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,

Welcome to Waikari School!

A huge welcome to Ethan Walker and his whānau, Matt and Tamara, who started at Waikari School this week. We're incredibly lucky to have you as part of our extended Waikari School Whānau!

Rural & Teaching Principals Conference

I recently attended, and was part of the organising committee for, the Rural & Teaching Principals Conference held in Christchurch this year. This conference is always a highlight for me. It's a fantastic opportunity to connect with principals from rural schools across New Zealand who are in very similar situations to Waikari School. Sharing the unique challenges of being a teaching principal with others who truly understand is invaluable.

At the conference, I had the pleasure of listening to some amazing speakers and workshops. I also had the honor of hosting the Education Minister, Erica Stanford. Standing up in front of colleagues and public speaking was a nerve-wracking experience, definitely outside my comfort zone! It made me reflect on how often we, as adults, are truly put in situations outside our comfort zones. We frequently ask this of our tamariki, yet when the challenge is presented to us, we can be hesitant. I challenge you all as whānau to step outside your comfort zone at least once in the next week.

The Power of Resilience

One of the speakers at the conference, Dr. Lucy Hone, spoke about the three secrets of resilient people. Resilience is one of our revised school values, and hearing Lucy speak made me acutely aware of its importance. Adversity doesn't discriminate; in life, we all need resilience. Lucy defines resilience as "someone's capacity to cope with loss" – a capacity that can be strengthened and can grow. I highly encourage you all to watch her Ted Talk on the Three Secrets of Resilient People, linked below.

Thank you all once again for your continued support over the past couple of weeks.

Noho ora mai,

Phoebe

Recently we got our school attendance report from the MOE and sadly our attendance in Term 1 was a lot lower than past terms! We as a school are working really hard to ensure your children attend school regularly. It is really important for their success at school!

If your child won't be at school you NEED to contact the school office, otherwise they will be marked as truant. Below is an image of the Ministry of Education STAR approach we as a staff will be taking to ensure all students are attending school regularly.

Congratulations to everyone who competed at the Hurunui Cross Country! It was fantastic to see such great participation and enjoyment from all.

A massive thank you to Mrs. Florance for organizing the event, along with everyone from FAST, and all the parents who helped with transportation and on the day. It was a truly great event, filled with smiles and everyone pushing themselves outside of their comfort zones.

An extra big congratulations to:

• Maddison - 1st Year 8 Girls
• Nico - 3rd Year 8 Boys

Good luck to Max, Maddison, Khanoa and Nico who will be competing in the Canterbury Cross Country.

Today, our Year 7 and 8 students had the opportunity to attend a high school transition day hosted by the Hurunui Youth Project (HYP). This initiative came about directly from parent feedback requesting more support with our students transitioning to secondary school. The fantastic team at Hurunui Youth have truly come on board to help us with this.

Our students spent the day alongside some secondary school leaders, learning about a typical secondary school timetable, moving between classes, study periods, home learning, and much more. They also had a great time making friends with students from Greta Valley, Omihi, and Waipara Schools. We can't wait to hear all about their day!

Weka Class have been having fun creating Numeracy art!

• Year 3 Geometry and Spatial Reasoning: Symmetry

They have been learning how to classify objects as symmetrical or not symmetrical and identify line and rotational symmetry. Look at their beautiful butterflies which show the line of symmetry and create a symmetrical pattern.

• Year 3 Rational Numbers: Equivalent fractions

They have also been learning to identify and represent equivalent fractions.

We made a pattern using fractions of a circle. Can you spy a whole, a half, a quarter and an eighth in the photo?

We're hosting a Refreshed Curriculum Whānau Information Evening on Tuesday, June 10th at 3 PM. In this session, I'll be sharing important information regarding Mid-Year Reporting, which has changed slightly due to the transition between the old and refreshed curricula.

I will share my PowerPoint slides with all whānau after the presentation.

You'll receive your Mid-Year reports on Hero on Friday, June 27th. If you would like your report printed, please contact the school by Thursday, June 26th.

We will also be holding Whānau Connects (Parent-Teacher Interviews) on the 23rd and 24th July, which will be an opportunity for you all to connect with the teachers to discuss your child's progress.

We are thrilled to announce that the Kea Class will be hosting a fundraising dinner for the Lions Club on Tuesday, June 17th. This event is a valuable opportunity for our students to engage in community service, highlighting the importance of giving back, and that you need to do something to earn funds towards camp. The Lions Club will give us $35 pp for the meal and an additional contribution on top of this towards are camp. This is going to reduce the cost of camp immensely.

During school hours, the students will prepare lasagne, cottage pie, and apple crumble for the dinner.

Additionally, we kindly ask each family (that can afford to) to donate a salad for our salad bar that will accompany the meal.

On the night of the event, we will need come students (and whānau) to help serve these meals. We understand that not everyone may be able to assist, but we would appreciate it if you could complete the survey below to help us gauge availability.

Details:

• Date: Tuesday, June 17th

• Time: 7pm

• Location: Waikari Bowling Club

Thank you for your support in making this event a success. We look forward to a wonderful evening together!

Thanks,

Zoe & Phoebe

On the 6th June Weka Class will be attending the PlayHouse performance of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

• Omihi Hall
• Transported in the School Van and Private Vehicles
• Mrs McMillan & Vicki will be attending.
• Leaving at 11am returning by 12:30/1:00pm

Kerry & Phoebe

Thanks for all of those who have RSVP to our school Matariki Evening. This helps us with catering and organising. Also a huge thanks to Opal & Ben who have come onboard to help make this evening happen.

Home Learning is essential to help support the learning your child is doing in the classroom. Please see the image below of the new one which is coming!

Kea Class Students

• Practice spelling words
• Complete the fortnightly maths challenge (can be done as a family).
• Read for 20min 5 times a week - when analysing students assessment we noticed that Kea Class students need to develop their reading milage. So the longer that they are able to read the more this is going to help them, which is why we ask that they read for home work!
• Practice your musical instrument.

Weka Class Students

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

Are you tired of asking your children, "How was your day?" and getting the same reply every time. How about you try asking one of the questions below and see if the response is different?

Congratulations to Willow & Ethan who recieved the principal awards for term 2.

Congratulations to the following certificate recipients:

• Theo: For being brave and making the right choices.
• Breanna: For being brave, attending kapa haka, and making new friends.
• Aiden: For making progress and good choices in the classroom.
• Luca - For learning to own up to mistakes.
• Max - For always showing integrity by owning up and telling the truth.

This week, we discussed how we show Integrity by focusing on our OWN actions and behaviours. We explored the concept of the "circle of control" and recognized that we can only change things that are within our own influence.

Things that are in my circle of control are:

• What I say and do
• How I choose to react
• How I spend my free time
• The amount of effort I give
• How I talk to myself
• Whether or not I ask for help

Things that are out of my circle of control are:

• The happiness of other people
• The weather
• If others are on time
• What others think of me
• What others think, say, do, or believe
• My past behaviour
• The past
• Natural disasters
• World problems

Please remember to keep track of your child's school account via the HERO app. These are updated with any expenses or payments each month. Let us know if you need help with accessing this function or if you would like to set up regular payments.

Absences

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

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

• Planning and Preparing for Emergencies, Disasters, and Crises
• Communication During an Emergency, Disaster, or Crisis
• School Closure
• Emergency Management
• Disaster Management
• Crisis Management

Username: waikari

Password: pride

We as a Board really value your feedback.

• Wednesday 21st May - Waikari School Cross Country (pp 22/5)
• Tuesday 27th May- Hurunui Cross Country (pp 28/5)
• Thursday 29th May - Assembly, 2:30pm, in the Kea Class
• Monday 2nd June - Kings Birthday Public Holiday
• Thursday 5th June - Year 7&8 Day at Omihi
• Friday 6th June - Weka Class trip to the PlayHouse
• Tuesday 10th June - Whānau Information Session - Refreshed Curriculum, 3pm in Kea Class
• Tuesday 17th June - Kea Class Camp Fundraiser
• Friday 20th June - Matariki Public Holiday
• Wednesday 25th June - Community Hangi
• Friday 27th June - Kahui Ako Leaders Day - Y7&8
• Friday 27th June - Last day of Term 2
• Monday 14th July - First day of Term 3
• Tuesday 22nd & Wednesday 23rd July - Whānau Connects (Parent -Teacher Interviews)
• Thursday 24th July - Book Week Dress Up
• Friday 25th July - Teacher Only Day

Great Northern Community Garden - working-bee times:

Every Sunday and Wednesday (unless it is raining).

• Sunday 2-4pm
• Wednesday 1-3pm

The garden has lots of potatoes that are ready to be dug up! Come along this Sunday and help dig them up (you might even be able to take some home). Also Rangi will be there with some seeds to give away to help you plant some veggies in your own gardens!

The garden is situated behind the Waikari Medical Center.

Everyone welcome.🌞🌻🌽