Kia ora e te whānau o te kura o Parakawhara (hello friends & family of Gladstone School). We are on the countdown to the start of the 2023 school year - Wednesday 1st February 2023, and are very much looking forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday. Staff have been hard at work setting up for the year and spent the day yesterday with our science facilitator Ben preparing for a fabulous term of science-related learning around flight.

Today we have been working on literacy and reconnecting in with our Enviroschools commitment. Thanks to Gill Stewart for working with us again this year.

Key things for next week

Whānau Picnic: at school on Wednesday the 1st of Feb from 5pm (BYO drinks and a plate of either sweet or savoury kai to share - tables will be out under the trees). We will be introducing staff, the BoT & FoGs. It would be lovely to see you all there. Look out for the first installment of the 1,000 bananas Tess Longstaff has won for our school in a recent competition - thanks so much Tess.

Beach Education Trips: Please see the recent app alert calling for parent helpers. Beach Ed require a 1:5 ratio of adults to students so we need all the help we can get. Please also note the change in dates for the Year 4/5 and Year 6 trips - Y6 Thurs 2nd Feb; Year 4/5 Fri 3rd Feb. The trips are 8:30 - 3:30 please note these extended times.

We would like to send out a special 'good luck, we are thinking of you' message to our wonderful 2022 leavers and those moving onto other schools. We wish you the absolute best start at your new schools and hope to hear how things are going in the coming weeks - remember to keep those Gladdy connections alive.

We would like to pass on a huge thank you to the BoT and families for their generous and lovely gifts at the end of the year. They were very much appreciated by us all. A personal thank you to the lovely whånau who sent the most gorgeous handmade card and surprise that arrived in my mail box after New Year on a wet and miserable day. It was completely unexpected and made my day - whoever you are, amazing manaakitanga please accept my thanks. And to all of you who have sent messages of appreciation, they mean such a lot and we are excited about delivering another exciting year of teaching, learning & community connection.

Kirstan will be working Monday - Thursday this year and Amy Coote (Strang) will be in the office on a Friday. The email address remains the same - office@gladstone1.school.nz. Thanks to both Kirstan and Amy for forming what will be a superb admin team this year.

Replacement orders have arrived for those that were mis-printed at the end of last year. Chelsea Douglas will send these home with students on the first day.

Visual Art Classes: Art Classes are due to start in the 2nd week of term for anyone interested. There was a great response last year and all the kids seemed to absolutely love it. Elissa Smith is keen to continue for the kids this year, but only for two days a week. The classes are $20 per child per week, with all materials supplied. Classes are in Gibson Hall and run from 3:15 to 4:30pm on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. If you are keen, please email gladstone.artclass@gmail.com with your preferred day, and a back up in-case that day is unavailable. Please include a parent/caregiver name and mobile number for emergency contact (if you’re new or this has changed).

Contact Charlie Post for any queries.

Singing Groups (Choir & Small Group Tutoring): Cara Brown is continuing her lessons at 1:20 on a Wednesday afternoon at school. Please contact Cara directly for more information and to register if your child would like to participate in the classes. Year 3 & up.

We are excited to welcome Hannah Forster & Chrissy Webb to the teaching team. Hannah will be teaching in Ruamahanga (Y4-6) along side Chelsea Douglas and Becky Corkill. Chrissy has re-registered as a teacher and will be covering Sophie Mitchell's parental leave in Kouraru alongside Jaime Church and Daleen Botha.

School starts on Wednesday the 1st of February at 9:00am. Students go to their classrooms for the roll and then everyone will meet in the hall for our mihi whakatau - all invited. At the start of Term 1 we look forward to welcoming our two new teachers (Hannah & Chrissy) as well as 13 new students & their whānau - 9 NE; 1 Y7; 1 Y6; 1 Y4 & 1 Y2.

From 5pm also on the 1st of February, we have our whānau picnic. Please bring a plate of kai (food) to share - either sweet or savoury. There will be 'sweet' and 'savoury' tables set up under the trees. BYO drinks & the kids can swim if it's hot as long as they have a caregiver supervising. At the picnic we will introduce new families, staff, the BoT & FoGS. Everyone is welcome and it's a fabulous way to start off the new school year.

Please find our whānau information book linked below.

Week 1

Mon 1/2 - Mihi whakatau for new staff, students & their whānau. 5pm Whanau Picnic.

Thurs 2/2 - Year 6 Beach Education @ Riversdale.

Fri 3/2 - Year 4&5 Beach Education @ Riversdale.

Week 2

Mon 6/2 - Waitangi Day.

Wed 8/2 - Ōnoke (Y7&8) Beach Education @ Riversdale.

Week 3

Tues 14/2 - BoT Meeting, 6pm.

Please remember to pop your hats (yellow cricket-style for Y1-6; black bucket style for Y7-8) and togs in on the first day.

Please pop onto the school app and update your alert groups.

We are very much looking forward to seeing you all back on Wednesday 1st of February. Remember - you don't need to get stationery, it's all here at school. Our Year 4-8 students are required to bring their own device (a chrome book please - if you have any trouble with this, please let us know and we will be happy to help).

Enjoy the weekend, see you Wednesday.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Belinda

Email: office@gladstone1.school.nz
Website: http://www.gladstone1.school.nz
Location: 1471 Te Whiti Road, Gladstone, New Zealand
Phone: +64 6 372 7601