Kia ora koutou parents and whanau.
This week I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days meeting with all the teachers at school. It was a very enriching process and a great opportunity to continue building relationships and to understand the experiences and skills they bring to their role.
I have to say that Vogeltown School is fortunate to have such a dedicated bunch of professionals -people who work hard to ensure children are presented with the best possible learning opportunities and experiences. Besides classroom teaching responsibilities, they contribute to the wider life of the school through carrying out things like before school duties, helping with road patrol, facilitating support for children with special education needs, attending Board meetings, organising interschool events and trips outside the classroom, overseeing kapa haka and Te Reo programmes, being a team leader, carrying out Kahui Ako leadership roles…and there is still more!
The collaborative way that staff contribute to the daily operation of the school speaks to me of a cohesive, team based staff culture - something which doesn’t happen simply by good luck and speaks volumes about the many different people that make up our school. Many thanks to all of the staff for their contributions. They are a wonderful team to work alongside and a bunch of people who clearly put the needs of the children at the centre of their decision making.
Kia pai tō rā whakatā. Have a great weekend!
Ryves
You may be aware of the growing focus the government is putting in place around the delivery of learning using structured learning approaches - based on the science of learning.
At Vogeltown School we use structured literacy to teach reading to our emerging learners. All junior teachers have had professional development to support the implementation of this within their classrooms. This approach towards teaching reading has proven to work with all learners and it follows a clearly defined scope and sequences with texts that match.
Reading is such an important skill to have. Some would even say that there are few skills more important to acquire in today’s world than the ability to read. Reading (and writing too) is a gateway to academic achievement and a significant influence on outcomes like earning potential, and health and wellbeing.
What are the benefits of reading?
- Reading is essential for educational success and underpins a student’s ability to access the wider curriculum and achieve across it. This becomes even more critical as children move through to higher levels of schooling.
- Reading encourages brain activity. Unlike watching television or streamed entertainment, reading requires focus. This engages the mind and stimulates more brain regions than passive forms of entertainment.
- Reading improves vocabulary. By exposing children to new words, reading can expand vocabulary.
- Reading develops critical thinking. Reading widely allows students to encounter different ideas and ways of understanding the world, compelling them to consider what they believe and why.
- Reading can enhance mental and emotional wellbeing. The therapeutic effect of reading is known as bibliotherapy and research has proven the health benefits of reading which include: stress reduction, management of depression, and reducing memory loss.
For us, promoting and supporting reading in the home is the most helpful thing that parents and whanau can do. Take time to share books with your children, or listen to them read, or even model a love of reading yourself. Doing things together is a great way of giving children some cherished one on one time too! If you would like to know more about how you can help, then please talk to your child’s teacher.
Will you join the movement on Friday 17th May 2024 to stop bullying and spread kindness?
Celebrated annually around the globe, Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against bullying, mobilising their whole school, after a peer was bullied for wearing a pink shirt.
In New Zealand, Pink Shirt Day aims to create schools, workplaces and communities where all people feel safe, valued and respected.
We will be collecting gold coin donations on this day to be given to the Mental Health Foundation.
