Our Tumuaki Principal
Kia ora koutou.
From the Principal's desk:
- Miss Caci Mineur: We are very pleased to announce that Caci Mineur has been appointed permanently to our school. She has already been with us for two years (one as a third-year trainee and one as a beginning teacher in her first formal year). She knows us and our community so well. We are excited to have our 2022 staffing in place. Thank you to our School Board for their work with this. It is much appreciated.
- Draft Class Structures 2022: In the last newsletter of Term Three I shared with you our thoughts around our class structure for 2022. We are moving to six teachers and so most classrooms will be composite (more than one level) rooms. Please chat with me should there be anything that we need to know in relation to this. You can email principal@edendaleps.school.nz. This needs to occur before Friday 12th November (three weeks from today), as from there we move into establishing the 2022 rooms in our various computer systems which is quite a job.
- Team Kea: Room One, New Entrants and Year One, Miss McVicar.
- Team Kiwi: Room Two, Year One and Two, Mrs Clarke and Mrs Duffy.
- Team Pukeko: Room Three, Year Two and Three, Mrs Coyle.
- Team Tui: Room Four Year, Three and Four, Miss Mineur.
- Team Kereru: Room Five, Year Four and Five, Miss Nicol.
- Team Kahu: Room Six, Year Six, Miss den Boon.
- Composite Classes: As you can see above, by moving to six teachers, we have a lot more composite classes. This means children's year groups are spread across two rooms.
- Class Swap: On the second last day of Term Four we bring all the new classes together, in their new rooms, as they would be for 2022, to meet their teachers and see who they will be with in 2022. We believe this approach gives children a strong start to the next year removing all surprises.
- COVID 19 Level Two: We remain at Level Two which means we still are not able to have parents in the classrooms. We have 'Kiss and Hug' drop off and pick up zones. We encourage all communication to be through our App, phone or email. The drinking fountains are off and so children need their own named drink bottle. The Alert Level Two is having an impact on school events with the LMV Pet Day not going ahead. If we do not move down Alert Levels to Alert Level One other events will be impacted. We will keep you posted. Our aim is to have made all decisions about the end of year events by Monday 15th November and so will feature in the newsletter for Friday 19th November. This includes our concert, prizegiving, triathlon and disco.
- COVID 19: New Zealand is moving into another phase of learning to live with the virus. This means, at some stage, in the future, we can expect to have cases in Southland, in our town and in our school community. From a school point of view, we would follow the advice from the Ministry of Education and local health officials around what we do. Current advice involves a temporary closure (three days) for contact tracing, school cleaning and testing. This would then most likely be followed by a 14-day closure where we would reactivate E-School. My advice to all families in the coming months, is to be ready, make sure you have our App on your phones, follow us on Facebook and have the appropriate hardware and WIFI at home to be able to 'switch on' E-School at a moments notice.
- Mandatory Vaccination to be Onsite with Children: During the school holidays, a mandatory vaccination directive was applied to all educational workers effective from January 2022. This also applies to the "unpaid workers, such as volunteers (including parent volunteers) and any members of the community who are on-site at the school kura, as they are likely to come into contact with students" (Ministry of Education, Bulletin: 12th October). However, this does not include pick up and drop-offs. We await guidance as to how schools manage this new directive.
- Mask Wearing on Buses: Whilst not a requirement the MOE recommends that primary students, on buses, wear masks.
- Sunflower Progress Photos: Children are telling me that their plants are growing which is really exciting. We have Golden Crown and Moulin Rouge. I'm looking forward to seeing sunflower growing progress photos. Send progress shots to principal@edendaleps.school.nz. I have the prizes now. The winner of each category (see below) will win a $25 Warehouse voucher.
Thank Yous - Team Edendale
- Jacob Smyth: Jacob is our School Board presiding member. This is the new term for Chairperson. Jacob is an indication of the right person in the right place with the right thinking. His role in guiding and leading the School Board, as they build the school of tomorrow, is something Jacob does so well. School Boards are strategic, future-focused and the success of our school, strongly rests in the continual momentum that the School Board provides for staff.
Ka kite
David McKenzie
Principal's Term Four Challenge: Sun Flower Competition
Due Date
Judging will occur at school on Friday 3rd December. We will line them up along the front fence for all to see as they drive past.
Prize Categories
There are five categories for prizes.
- Tallest Golden Crown sunflower
- Tallest Moulin Rouge sunflower
- The tallest combined pair (heights added together)
- The widest flower.
- Best decorated pot/container.
Points to Note
- Height: Measured from the base of the stem to the highest point of the plant.
- Diameter: Measured across the widest portion of the flower, through the centre.
- Named: Plants will need to be appropriately named so we know whose is whose.
Our Events Coming Up
TERM FOUR
Please Note: All up and coming events are subject to Covid-19 pandemic alert levels. We are at Alert Level Two at present, with many events needing us to be at Alert Level One to operate.
Week Two (of 8)
- Monday 25th October - Labour Day (School Closed)
- Tuesday 26th October - Sports Activator
- Thursday 28th October - ShakeOut
Week Four (of 8)
- Monday 8th November - Home and School Meeting, 7.30pm, staffroom
- Friday 12th November - Science Roadshow Year 6s
Week Five (of 8)
- Tuesday 16th November - Sports Activator
- Friday 19th November - Senior Swimming Sports (TBC)
Our Home and School
End of Year Christmas Hamper - Coordinator
The Home and School is looking for a parent volunteer to coordinate the End of Year Concert Christmas hamper fundraiser for this year.
Should you be able to offer your services please contact Louise Duffy (Home and School President) on louisecduffy@hotmail.com.
Next Meeting - Term Four
The Term Four meeting of the Home and School is scheduled for Monday 8th November starting at 7.30pm in the school staffroom.
Our Kura News and Information
After School - Job Share
The After School Position is now job share. We have Mrs Erna Raath taking it from Monday to Thursday and Mrs Amy Smith doing Fridays.
Notice - Pet Day 2021
Due to the ongoing uncertainty around the Covid alert levels and
restrictions, we regrettably have decided to cancel the 2021 Wyndham and Districts Pet Day.
We look forward to 2022.
Regards Bathan Muir
LMV Pet Day Committee President
Book Club - Issue 7
Scholastic Book Club Issue 7 has gone home.
All orders need to be returned to the office by Thursday 4th November.
Character Values (Positive Behaviour for Learning - PB4L): Term Four Integrity Ponotanga
When we come from so many different families our values draw us together as one big school whanau.
Integrity means behave to a high standard of character everywhere we are and is shown through honesty, truthfulness, accuracy, consistent behaviour, selflessness and self-discipline.
At all times and in all places we can show integrity when we
- Are honest and trustworthy.
- Do the right thing even when no-one is looking.
- Make positive choices that we are proud of.
Every time our values are shown they make our school a great place to be for children and adults.
Principal's Values Award
This week the Principal Tumuaki would like to acknowledge Aubrey Maxwell for being a strong contributor, living out our school values every day.
Our Contact Information
Email: admin@edendaleps.school.nz
Website: https://sites.google.com/edendaleps.school.nz/edendale-primary-school
Location: Edendale Primary School, 24 Salford Street, Edendale 9825, New Zealand
Phone: 03 206 6959
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdendalePrimarySchool
Twitter: @EdendaleSchool
