Newsletter Issue 2

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

Although school is a rather wet place at present, we are feeling very fortunate not to be experiencing the challenges of our colleagues in the North. We acknowledge that many of our families have friends and loved ones in cyclone-affected places, and our thoughts are very much with them at this time.

Gathering Information from Families - IMPORTANT.

Currently Bellevue is gathering information from our families in three forms.

Thank you to the members of our community who have already responded. It would be an enormous help to our planning if you could take 5 minutes to complete the top two forms as soon as possible.

1. Whānau Inventory - ALL families to respond ASAP please - https://forms.gle/a5CBXpvFPZ4rUoAS7 - to be completed by 5pm Friday 24 February.

This form is our annual information gathering from families and includes essential permissions for the publication of work, learning and use of digital devices. Without this information your child may not be able to use technology in their classroom.

2. Notification of early pick up (12.30) to support teacher attendance at Paid Union Meetings on Wednesday 1 March - https://forms.gle/H9W4x4nPZegewxUq8 - ALL families to respond ASAP please - to be completed by THIS FRIDAY - 17 February please.

This form is to request your support for our teachers to attend important NZEI Te Riu Roa primary teacher meetings as they, and principals, continue to make the case to Government for the best investment in tamariki. We are seeking increased staffing to provide more support for individual students and increased support for our highest needs learners, as well as pay that will enable schools to attract and retain the best teachers for our children. We will staff the school accordingly for those students who cannot be picked up, but require your response in order to plan for this.

3. Registering interest in school working bee on Saturday 18 March - https://forms.gle/6rsUYJkEbCiMVMif6 - OPTIONAL - to be completed by Monday 6 March please.

Staff Professional Development

Our team has been delving into the Standards for The Teaching Profession, how we demonstrate these, and what this means for our practice at Bellevue School. Like our students we are focused on continual growth. Each year every member of staff sets a professional goal which is based on these standards and will positively impact our ākonga.

Property Update - Construction Work Beginning Early April

The combined weather tightness work to the administration block, with staffroom upgrade that was originally scheduled for the end of 2022 is due to start during the term break after Easter. Although, we do not anticipate too much interruption to classes during this work, it will have an impact on access to the school for families as the car park will be closed to staff and families during this time to allow for site access. Part of the middle school playground (outside R7-9) will also be closed for the safety of our students, though they will still have access to their classes and the library.

The work is likely to continue throughout term 2 and 3, possibly into Term 4 so our staff will be without a staffroom and all administration tasks will be conducted from a temporary office positioned beside the hall. This will also be where children will go for medical needs and parents/caregivers will head for any queries, pick ups, etc. You may have noticed a storage container in the car park already as those of us in the office begin to ‘move out’!

In addition to this we have some internal environment improvements scheduled for Hub 2 and 4 classrooms and repairs to the cladding of Hub 5.

We will keep you informed as plans evolve and, as always, continue to keep the safety, wellbeing and learning of our students at the fore.

School Website and Facebook Page - Are you following us?

Finally a reminder to all of our new families to please bookmark our Bellevue Website (this is not currently very easy to find, but we are working on it!) and consider following our closed group Bellevue Facebook Page for important notices and updates.

Please keep an eye on the important dates below as we schedule our community and other events over the next couple of weeks.

Ngā mihi nui

Annette

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.

Soren in Room 2

Pranshu and Maria in Room 4.

Bellevue School is continuing to gather our general family information digitally. Please follow this link to complete the whānau inventory for the 2023 school year. We are also using this opportunity to ask for feedback from you and your child about last Monday's meetings and picnic.

Please note that this form also includes permissions for sharing of images and work, as well as for your child's use of digital technology whilst at school. Your child will not be able to use devices at school until this is submitted.

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 24 February. Please contact the office if you require support with this form or would prefer a paper copy.

Over the past two weeks, our kaiako and tamariki have been enjoying getting to know each other and setting up routines for the start of the year. As part of this mahi, children have been looking at the different skills and values that they need throughout the day to make Bellevue the amazing learning community that it is!

One of the next steps on our PB4L journey is to find a consistent way of acknowledging those children that are living these skills and values. As part of this, in Term 1 every hub is trialling two initiatives:

1. Class Dojo Points - Every child has their own Dojo avatar and is acknowledged with a Dojo Point when any teacher sees them living our values in the classroom or the playground. Some of the values we are acknowledging are empathy, integrity, creativity, and resilience (among others)! As a school we are working towards the goal of 5000 Dojo Points. When we reach this goal the tamariki have decided that we will have a toy afternoon. As of last Friday we had 3,153 points, so it won’t be long now!

2. Hub Leader Board - Each hub in the school will have its own Hub Leader Board. This is intended to acknowledge when children are noticed going above and beyond or living our values consistently, so may not be something every child is acknowledged for within the year. This will be celebrated during Hub Hui, as well as the child’s photo being placed on the Hub Leader Board alongside a caption explaining why they have been chosen.

At the end of the term we will be asking for feedback from both teachers and children to see if these initiatives are something we would like to continue for the rest of the year. Watch this space!

We are still looking for adults to support our students while they are on road patrol throughout 2023. It is a legal requirement for schools to have an adult stand with the Road Patrols when they are on duty. It is important that our children are able to safely cross the road.

When: Thursday & Friday mornings as well as Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday afternoons

Times: Mornings - 8:25 am to 9:00 am; Afternoons - 2:50 – 3:15pm

Who: Any parent, grandparent or caregiver is welcome. Your child DOES NOT have to be a road patrol in order for you to volunteer.

Please email Deeann at deeann@bellevue-newlands.school.nz or contact the school office if you are able to volunteer.

Thank you to our families for supporting your children to attend regularly.

We have averaged 87% of our school community at school since the start of the school year.

Of the 13% not attending 8% of the absences are justified - for example when a student is unwell. With such consistent attendance we are all set for a solid year of learning!

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.

If you have pre-schoolers 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 pre-schooler(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 9am Friday 31 March 2023, for enrolment from Saturday 1 July 2023 to Friday 22 September 2023. 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 pre-schooler(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.

Where appropriate, we try to deal with concerns and complaints informally in the first instance. If you would like to raise a concern with us, please follow the steps below. If you believe your concern cannot be resolved informally, it may be appropriate to make a formal complaint.

1. Raise the concern with the right person

Contact details for the principal and presiding member are available on our school website or from the school office. In all instances, you may have a support person to help you raise a concern or make a complaint.

If you approach a board member with your concerns, you will be asked to follow the actions below and the board member will inform the principal and presiding member.

If several people share a concern, the process is the same. You could nominate a group representative to approach the school, and it may be appropriate for the group and the school to use a mediator.

• If you have a general concern about the school or its programmes, discuss it with the person involved or with a member of the leadership team or the principal.

• If you have a particular concern about a staff member or a school activity, contact the person involved to discuss the matter privately. We ask that you make this direct approach as soon as possible.
  If you do not wish to approach the person involved, contact a member of the leadership team or the principal to discuss your concern. The principal or leadership team member may communicate with the person involved.

• If you have a concern about your own child or one of our other students, contact the student's whānau class teacher or the deputy principal for the area of the school your child is in (junior or senior) to discuss the matter. The school monitors, records, and responds appropriately to any concerns about a student's safety and welfare.
  If your concern relates to another student, you must not approach that student or their parents/caregivers/whānau directly. Speak to their whānau teacher or the deputy principal for the area of the school your child is in.

• If you have a concern about another parent, caregiver, or member of the school community on a school-related matter, raise this with the principal.

• If the matter concerns the principal and you have not first resolved it by discussion, or you feel uncomfortable directly approaching the principal, contact the presiding member.

• If the matter concerns a board member, contact the presiding member, or another member of the board if it concerns the presiding member.

2. Work towards a resolution

In most cases, concerns can be resolved informally with constructive discussions.

• Be prepared to make a time to discuss your concern if the person involved is unable to talk with you straight away.

• Be open to listening to the other side of the story to avoid communication breakdowns.

• Follow-up actions or later check-ins may be able to be agreed where appropriate.

• Involving a third party to facilitate discussion or participate in a meeting may be appropriate.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your initial meeting, contact the principal, a member of the management team, or the presiding member to discuss further resolution.

If this process does not resolve your concern, you can make a formal complaint.

3. Follow-up and feedback

Resolution of the concern or complaint may include checking that the solutions have been implemented and are working. The effectiveness of the solutions may be fed back to the person who raised the issue where appropriate. This follow-up may be recorded in the concerns and complaints register.

In some circumstances it will not be possible or appropriate for the school to advise you of a final outcome.

This evening the Bellevue Board will hold their first meeting for the year. The Board meeting dates will be publicised through the key dates at the bottom of this newsletter.

The board has the overall responsibility and accountability for the our school.

The board’s primary objectives are determined by the Education and Training Act 2020, to ensure:

• every student at the school can reach their highest possible standard in educational achievement.

• the school is a physically and emotionally safe place for all students and staff.

• the school is inclusive of students of differing needs; and that.

• the school gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

These primary objectives flow through all of the board’s work, starting with the strategic plan, which is the board’s key guiding document.

We are currently focusing on updating Bellevue’s Strategic Plan to support our Annual Plan - both of these will be shared with families in March.

For more information about our school Board, including our Board members or contact for Kelvin Russell, our presiding member, please visit our website.

For more information about school Boards see NZSTAs Information for Parents.

We have had a number of kind community members offer assistance with tidying up our school grounds which have become 'unruly' over the summer!

In response we would like to propose a working bee during the day on Saturday 18 March.

At this stage, we are keen to gauge interest to inform our planning. If you are not able to come along on the day, please consider sending along some baking or kai to sustain the workers!

If you are able to assist on this day - either in person or by providing sustenance - please let us know through THIS FORM before Monday 13 March.

Thank you for supporting us to keep Bellevue looking beautiful!

The first ten minutes of both break-times is eating time. Classes sit and eat together. We supervise students while they are eating. Any uneaten food is left in lunchboxes so that you can see what your child is eating or leaving. We appreciate families helping us to reduce plastic waste, so reusable containers and utensils are encouraged that your child is able to open independently. We have food in the staff kitchen for those who forget to bring their lunch. Our school promotes healthy choices so please do not include sweets, chocolate or chewing gum in your child’s lunch.

Reminder that you can order lunches from www.lunchonline.co.nz on Thursdays only. Lunches are provided by Nada Bakery.

A friendly reminder to our families to please use the footpath entrance beside the tyre taniwha when accessing the grounds before or after school during road patrol times. We have had families exiting through the carpark recently which make it tricky to exit the grounds without opening the gate at the top that is closed to keep our Road Patrollers safe. Thank you.

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.

A reminder that books borrowed over the summer holidays are now due back.

It’s also a timely reminder about the use of book bags to protect our library books from food and water in school bags.

Book bags can be purchased from the office for $10.50

If books get ripped at home please let us know and return them in the state that they are in as we have special ‘magic’ tape to repair them.

The latest brochures have been sent to all families. Orders are due in this Thursday, 16 February. Payment is by cash or credit card (details on the bookclub form). Please place your order in the locked money box in the Office foyer, in a sealed envelope with your child's name, room number and Scholastic book club written on the outside of the envelope.

Miniball 2023

Thank you to all of the parents who have come forward offering to help with Miniball this year. Our tamariki are incredibly lucky to have an amazing community that wants to support them in learning and following their interests in a wide variety of ways. Keep your eyes peeled shortly for more information regarding dates, timings, and how to register!

Movin’ March

This year, Bellevue School will be taking part in Movin’ March again. All through March, we will be stamping Walk or Wheel (WOW) Passports for every trip to and from school that your child walks or wheels. 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 further afield why not try ‘Park and Stride’? Children can be dropped off on Link Road (by Bellevue Kindy) or the bottom of Bancroft Terrace and walk from there to get their stamp. Your child/ren will receive a WOW passport in the next few weeks. Happy Movin’!

Wellington Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon 2023 registrations are closing on 26 February!

The Wellington Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon will be held on Sunday 19 March, 2023 at Kilbirnie Park. Information about the event can be found here. If your child is interested in taking part in this fun activity, please register as part of our ‘Bellevue (Newlands)’ school group.

Welcome to 2023 Bellevue Whanau!

FUNdraisers were pretty excited to kick off the year supporting our cool school at the Whanau

Picnic on 31 January by offering the sausage sizzle and water slide. It was truly delightful 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 are 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.

In order to run these activities, you will see a call out for help coming through on our school and

FUNdraisers Facebook pages. Please be in touch if you can help!. Many hands make light work

and increases our ability to ensure these activities bring the FUN for all!

We also have a lot of ideas in the pipeline to make our activities for the kids even more FUN and

engaging, so please if you can spare the time and effort, come and be involved with our

committee! You can be in touch with Rebecca at fundraisers@bellevue-newlands.school.nz

Juicies for Athletics Day

Athletics is scheduled for Wednesday 8 March, and your FUNdraisers will be bringing the Juicies to your kids during lunch time to cool them down and quench their thirst! Order forms will be coming home by 17 February. Orders will close on 24 February. Should the Athletics day be postponed, the Juicies will be delivered on the postponement date!

Pizza and Juicies for the FUNRun

The FUNRun is planned for the Tuesday 28 March. FUNdraisers are offering both the ‘end of term’ pizza lunch and juicies at the end of this event. Order forms for these two activities will be coming home from school with the FUNRun information pack during week 5.

Orders will close for these two activities on the 17 March.

Books

Do you have a van or a small truck? Could you assist us with our left-over books that we are

donating to the Heretaunga Book Fest, which is being held in Trentham. Please be in touch with Rebecca on 021 515 987 or fundraisers@bellevue-newlands.school.nz

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!

Our next committee meeting is scheduled for 7pm on 9 March 2023, in the school staffroom.

We hope to see you there!

Newlands Rugby Club registrations

2023 season registrations are now open!

This year we are excited to again offer a FEES-FREE season for all Y0/1 grade players. A fantastic reason to give rugby a go!

We have something for every age - from Rippa for the juniors, RipRugby from Y3-Y8 and Tackle Y3-Y8.

Register online or find out more details at: www.sporty.co.nz/newlands

Rotary Johnsonville - Children's Day - Teddy Bears Picnic & Family Market

When: Sunday 5 March 2023 (pp 12 March)

Time: 11.00am - 2.00pm

Where: Rewa Rewa School Grounds, 18 Padnell Crescent, Newlands

• Market Stalls
• Entertainment
• Free Events for Kids
• Prizes for teddies
• Sausage Sizzle
• BYO Picnic or cash for Food

For more information go to - www.johnsonvillerotary.org.nz

Wednesday 15 February

BOT Meeting

Tuesday 28 February

Board Meeting

Wednesday 1 March

Paid Union Meeting - please pick up your children at 12.30pm if possible

Thursday 2 March

Northern Zone Cricket

Wednesday 8 March

School Athletics

pp Thursday 9 March

Saturday 18 March

Working Bee - School Grounds - Tentative date at present

Tuesday 21 March

Northern Zone Football (pp 23 March)

Wednesday 22 March

BOT Meeting

Tuesday 28 March

School Cross Country

pp Thursday 30 March

Thursday 6 April

Last day of Term 1

Friday 7 April

Good Friday

Monday 24 April

Teacher Only Day - school closed

Tuesday 25 April

ANZAC Day - School closed

Wednesday 26 April

First day of term 2

Friday 2 June

Teacher Only day - school closed

Monday 5 June

Queen's birthday - school closed

Friday 30 June

Last day of term 2