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,

Wow just like that we are in week 4 and cross countries have been in full swing. It was great to see so many of you at the resent Waikari School Cross Country. A huge thanks to Greta Valley School for organising such a great event. Congratulations to all the students that participated in the event, I was impressed with your determination, perseverance and enthusiasm as you completed your run.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend an course which focused on an 'Introduction to Neuro-Informed Education,' by Karina Schreurs. There were many insights for me, but one of them was that 1 in 4 of us has a Neurodoversity, a difference in the way that our brain functions. We discussed how our differences is what makes us 'us'. Below is an image from the course which explains Neuro-diversity in a very simplistic way to help us understand.

Alongside our school vision and values review I have been communicating with Kiti Brennan from Whitiora, who is writing our school a whakatauāki to go alongside our revised school values and vision statement. We are also working with Amy Anderson from Brandnui who is designing some logos for our values & school using the revised birds. This has been a really exciting project and we can't wait to share some of the designs with you all shortly.

We are busy planning our Matariki Evening & Hāngi, so hope that you have penciled the 25th June into your calendar.

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.

We had a wonderful day on Wednesday at the Waikari/Greta Valley School Cross Country. A huge thanks to Greta Valley for organising the event. It was great to see so many people trying their absolute hardest and persevering through the race. I also really enjoyed hearing all the cheers and encouragement from those on the sideline. Thanks to those parents who marshalled for the event. We are really grateful for your continued support.

We had a great visit to the Community Garden last week, hearing the story about the garden and all they have accomplished in under one year. After our visit we have decided to put our visits on hold for the remainder of the term and pick up again in the Spring when the weather is nicer and we can plant some Spring vegetables. If you have any ideas about what we should plant in the garden we would be grateful to hear about them.

The Kea Class has been busy exploring soil science on Monday afternoons as part of their inquiry cycle into ako taiwhenua - learning about our land. During this session, they dug 20 cm by 20 cm squares in different areas of the school field and conducted a soil test. We discussed the various soil qualities, noting that the areas with the highest soil quality were near the climbing wall. Additionally, we have been exploring the bugs and worms found in our soil and how they positively impact it. This learning will be valuable when we work on the Waikari School plot at the Community Garden.

What was the main lesson that you leant from attending the NYLD?

Zara - I learnt to believe in myself.

Nico - Keep trying and be resilient.

Te Atawhai - Be resilient, keep trying and persevere.

Which speaker did you enjoy the most?

Zara: Alicia Harley - entrepreneur

Nico: Alicia Harley - entrepreneur

Te Atawhai: Alicia Harley - entrepreneur

What did I learn about leadership?

Zara: Follow your dreams.

Nico: Be resilient and always try hard, the speakers all never gave up when it got hard.

Te Atawhai - Working together is better, you achieve more.

As a side note, I would like to mention that these three students were an absolute pleasure to attend the National Young Leaders Day with. They listened intently, showed a mature level of respect throughout the whole day and had impeccable manners. In short they were everything that our school values ask for and more - they all consistently show the qualities that we look for in strong and valuable leaders. Ka pai te mahi - Nico, Te Atawhai and Zara from Caryn.

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: tbc

• 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

We require one parent to help with transporting students - if you are available please let Phoebe know.

Thanks,

Kerry & Phoebe

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 the following certificate recipients:

• Willow - always doing the right thing in the classroom
• Amelia - always doing the right thing in the classroom
• Autumn - always doing the right thing during spelling with Caryn
• Kirsten - learning what the right thing to do at school is, and making lots of progress
• Khanoa - for demonstrating integrity on a school trip.
• Karmani - for consistently demonstrating integrity in the classroom by always doing the right thing.

This week, we are focusing on Integrity! During Flocktime today, we discussed that being a person of integrity means telling the truth.

Telling the truth means:

• Owning up to our mistakes
• Telling the whole truth (including our part in what happened)
• Not adding 'extra' bits to our story
• Trusting our gut

We also talked about the difference between an accident, being unkind, and bullying. Please see the picture in the hero post to understand these differences. At Waikari School, we are KIND, but sometimes we make mistakes, and when we do, we own up and fix them!

Printed statements went home last week for the start of year stationery. Some students in the junior class didn't quite need any new stationery at this stage as they had plenty of space left in their books from last year. They will have stationery added to their account throughout the year as needed. This applies to all students during the year as different costs are added e.g. trips, camps and stationery costs etc.

This information can be seen easily accessed at any time in your parent view on the HERO app. Be sure to hop on to the HERO app if you haven't already done so.

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

Thank you to the Barton, Beach, Reynolds, Butters, Brice and Kinch whānau who came along and helped out at the school Working Bee! It was great to see so many people willing to chip in and get some jobs done around our school. Well done to our super star students who also pitched in and helped with leaf racking/blowing and the removing of the green waste. We got some new roses planted, hedges trimmed, green waste removed (there was a lot of it), the bike shed area cleared and new holds put on the climbing wall! Thanks to everyone who gave up their time to help maintain our school.

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

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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

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.🌞🌻🌽