the coming weeks:


  • Merrick Keenan is an experienced teacher aide, lives in our community and coaches football for Onslow Junior Football Club.
  • Lorelle Lints also brings a great deal of experience and expertise to the role with a background in Educare, Nature school and supporting young children with additional needs.
  • Nathaniel Daley is a Philosophy and Education student who has volunteered as Youth Leader and is passionate about working with young people.


We are delighted to have them our team. If you see them around, please help them to feel welcome.
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Trading Jibbitz & Energy Drinks - Your Support Please

Jibbitz

The latest craze in school is the Jibbitz that you attach to Crocs shoes (see image). While we can see the appeal of these in expressing individual style, the swapping and trading of these in school can create disruption, upset and competition - none of which are conducive to learning. They also get lost on the school field. If your child is wearing Crocs to school please talk to them about NOT swapping or trading these with others - if they remain on students own shoes, they are not a problem.


Water & Energy Drinks

We are a water only school. The below (italics) is an excerpt from our Food & Nutrition Policy (you can read the full policy by clicking the School Docs green button above). Some of our students are coming to school with drinks other than water and some with water in Prime or other energy drink bottles. This makes it difficult to guage whether the children are in fact drinking water and leads to confusion from other students about what is ok to drink at school and what is not. Energy drinks are not.

Please could you support us by providing your child with water in either a reusable bottle or, if not possible, in a disposable bottle that is not associated with an energy drink company.


Thank you.

At Bellevue School, we:

  • ensure that any food or drink provided by/through the school (e.g. in class or sold at school) aligns with national food and nutrition guidelines, such as Healthy Food and Drink Guidance – Schools

  • incorporate nutrition education across the curriculum, including the health programme

  • provide water as the only drink option for students and request that families only send water for their child to drink at school

  • encourage staff to model healthy food and drink choices

  • provide nutrition messages and food that acknowledges the diversity of our community and considers those with special dietary needs (e.g. allergies and intolerances, and religious, cultural, and ethical food requirements)

  • consider our nutrition messages when deciding on food provided by the school (e.g. class rewards and celebrations, student prizes, special events, fundraising activities, and school camp menus)

  • actively promote physical activity as the partner of good nutrition

  • encourage students taking part in physical activity to drink water for hydration and to refuel with healthy snacks.
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Te Reo Tuatahi

In Term 1 our Te Reo Tuatahi learning is about pepeha. Each week, we explore a different aspect of pepeha as we gradually develop our own personalised pepeha. This explains where our ancestors are from and how they migrated to Aotearoa as well as describing our name, whānau members, community and special places that are important to our whānau.


Daily Tikanga - each day in each classroom

  • Karakia Timatanga

  • Waiata - Song

  • Pepeha Practice


In the first 3 weeks of the programme we have been learning to greet and introduce ourselves to people and to say where we and our ancestors are from. We have also been focusing on how to make great sounds in te reo Māori.



KIA ORA!

NŌ ______ ŌKU TĪPUNA. (My ancestors are from ……)

NŌ ______ AHAU. (I am from ……..)

KO _______ AHAU. (I am …….)

TĒNĀ KOUTOU.


Questions you might discuss with your child/ren to support their in class learning are


  • "What countries are in your ancestry?"

  • "Who lives at home?" or

  • "Who takes care of you at home?"

New Entrants—Enrol Now!

We encourage you to enrol your preschoolers as soon as they turn 4. This assists with future planning for our kura and classes. Out of zone enrolment applications close approximately six months prior to commencement date so it is important to submit these early to ensure you are in the ballot. We accept up to five out of zone new entrant applications per term.


Important information about the Bellevue School enrolment scheme (zone)

If you have preschoolers at home that you are planning to enrol at Bellevue School in the future, here are a few important things to know and put into action:

1. If you are living outside of the Bellevue School enrolment zone, then your preschooler(s) will need to be processed as an out of zone application. Please let us know, if you haven’t already, of any future enrolments at Bellevue School from your family. It helps greatly with our planning to know well in advance. And if we know then we can also prompt you as to when you need to get your out of zone application in.

2. It is very important that out of zone applications are received by the application deadline of Friday 29 March 2024 , for enrolment from Saturday 22 July 2024 to Friday 27 September 2024. We cannot accept any out of zone applications if they are not received by the deadline advertised for the enrolment period your child is due to start school in. The deadline can sometimes be up to six months prior to your child actually starting school.

3. Even if your preschooler(s) are in zone, please get your enrolment in to us as soon as possible to enable us to plan ahead. We need this information to be able to work out how many out of zone applications we can accept in each enrolment period.

If you have any questions or are unsure about anything, please call the school office and talk to Amanda.

Vision & Hearing Screening - Opt out form

The school offers free vision and hearing screening through Hutt Valley DHB on an annual basis. If you wish to opt out of this for your child, please click the link below to complete the opt out form. If you do not complete the form below we will assume you are opting in.

https://forms.gle/NTKBGBnskD1dA3Lt5


The Vision/Hearing Technician will be visiting school on Tuesday 19 & Wednesday 20 March.

Whakawhanaungatanga Fridays

This term, Whakawhanaungatanga Fridays will be in Weeks 5 and 8 (1 March and 22 March).


Last year, Whakawhanaungatanga Fridays were a way for children to come together across the school to explore, learn from each other and connect with one another. We're excited to be continuing these sessions this year! During these afternoons, children opt in to sessions based on overarching curriculum areas including STEM, The Visual Arts, The Performing Arts, Health and PE, or Large Loose Parts. Sessions follow a Learning through Play approach, where a variety of engaging invitations are provided to spark creativity and curiosity, while also allowing students to follow their own passions and interests. This focus on 'process over product' promotes a holistic approach to learning and supports our tamariki to develop both their core subject knowledge, as well as dispositional skills such as perseverance, resilience and empathy, values and skills that are integral to life long learning.


During Whakawhanaungatanga Fridays children are:

1. Learning in rich and authentic contexts, relevant to their own experiences and interests.

2. Developing dispositional skills, such as collaboration, risk taking, and leadership.

3. Living values that we hold dear at Bellevue School, such as empathy, integrity, resilience, and creativity.


We warmly invite whānau to come along and play, explore and learn alongside your child/ren during any of the sessions this year. There is no need to commit in advance and you are welcome to stay for as little or as long as you are able. We would love to see you. Sessions will run this year from 11:50am - 1:05pm on any of these days. On arrival, please head to the office and you will be able to find where your child/ren will be for the afternoon.

Yummy Sticker Collection

This year we are collecting Yummy stickers and bag labels again. If you have any, please send them along to your child’s whānau teacher. At the end of the year the stickers and labels are converted into money for us to spend on new sports equipment for the school!

Scholastic Bookclub

The latest brochures were sent home to all families his week. Orders are due in to the office tomorrow, Thursday 22 February. Payment is by cash or credit card (details on the bookclub form). Please bring your order along to the school office, in a sealed envelope with your child's name, room number and Scholastic Bookclub written on the outside of the envelope.

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Library News


Just a reminder to everyone of the importance of each student having a waterproof book bag. Our most common book damage is water, so we want to take every precaution to avoid this happening.

Sports News

Weet-Bix TRYathlon

This year’s Weet-Bix TRYathlon is being held at Kilbirnie Park on Sunday March 17 at 8am. If your child would like to take part, you can sign them up here - our school group is ‘Bellevue School, Newlands’. Please order your registration pack to be delivered to your home address, as we are unable to sort these at school. More information can be found about the event here.


Let’s Get Movin’ in March!

We are taking part in Movin’ March again this year. We had so many tamariki take part in this fantastic initiative last year that we have been given a bumper pack of prizes for 2024! Everyone will be invited to take part in the Walk or Wheel (WOW) Passport Challenge all through March. If your child walks/wheels to or from school their Passport will be stamped. A full Passport gets them a prize, and they can complete as many Passports as they wish throughout March. Walking or wheeling to school is a great way to get active, kick start learning for the day AND take care of the environment. If you live too far away, why not ‘Park and Stride’? Tamariki can walk or wheel from Link Road or Kenmore Street and still get their passport stamped.

School Athletics Day - Wednesday 6 March, pp Friday 8 March

We are excited to be holding our whole school Athletics Day on Wednesday 6 March. Tamariki are already busy practising their athletics skills in readiness! Years 3 - 6 will be taking part in athletics rotations throughout the day, with New Entrants - Year 2 holding their events on Newlands Field at TIME TBC. We warmly invite whānau to come along and watch your child/ren take part. There is no need to commit in advance and you are welcome to stay for as little or as long as you are able. Please see below for a timetable and map of the Year 3-6 events.

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Minutes of Board Meetings - Bellevue Website

Board meeting minutes are public documents and therefore you have the right to see them. The minutes of meetings will also record whether the board went into committee (to discuss confidential information or information pertaining to a specific individual (for example, a staff appointment or resignation). This part of the meeting is confidential to the Board. The minutes also state the time and place of the meeting.

Bellevue School Board minutes are published on our website - follow THIS LINK or go to Our People - Board Minutes on the top menu bar.

Please note that the minutes of a meeting need to be approved by the Board as a true and accurate record at a subsequent meeting so there is a 4-6 week delay between the meeting and the publishing of the minutes to the public.

Previously Shared Links

New page for families on our website that outlines our approach to the use of technology in supporting learning and provides information about the platforms that we use. Please follow this link - https://www.bellevue-newlands.school.nz/about-5 (this information has also come home in a hard copy flyer). For more information see our Digital Technology and Online Safety policy on our Bellevue School Docs page (username:bellevue-newlands, password: grow) on our school website.


Clarification of how we use each communication platform - printable copy of this for your reference on our website HERE.

Local Partnerships

We are always looking to strengthen our partnerships and relationships with those in our local community. If you work for a company that may be interested in supporting our school, please get in touch with annette@bellevue-newlands.school.nz.

Thank you

Bellevue Writer's Corner
NOW UPDATED!!
This is our platform to publish great writing from students across the school.
Please pop onto our website here to view a collection of great writing from our students.

Welcome to 2024 Bellevue Whānau!

FUNdraisers were thrilled to again start off the new school year with supporting the

Whānau/Community Picnic by offering the sausage sizzle and water slide. It really was neat to

see the kids and parents all having fun together, catching up and relaxing before the new school

year kicked off!

Our activities this term will be planned to coincide with school events through Term 1. Each of

them, we hope, bringing the FUN to your kids’ school days. Our current planned activities for the

term are further below.


Additionally, our FUNdraisers committee needs you!

At the end of 2024, the Year 6 children of three of our stalwart committee members will be leaving

Bellevue School.

If you have capacity to take on being an incredibly valued member of our community and

committee, please join us! You can contact Rebecca at fundraisers@bellevue-newlands.school.nz

or just turn up to our committee meetings!


Whānau/ Community Picnic Day

Thank you to all who enjoyed the sausage sizzle at the Community Picnic!

We took on feedback and offered (not quite enough!) drinks and also ice blocks this year.

$450 was raised from this event, which will be put towards the fundraising goal of providing more

shelter for the seniors playground areas.


Athletics Day

Unfortunately we are short on capacity to offer Juicies as we did last year.

We are looking into options where we can bring something refreshing to the children during break

time on this day.


Spring Bulb Fundraiser

In the coming week information and an order form will come home with your child about this

FUNdraiser! Just like watching Monarch butterflies hatch during summer, what child (and adult!) doesn’t love to watch spring bulbs sprout and flower after winter!


Pizza Lunch

Our classic Pizza lunch will be happening at the end of term.

Order forms will be available online (by preference) and also sent home in print during March.


FUNdraisers Committee Meetings

Our first committee meeting for the year has been held and several new opportunities were

discussed for the future of FUNdraisers. In order to make some of these come to fruition, our little

team of 5 need more support – WE NEED YOU!

The meeting is scheduled for 7pm on 7 March 2024, in the school staffroom.

We hope to see you there!

One of our students enjoying the Slip and Slide during the Whānau/ Community Picnic Day

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Important Dates

Monday 12 February - Friday 1 March

Dental Van at School


Wednesday 21 February

Whānau Inventory Support Drop In (Office) 2:30 - 3:30pm


Thursday 29 February

Bellevue Board Meeting 6.30 - 8.30pm (Staffroom)


Tuesday 27 February

Northern Zone cricket - pp Thursday 29 February


Wednesday 6 March

Whole School Athletics Day - pp Friday 8 March


Thursday 13 March

Combined Schools Board Event - Ngā Hau e Whā o Paparārangi - 6 - 7pm


Tuesday 19 & Wednesday 20 March

Hearing/Vision Technician at school


Thursday 21 March

Pōwhiri for new Bellevue students and staff 10.30am

Bellevue Board Meeting 6.30 - 8.30pm


Monday 25 March

School Cross Country - pp Wednesday 27 March


Tuesday 26 March

Northern Zone Football - pp Thursday 28 March


Thursday 28 March

Bellevue Board Meeting 6.30 - 8.30pm


Friday 29 March

Good Friday - school closed


Monday 1 April

Easter Monday - school closed


Tuesday 2 April

Easter Tuesday - school closed


Wednesday 3 April - Friday 12 April

Life Education Van in school


Friday 12 April 2024

Last day of term 1


Monday 29 April

First day of term 2


Thursday 23 May


Bellevue Board Meeting 6.30 - 8.30pm

Newsletter proudly sponsored by

Bellevue School

Email: office@bellevue-newlands.school.nz

Address: 12 Bancroft Terrace, Newlands 6037, Wellington

Phone: 04 4787037