The Connection Week 3 Term 2
Huapai District School 19th May 2022
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.”
Teacher Conferences
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. The cut-off to book is 12pm Tuesday 24th.
HERO Learning Graphs
You are able to see your child’s progress report online using the HERO app. To get a better understanding of what the graphs and curriculum levels mean, please click on the “About this page” link above the graphs. This will take you to a comprehensive explanation outlining the information shown.
Pink Shirt Day - TOMORROW
Tomorrow is national "Pink Shirt Day" in New Zealand. At school we will be holding a non-uniform 'Pink Shirt Day' for everyone. This is in support of the Mental Health Foundation's "Stand up to bullying" message.
We are encouraging everyone to wear pink tomorrow.
Please send your child to school with a gold coin where possible. Donations will be collected and given to the Mental Health Foundation.
Thank you for your continued support.
Farewell For Angela Trimmer
We would like to invite you to join us for a full school farewell to Ange next Friday 27th May. Our Poroaki will start at 2:30pm on the courts. If it is wet, we will relocate to the hall.
Teacher Only Day 3rd June
Reminder that the school has a teacher only day on Friday 3rd June. This is positioned to allow the option of a longer weekend with Queens Birthday on Monday 6th June. This day will be used by staff for planning and assessments.
Athletics
This year our athletics days are being held at the end of May. Years 5-8 Monday 30th May at the Huapai Domain. Years 0-4 Tuesday 31st May here at school. Please see the attached information below.
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.
Can't Make It To The Scholastic Book Fair?
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.
Volunteers Needed
Tough Guy And Gal Challenge. Can you help?? More details coming soon.
Want To Join Our Huapai+ Team?
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
MusiqHub - Have A Go Day
Our good friends at MusiqHub are super excited to be back on our school grounds and providing their awesome Drum lessons in Term 2! They'll be hosting a "Have-a-Go!" day on Wednesday May 26th before school (8:15-8:45) and at morning tea, where students can come and have a little bash and meet Nick, our awesome tutor! Parents are welcome to come along too to meet and ask questions! Feel free to get in touch with paul.barry@musiqhub.co.nz to get signed up or to ask any questions.
Aroha Skate School
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.
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
NumberWorks'nWords
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.
2022 Term Dates
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
Term 4 - Monday 17th October - Friday 16th DecemberAdditional to this there are two planned Teacher only days:
Friday 4th March
- Friday 3rd June (making Queens Birthday a 4 day option)
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