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Newsletter Issue 2

Term 4 - 1 November 2023

Newsletter Issue 2 Term 4 - 1 November 2023

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


As usual there is plenty going on around the school!


Shakeout Day

Thursday 19 October was National Shakeout day and all our classes practised responding to an earthquake with stop, drop, cover, hold. Each term we continue to run drills for Earthquake, Fire and Invacuation to continually review and refine our practices and be prepared to keep our learners safe.


Preparing for Transition

We have well established processes, both within Bellevue School and with our early childhood colleagues and Newlands Intermediate, to support transition for students. On Wednesday last week, our colleagues from the intermediate visited to run through the Year 6 students that will be joining them from Bellevue - strengths, needs and any other important information so that they have all they need to support our learners from Day 1. These students have an orientation visit to the intermediate on 17 November, but those students who require more time are being taken for regular visits already.

Our transition support for students coming into the school is ongoing due to the fact the students start soon after they are five.

Within school, students with additional or diverse learning needs have a 'transition profile' completed to assist them to have the most successful start possible and there is also an opportunity for all children to meet their new teacher for 2024 before the end of the school year.


Kapa Haka Festival

Last Friday our Kapa Haka group made us proud when they performed at the Te Korowai ō Horokiwi festival at Newlands Intermediate. Our group practises have been limited by a number of factors this year and so we were impressed by our students confidence and courage to give it a go in front of their peers from local school. It was also a terrific opportunity to learn from their 'Tuakana' or older peers who performed from the intermediate.


Teachers at Work!

Thank you to our community for your support of our staff only day on Tuesday 24 October. This was a very valuable time to look at what is coming up in the NZ Curriculum Refresh, plan for this term's learning focus 'Community Connections - Taking Action' and explore some of the resources we will be bringing into the school to lift our knowledge and use of Te Reo and Tikanga Māori in line with our strategic direction for 2024.

On Friday last week, we celebrated our wonderful kaiako with a small gift and some yummy eats - it was also a good opportunity to share some of the great feedback we received from our community during the recent 'Growing Community Conversations', so thank you for this. We have plenty to work on as always but it is also very rewarding to hear the good stuff!

Currently our team are busy 'head down' working through the assessment required for our end of year student achievement reports, which come home to you on Wednesday 6 December. This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on, and try to capture for you, the myriad of areas in which students make progress. It requires time to do this well, so if school is a little quiet after 4pm, this is what everyone is up to!


Farewell Christy Robinson

On Friday we also said farewell to Christy who has been on her final teaching placement with us in Hub 2 over the last six or so weeks. It was great to see Christy grow under the guidance of her mentor teacher Anne Gullen and we will miss her bubbly, warm and positive presence, but we wish her every success as she completes her studies to begin her journey on her teaching career.


Northern Zone Athletics

Congratulations to all our tamariki who attended the Northern Zone Athletics on Monday this week. As always the teachers were impressed by the way in which you represented our school. Thanks also to Cassie Woodhouse our Sport Leader, who does all the mahi behind the scenes to make this happen. We are waiting to hear who was successful in making through to the Interzone Competition! Ka rawe!


Community Connections - Taking Action'

As mentioned above, this is our learning focus for this term and hopefully the name mostly speaks for itself. There are some exciting things planned for our tamariki which focus them on their role in the community. These include - learning about and informing others about litter, recycling and what we can do to protect our environment, looking at ways to improve our school from the student voice gathered last term, gathering and plotting where we are from, exploring how communities celebrate, and even learning more about what community is and how we participate. Hub 5 students are also busily planning and preparing for their Educcation Outside the Classroom (EOTC) week - so there is plenty of taking action involved in this!


Swimming Procedures for Parent Assistance and Payments

Please see our recent newsletter update about parent assistance and swimming.

Also a friendly reminder to please make any outstanding payments to school. We are currently sitting at about 60% of our families who have paid for swimming in Hub 1-4. If necessary, payment in installments can be organised by contacting Amanda in the office amanda@bellevue-newlands.school.nz. As previously mentioned, however, no students will miss out on this important part of the curriculum if they have not paid.


Phone System Update

Next week on the 7-8 November, our phone system will be being replaced and updated.

We do not anticipate a major interruption for our families.

For a morning or afternoon the lines will be down but the key phones, for example the office are redirected to a mobile temporarily so there should be no issue with community contact. We estimate this will take a couple of hours and are notifying you in case you experience any issues. Thank you for your patience - this will improve comunications in the long run.


Property Update

The 'latest' end date for our administration block project is now 17 November - please keep your fingers crossed for us! It has been a long wait for this space, but the block is painted externally now and looks very fresh! For those who may have been wondering about the colour choice (grey), it is with a view to having a neutral base from which to (ultimately) brighten up each of the school blocks. The admin block colours are selected to work with anything.

Things are busy on the property front and we have a few other projects bubbling away in the early stages:

1. An accessible ramp with a gentle gradient that zig zags across the bank between the administration block and Hub 5 to provide easy access to the lower part of the school and the upgrading of an accessible bathroom in Hub 5. These projects will begin towards the end of the year and continue throughout the summer break.

2. Work to the internal spaces of Rooms 4-6 to open them up similar to Rooms 1-3 and improve the internal environment for our students, combined with roofing and cladding work to all blocks of the school. This is a project we expect to embark on next year.

Needless to say we will not be without building work for some time, but it will be worth it to improve our school environment for many tamariki to come!


Other places to find information about our school:

Bellevue Website - scroll down to view 'previous Bellevue Newsletters' - and for more timely updates, you could follow our closed group Bellevue Facebook Page, if you are not already.


Ngā mihi nui

Annette

Teacher Aide Positions

Bellevue School - Newlands

Wanted patient, sensitive and caring people to support students with special social, emotional, physical and learning needs. Need to be calm, fair, consistently follow guidelines and be interested in working with children from 5-11 year olds.


You will support students with routines, learning tasks and making good choices for their learning/behaviour in the classroom and playground. May involve assistance with toileting and administration tasks at times.


Experience/willingness to support students learning in:

- developing skills in speaking/using English

- calming/de-escalating and resetting behaviour

- working with teachers in a variety of learning spaces


Current positions are for supporting students with English as their second language, class/playground or learning and behaviour support.


The hourly pay rate will be based on experience for the role.


To apply: send current CV with the details of two referees who can attest to the skills relevant to the above and letter of application to: principal@bellevue-newlands.school.nz.

Position closes as soon as appointments are made.

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Thank you


  • Thank you to all the wonderful parent helpers who have or are volunteering their time to support with our swimming lessons. We could not do this without you.
  • Thanks to Alana Haines for her offer of flax plants for the school.
  • Thank you also to Raghu & Sindhura Ragi for the beautiful cupcakes they provided to keep our staff going at the end of last term!
  • Thank you to Tessa, Jane and Whaea Jayjay for their hard work in supporting our Kapa Haka group to be ready for their performance at the Te Korowai ō Horokiwi festival on 20th October. A huge thank you also to all the parent help who provided support with costumes, preparation and came along to see us perform.
  • Thank you to our terrific Road Patrol parents (and a few sneaky on-the-hop volunteers too - you know who you are!) for regularly saving the day recently with the windy weather and our team being a little stretched. We appreciate you!

Making sure your child attends school everyday

Please see the following information from the Ministry of Education website about ensuring your child attends school regularly:


Going to school every day is really important if children are to achieve and succeed. As parents and carers, it's up to you to make sure your child attends school every day, from when they first start school until they are 16.


Why do they need to go every day?

Going to school every day really is the key to getting the best out of school because:

  • it sets up good habits for going to school right from day one
  • learning to read, write and do maths takes a lot of practice and is easier to master if your child goes to school regularly
  • each day is a chance to learn something new
  • school offers your child regular, dedicated help to master the many skills they need
  • it teaches your child life skills like commitment, being reliable, having a good work ethic and sticking with things when they get hard


What can I do to make sure my child is going to school?

The key here is to make school the priority. There are things you can do at home, and things you can work side by side with the school on.

At home

  • talk to your children about why it is important to go to school every day – ask them what they want to be in the future. Their education is the key to doing well in life
  • be positive about school
  • set good habits about going to school from day one
  • prepare your children the night before school - make sure they have done their homework
  • have a good morning routine that gets them to school on time, relaxed and with everything they need
  • don't let them have the day off just because they would rather be at home
  • keep absences due to sickness to times when your child is actually sick - don't keep them at home when you know that they are just nervous about school – talk to the school who can help your child overcome this
  • know about your child's school life – ask questions, listen to your child. This will make it easier to pick up on any issues they might be having
  • keep family holidays outside of term-time, as every day at school is an opportunity to build skills, and repetition is critical for learning – especially for primary school children
  • don’t overload them – school may be exhausting for your child so make sure they have some downtime after school to relax and have a break.


Working with the school

  • build a strong relationship with the school and teachers to improve communication – it’s easier to talk to them if a problem arises


What can I do if my child refuses to go to school?

This can be really upsetting. Talk to your child about why they don’t want to go. Be supportive. There may be a reason. Talk to your child’s teacher straight away. Whatever the reason, you won’t be the first parent to talk to the school about that type of situation. Your school will have some good advice, and you’ll be able to work together to help your child.


If your child is going to be away from school for any reason you should always follow the school’s process to let them know. They need to know the reason that your child is away and that they are safe.


For more information please click on the link below:

https://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/your-child-at-school/making-sure-your-child-attends-school-every-day/

Sunsmart in Term 4

A reminder that, in accordance with our sunsmart policy, all our children are asked to wear a sun hat out doors every day in Term 4 to protect them. Please support your child by providing a named sunhat for this term. If our tamariki do not have a sunhat, they are asked to work and play in the shaded areas of the school.

Sunscreen is also a vital ingredient for a healthy Term 4, so please either apply to your child before school or pop some into your child's bag so they can apply it during the day.

Thank you for supporting us to take care of our tamariki in the sun.

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 new entrant applications per term.

Important Information about the Bellevue School enrolment scheme (zone)

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. 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 8 December , for enrolment from Saturday 13 April 2024 to Friday 5 July 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.

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2024 Helper’s Morning Tea

Our annual Helper’s Morning Tea is opportunity for us to come together with all the amazing parents, caregivers, whānau and community members who have helped out in some way over the course of the year to say THANK YOU!

This years Helper’s Morning Tea will be held in the hall on Friday 1 December at 10:30 am. Invites will be emailed out by the end of Week 6.

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The Student Council are joining with the City Mission and The Breeze again this year to think of others less fortunate at Christmas through Pack the Bus, supporting Wellington City Mission.


A bus with Disney characters will arrive at school and students will have the opportunity to pack the bus with Christmas items.


This year the bus comes to Bellevue on Monday 27 November at 11:00 am.


We encourage our students and learning community to practice empathy and manaakitanga by donating a little something to help children and whānau less fortunate so that their families can have a more enjoyable festive season.


The Student Council invites you to send along items to place under the tree in your child’s hub at school. A list of suggested items from Wellington City Mission is included below.

If you wish your child to place the item your family/they have donated on the bus, please put their name clearly on this gift but please do not wrap the gift (a request from the organisers).


Please note Christmas trees will be up in each Hub from the beginning of Week 6.


Thank you in advance from the School Council, The Breeze and The City Mission for thinking of others and practicing empathy, aroha and compassion for those less fortunate.

Support Finder

Support Finder is a digital tool available on asb.co.nz and within the ASB Mobile Banking app (Fastnet Classic) to help New Zealanders identify the benefits and services that the government provides within minutes. It was created by ASB to help all New Zealanders find out what financial assistance they may be eligible for and how they can apply.​​​​​​​ You don’t need to be an ASB customer to use this tool.

Bellevue School ICAS Results 2023

About the ICAS Assessments

International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) is a suite of competitions designed specifically for primary and secondary students. ICAS are conducted annually in Australia and in over 20 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Pacific countries, and America by The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Global Educational Assessment Australia.


ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. Students are asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated, and thorough level of learning.


The assessments are challenging and provide an opportunity, particularly for students who are more academically orientated, to gain a measure of their achievement in an external assessment situation.


At Bellevue, the ICAS Assessments are offered to students who wish to challenge themselves in Years 4-6. All students who take part receive a certificate for participation. We commend them for their risk taking and confidence. This year the exciting results for those Bellevue students achieving in the top 50% across all schools and countries are shown below:

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Variety - the Children's Charity

If your whānau are supported by ‘Variety - the children’s charity’ our school champion is me, Deeann Daniels. Please get in touch with me at deeann@bellevue-newlands.school.nz

if I can help in any way. I look forward to hearing from you.

Newlands Volunteer Fire Service

One of our annual plan goals is to “explore and act on opportunities to partner with local organisations and businesses” to strengthen our wider community.

On Monday evening this week the Newlands Volunteer Fire Service used our playground for some important practice. Excitingly some of the team are also visiting Hub 1/2 later this week!

We really value the role these volunteers play in our community so it was our pleasure to receive the following feedback:

We had a very successful night which included team work, bonding, communication skills and were also able to provide training for our newest recruits. For our two newest members, tonight was their first night of learning about our breathing apparatus which is a big step towards becoming a fire fighter. We all had a lot of fun doing this exercise so we are incredibly grateful.

Whakawhanaungatanga Friday

We warmly invite whānau to come along and play, explore and learn alongside your child/ren during our last Whakawhanaungatanga Friday session on 17 November. Please note that swimming sessions may mean that some hubs cannot participate in one of the sessions. Your child’s whānau teacher will let you know if this is the case.



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 run from 1:30pm - 2.30pm on any of these afternoons. On arrival, please head to the office and you will be able to find where your child/ren will be for the afternoon.

BELL Challenge

The last day to hand in completed BELL Challenges this year is Friday 24 November. Please hand these to your child’s whānau teacher.

Year 6 Orientation Morning - Newlands Intermediate

The Year 6 Orientation morning is on Friday 17 November at Newlands Intermediate. The students will be picked up by bus at 8.45am from school. Students will return to school at 12.15pm.

Sports News

Miniball Results:

24 October:

Lightning lost 37-41 against Amesbury Tui. Levi and Pyper were Players of the Day.

Storm lost 14-16 to Khandallah Kestrels. Grayson was Player of the Day.


30 - 31 October :

Thunder won 16-13 against Newlands Hyenas.

Lightning won 51-32 against. Benji and Ethan were Players of the Day.

Storm won by forfeit.


Weet-Bix TRYathlon

Registrations for the 2024 Weet-Bix TRYathlon are now open! If you wish to register your child for this event, please follow this link to sign up under our school group. You can find more information about the event here.

Good Day to All!

Here at FUNdraisers, we hope that you are all doing well!

Did you realise that there is just over 6 weeks left to go of the school year… eeeeek! (I didn’t until that was written down!! No wonder all I hear talked about at home is Christmas!!)

The updates on our confirmed current events as below -

  • End of Term Pizza – Term 4
  • Pizza Lunch will be happening this term, however it may not be on the Friday due to clashes in school events!!
  • Juicies – Term 4

The days are getting warmer and they are getting busier. We will try and squeeze in a Juicie day in a couple of weeks, but it will not be a pre-order event so please put $2 aside for your child to bring to school on a day TBA which will hopefully be sunny and warm! Keep an eye on the school and parent facebook pages for confirmation of this event date.


Kids Art Work (Calendar Art)

Thank you too everyone that placed their orders. Processing is being finalised and we will keep you posted on a delivery date once we have one!


Alana Estate Wine – Orders close 10 th November

Oops, I put the orders close date as 11 November on the order forms. But that is a Saturday!

If you are submitting a paper order form, please have it into school by 10 November. Online orders and payments will be open until 11 November.

If you have gift giving on your mind, they are a wonderful option!

Not all of our wonderful teaching staff are wine drinkers, but if it is on your mind to treat your child’s teacher to a well-earned wine over the Christmas break, then drop FUNdraisers a line and we are happy to quietly find out their favourite before you order!!


Bake Sale 2023 – Friday 8 December

The Bellevue Bake Sale will be on Friday the 8 December at 3.00pm, outside of Hub 1.

For this event, we kindly ask that our families donate baked goods for the bake sale. The items are sold on an individual basis (ie a single cookie or piece of slice or cupcake). So, get your kids practicing their baking and decorating skills ahead of this highly anticipated event!


Can you help us? FUNdraisers Committee Meetings

Our little team of 5 need more support – WE NEED YOU!

Gosh do we LOVE to bring the FUN to our kids with events through the year, and we have some really

interesting ideas we would like to bring to the school. We however don’t have quite enough resources to make it all work. Do you have some of that elusive ‘spare time’ and would you like to give back to our cool school? If so…

Our next committee meeting is scheduled for 7pm on 9 November 2023, location TBC due to the school building works.


We hope to see you there! Or get in touch with Rebecca: fundraisers@bellevue-newlands.school.nz

Have you joined our Facebook Group? https://www.facebook.com/groups/FUNdraisersBellevueNewlands/

What’s all this fun and FUNdraising for you ask?

What are we fundraising for? What have we spent our funds raised on?

Our wish list is reviewed often, and is linked via our FUNdraisers webpage:

https://www.bellevue-newlands.school.nz/fundraisers

If you work for a company that may be interested in supporting our school with any of these targets, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our principal Annette with details :)


Upcoming Events – 2024 Focus

We have set the last of our 2023 events and will be considering our 2024 events at our next FUNdraisers committee meeting.

Community Notices

KAPAI KIDZ - Before & After School Care

We have space available, casual, part time or full time (5 days). Check out our website for more details www.kapaikidz.co.nz


Newlands Intermediate Music Centre

The Music Centre offers tuition to primary school aged children in a wide range of musical

instruments. The Music Centre provides opportunities for students in the Newlands/Johnsonville

area to develop their musical education outside of normal school hours. Classes are held on

weekdays during the school term. Tuition will be offered in violin, piano, guitar and flute.

Violins are available to hire.

For further information please ring Kaye on 4788195


Christmas Market Saturday 2 December - Johnsonville Rotary Club

The Rotary club of Johnsonville is very pleased to advise that, in conjunction with Johnsonville Shopping Centre, we are holding a Christmas Market on Saturday 2 December from 12.00pm-4.00pm in the Mall carpark. All funds raised will go to Community projects and donations, including the Wellington North Primary Schools Citizenship Awards and Lifting the Lid.


  • We are looking for entertainment so if you know of kapa haka groups, choirs, bands or individual performers, could you please ask them to contact Community@johnsonvillerotary.org.nz to register.
  • If you would like to have a stall at the market, please contact us here
  • We are also looking for some help in advance or on the day with leaflet dropping, marshalling car parking, sausage sizzle and other tasks. If you are able to help for an hour or two, we would really appreciate it - please contact Community@johnsonvillerotary.org.nz.

The Johnsonville Rotary Club support the Annual Citizenship Awards for our Year 6 Students.

Bellevue Writer's Corner
NOW UPDATED!!
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.
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Important Dates

Wednesday 11 October - Wednesday 13 December

Hub 1 & 2 Swimming (every Wednesday)


Thursday 2 November - Monday 20 November

Hub 5 Swimming


Friday 17 November

Year 6 Orientation Morning at Newlands Intermediate School

(Students travelling by bus to NIS)


Friday 17 November

Whakawhanaungatanga Friday - 1.30pm - 2.45pm


Thursday 23 November

Powhiri to welcome new students


Friday 24 November

Bell Challenges due in today


Monday 27 November

Pack the Bus


Thursday 30 November

Year 6 Sleep-Over - School Hall


Saturday 2 December

BOT Meeting, 10am - 2.00pm


Wednesday 6 December

End of Year reports sent home


Friday 8 December

FUNdraisers Bakesale - 3pm outside Hub 1


Friday 8 December

Year 4-6 Celebrations Assembly 9.30am - 10.30am


Monday 11 December

Year 6 Leavers Event - 5.00pm - 8.30pm


Wednesday 13 December

BOT Meeting - 6.30pm - 8.30pm


Friday 15 December

Last day of the School Year (12.30pm finish)


Monday 29 January 2024

Meet the Team:

Community Picnic/3-Way Conferences


Tuesday 30 January 2024

First day of the school year


Friday 12 April 2024

Last day of term 1

Newsletter proudly sponsored by

Bellevue School
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Email: office@bellevue-newlands.school.nz

Address: 12 Bancroft Terrace, Newlands 6037, Wellington

Phone: 04 4787037