The Connection Week 2 Term 2

In front of me at the moment is a book titled “The Easiest Slow Cooker Book Ever”. I was instantly drawn to it - our home lives are busier than ever (mine is no exception) and if I can find a shortcut to streamlining the chaos, I’m all in! This book delivers.

However, it did make me stop and think about all the shortcuts we take and if they always deliver the great results we want. While I love my crockpot, there is nothing like a crispy roast chicken or pan fried fresh fish or barbecued sticky ribs. The crockpot can shortcut these dishes, but are the results the best they can be?

Sometimes there's just no way around it, there is no shortcut - if we want results, we must put in the hard work (I’m looking at you here, stubborn covid fat layer). In order to run the marathon I’ve got to train. In order to make every shot on goal count, I’ve got to put in the practice over and over. In order to keep the house tidy, there are only so many ‘quick wipe downs’ one can do before things really need to be addressed.

The same is for our children here at school. We are asking our children to put in the hard work everyday in order to reach their learning goals. Learning is just like climbing a mountain, there are no shortcuts - but the way the world opens up when you achieve your goal makes the effort worthwhile.

We celebrate your child’s learning journey because every step involves a lot of hard work and there are no shortcuts. We would love your support with this - talking about what your child is learning here at school, what are their next goals and what do they need to learn to get there?

We look forward to meeting with you at our Learning Conferences in a few weeks time and working alongside you this term.

As an aside, I’m thinking of crock pot chicken lasagne for dinner. It’s not going to be quite the same as oven lasagne but this is one short cut I’m prepared to take.

Thank you for your continued support.

Maree Lloyd

Deputy Principal

• Wednesday 25th May - School closes at 12:30pm
• Wednesday 25th May - Teacher Conferences
• Thursday 26th May - Teacher Conferences
• Monday 23rd - Friday 27th May - Scholastic Book Fair
• Friday 3rd June - Teacher Only Day

Oliver (Year 4) says: “I love my school because I can make friends easily here. I like playing games with my friends. My favourite thing to do is to learn maths because I like getting smarter. My teacher is really kind!”

These will be held on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th May.

PLEASE NOTE THAT SCHOOL WILL FINISH AT 12:30PM ON WEDNESDAY 25TH MAY.

If you are unable to arrange care for your child for the afternoon, they will be supervised here at school.

• Huapai+ will remain open for after school bookings

• Buses will remain with the existing structure

• Times - Wednesday 1:30pm - 7:00pm & Thursday 3:30 - 5:00pm

Please click the link here for more information about booking these.

On Friday 13th May Our Digital Reports are going live on HERO.

To print your child’s report use the print icon at the top of the report page, you can also view more information on our digital reporting process, and how you can help at home using the ABOUT THIS PAGE link at the top of the report page. Not sure how to access HERO? Please click the link below for HERO login instructions.

There is no sugar coating it - Many New Zealand children (and children around the globe) are not where they could have been academically in a Covid free world. At Huapai, we are proactively front footing this fact by reporting at the beginning of the term, allowing us more teaching time to see accelerated progress. To this end, your child’s assessment results may appear to be lower than expected for the current year level they are in, however we are focussing on celebrating the progress made within and across curriculum levels and in the goals they have achieved.

We look forward to seeing you at our learning conferences to discuss your child's progress and their next learning steps.

N.B. A small number of students may not have their data updated yet due to being new to the school or having missed a significant amount of time at school in term 1. These will be updated by the end of the term.

We will be hosting this event in a few weeks time. Monday 23rd - Friday 27th May in the school library. It will be the same week as learning conferences so parents will have a chance to pop in too!

We have students and parents assisting in the safe crossing of children. There is a developing We have students and parents assisting in the safe crossing of children. There is a developing pattern of parents crossing children across the road in places that are not the crossing. This can be quite discouraging to our volunteers offering their time to man the crossings. Please use the crossing. It is a legal requirement to use the crossing if there is one available. The patrollers have a dialogue they must complete but the key phrase to listen for is “Cross now” before you step out.

We are excited to be able to host a Year 1 parent evening on Monday 30th May. This evening is a chance for parents to meet all the teachers together, to meet the parents of new friends and to learn a little more about life at school and expectations in the Year 1 zone. We will host this in the year 1 zone 5:30-6:30pm. More details to follow in the next few weeks.

Huapai Plus is after some awesome new staff to join our team. We are keen to hear from anyone interested in working with children or just after a little extra income.

We have the following positions available:

· Programme Assistant manager - over 20 years old

· Programme leader – 16 years or older

· Van driver – over 20 years old with full licence

Flexible hours, discounts for staff with children.

If you would like some more information or are interested please email: huapaiplus@hds.school.nz

Is your child keen for a fun day of rugby with the opportunity to meet the Blues and Barbarians THIS Sunday?

Click the link below for more information and to register you child(ren).

Is your child keen to give softball a go? Are you interested in finding out more about what is on offer here at school? Harbour softball is offering a FREE taster session next Monday 16th May here at school at 3:15pm. Please pop along to see what it is all about.

Skate Lessons After School

Term 2 weekly after school skate lessons.

Thursday 3:30pm - 4:30pm at Huapai District School.

Lessons are suitable for beginners to intermediate skaters.

Register at the link below.

Our good friends at MusiqHub are looking forward to another awesome year of music in 2022 at Huapai School! They will have some slots available for Guitar, Drums, Piano and Ukulele lessons in Term 1. If you're interested, be sure to get in touch to reserve your spot or ask any questions you may have. Contact details below:

Drums - paul.barry@musiqhub.co.nz

Guitar, Keyboard and Ukulele - scott.wotherspoon@musiqhub.co.nz

A major sponsor in this year's School Donation sponsorship prize draw. Generously donating a $600 voucher which was won by our first place prize draw winner.

Our 2022 Term dates are:

Term 1 - Thursday 3rd February - Thursday 14th April

Term 2 - Monday 2nd May - Friday 8th July

Term 3 - Monday 25th July - Friday 30th September

Additional to this there are two planned Teacher only days:

• Friday 4th March

• Friday 3rd June (making Queens Birthday a 4 day option)

We use HERO to send classroom updates, to share regular learning posts and now for payment on all in-school costs. HERO sends push notifications or emails. You can now choose how you receive HERO notifications as well as manage devices that receive them.

To set your own notification preferences:

1. Click on your profile image

2. Select EDIT PROFILE

3. Scroll down to My Devices and select your preferences.
   

Or please see the full instructions linked below.

Email: office@hds.school.nz
Website: https://www.huapaidistrict.school.nz/
Location: Huapai District School 40 Station Rd, Kumeū, New Zealand
Phone: +64 09 412 5042
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/huapaidistrictschool