The Connection Week 8 Term 1

Hi,

Look at this (please see the graph below)…

The number of children away is the lowest it's been since we started facing Omicron back on 21st February. I now walk through the classes and there’s a real buzz to see classes with the vast majority of kids back. Teachers are delighted and our classes are starting to have that energy again - muffled somewhat by a mask!

At the point of writing this we are waiting on the announcements - hoping it will allow a lightening of restrictions and opening up of our school. We want your children back at school (apart from when they are sick of course). We want you - our parents - back in the school.

It’s interesting, in my discussions with other Principals, with friends and within our community, I can honestly say our school is in great heart, our kids remain positive and there’s energy in the schoolhouse. It’s not like that everywhere. We are doing well and you (our parents and community) have a lot to do with this. We can see the difference you make in keeping things positive and balanced - well done and thank you (on behalf of your children).

We are hoping we can shut down our online programmes shortly. This is proving massively demanding and challenging for staff to run both options.

We are hoping we can make some clear next step statements and put our next set of plans in place. I’m looking forward to getting back to making things happen for the kids and seeing our school cranking!

Have a great week.

John Petrie

Principal

• Thursday 14th April - Last Day Of Term 1
• Monday 2nd May - First Day Of Term 2

Yuhyun (Year 6) says: “I love how at Huapai the kids are friendly. My favourite thing to learn about is maths because it’s kind of like a puzzle. My teacher is really kind and tells good jokes. At playtimes I love to play basketball.”

Jenna Rutherford

Hi, I’m Jenna Rutherford and I teach Year 3&4 students this year. I have the best class in the school! I’ve been teaching here for 3 and a bit years. I have three sons, the eldest of whom is in Year 1 here at Huapai. I really enjoy watching that ‘WOW” moment when children master a new skill.

Thank you to Jiyah and Cailyn for showing us around room 3 this week.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all students in Moananui (blue house) for filling their ping-pong ball reward container. A ping-pong ball is added to the reward container each time a student in that house completes a Huapai Way behaviour certificate.

To celebrate this, we would like to encourage students in Moananui to wear non-uniform clothes of their house colour next Thursday 31st March. We are looking forward to seeing a sea of blue! There is no cost for this.

Do you hate selling chocolate or raffle tickets? Are you keen to show your support for the school… but don’t really have a huge amount of time? Is your workplace looking for a ‘good cause’ to help? WE NEED YOU!

Our school has been offered a fundraising opportunity that is too good to turn down. It requires us to provide 20 adults to be marshalls each day for the Tough Guy And Gal Challenge which is being held in Kumeu this year, at the showgrounds.

Dates and times:

Wednesday 3rd August 8:30am - 12 noon

Thursday 4th August 7:45am - 12 noon

Friday 5th August 8:45 am- 1pm

If you can commit to any or all of these days please email our HFN president Katie Lean katie.lean@huapaidistrict.school.nz and let her know. Please pop these dates in your diary.

If your child is keen to be involved in the mud run this year, please use the below link to register the children directly. Entry options are open for students years 3-8.

Transport to and from the event will be up to families however, if you cannot arrange transport, don’t let this stop you - at Huapai we always try to find a way!

Carey Park Christian Camp runs OSCAR funded kid’s camps every school holidays. Come for a full week or just for a day. Registrations are now open for the April Kids Camps.

Where: Carey Park Christian Camp, Henderson Valley

Who: Kids aged 5-13

When: 19-22nd & 25-29th April, 2022

Cost: Full Week Registration $250.00, Day Camper $50.00 per day (all meals included)

For more information or to register, please visit www.onebigadventure.org.nz or give them a call on 837 0494.

Registrations are now open for Huapai winter netball teams. Each year we have several teams in the Kaipaira Netball Competition. The games are held on a Saturday morning at Helensville Netball centre.

This year, Kaipara has opened registrations DIRECTLY with them. Parents, please use the link below to register your child. Registrations close Friday 1st April. The club will then send the school a spreadsheet with names and teams are created from this. Games begin Saturday 7th May.

Fees are set at $45 by the club. The club also sets a fee of $140 per team for Years 5&6 teams and Year 7&8 teams. This is to pay a club umpire if needed.

A $5 uniform levy will be added to the account of all Huapai District School players.

A breakdown of cost is illustrated below for clarity.

In this region, all soccer / football is run through clubs rather than the school. If your child is keen to play, please contact westcoastrangers.co.nz.

Our winter hockey sign ups have closed. However, we have a few places available for our year 5&6 team. If your son or daughter is interested, please contact Maree Lloyd: maree.lloyd@hds.school.nz as soon as possible. No experience is needed and a hockey stick can be provided.

Team details will be sent out early next week.

Please follow the directions to download the Scholastic app today.

As a strongly encouraged and highly beneficial supplementary resource to our Year 7&8 science programme, a Start Right Science Workbook is available, payable through HERO ($17.50) with collection from your child's teacher.

The units in these workbooks cover the New Zealand Science curriculum in preparation for Year 9&10 science and fit in nicely with the topics covered in science at school as a pre or post-learning revision/consolidation. Though not compulsory, we will reference, mark and use this resource to supplement the school-based programme. As this book is an optional resource, it is, however, encouraged for our Year 7&8 students to have a copy.

Our good friends at MusiqHub are looking forward to another awesome year of music in 2022 at Huapai School! They will have some slots available for Guitar, Drums, Piano and Ukulele lessons in Term 1. If you're interested, be sure to get in touch to reserve your spot or ask any questions you may have. Contact details below:

Drums - paul.barry@musiqhub.co.nz

Guitar, Keyboard and Ukulele - scott.wotherspoon@musiqhub.co.nz

Our 2022 Term dates are:

Term 1 - Thursday 3rd February - Thursday 14th April

Term 2 - Monday 2nd May - Friday 8th July

Term 3 - Monday 25th July - Friday 30th September

Term 4 - Monday 17th October - Friday 16th December

Additional to this there are two planned Teacher only days:

• Friday 4th March

• Friday 3rd June (making Queens Birthday a 4 day option)

We use HERO to send classroom updates, to share regular learning posts and now for payment on all in-school costs. HERO sends push notifications or emails. You can now choose how you receive HERO notifications as well as manage devices that receive them.

To set your own notification preferences:

1. Click on your profile image

2. Select EDIT PROFILE

3. Scroll down to My Devices and select your preferences.
   

Or please see the full instructions linked below.

Email: office@hds.school.nz
Website: https://www.huapaidistrict.school.nz/
Location: Huapai District School 40 Station Rd, Kumeū, New Zealand
Phone: +64 09 412 5042
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/huapaidistrictschool