Chelsea School Newsletter
Week 6, Term 2 2023
Important Term Dates
- 29/5 - 2/6 Pasifika Week
- Thu 01 Jun: Chelsea Cross Country
- Fri 02 Jun: Assembly led by Pakiaka
- Mon 05 Jun: King's Birthday - School Closed
- Thu 08 Jun: Chelsea Cross Country Rain Day
- Wed 14 Jun: Whānau Hui 6:30pm - 7:30pm
- Thu 15 Jun: Interschool Cross Country
- Fri 16 Jun: Assembly led by Rito
- Sat 17 Jun: Trivia Night 'Music' from 7:00pm until late
- Tue 20 Jun: Tūrangawaewae Evening Session 7pm
- 26/06 - 30/09: Rito Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) Week
- Wed 28 Jun: Kapa Haka Matariki Festival
- Fri 30 Jun: Assembly led by Māhuri
Tālofa Lava and Kia ora Chelsea Whānau
This week is Samoan Language Week and it has been great for our learners to find out more about and celebrate Samoan culture and language. Gagana Samoa is the second most spoken language in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) and third most spoken in New Zealand.
Here are some key sayings that you might like to have a go at!
Hello – talofa! ...
Thank you – fa'afetai (far-ah-feh-tie) ...
Please – fa'amolemole (far-ah-moh-leh-moh-leh) ...
Yes – loe (ee-oh-e), no – leai (le-ai) ...
Have a good day – manuia le aso (ma-noo-ee-ah-leh-ah-so) ...
Excuse me – tulou lava (too-loh-la-va)
We hope you are well and looking forward to the nice long weekend coming up! I know our kids and teachers are, and they very much deserve it. I just wanted to say a huge kia ora to all who came along to our Whanaungatanga Sessions the other week (this week for Māhuri Hub 1). The feedback I have had from both parents and teachers was been very positive, as they were a great chance to connect as we continue to partner together to support our tamariki.
As always, there is plenty to chat about in our busy little kura…
Soccer
A massive congratulations to our teams who represented us at the soccer interschool day last week. They did us proud, showing our values and DNA throughout the day and also performing well against our cluster schools.
The boy's team came 2nd, and the girls came 4th. Everyone had a fabulous day! Thanks to Mr Wilson, Mr Mannion and to those parents who helped out on the day.
Cross Country
Cross Country is an event that is loved and loathed in equal measure! As a non-runner myself (unless I am being chased), it can be a real challenge. As our learners have been training, the messaging has been about being better than before! Beating our times by seconds or running a bit more of the loop without stopping - these are the small achievements that show we are growing! For some learners, the goal will be to win, and for others, it will be to do the best they can with a focus on improving from day to day, and increasing their fitness. Our personal best is what matters! It takes grit and determination to get out and do something that isn’t a natural fit, and this attitude needs to be celebrated too!
Our school Cross Country day is being held this Thursday, the 1st of June and the teams are running at the following times:
Kākano & Pakiaka 9:30 am - 11am
Rito 11:30am - 12:30am
Māhuri 1:45pm - 2:45pm
At this stage, the weather looks pretty good, which is always a bonus! The event will go ahead unless the weather is terrible, so it’s important to make sure your child/ren has a change of clothes to run in, a towel and a plastic bag. They will change back into their uniforms after they have completed their races.
It’s show time! Production is back!
Over the years, Chelsea School has put on some amazing productions that showcase the many talents of our learners. For the past few years, largely due to Covid, we have been unable to do this. We have a very enthusisac group of staff who are passionate about a 2023 production, and they are in the planning stages for a whole school production/show in Term 3.
Without giving too much away, you can expect a journey through time, New Zealand music and (hopefully) a few laughs too! Put 28th August-1st September in your diaries now!
More information will follow in future newsletters as we finalise our plans.
If you are someone who has experience with choreography, set design/construction and would like to be involved, we’d love to hear from you!
As you can imagine, staging a production comes with some costs - as an example, in our last production, we hired a sound technician and stage. We are currently looking at venues outside of our school for our 2023 production as the hall is due for refurbishment, and we’re unsure if it will be available. If you know of a business that would be interested in sponsoring the costs of venue hire or technical equipment, please let us know.
Please email rebecca@chelsea.school.nz if you can help with any of the above.
Tūrangawaewae Whānau Evening Tuesday 20th June at 7pm
A big focus for us when redesigning our local curriculum over the last few years, has been on learning about and capturing our Tūrangawaewae.
Tūrangawaewae is one of the most well-known and powerful Māori concepts. Literally tūranga (standing place), waewae (feet), is often translated as ‘a place to stand’. Tūrangawaewae are places where we feel especially empowered and connected. The Tūrangawaewae of our school is about knowing the history of our local area and also about the important people and events that have shaped it.
We would like to share some of what we have learnt so far about the stories that belong to this area and also what this learning means for our tamariki. Details below:
Date: Tuesday 20th June
Time: 7 - 8.30 pm
Location: Here at school (exact location TBC depending on numbers who RSVP)
If you would be interested in attending this evening, then please RSVP using the simple survey in the Hero link below to help us with our planning.
We hope to see you there with open hearts and open minds.
Pink Shirt Day
Pink Shirt Day was a huge hit with all of our tamariki and teachers and was a great platform to reinforce a lot of the messages we feel strongly about that align with our school values in relation to bullying. Our learners were engaged throughout the week in learning about bullying and how to be upstanders if they see bullying behaviours.
One of the key messages was to understand the difference between poor choices and bullying. Bullying usually has an element of power imbalance, can happen over time and is quite deliberate. Our focus is on supporting all parties involved to think about how they are responding to challenges and also trying to create greater self-awareness in all our learners.
Whilst these messages are important to reinforce throughout the year, Pink Shirt Day is an awesome vehicle to hammer these home and shine a spotlight on something we need to stand up to collectively as a society. Also we are happy to announce we raised $246.10 which has gone to the Mental Health Foundation. Thank you all of for your ongoing support.
Ngā Mihi
Amanda Douglas
Tumuaki/Principal
Chelsea Primary School