The Connection Week 9 Term 2

I feel as though I speak for many parents and teachers at the moment when I say I feel a bit like a juggler! Between getting the right child to the right sports training at the right time, sorting out how to be in two places at once, making sure that my paperwork is done, the groceries done, making meetings on time and dealing with the human element of being a busy person, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with “balls to keep in the air”. Then add in another ball or seven to juggle - a dentist appointment or two, an unplanned trip to the vet and helping a friend whose world is falling apart. It's easy to forget which balls are priorities. I am not alone here. This is the life of many Huapai parents. To centre myself, I stop and breathe and remember that the most important ball to keep in the air is always my family. I have four summers left with my oldest daughter at home. That’s a priority ball.

As a school, our most important ball that we juggle is our people. Our staff and our children. They are the centre of our school and the centre of our decisions. As a school we juggle many balls - loads of great things happening all the time. We are so proud of the conviction our staff hold that the most important ‘ball’ to keep in the air is your children. Each teacher has such a short time in the scheme of things with your child, they go above and beyond to make sure that this ‘ball’ is prioritised.

As this busy term draws to a close, we would like to invite you into our final assembly of the term. This will be a powhiri for our new families, a chance to reflect on the wonderful things that have happened this term and a chance to thank you for juggling all the balls in your world, keeping your children at the centre of your priorities.

Maree Lloyd

Deputy Principal

• Thursday 7th July - School Disco
• Friday 8th July - Powhiri / End Of Term Assembly
• Friday 8th July - Last Day Of Term 2
• Monday 25th July - First Day Of Term 3

We would like to invite you to join us for a powhiri to welcome our new Huapai families and to celebrate the term with some special certificates. The powhiri and assembly will start at 1:45pm next Friday 8th July. If the weather is fine, we will be on the courts, if wet we will be in the hall. At the conclusion of this, there will be a sausage sizzle for everyone to enjoy.

Nomination round

Schools across New Zealand will be holding their Board elections shortly. This is a great way to serve the community and support the school. Please consider putting your name forward for this election. A Board has 5 elected community representatives and is for a three year term. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 15th July 2022.

We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database.

Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates.

Nominations close on Wednesday 3rd August at 12noon.

Election day is Wednesday 7th September.

Our Year 7 and 8 students have been carrying out deep learning on real-world problems in our community, in New Zealand and around the world; learning more about the causes of some of these problems and their effects on people.

As they have learned about their chosen real-world problems, they have strengthened their resolve to take action to make a difference. Below are some of the projects our Seniors are undertaking, we hope that you will be able to support them in their learning and service leadership.

In NZ today thousands of people go without enough healthy, nutritious food because they can’t afford to feed their families, but organisations like the Salvation Army help support people in need by gifting food to families.

Next week (Week 10), on Tuesday and Thursday, we will be visiting classes and collecting canned or non-perishable food (e.g. packaged pasta, rice, canned fruits or vege, soup and more). All food items collected will be donated to the Salvation Army.

So, please bring in your food donations next Tuesday and Thursday!

Thank you for your support.

Bea, Cece, Madi, Alyia, Ava

Year 8, Studios 3 & 4

Sports Gear Collection

Helping kiwi kids into sports.

1 in 8 Kiwi kids cannot participate in sport because they do not have access to sports gear.

DONATE your old sports gear (equipment, clothing and shoes). HELP US TO HELP THEM!

Bring your sports donations to Studio 3A before Wednesday 06 July.

All sports gear collected will be donated to the Recycled Sport Gear Equipment Organisation.

Thank you for your support.

Ihaka, Ryan, Ashton, Jacob, Hunter, Tanner

Year 8, Studios 3 & 4

Back2School Project Stationery Collection

Many Kiwi kids begin the school year without the stationery they need to feel successful at school. The Back2School Project charity works hard to help these kids.

Help us to help them by donating new and unused stationery. Pencils, pens, rulers, erasers, glue sticks, coloured pencils all gratefully accepted.

Place your donations in the Back2School Project box in the school office any time from Thursday 30 June to Tuesday 5 July.

Thank you for your support!

Lauren, Grace, Ashtyn-Rose

Year 7 & 8, Studio 3

Canned Food Collection

Auckland City Mission helps to feed thousands of people in need each year. Help us to help them!

Donate cans of food to the Auckland City Mission collection box in Studio 3A, anytime until Wednesday of next week.

Thank you for supporting our project and for supporting the Auckland City Mission.

Maeve, Isabel, Lucia

Year 7, Studio 3

Kids Clothing Collection

Help a kid in need!

Many New Zealand kids do not have the warm clothing and proper shoes they need to feel warm and comfortable.

We are collecting children’s clothes and shoes to donate to Op Shops that support families in need.

Bring in your old children’s clothes and shoes (in good condition) before next Thursday 7 July and put them in the collection boxes in Studio 3A.

Thank you for your donations.

Olive, Meaghan, Millie

Year 7 and 8, Studio 3 & 4

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who are able to help with our mud run marshalling. We are nearly there. Please have a think to see whether you are able to help us with this. We require 20 marshals each day.

Thursday 7th July

If you are able to help us on the night, please use the link below to register.

HDS Breakfast Club runs every morning in Studio 2, from 8.30am- 9am.

It also provides an opportunity for children to meet and make new friends.

Would you like to be part of our breakfast club team?

Could you offer half an hour a week to help serve the children and clean up?

We’d love to hear from you. Please email Stephanie on stephanie.wales@hds.school.nz or pop into Studio 2 for a chat.

Next week your child will bring home a booklet for our annual “ATHON. This year we are focusing on maths facts. Your child will have a set of maths questions to learn over the next month and then they will be tested on them in Week 4. We are asking children to seek sponsorship over the next month. We are asking parents to work with their children helping them learn the facts and test them. Prizes galore!

Starfall

Starfall teaches through play, with hundreds of games in categories like reading, writing, maths, etc. The screenplay is straightforward, with simple, colourful graphics. The emphasis here is on the learning, rather than the gaming. Junior school focus. There is a paid version, but the free resources are great too!

NorthWest Mall 27th June - 24th July

If you are in the mall, please take your receipt to the information desk there and collect a ping pong ball to add to our container. Let's watch Huapai's tally grow!

Entries Close Tomorrow

Is your child keen to play basketball in a weekly team? Games start next term and are played up at YMCA Westgate. Please use the linked form below to find out which day your child would play and to register your child. Entries close tomorrow.

Please keep collecting these and hand your completed sheets into the School Office.

Skate Lessons After School and Holiday Programme

Register at the link below.

*Please note the change of the 'In-person' session being on Mondays after school next erm instead of Wednesdays.

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 2. 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

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