Panui 2 November 2022

Kia ora koutou,

I would like to welcome all of our new families into the Forest Lake School community, and hope to see those of you that I haven't already met around this term.

With the end of the year fast approaching, our teams are busy doing some fundraising for end of year trips. We have seen a ‘Support Your Sport’ mufti day, a ‘Halloween’ mufti day, and a raffle happening to date. It was fantastic to see that these events have been so wonderfully supported by our students, and staff alike.

Despite it being the last term, this is a busy term with the Kaiako (teachers) already working on reports (these will be sent home on the 9th of December). Our second round of Swimsafe is currently happening, and it is refreshing to see the weather has been cooperating with us for this. Later on in the term we have our Athletics Day for the school, and some of our senior students will be selected to represent the kura at the Inter-School Athletics Day later in November. The Quest Finals Night is also scheduled to happen on the 17th of November, with tickets available for purchase from the school office. All of our end of year trips will be taking place in the last week of the term, with Auraki Teina (Matai block) and Rumaki teams going to the Hamilton Zoo, and our Kahikatea hubs going to the Ngaruawahia Youth Camp. Also happening this term will be our End of Year Presentation Assemblies, and it is a huge relief to see that these events can all be supported fully now by our community with all the Covid restrictions being lifted throughout the country.

Just a reminder, that under our Sunsafe policy, during Terms 1 and 4 all students should be wearing a school sunhat while outside. Please ensure these are clearly named, so they can be easily returned to children if they are misplaced.

Ngā mihi

Whaea Chris

Our term dates for the 2023 school year have now been confirmed. The school office will be opened at the end of January for in-zone enrolments and uniform sales. These dates will be confirmed shortly.

2023 School Year

Term 1: Wednesday, 1 February to Thursday, 6 April

Term 2: Wednesday, 26 April to Friday, 30 June

Term 3: Monday, 17 July to Friday, 22 September

Term 4: Monday, 9 October to Monday, 18 December

31 October to 4 November - Swimsafe classes

7 to 11 November - Swimsafe classes

Wednesday, 16 November - School Athletics Day

Thursday, 17 November - Quest Grand Final Night - From 6.30pm

Wednesday, 30 November - Inter School Athletics, Porritt Stadium

Friday, 9 December - Teina/Waenga End of Year Presentation Assembly, School Reports sent home.

Monday, 12 December - Auraki Teina trip to Hamilton Zoo (Matai classes)

Tuesday, 13 December - Kahikatea hubs trip to Ngaruawahia Youth Camp

Wednesday, 14 December - Rumaki Classes trip to Hamilton Zoo

Friday, 16 December - Last day of 2022 School Year, 1.00pm finish

Paid Union Meetings

Teachers in our school will be attending paid union meetings in the weeks of 14-25 November to discuss the progress of negotiations for their collective employment agreements, the proposed unified public service pay offer and their Wāwāhi Tahā | Time 4 Tamariki campaign.

This campaign aims to win smaller class sizes, more support for high needs students, better recognition of cultural skills, greater job security for our essential relievers and to fairly value and recognise the work of teachers.

There will be multiple options for meetings in the period of 14-25 November in order to minimise disruption to teaching and learning. Our school will aim to ensure the least disruption to children's learning while upholding the right of teachers to participate in their union meeting.

Namaste, Kia orana, Malo e lelei, Kia ora, Bula Vinaka, Talofa, Anyoung, Fakalofa lahi atu, Bore da

Matai 1 & 2

Matai 1 & 2 would like to thank Whaea Luxmi and Matai 3 for teaching us about the meaning, importance and traditions of Diwali. When everyone walked into the hallway, “WOW!” was the word we heard when everyone saw the Diwali decorations. They were just gorgeous reactions! During Diwali a meal is shared together and we certainly enjoyed ours. Thank you to our amazing whaanau that made this possible by bringing delicious plates of food!

We have also been lucky enough to have another week of swimming. It has been wonderful to see the improvements in water confidence and swimming skills. We also had a session in the dive pool where we got to wear life jackets and experience exiting a boat with a life jacket on. Big thank you from Matai 1 & 2 to those parents that helped or came to watch. We love having you there cheering for us!

Matai 3

Matai 3 celebrated Diwali with the whole of the Matai Block on Tuesday 25th October,2022. They learnt the importance behind Diwali. We painted and decorated some of the Diya lamps in the class. Then we made Diwali cards for Whanau. We had fun dancing on some of the bollywood songs and enjoyed that afternoon.We had a shared Kai. We also made some rangoli patterns with colorful chalks outside Matai block. We have been enjoying our Swimming lessons and learnt many water safety rules.

Matai 4

Matai 4 had a wonderful time celebrating Diwali on Tuesday with all our friends in the Matai block. We learnt about how rangoli patterns are made and got to share some kai with the other classes. Whaea Luxmi even dressed up the Matai teachers and Whaea Chris in saris. They were very colourful.

We have been continuing to expand our writing skills. We used the shape of our names to create some funky looking aliens. It was fun to hear our classmates' stories as they used their imaginations to decide what their aliens looked like and where they came from. It is amazing to see the growth in the writing of the Matai 4 students over the past 2 terms.

Matai 5

Matai 5 had a great time celebrating Diwali on Monday. We shared a meal with our friends across Matai and created our own Diya bowls that we filled with light.

We also have revisited the importance of being a good friend. Through the story of the Rainbow fish we designed our own rainbow fish and shared scales with each other. When we work together we can achieve anything including becoming a good friend.

“We may be different fish but in the kura we swim together”.

Mauri ora e te whānau

Kua tae mātou ki te wāhanga whakamutunga o te tau nei, he maha ngā mahi kua pahure mō te whānau o Kauri 3, Ka aro te nuinga o tēnei pānui ki ngā mahi Pāngarau me Te Reo Matatini o te rōpū Pipi Paopao o Kauri 3. Kei te kite koutou kua tau ngā pipi paopao katoa ki te kura ināianei, kua waea haere rātou ki te raupapatanga o te akomanga, ōtira, ki ngā mahi marau ki te taha o Whaea Hana. He mīharo rawa te kite i ngā pipi paopao e whakaatu ana i a rātou wairua hikaka mō ngā akoranga, tau kē pipi paopao mā!

Mō te Pāngarau o Whaea Te Aroha, kei te ako te rōpū Tohora i ngā whakarea-2, kei te whakamahi rātou ngā rākau atarangi hei āwhina i a rātou te mārama i ngā whakarea. Kua waea haere ēnei tamariki te māwhiti-2 tae atu ki te 50 nā reira, he māmā mā rātou te mārama ki ngā whakarea-2. Mauri ora ki a Te Aio, Aroha rātou ko Anaise.

I tē Rāpare 27 o Whiringa-ā-Nuku, i parakatihi mātou ngā tikanga ‘Kati, Taka ki te Papa, Takoto pērā ki te honu’ (Stop, Drop, Cover), anei mātou e whakarārangi ana ki waho i mua i tō tātou wehe atu ki te mahi kori tinana. I mua i tēnei mahi i wānangatia e mātou te akomanga katoa e pā ana ki ngā tikanga haumaru mēnā ka puta mai tētahi rū whenua, me ngā whanonga i a mātou e noho ana hei te wā ka pukuriri haere a Ruaumoko.

Those students working at Phase 3 from across Kahikatea hub have chosen to study Social Sciences. They were interested in exploring different countries, their culture and traditions. Most choose to present their research with a poster so we can all learn from them! Well done Phase 3s!

Kahikatea Hub have been thoroughly enjoying their time down at Waterworld for Swimsafe this week. Classes have been having lessons daily with awesome instructors that are helping them to learn some swimming skills. The tamariki have been awesome and make Forest Lake School proud. Ka rawe Kahikatea!

Tēnā tātou katoa e te whānau whānui o Rotongahere,

I tēnei wāhanga ki Kauri 2, ko tētehi aronga nui ko te whakapakari te taha tinana mā te whakarite mō te Kaiaka. Ia rā, ka aro atu ngā tauira ki ngā pūkenga korikori hei tautoko i a rātou mō ngā mahi Hākinakina, kia rite pai ai te tinana, te hinengaro me te wairua.

Ānei tā mātou wātaka Korikori mō te wiki nei. Pērā ki Hohe Uakaha, ka whakaheke werawera ngā tauira ki ia awheawhe. Ka whakapau hā, ka whakapeto ngoi rātou ia rā, ia rā.

I tēnei wahanga kua hoki ano tātou te whanau o Kauri 2 ki ngā Puna Kaukau mo ngā ahuatanga kaukau haumaru.

He kaupapa tēnei mō ngā tauira kia ako rātou ki ngā haumarutanga o te wai.

Anei etahi kohinga whakaahua ō ngā tauira e kaha ū ana ki te kaupapa Kaukau Haumaru

Ngā mihi nui ki ngā kai whakahaere nā koutou i manaaki i tiaki i o tātou tamariki kia haumaru ai i roto i te wai

Welcome to Auraki Kauri,

Year 6 Auraki Kauri students' were transported by bus to Hamilton Junior High School for a chance to visit their fantastic classrooms. During their time at HJHS, they experienced the Technology and Arts programme.

Noah from Auraki Kauri has recently represented The Waikato Māori Rugby League team. They did extremely well, with wins over Auckland and Wellington, it was a muddy weekend and he absolutely loved it! What a fantastic achievement Noah!!

In Kiwi Can this term we are talking about Resilience or Manawaroa. This means coping with challenges and bouncing back. As part of this focus, we are looking at understanding emotions, self-control and self-discipline, and dealing with challenges.

Each year the Kiwi Can leaders from each kura (school) take part in a ‘Community Project’. This can be anything from organising a community day, to having a Kiwi Can led sports day at kura. This year however, the team are focusing on our very own ngahere (forest) at the kura. As part of this project, we will be running a skipping challenge during the students’ Kiwi Can session throughout the week beginning Monday, 28th November. By tying the challenge in with the Kiwi Can theme of resilience, the goal will be ‘to try your best and to never give up’. We are asking that, if possible, you sponsor your child with a gold coin koha (donation) for this event. Class teachers will send home a note closer to the time with more information

Next time you crack a few eggs to make breakfast or for baking, don’t toss away the shells as we would love them to use for our vegetable gardens to reduce the amount of chemicals we use.

Crushed eggshells are great as a fertiliser and can add valuable nutrients back into the soil with the high-level of calcium being very beneficial to plants

Egg shells are also great as a pest deterrent. If we sprinkle eggshells around our vegetables:

• It is like shards of glass to those pesky slugs and snails

• Cats don’t like standing on them as they are noisy, sticky and sharp

• White butterflies see the white sheen and think there is competition!

Please bring your washed egg shells to the office to help us in our egg shell collection quest.

2022 has been a challenging year trying to reopen the doors to the programme. However, the good news is that they are reopening the After School Programme in Term 4 for Junior and Senior Choir. The scholarship stream will continue for the rest of the year. Further information and enrolments forms are held at the Forest Lake School office.

Email: office@forestlake.school.nz
Website: https://forestlake.school.nz/
Location: 59 Storey Avenue, Hamilton 3200
Phone: (07) 849 2256