Newsletter | Term 2, Week 2

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable break.

We want to take a moment to talk about a few important safety concerns we are noticing during after school pick-up and throughout the school day.

Afternoon pick-up time has become increasingly chaotic and, at times, dangerous. We have had students running across the busy parking lot to meet parents, which is a serious safety risk. Our parking lot is small and very busy at that time of day, and we need your help to keep everyone safe.

To help manage this, our after school routine will be as follows:

• Students will go to karakia at the end of the day.
• We kindly ask that those sitting at the back of the hall during karakia move into the main area and be a part of the kaupapa. If you have tamariki with you, please ensure they are not roaming the hall during speeches or while singing is taking place. This is part of our tikanga — showing respect for the mana of karakia.
• After karakia, they will return to their classrooms to collect their bags and belongings.
• Parents and caregivers picking up children can go directly to classrooms to collect them.
• Students who walk home must use the front pedestrian gate or the back gates to exit safely.
• Whānau groups/siblings can wait together just inside the school gate until all are collected (behind the hall on the courtyard).
• Students being picked up for after school care need to wait for their van at the bike shed mural, or under the shelter if it is raining.

We’ve also had a few instances of unknown visitors walking through the school during the day, which is a concern for the safety of our tamariki. All visitors must sign-in at the office. If you do not have business at the school, please walk around the outside of the school grounds rather than cutting through.

We appreciate your support in helping us maintain a safe and calm environment for our students. Keeping our children safe and happy is our top priority.

A quick reminder:

• Please drop your child off after 8:30 am. Teachers use the time before school starts to prepare for the day, and this time is essential for setting up learning activities.

• Please also ensure your child is picked up promptly at 3:00 pm. After-school time is used for meetings, classroom resets, and professional development.

We are excited to share that our teachers have begun Structured Literacy training in our mainstream classrooms. We’ll be holding a Literacy Night at the end of the term, with kai, to explain what this means for your child’s learning. I’ll send out an invitation closer to the date.

Next week, our junior teachers and I will also be attending Numicon training, a structured maths approach. I’ll update you on what we’ve learned in our next newsletter.

We have changed our Teacher Only Day scheduled for the end of this month to Monday, 9th June.

On this day, our staff will be working with Julia Tong on the new Maths Curriculum, aligning it with programmes we use such as PR1ME and Numicon. Teachers will be building their skills in best practice and pedagogy in mathematics.

We have a new Facebook page! Keep an eye out for updates, photos, newsletters, and event info.

Thank you for your continued support and patience as we grow together at Awapuni School.

Ngā mihi maioha,

Ms. Russell

Tumuaki | Principal

Awapuni School

One of our key initiatives this term is improving student attendance. Currently, around 44% of our students attend school regularly. Regular attendance is closely linked to student achievement—students who are at school consistently have a much better chance of reaching their full potential. We understand there can be barriers to getting children to school every day. To help support families, we are currently advertising for a van driver to assist with transport to and from school.

If your child is going to be away, please let us know by using the HERO app or by calling the office and leave a message. If we don’t receive a valid reason, the absence will be marked as unjustified, and we are required to report this to the Ministry of Education, which is placing a strong focus on attendance this year.

We will also be celebrating students with excellent attendance through rewards and recognition—let’s work together to support every child’s success!

The school board has begun the principal recruitment process with the help of a consultant. An important part of this process is seeking feedback from our staff, students, and parents/caregivers about the key skills, qualities, and attributes you feel are important for the principal role at our kura.

We encourage our school community to take part in this consultation and let us know what's important to your whānau by completing the survey below by this Friday, 9th May.

Each term, the whole school community is invited to review and comment on specific policies and procedures. This feedback is captured using the review button on topic for the board to consider.

This term our Health, Safety and Welfare policies are under review

Thursday, 8th May

• Te Puāwaitanga – Trip to Te Papa 🚍

• Pink Shirt Day 👚

Monday, 2nd June

• King's Birthday – Closed 🚫

Monday, 9th June

• Teacher Only Day – Closed 🚫

• Cross Country Final – Rangitāne Park

• Matariki – Closed 🚫

Parents and caregivers can view their child’s billing statement at any time via the Finance page in Hero. We kindly ask you to check for any outstanding payments, particularly as we head into the winter sports season.

If you have any questions about student billing or would like to set up a payment plan, please don’t hesitate to contact the office.

Payments can be made directly from the app, or by direct credit to the school’s bank account:
ASB | 12-3142-0505673-00

Parents/caregivers need let the school know if your child is going to be absent for each day they are away during the school term. You can let us know in the following ways, please include the reason for absence so we can record this correctly in our system:

1. Hero: Report an absence function
2. Phone: 06 358 1735 (absentee line)
3. Email: admin@awapuni-primary.school.nz

We strongly recommend parents download the Hero app to stay in the loop with Awapuni School. This is how we share important school messages with parents and keep you informed about new learning posts from your child/ren.

Please click here to download the Hero app and login – Follow the steps to sign up with the email address you provided the school. If you are having any issues, please contact the school office to ensure we have the correct email in the system.