Ardmore School Newsletter

* Hello * Kia ora * Namaste * Malo e lelei * Talofa lava * Kia orana * Guten Tag* Nǐ hǎo * Sat sree akaal * Hola * Chào bạn * Bula * Hallo *As-salamu ‘Alakum

Thank you for your support this term. Parents have kept children home when they were unwell, or collected them quickly when they have become unwell at school. Combined with the school safety measures; ventilation of teaching spaces, wearing of masks, sanitising of hands and eating outdoors wherever possible and maintenance of our Whānau Group bubbles, your support has helped to keep our school case numbers relatively low and without classroom clusters.

Just a reminder to please not let your children bring toys to school.

After nearly three years of looking after our school we have bid a fond farewell to Mr Jones who has left us to continue his career in the sign writing industry.

Recently, we found a family of frogs have made themselves at home in some plants sitting in water in bins and buckets by the staffroom. We have named the frogs Frankie and Freda. Some of our rooms have used the frogs as writing prompts for their tamariki. The work below comes from Rooms 11 & 12, our new entrant rooms.

With Ramadan beginning this weekend, please let your child's kaiako / teacher know if they are fasting. This means we can provide alternative activities for them when their classmates are eating.

Ruru Whānau tamariki will be taking part in the Wonder Project Rocket Challenge next term. It’s an amazing programme designed to get young Kiwis excited about STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths. The programme pairs STEM professionals with teachers to deliver the challenge and we need more volunteers to help our kids design, build and launch water rockets!

See what it is about in this video

Keen to help? It only requires 1 hour a week for 6–8 weeks during Term 2, either online or in their classroom if possible. The Wonder Project team provides everything we need so you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to guide our students on the Rocket Challenge. We are looking for passionate and committed professionals working in STEM fields who want to make a real difference – and inspire wonder in the minds of young people in their community.

Register online at wonderproject.co.nz

https://wonderproject.nz/programmes/rocket-challenge/

This week we welcomed our new caretaker, Mr Nigel Mcleod.

We hope Nigel enjoys his time at Ardmore.

The PSG are an amazing group of people from our school community, who work to raise funds for our school. Last year alone, even though we were all in lockdown for such a long time, they raised over $23,000. Their recent projects have included the installation of the two bucket swings and our amazing sandpit on the field.

This year their fundraising focus is shade sails for the basket swing and sandpit on the field.

While the fundraising planning for the year is done, unfortunately due to changes in circumstances, they need people to fill their leadership roles of Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. The Chairperson is the coordinator of the group. They liaise with the school and run the meetings. The Secretary takes the meeting minutes and also supports the Chairperson with communication. The Treasurer keeps an eye on the group's finances. They are supported by the school's accountant who prepares the monthly financial report for the group. If you would like more information please email: ardmorepsg@gmail.com

We are once again very fortunate to have student counsellors from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) working withing the school this year. Welcome back to Elley Griffiths and Chris Townsley (pictured right) who return to us for a short period of time for the start of this year. A big welcome to Joanna Whitworth and Paula Healey who are joining the counselling team this year and will continue the great work going forward. Each counsellor provides us with a day a week to support students in areas such as friendships, conflict, change, resilience and anxiety.

Parents can refer their child if they have any concerns. Teachers and parents who have had a discussion together can refer a child and older students can self refer with parental permission.

Consent forms can be obtained from our school website or you can contact Mrs Debbie Spick (SENCO) dspick@ardmore.school.nz

As whānau are unable to come into school right now, I thought I would share with you Room 7's art work we have displayed in the office.

We have a limited number of Yearbooks left from 2017 to 2021 which we are now selling at a reduced cost. Purchases can be made through Kindo only on a first in first served basis.

PUBLIC NOTICES

Greetings Parents and Caregivers. My name is Nick Warner and I am the new music tutor joining the team at Ardmore School. I am based in Pokeno and will be coming out to the school every Wednesday to offer lessons for the instruments listed above. I've had 12 years experience teaching children of all ages and am always keen to help new students succeed in finding their artistic side or further existing skills.

If you are interested in signing up your child for weekly lessons and would like more info please get in touch via email, phone or text:

nickmusicwarner@gmail.com | 021 537 700

Thanks very much for your time - Nick Warner

Email: office@ardmore.school.nz
Website: https://www.ardmore.school.nz/
Location: 599 Papakura-Clevedon Road, Ardmore, New Zealand
Phone: 09 299 6228