Week 3 Term 1 Panui

Email: office@witherlea.school.nz
Website: https://witherlea.school.nz
Location: 214-216 Weld Street, Witherlea, Blenheim 7201, New Zealand
Phone: 64 (03) 578 5568
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/witherleablenheim

The first couple of weeks of the school term have flown by, being short ones! I am thrilled to see children happy and well settled with normal routines and classroom programmes.

A special welcome to our new team members who have made a great start to the year at Witherlea:

• Jacqui Driver (Deputy Principal)

• Holly Siemonek (Year 2 teacher, Room 21)

Today, we have sent home envelopes containing 2024 account statements, forms to update contact details and consents, and a copy of the term calendar. We would appreciate the forms being returned promptly to the office for processing.

It was wonderful to open our new junior playground and turf areas for the start of term. The promised upgrades to the senior playground are still in progress, and we hope to deliver them very soon.

I would like to acknowledge that our playground upgrades reflect the significant efforts of many. Special thanks go to:

• Our student council for their valuable guidance in planning these upgrades.

• The Friends of Witherlea for contributing proceeds from the past two years of fundraising efforts.

• Greg and Tineke from New World for sponsoring our major fundraisers for the past two years.

• The Redwood Trust, Jack Checkley Trust, Pelorus Trust and Pub Charity for funding the balance of the cost.

• Jen Sim for her work on applications to secure the above community funding.

• Dave Smit, Khalid Suleiman and Sam Forrest for their end to end involvement in the oversight of this project.

• Everyone in the community who supported our fundraising efforts, whether it be with baking, disco supervision or selling raffle tickets - your efforts are valued!

The playground upgrades provide a fantastic outcome for the school community, which will be enjoyed for many years!

It is timely, with so many new families starting at Witherlea, to remind everyone that any children who arrive before the 8.30am bell in the morning need to wait on the top court. This ensures your children are safe and also provides teachers with time to get prepared for the day. Little Red Fox provides a before and after school care programme should you need supervision for your children outside of the hours of 8.30am-3.00pm.

I would encourage anyone who hasn’t already to download the ‘School App’ and ‘Seesaw’ to ensure you are well informed of what's happening at school.

On Thursday 15 February the Friends of Witherlea are holding their AGM in the staffroom starting at 7.30pm. All parents are warmly invited to attend. This group aims to foster a sense of belonging in the school community and provide some additional funding to enhance the educational experiences of our children. Please come along if you are able, whatever contribution you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your part in what has been a very smooth start to the school year!

Ngā manaakitanga,

Symon Beattie

Principal

Please note that our break times have changed.

Morning tea 10:30am - 11:00am

Lunch 12:30 - 1:30pm

As we are a Sunsmart school we require students to wear the school hat (can be purchased from the office or if supplying your own, it must be plain navy with a brim all the way around) and wear this when outdoors in Term One and Term Four. Naming the hat is vital!

Swimming Gear

Students require; togs, towels, goggles (if they have them) every day so they are ready for their class and/or team swim time. It is best to have this in a separate bag.

Seesaw and School App

Seesaw is our primary resources for connection between home and school and gives us the ability to show the learning for each child. It is like an ongoing record of learning, progress and achievement.

School App is our notification system and it integrates with our Newsletter and/or important updates for our community. It has our calendar, Links, where important newsletters or information are stored, a button to go to the Sports Hub and will be the way we notify the community of emergencies. You can also notify us of your child's absence on this app.

Please ensure that you have both of these platforms up and running for Term One. The school app can be downloaded from your phone app store (search for School Apps NZ). Once you have downloaded the app, it will prompt you to enter the name of your school. You will need to then click on the menu button (top left of the screen) and select 'alert subscription' and select the groups/classes that you would like to see alerts from. Even if you already have the school app, you will need to change the alert subscription if your child has changed classroom.

For Seesaw, your child's teacher will contact you with details of how to join.

Leadership Team:

Symon Beattie - Principal

Jacqui Driver - Deputy Principal

Angela Clark - Assistant Principal (Ferns Team: Y0-2)

Phillip Johnson - Acting Assistant Principal (Kowhai Team: Y3-4)

PJ Muir - Assistant Principal (Kauri Team: Y5-6)

Ferns Team (Y0-2)

Angela Clark, Y0/1, Room 1

Mel Beattie, Y0/1, Room 2

Amy Lucas, Y1, Room 3

Hayley Christie, Y1, Room 4

Larrissa Robertson, Y2, Room 8

Dan Stephens, Y2, Room 9

Holly Siemonek, Y2, Room 21

Kowhai Team (Y3-4)

Phillip Johnson, Y3-4, Room 10

Shontell Avery, Y3-4, Room 11

Catherine Stringer, Y3-4, Room 12

Maree Herdman, Y3-4, Room 13

Tracee Lee, Y3-4, Room 15

Kauri Team (Y5-6)

Naomi Anderson, Y5-6, Room 16

Rachel Earle, Y5-6, Room 17

Jemma Dunn, Y5-6, Room 18

PJ Muir, Y5-6, Room 19

Additional Teachers

Matt Robertson, - STEM Programme/Classroom Release

Richelle Henderson - Management Release

Jordan Schollum, - STEM Programme/Classroom Release

Marion Barakat - Reading Recovery/ESL Programme

Teacher Aides

Lynn Glavin

Kate Higgins

Mel Hole

Deb Moran

Sarah Cowan

Kim Robinson

Rochelle WiRepa

Susan Palacio

Evey Hyndman

Admin Staff

Jen Sim - Executive Officer

Amber Russell - Office Manager

Rochelle WiRepa - Office Support

Stella Machado - IT Support

Grounds Staff

Dave Smit - Caretaker (Full-time)

Alan Western - Caretaker (Part-time)

We wish to welcome these new students and their families and whānau to our school and community;

Amelia N, Callun H, Kaiaria T, Harlen S, Teweia A, Roseya W, Shivanya M, Karlie A, Amelia B, Kora M, Oscar G, Caelan S, Dusty B, Elliot K, Iyla P, Lenix A, TJ T, Alejandro E, Mosha A, Rechal L, Harper A, Brooke G.

Welcome to School Certificates are given out at our assembly on a Monday morning at 9am.

Congratulations to these students who have displayed one or all of our school behaviour expectations and are a model to others;

FERNS TEAM

Eliza W - For being an amazing Room 3 leader by modelling our school motto consistently. We are so lucky to have you in our class.

KOWHAI TEAM

Telaiya M - being a positive leader in Room 10 and being supportive to all Akonga, Koia Kia Koe - you are fantastic.

KAURI TEAM

Amelia E - standing out from day 1 as a leader and Kaitiaki. You have shown kindness and compassion to the new members of our class and role modelled our values everyday.

The awards are for recognition in displaying and modelling our school motto and values; Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Fair.

We have a second-hand uniform shop available at school. Please get in touch with the office if you would like to purchase anything.

Prices are:

• $5 tops and shorts
• $10 polar fleece

We are always grateful for any clean, tidy uniforms to sell, these can be dropped off at the school office.

This enables caregivers to order their children a Subway lunch which will be delivered to the school. The process is ONLINE and is between families and Subway - this eliminates any administration and/or money exchange for the school.

Our Subway lunches are every Friday. The menu is a limited menu designed specifically for schools.

Orders must be placed before 8.45am via Subway Express on a Friday morning and will be delivered to school for our 1pm lunchtime.

Subway can only accept credit card purchases.

Please note that Subway lunches are unable to be ordered if a school trip or event falls on a

Friday.

Term One: Thursday 1st February - Friday 12th April

• Tuesday 6th February: Waitangi Day
• Easter Holidays begin Friday 29th March

Term Two: Monday 29th April - Friday 5th July

• Monday 3rd June: Kings Birthday
• Friday 28th June: Matariki

Term Three: Monday 22nd July - Friday 27th September

Term Four: Monday 14th October - Wednesday 18th December

• Monday 28th October: Labour Day Holiday
• Monday 1st November: Marlborough Anniversary Holiday
• Wednesday 18th December: Last Day of 2024.