Kia ora parents, whānau, and caregivers.
Welcome to Week 4. We are now well into our work and the term is progressing nicely. It is a very busy term for our Totara Springs sports camp students who head off in Week 6 for 5 days of sporting action with other Town and Country Schools. This is an amazing opportunity and we can't wait to get into it and then report back about our adventures when we return. The staff accompanying the students are myself (Justin), Megan Paul and Kirsty Young. Arrangements have been made for Room 7 & 8 to ensure that quality learning programmes continue in their absence.
PTA - A big thanks must go to our FANTASTIC PTA who organised the Matariki disco that we enjoyed in Week 2. There is a possibility that the PTA may try and have a Christmas disco at the end of Term 4, stayed tuned for details later in Term 4.
FIRST AID - We can now proudly say that ALL Te Aroha Primary staff are First Aid trained and hold current practicing certificates, our final group completed their training in Week 3.
Maths Week - Week 4 is Maths Week and there have been a number of engaging learning and fun maths activities happening at a class and hub level.
NED Mindset Mission - As you know we recently hosted an all school event called NED’s Mindset Mission. We trust your student was encouraged by the show which taught about having a positive Mindset for learning and life!
Mindset Mission yo-yos are still available for purchase at school to support the free show and message. If your student has already purchased a yoyo, here is an important link to help them get off to a good start with proper string length adjustment, click here.
Additionally, here are a couple of our favourite follow up home resources from the Mindset Mission website. You may want to use these with your child as they are designed to go hand in hand with the programme.
NED Colouring Face Masks
Parent Encouragement Notes
If you'd like additional resources, they are available here.
And don’t forget to ask your student what they learned in the show about having a growth mindset from YET the Yeti, Captain Kindly and during NED’s visit on the spaceship!
Educating together!
LEARNING IS THE FOCUS - Here at TAPS we are putting the spotlight on learning. We know that children come to school to learn, but how often do you ask your children specific questions about what they are learning? We are encouraging students to talk about their learning, Is the learning hard? Is it new learning for you? Do you like learning that is challenging? Where will this learning take you? What are your next learning steps?
The education of your children is a partnership, so please take the time to pose some of these questions to your children and feel free to share with us what responses you get.
How do we measure learning success at TAPS? - The senior leadership team at TAPS is beginning a 6 month long professional development programme later this month focussing on how we strategically measure success at Te Aroha Primary School. The focus is on creating sustainable, long term performance measures designed to ensure the best educational outcomes possible for every student who comes through TAPS. We will be examining the evidence we are using to measure success and ensuring the evidence is robust and a true reflection of the academic success we are achieving.
There will also be work around ensuring that each years data is used to inform future learning decisions so that TAPS remains a progressive school, always looking for opportunities to strengthen the learning for your children.
Production - This term work is well underway in preparation for this years school production. We are very excited to be presenting a production to you all this year...stay tuned for further details.
Speeches - Speeches are being written and practiced as we speak, it is always a fun and exciting time listening to the wide variety of topics that are written about. Good luck to everyone when it comes to presenting stage.
Book week - Book week is Week 8, 4th - 8th September. We will be hosting a book fair in the school library and have a week of fun activities planned that we will be sharing with you shortly. Two important dates that you can put on the calendar are: Thursday 7 September is Special Persons day, so get your child's special person to keep this morning free. The second date is Friday 8 September, this will be an opportunity to come to school early with your child and have a hot sausage and bread off the BBQ and check out the book fair in the library before heading off for the rest of your day at 9:00am
We look forward to an exciting and productive term. We hope that you and your children enjoy it too!
