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Newsletter Issue 5
Term 2 - 3 July 2024
Principal’s Update
Kia ora, Nameste, Talofa, Konnichiwa, Guten Tag, Gidday, Vannakkam, ni Hao, Kia orana, Hola, Salam, Sa wat deekha, Dia Dhuit, Goeie Dag, Bonjour, Καλημέρα, Mālō e lelei, Greetings everyone
Mānawatia a Matariki
What a wonderful night we had last Wednesday for our Matariki community evening . The weather, though cold, was kind to us, the classrooms looked incredible, adorned with some deep learning about the stars of Matariki and the concepts that underpin these; remembrance, planning for the future and all of the gifts we enjoy from the earth and sky. We were delighted with the huge turn out from our community - whole whānau from the youngest to our koroua (grandparents). Thank you for supporting this event with your presence, participation and feedback and making all the children’s preparations worthwhile. We appreciated also the great turn out from our Kapa Haka group who opened the event with support from Whaea Jayjay, Tessa Finnigan and Jane McCauley. Their voices were a wonderful way to start the evening, even if the tight hall space meant that the audience were spilling out of the door!
Three Way Conferences & Reporting Feedback
It was great to have such a good turnout to our Three Way Conferences last night and we look forward to more this evening. A reminder that as per the outline of our new reporting processes these meetings, together with the Reading, Writing and Mathematics posts, replace our mid year written report during this six month trial, so we encourage all families to attend. Following these meetings, you will be given a feedback sheet for those who prefer to do this on paper - please drop this back into the office before the end of the week. For those who would prefer to give their feedback digitally -
The link to the digital feedback form is HERE. As previously indicated, the turnaround for this feedback is short - we request you complete the form before Sunday 14 July. There are only three questions and this will inform how we report our student’s achievements for the remainder of 2024 and beyond so please do take the time to jot down your thoughts.
Property Update
Our accessible walkway between the upper and lower parts of the school is set to begin this term break. The fencing for this will be going up in the first week of the holidays and the construction team expect to begin earthworks in the second week. There will be a great deal of fencing and construction traffic around the school grounds during the break so, if you are using the grounds, please do adhere to any safety signage and keep an eye out for vehicles to keep yourselves and our children safe.
Please also note that, from the first day of Term 3, all foot traffic to the senior school will be redirected through the Jubilee Corner (from the middle school) to allow vehicles that need to access the lower part of the school to do so on the hall side.
In addition to this, the existing work on the Junior block will accelerate during the break, with roofing work to the entire block and carpeting to improve the internal environment for our youngest learners (who sit on the floor a great deal) throughout the block.
Excitingly, the Board has approved an additional spend on the junior block during this project to allow the addition of internal doors through the entire block (as with Rooms 1-3) to provide more flexible learning spaces for our students. We are delighted to be able to include this as part of this existing project which is ultimately a saving both on the financial front and in regard to further interruptions to learning for our students.
Accessible playground
We are delighted to share with our community that we have been awarded two grants totalling to the tune of $120,000 to begin work on an accessible playground in our senior area of the school. We are now just awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Education to proceed. The Trusts Community Foundation awarded us $77, 564 and Johnsonville Charitable Trust provided the balance of $57,752 to cover our costs for stage one of this project, which will be completed in two stages. This project will have to work around our existing projects, but we hope to start towards the end of the year. An image of the full project (stage one and two) is below and stage one will be the groundwork and installation of the two bucket swings, balance posts which are hidden by the (fictional) trees in this concept design and the addition of a series of communication or sensory panels (see second image) within the little whare (house) that the green slide leads from. The design for this project is the culmination of a great deal of student research and student voice from our 2023 Hub 5 students. We are enormously grateful for the support from TTCF and JCT as we anticipate this project will improve the playing spaces both for our school and for the wider community for the future.
Te Ao Māori Lead Teacher - Study leave Term 3.
As the families of Year 5 students will already be aware, Tessa Finnigan has been granted study leave for next term by the Bellevue School Board. The focus of Tessa’s study is observing and learning from local kaiako, whānau or community members about how to effectively include Te Ao Māori in daily classroom programmes. As the leader of Te Ao, Reo, Tikanga and Mātaurangi Māori learning across Bellevue School, Tessa will explore ways to meaningfully incorporate Te Ao Māori in daily classroom programmes. This will strengthen Bellevue School’s plan to ensure the local curriculum responds to the needs of our Māori learners and sustains their language, identity and culture. In turn, this enriches the curriculum for all students. We are fortunate to have Anneke McLean, who currently works on Fridays in Room 11 and covers teacher release across the school (and who was a full time Bellevue teacher in 2023) covering this role for Term 3. We are currently finalising the Term 3 and 4 Friday teacher for Room 11.
Staff update
We are delighted to welcome a new teacher aide to our team from the beginning of Term 3, for the remainder of the year. Naomi has more than 10 years experience as a teacher aide, including three years at Kimi Ora Special School. We are confident that she will be able to 'hit the ground running' in supporting our students with additional needs and look forward to welcoming her to the team.
Hindi classes Term 3
In Term 3 we have an exciting opportunity for some of our students to participate in Hindi classes. These are provided by the Wellington Hindi School who hold lessons in the school hall on a Sunday. As with our Heritage Language groups, students who share the same language will be invited to participate in this group.
Dr Ramesh Sharma who teaches the Sunday classes will come into school once a week throughout Term 3 and work with a group of Year 4-6 students.
Advance Notice
Our whole school emergency evacuation and reunification practice will be held on Friday 20th September. Prior to this we like to check that all families have checked that we have their most up to date emergency contacts on file. Your child’s emergency contacts will be sent home to review week in the early weeks of next term. We recommend that each family has at least two emergency contacts listed that can pick up their child from the school at short notice if absolutely necessary. Please ensure that whoever you list will be able to pick up your child on Friday 20th September. We will not be able to release your child to anyone who is not listed.
Thanks for another great term!
As we complete the final days of the term we would like to thank our fabulous school community for your ongoing involvement in and support of your children's learning, our staff and our school. We thank our teaching and support staff for the huge amount of themselves they pour into every day at Bellevue and our Board for their guidance and governance.
Ngā mihi nui
Annette
Remember to take a look at the Bellevue Website for longer term information (Parent Portal) or follow our closed group Facebook Page for quick updates or reminders.
Image of the full project (stage one and two)
Communication/sensory panels
Welcome
Haere mai ki te kura o Bellevue. Welcome to the following student and their whānau. It is great to have you in our Bellevue Learning Community.
Noah - Room 4
Matariki Night - Thank you
To assist our families with locating our Attendance Procedures, please note that the below link now takes you to a 'quick link' on our website to the Attendance Procedures in PDF form.
Please do always contact the office (office@bellevue-newlands.school.nz), or call and leave a message for absences. Do not reply to this newsletter as your message may not be seen.
Regular Attendance - Key to Learning
As you know, one of the key factors that contributes to success at school is regular attendance. All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance. If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age.
Keeping kids in education is vital for their success at school and later in life. Research tells us that the fewer days students are at school, the less chance they have of achieving. Missing school isn't just about missing learning, it's also about all the other opportunities that are missed - social skills, friendships and extra curricular activities - every day matters!
Parents must let the school know when their child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Taking time off for extracurricular activities (if not organised by school) is not an acceptable reason for being absent. We request that where possible appointments, private lessons and holidays be booked outside school hours and that students attend school everyday no matter the weather. We are committed to ensuring all of our students get the most out of their education, to help them learn more and achieve better results.
We know that winter is here with all its chills, bugs and colds. Knowing if your child is well enough to go to school can be tricky at times. Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora have refreshed their guidance for schools and parents to use to help make that call. Check out the Ministry of Education website for more information. If you are still unsure, get in touch with us. At our school we have strong processes and hygiene practices in place to make sure our school environment is as healthy as possible for our students and our staff.
If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school for any reason, please talk to us! We are committed to supporting your child to attend school and building a culture that fosters attendance by having:
School staff who have strong relationships with students, parents and whānau
A school culture that recognises your child and your family for who they are, where they come from and who they want to be
A school community that does everything to make sure students are at school, and they are participating, and progressing in their education.
Parents and caregivers can find more information about attendance on the Ministry of Education website. Our school works with the MoE to monitor and track student attendance. Last term 70% of students - 189/270 students - had regular attendance for the term. 13% of students have moderate - chronic absences.
Username bellevue-newlands, password 'grow'
ICAS Assessments 2024
Please note there is a change to the Writing assessment date originally published.
Bellevue School offers interested families the chance for their children to participate in the ICAS Assessments in:
English (Reading)
Writing
Mathematics
Science
All of these assessments are online. The cost of each of the assessments is $21.50, EXCEPT Writing which is $27.75.
This competition takes place each year in schools throughout Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the Pacific region and South Africa. ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. Students are asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated, and thorough level of learning. For more information please follow THIS LINK.
The assessments are challenging and provide an opportunity, particularly for students of high academic ability, to gain a measure of their own achievement in an external assessment situation. We would not advise that your child sit these if they are a less confident learner or would become anxious in an exam situation.
If you are uncertain about whether or not your child should participate please talk to their whānau teacher.
The dates for the ICAS Assessments at Bellevue in 2024 are:
Writing - Wednesday 7 August
English - Thursday 15 August
Science - Thursday 22 August
Maths - Thursday 29 August
A notice has already been emailed to all Hub 4 and 5 families about registering for these assessments.
A reminder that entries and payment must be in no later than 3pm on Monday 22 July (first week back in Term 3)
Library News
Happy Holiday Reading Everyone!
Congratulations to the following librarians on their awards:
Icazia - Bronze Award
Savinaya and Maddison - Silver awards
Congratulations to our budding authors Margot, Rishika and Nuvini who have been working hard over the last two terms to produce their first collaborative fiction book titled ‘A tale to tell’.
Whakawhanaungatanga Fridays
This next Whakawhanaungatanga is Friday 9th August (11:50am - 1:05pm).
Please note: that due to the current build working happening at school, this session will only be going ahead in fine weather. We will advise via Facebook on the morning, but if you are unsure please contact the school office.
During Whakawhanaungatanga Fridays children are:
1. Learning in rich and authentic contexts, relevant to their own experiences and interests.
2. Developing dispositional skills, such as collaboration, risk taking, and leadership.
3. Living values that we hold dear at Bellevue School, such as empathy, integrity, resilience, and creativity.
We warmly invite whānau to come along and play, explore and learn alongside your child/ren during any of the sessions this year. There is no need to commit in advance and you are welcome to stay for as little or as long as you are able. We would love to see you. Sessions will run this year from 11:50am - 1:05pm on any of these days. On arrival, please head to the office and you will be able to find where your child/ren will be for the afternoon.
Spare clothes
With the winter months bringing more rain and mud, please make sure your child has a spare change of clothes in their bag.
Biannual Health and PE Survey Feedback
Thank you to all the parents, whānau and caregivers who participated in the recent Biannual Health and PE survey. Your input is crucial in helping us shape a program that promotes healthy habits and physical activity for our students.
We're thrilled to see that our community have recognised Bellevue School's commitment to student health and well-being, particularly through:
- Making time for fruit breaks and making sure we are a water-only school, promoting healthy eating habits.
- Providing ample time in our programme for movement and exercise, keeping students active.
- Supporting children in understanding their feelings and emotions, fostering their social and emotional well-being.
An area that we would like to focus on and develop more is communicating what is taught during our PE and Movewell lessons. This can be done through our updates and photos on Seesaw, allowing you to celebrate progress with your child! We will also allow time for our tamariki to choose which games to play during this time and provide an opportunity to learn more traditional games from different cultures.
Thank you once again for taking part in this survey, we value your feedback, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. rene@bellevue-newlands.school.nz
Our lucky winner for the $50 New world voucher is Anannya Dalvi (Mihit Dalvi’s whānau).
New Entrants—Enrol Now!
We encourage you to enrol your preschoolers as soon as they turn 4. This assists with future planning for our kura and classes. Out of zone enrolment applications close approximately six months prior to commencement date so it is important to submit these early to ensure you are in the ballot. We accept up to five out of zone applications per term.
Important information about the Bellevue School enrolment scheme (zone)
If you have preschoolers at home that you are planning to enrol at Bellevue School in the future, here are a few important things to know and put into action:
1. If you are living outside of the Bellevue School enrolment zone, then your preschooler(s) will need to be processed as an out of zone application. Please let us know, if you haven’t already, of any future enrolments at Bellevue School from your family. It helps greatly with our planning to know well in advance. And if we know then we can also prompt you as to when you need to get your out of zone application in.
2. It is very important that out of zone applications are received by the application deadline of Friday 28 June 2024, for enrolment from Saturday 14 October 2024 to Tuesday 17 December 2024. We cannot accept any out of zone applications if they are not received by the deadline advertised for the enrolment period your child is due to start school in. The deadline can sometimes be up to six months prior to your child actually starting school.
3. Even if your preschooler(s) are in zone, please get your enrolment in to us as soon as possible to enable us to plan ahead. We need this information to be able to work out how many out of zone applications we can accept in each enrolment period.
If you have any questions or are unsure about anything, please call the school office and talk to Amanda.
Parking/Turning
Please do not turn in driveways or on the street in Bancroft Terrace, but rather use the turning circle. Even when one person blocks the street it makes it difficult for everyone to ensure that we are looking after our children on the pavement. Their safety is our number one priority.
AA Insurance Big Little Sponsor
If you would like to nominate our school to win $10,000 worth of sports equipment, please click on the link below. The more nominations we get the greater the chance of us winning!
This is our platform to publish great writing from students across the school.
Please pop onto our website here to view a collection of great writing from our students.
Happy middle of the year Bellevue whānau!
Yes – the mid-year holidays are upon us… But not before we fill some tummies with the End of
Term Pizzas this week! And an advance thank you to Bridget, Elizabeth and Rebecca who are
volunteering their time to get these pizzas out to our children!
Our update on our events is below:
Kids Art Work – Orders Closing 2nd Aug 2024
It was such a delight to wander the classrooms this year and see all our tamariki’s art work on
display as part of the Matariki Celebration Evening. The effort and imagination that the children
have put into the exhibitions has been awesome!
Via Kids Art Works, we can get your child’s pieces of art turned into some pretty neat products for
purchase, making fantastic gifts for family & friends and mementos for your child.
Orders close Friday 2nd August 2024, the information and pricing is coming home with your child
at the end of Term 2.
Digital links to their artwork can be provided by their teacher if you have not had a chance to view the artwork in class. Orders can be placed online here: https://forms.gle/Su9FQZPFmtG8BMqV7
End of Term Pizza – Orders Closed
The orders were sent off to Domino’s on Monday! Thank you, Bridget and Andrea, for your time
and effort processing this terms orders.
FUNdraisers Committee Meetings
Next meeting: 1st August 2024
Meetings will now be held at 6.15pm (in the school staff room when possible) in week 2 and also week 7 of each term.
If you have capacity to take on being an incredibly valued member of our community and committee, please join us! You can contact Rebecca by email for information at fundraisers@bellevue-newlands.school.nz
Community Notices
Kapai Kidz Holiday Programme
We will be operating from the school hall from 08-19 July. All enquiries to linda@kapaikidz.co.nz Mobile 021 409641 or book via our website www.kapaikidz.co.nz
Space is limited, secure your spot!
Important Dates
Wednesday 3 July
3-Way Conferences 3:15 - 6:30pm
Thursday 4 July
Newlands Intermediate School Open Evening 7pm
Friday 5 July
Last day of Term 2
Monday 22 July
First day of Term 3
Thursday 1 August
Newlands Intermediate School in Action Morning 9am
Thursday 15 August
Board Meeting 6:30 - 8:30pm
Thursday 22 August
Learning Celebration
Thursday 29 August
John Parsons talk: Safeguarding children and adults online
Newlands Intermediate 6pm - 7:30pm
Saturday 31 August
Newlands Intermediate Enrolments Close
Friday 15 November
Orientation Morning for students who are enrolled to commence at NIS in 2025
Newsletter proudly sponsored by
Email: office@bellevue-newlands.school.nz
Phone: 04 4787037