PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
I was watching a great youtube clip highlighting the story of a Thai soccer team (not the Cave soccer team). It highlighted how an idea became a reality against the odds. They wanted to play soccer but lived in a village based on the water. Check it out (linked below).
I find these types of stories inspiring and encouraging. We are inclined to get swamped with the reality of what we see in front of us, we lower our vision to our feet and lose the perspective of the horizon. Right now, we are dealing with increased levels of sickness (students and staff), the burden of getting our children back up to speed and operating at the success levels we expect and managing staffing to keep things happening.
It does seem we are facing an increase in student absence (we have gone from our average of just over 40 children away each day to over 80 per day). Whilst this is well short of what we experienced last term, it is concerning. We will continue to communicate with parents as staff and children within your child’s class present as positive. If your child tests positive please let the school know. Currently we have only 7 children on our records as positive.
In the short term we will seek to manage classes by covering as well as we can. This may involve ”adopting out” children across other classes as we seek to keep the school open. If our staff absences continue we may have to look at other options. We have so appreciated the support of our community and are determined to do all we can to make a difference for our children and keep our school operating at “normal”.
We look forward to seeing you next week at our parent teacher conferences.
John Petrie
Principal
Upcoming Events
- Wednesday 25th May - School closes at 12:30pm
- Wednesday 25th May - Teacher Conferences
- Thursday 26th May - Teacher Conferences
- Tuesday 24th - Friday 27th May - Scholastic Book Fair
- Monday 30th May - Senior Athletics (Year 5 - 8)
- Tuesday 31st May - Junior Athletics (Year 0 - 4)
- Friday 3rd June - Teacher Only Day
Student Of The Week
Bostyn (Year 5) says: “Huapai District School is cool because we do heaps of work but heaps of play too. I like reading and writing the best. I like to spend time in the library with my friends. Huapai School is better than other schools because we get to order lunch and have bake sales and sausage sizzles.”
Scholastic Book Fair - Next Week
Tuesday 24th - Friday 27th May
It’s here!! Every student in the school will have the opportunity to visit the book fair next week. This is being held in our school library and is always a very popular event. You are most welcome to pop in at any time during the week starting from Tuesday. Cash and eftpos options available.
A Date For The Diary - Year 1s
We would like to invite ALL our year 1 parents into school for an information evening Monday 30th May 5:30-6:30pm. This evening is a chance for parents to meet all the teachers together, to chat with senior leadership staff, to meet the parents of new friends and to learn a little more about life at school and expectations in the Year 1 zone. Drinks and nibbles will be provided.
Road Patrols At Station Rd And Trigg Rd
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.
No Dogs On School Grounds Please
We are seeing an increasing number of dogs on school grounds. While a lot of people love dogs, we are conscious that not everybody does. We ask that all dogs please be kept outside school grounds. Please also ensure that if you are waiting to pick up your child(ren) outside of the school gates, that your dog is on a lead at all times.
Music Lessons With MusiqHub
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 2. 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
HERO Notifications
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:
Click on your profile image
Select EDIT PROFILE
Scroll down to My Devices and select your preferences.
Or please see the full instructions linked below.
Contact Us
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