Waikari School Newsletter

Email: principal@waikari.school.nz
Website: https://waikari.school.nz
Location: 23 Princes Street, Waikari, New Zealand
Phone: (03)314 4250

Kia ora e te whānau,

I must say, I have enjoyed being back at school these past two weeks! Arriving last Wednesday (despite the rain), it was lovely to see everyone's excited faces and hear the "ohhhs" and "arrrs" from the students as they looked at the upgrades made over the holidays. The Waikari School Board is really pleased with the new cabinets and sink areas in both Kea and Weka Class, knowing that these small changes will add functionality to our classrooms. We are also extremely proud of the upgrades to the Office and Staffroom. Redesigning Caryn's office is something that has needed to be done for a long time, and we are grateful to have completed it; I know that Caryn is enjoying her new space.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to the following students who have joined our Waikari School Whānau: Aroha and Noah (who have joined Kea Class), and Kirsten and Luca (who have joined Weka Class).

As I walked around the classrooms over the past couple of days, I was impressed with how well the tamariki have settled back into classroom routines and learning. There is a lovely atmosphere in our school, and watching the older students look out for the younger students is truly pleasing. We are excited for all the fun learning that will take place this year and look forward to sharing it with you all.

Thank you for your continued support.

Noho ora mai,

Phoebe Todd

What are values?

"Values convey what is important and what matters in our lives and represent an ongoing direction. Values are aspirational and can be domain specific i.e. home, school and work. Values are a journey, not the destination."

Waikari School Values:

Firstly, we would like to acknowledge the mahi of previous staff, as well as some current students and whānau, in developing the PRIDE values. The end goal is to ensure our values and behavioural expectations are relevant, meaningful, and aligned with the views of our current staff, students, and whānau to help develop a culture of belonging in our school. These values and behavioural expectations need to be embedded, user-friendly, simple, and clear.

Over the past few weeks, the Board, Staff and Students have explored many behavioural expectations/values and discussed which ones they believe are most important for students to learn while at Waikari School. We are now seeking wider whānau input to help gain your insight into what behavioural expectations/values you want your child to leave Waikari School with.

We ask you to please consider these behavioural expectations/values from a school perspective, as they may differ from your family values.

Please select the top four school-related values you’d like your child to develop during their time with us.

How do I have my say?

• Click this link to rank the school-related values

• We need this information asap so that the board can make the final decision, so would appreciate your input.

This mahi aligns with our Strategic Goal 1: Whakawhanaungatanga - Build a culture of wellbeing in our kura. The new vision and values will go alongside the bird review that was completed last year.

Thank you for your support,

Waikari School Board & Staff

A huge thanks to the Reynolds family for all of her hard work maintaining the pool over the summer holidays. They were also at school fixing the pool piping and roofing, a special mention to Kyle as well who's company donated some roofing parts.

Over the next few weeks our curriculum focus will be physical education - as we explore water safety. We are in the process of working out a time with Hurunui College that we can use the Hawarden pool to complete some of the water safety lessons in deep water. Water Safety is part of the New Zealand Curriculum and we are passionate about teaching students these skills. Here are some quick facts:

• So far in 2025 there have been a total of 12 fatal drownings.
• There were 72 provisional preventable fatal drownings in 2024.
• 83% of fatal drownings in 2024 were male.

On Monday 3rd February, Waikari School had a zoom with Inga Smith a Professor from Otago University. She has invited Waikari School to name one of the Sea Ice Trackers which were planted in Antarctica in 2023. The scientists are trying to figure out when and why the sea ice breaks, and whether this has any correlation with Climate Change. You can follow Tracker 6 (the one we get to name) by following this link.

We will be having a Mihi Whakatau, Back to School BBQ, and Whānau Connects (parent-teacher interviews) on Thursday, 13th February. We can't wait to see you then!

Whānau Connects (Parent-Teacher Interviews)

4:30-5:00 PM, 5:30-6:30 PM

Zoe and Kerry will be available for whānau to meet with them and discuss their children and their learning before and during the Back to School BBQ. You do not have to book a session to meet with Zoe or Kerry if you feel you don't have anything that needs to be discussed. However, if you're new to our school or if your child has transitioned from Weka to Kea Class, we strongly recommend you book a time to meet with Zoe and Kerry. To book these sessions, please go to 'School Bookings' on Hero. We will be holding formal Parent - Teacher Interviews in Term 3 following Mid Year Reports.

Mihi Whakatau

5:00 PM

The Mihi Whakatau will take place at 5:00 PM as an opportunity for us to welcome the new students and their whānau to our school. This will take place on the court and will be similar to the mihi whakatau we held last year to welcome Miss de Groot.

Back to School BBQ

5:30-7:00 PM

We will be holding a Back to School BBQ from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. The Slip N Slide down the hill will be in action, and the pool will be open. The FAST will provide sausages and bread, and we ask you to bring along anything else you would like to accompany the BBQ. Parents are allowed to BYO. Children will need to bring togs, a rash top, and a towel for the Slip N Slide and swimming.

Recently I was taught that the word whakatau means to settle, therefore when we are welcoming someone to our school through a whakatau our intention is to settle them into the space. When welcoming any guest to our school we will proceed with a whakatau (this may be a simple one in the classroom, or a more formal one outside inviting whānau).

What to expect at the whakatau:

• The manuhiri (visitors) will gather together outside the school then someone will lead you into the whakatau .

• The tangata whenua (hosts i.e. in this case the school) will be seated facing the manuhiri (visitors) to welcome you - if whānau are attending you will sit with the tangata whenua.

• A mihi (welcome speech) will be made by a representative of the school. Then the children and staff will stand and sing a waiata (song) to support the speaker’s message. There may be other speakers, a waiata will follow each speech. Children and staff will sit down after the waiata.

• A representative from the manuhiri (visitors) will respond, then the group will stand and sing a waitata to support the speaker, (in some cases the school will sing to support as well). The group will then sit down.

• Waikari School will offer a simple morning tea or kai for everyone to share. A student will lead karakia kai. This concludes the whakatau and signifies the coming together of the visitors and the Waikari Community.

Caryn and Phoebe are going to do some Hero Finance Training, so your Start of the Year Stationery will be uploaded onto your accounts shortly.

Once this training has been completed, you will be able to check your family account via the HERO app. Payments are to be made via online banking.

Reminders:

• To keep the pick-up times as consistent as possible please be waiting at the your gate before the bus arrives . Sometimes, due to the nature of the 2 bus routes, the timing isn't always exact - apologies in advance if you are waiting a for a little bit.
• Text Caryn if your children are not on the bus by 7.30am for the morning run, or 2.30pm for the afternoon run.

Our newly appointed Student Leaders are eager to get lunchtime clubs up and running, and have been coming up with all sorts of fun ideas for their clubs. These clubs provide students with lots of options of what to do at lunchtimes as well as build leadership in our students.

We have also worked with our Librarian and Sports Leaders to make Job Descriptions for their roles alongside the student leader job descriptions.

Home Learning will be starting this coming week, as we move into our full classroom routines. Please see the image below of our first fortnightly maths challenge. Students will receive this on Monday alongside their spelling words.

Kea Class Students

• Practice spelling words
• Complete the fortnightly maths challenge (can be done as a family).
• Read for 20min 5 times a week

Weka Class Students

• Practice spelling words
• Complete the fortnightly maths challenge (can be done as a family).
• Read for 10min 5 times a week.

Congratulations to the following certificate recipients:

• Aroha - for a great start at Waikari School, listening to and following adult instructions.
• Kirsten - for having a fantastic start to school and making sure she goes to bed early to be ready for the next day.

• • This week, we continued our focus on Respect—ensuring we look after our belongings and those of the school. We discussed:
    

    • How to take care of the new sports gear: it needs to be put away in the sports shed at the end of lunchtime.
    • How to care for our sandpit toys: we should return them to the sandpit instead of leaving them in the bushes around the school.
    • How to look after our sunhats: we need to put them back in our cubbies after play.
    • How to care for our new stationery: we should return our books to our trays and our stationery to where we found it.

    Let’s start the year off great by always remembering to put things back where they belong!

Absences

• If your child is not going to be at school please contact the school before 9:00am. This can now also be done through the HERO app.

School Bank Account

• Automatic payments are also welcome (weekly & fortnightly) and our Student Management system can also handle Payments in Advance.

Office Hours

• School office will be manned by Caryn from 9.00-9:30 and 1:30-3:00

Break Times

• 10:45-11:10 Morning Tea
• 12:45-1:20 Lunch

• Health and Safety Management
• Risk Management
• Visitors
• Healthcare
• Worker Engagement
• Participation, and Representation
• Planning and Preparing for Emergencies
• Disasters and Crises
• School Closure, Emergency Management
• Disaster Management
• Crisis Management

Password: pride

We as a B.O.T really value your feedback.

• Thursday 6th Feb - Waitangi Day (no school)
• Friday 7th Feb - Teacher Only Day (school closed for students)
• Thursday 13th Feb - Back to School Whānau BBQ (find info in the newsletter which will be coming this week).
• Wednesday 19th Feb - Board Meeting, 5pm, Staffroom
• Tuesday 25th Feb - Waikari/GV Swimming Sports, Amberley Pool
• Tuesday 4th March - Hurunui Swimming Sports
• Monday 17th March - Teacher Only Day
• Saturday 22nd March - Agrikids (yr7-8)
• Wednesday 26th March - Hurunui Duathlon
• Thursday 10th April - Teeball/Softball Tournament
• Friday 11th April - End of Term 1

Requirements:

Transport to get to games around North Canterbury on a Friday night from March 7th - April 11th.

Mouthguards are compulsory and so is lunchtime practice at Hurunui College.

If any parents are willing to manage or coach a team as if we don't have any of these we can't enter a team.

Cost to be confirmed.

Please email sport@hurunuicollege.school.nz or ring me before Friday 14th February with your child's name, year group, parents phone number and email address and I will be in touch.