Thursday 9th November 2023

Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu

Adorn the bird with feathers so it may fly

Email: office@kereru.school.nz
Website: http://www.kereru.school.nz/
Location: 2306 Kereru Road, RD 1, Hastings 4171
Phone: 06 876 0923
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084298596659

Kia ora e te whānau,

Last Friday a staffing update went out to Kererū School whānau sharing some exciting staffing news for 2024. Sally Charteris has secured the part-time, permanent position and Sophie Bazzard the full-time, permanent position.

Sally is a local teacher who has been employed at Kererū School since the beginning of the year in a variety of roles, and most recently 3 days per week in Kākano. We are thrilled and very lucky to have her continuing the great mahi she has been doing within our school and in Kākano in a more permanent role.

Sophie Bazzard will be joining us from St Mary's in Hastings. She is a very experienced teacher who has spent recent years leading the junior team as well as being a Kāhui Ako Within School Leader. She has experience in teaching students from NE - Year 8, has a passion for the visual arts, drama, and literacy. Sophie loves anything outdoors including; cycling, hiking, planting and being in the garden.

The staffing structure for 2024 will be;

• Principal - Kelsie Allen
• Kākano Teachers - Kelsie Allen (Monday & Friday) & Sally Charteris (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
• Totara Teacher - Sophie Bazzard
• Office Manager / Teacher Aide - Sheryn Slavin

Last Thursday Kererū School students participated in the Cluster Athletics alongside Maraekakaho, Sherenden & Districts, Bridge Pa and Pukehamoamoa Schools. I am so proud of all students who gave each of the events a go and represented our school with sportsmanship, dedication, and enthusiasm. Thank you to the parents who helped with transport and for leading our groups - we couldn't have done it without you. A big thank you to Pukehamoamoa School for organising such a great event that we look forward to every year.

This week we have been celebrating Book Week. Thank you to Mrs Charteris for organising an awesome dress up day, parade and a literacy quiz. It was lots of fun and great to celebrate our favourite books and characters.

Thank you to our FOKS Committee for their hard work, planning and organising another exceptional Kererū Community Dance and Auction. I am so grateful for your work and the support you provide to our school. The theme of 'anything 80's' was a real hit! Thank you to everyone who donated items for auction and to those who bid and won - with all proceeds being raised for the children in our community.

Noho ora mai,

Kelsie Allen

Principal

Roll: 30

A big Happy Birthday to the following ākonga (learners):

• George - 10/11
• Morgan - 14/11

This term our specific ADORN focus is going to be 'Organised'. Organised learners take responsibility for their own learning. They are prepared and ready to learn. They know what they are learning and why, and can identify the steps required to achieve success. They effectively Manage Self (Key Competency).

Due to a number of reasons, the pool will not be opening to the Community this summer. There is a lot of work to happen in and around the pool area over the Christmas holidays - not just the painting of the pool. We are hopefully to have the pool up and running for our students in Term 1, 2024. Thanks for your understanding.

I love athletics and this year it was amazing!

My favourite part is probably when I was doing the 100m sprints I came 3rd in the semi-finals. I came 4th in the heat.

And in the finals I came 6th. I felt so happy as I reached the end of the race it was so much fun!

The most challenging part of the day was the 800m race and the 400m race. It was tough because most of the other girls had much longer legs than I have but I tried my best and came 6th in the 800m and 4th in the 400m race!

I was most proud in the high jump because they started at my personal best (which is 90.5cm). I didn't jump it the first time but you get a second chance and I made it the second time then we moved on to a meter! Which is very high. I didn't make it the first or second time but I was proud because on the meter jump my first leg got over but my ankle on the second leg just knocked the bar off!

My not so great moment was the long jump because I messed up my steps and jumped off the mat on my not so strong foot (my left foot) but it was still a day to remember and we all had lots and lots of fun!

My favourite part was the freezing cold juicies and the steaming hot sausages. They were delicious!

Elsie Dunn

Today we had a lovely visit from Tot's and Dot's. It's so good for the Tot's kids to come into the classroom and get familiar. The Year 1's feel so grown up showing Megan all of their new skills.

What a great day out we had. Our Kererū Kids should be so proud of their efforts and determination. We were by far the smallest school in attendance, however our tamariki were very well placed in some events. Kererū School ran the shot put event on the day. We we can certainly see the new group of Dame Valerie Adams and Tom Walsh coming through the ranks!

What a surprise to see all our wonderful Tamariki arrive at school all dressed up. A few in their parents costumes from Saturday night which was awesome!

We paraded our costumes in the morning with Bruno as the ‘Gruffalo’ coming away with the best dressed Kakano student and Thea as the ‘Brown paper bag princess’ winning for Totara class. Well done to everyone who made the effort.

Following this the school participated in a literacy quiz made up of 30 questions about well known books. Well done to the 'Four Fairy Princesses and George' team: George, Issac, Paige, Izzy and Meadow, who won the quiz!

On Monday, Jo from St John came out to work with both of our classes to teach essential life saving skills, how to respond in an emergency and how to keep ourselves and others safe.

A huge congratulations to Tayte who came 2nd in the Year 4 Chess Tournament. Thanks to Nat Revell and Kellie Jolly for transporting and supervising our Junior Chess Comp competitors.

Chess Comp by Hugo Warner

At the Chess Competition last Friday we went to the Sports Centre in Hastings. Tayte, Elsie, Pety, Payton, Rylee, Anthony, Tiahuia, George and I (Hugo) were entered into a Chess Competition. We all had lots of fun there. There were 6 rounds where we all played individually and hoped for the best! We all won at least one game each but I still came second to last, BUT at least it wasn’t last! There were so many people that just wanted to play but they still beat me. We all had lots of fun there.

At the prize giving Tayte got 2nd place which was a medal and a certificate, Tayte got very excited and was a well deserved winner!

Was a great day of chess, we all enjoy playing chess in Totara.

Well that was a great night out!! Thank you so much to everyone who came along and supported our incredible event. We raised $7000 from the auction, so thank you to all of the people and businesses who donated items or services. Everything 80's was a great theme. We had lots of satin tracksuits, plenty of double denim and of course three 80 year olds! A huge shout out must go to our FOKS committee for all of the organisational efforts that go into event's like this. And to our whānau who came and helped with the decorations and the clean up!

Saturday 9th December 6:30pm at the Kereru Hall.

Please join us to farewell the Angland Family who will be leaving early in the New Year. Book your babysitters, bring a plate and beverage to celebrate their 17 years as active members of our community and their achievements at Kereru Station.

Heather and Dennis moved out to Kereru around 1984. Their four children - Lani, Shantelle, Kane and Angelika - and later two grandchildren Lily and Bella - all attended Kereru School.

Heather began doing the cleaning at school in the late 90s and did this role for many many years. She also began driving the school bus not long after and drove for well over 15 years. She often commented on how much she enjoyed the children.

Heather also took pride in the fact she hadn't missed a Christmas Concert in 38 years! It was just the last few she missed. She had a garden full of beautiful flowers and many happy chooks!

Heather was a long time member of the Kereru community and we extend our heartfelt thanks for her service and love to her family at this time.

The school works on a subscription basis with SchoolDocs to maintain, update, and review our policies. SchoolDocs provides us with a comprehensive core set of policies that have been well researched and follow the Ministry of Education National Administration Guidelines. The policies and procedures are tailored to our school, and the school supplies specific information such as our charter, and procedures for behaviour management, reporting to parents, etc.

SchoolDocs updates, modifies, or creates policies in response to changes in legislation or Ministry guidelines, significant events, reviews/requests from schools, and regular reviewing from the SchoolDocs team. Our board of trustees has the opportunity to view changes/additions and comment on them before they are implemented. We will advise you when policies are up for review and how you can take part in the review.

http://kereru.schooldocs.co.nz

Username is “kereru”

Password is “kereru1912”

TERM 4:

• 27/11 & 28/11 - Rachel from Field Based Stem

• 01/12 - Teacher Only Day (Te Mataiaho Focus)

• 06/12 - BOT Meeting

• 13/12 - Prizegiving / Christmas Concert

• 14/12 - Last Day of Term 4

These links will give you some ideas on how to help your child's learning at home:

• Ministry of Education Website: https://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/learning-and-development-at-home/ideas-to-help-with-reading-writing-and-maths/
• Maths at home: https://nzmaths.co.nz/maths-our-house
  
• Writing prompts and ideas: https://app.pobble.com/auth/
  
• Mindfulness: https://www.smilingmind.com.au/
• Early letter formation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=609NcinTkGI

Hero gives you (parents) the opportunity to send through your child's absence with a click of a button. This is a quick, efficient way and gives our staff a notification and message of the reason your child is away.

This is the way we would like you to let us know if your child won't be here. If there is additional information that the school needs to know, please contact Sheryn directly.

Just a friendly reminder to help us with the end of the day organisation, please ensure you let us know if your child/ren will not be on the bus in the afternoons.

Unless we have heard otherwise, or you put on your sheet at the beginning of the term, we will assume that your child is on.

You need to contact Sheryn (Mon - Thurs) or Kelsie (Fri) before 2 pm with any changes.

We would love to have a better understanding of who will potentially come to Kererū School in the (near or distant) future. This is to ensure that you, as parents, receive information such as transition visits and school information before your child's start date.

We would love to hear from you if your child is between 1 and 4 years old. To make sure we have you on our 'potential enrolments' list.

Please email office@kereru.school.nz or follow the link to our enrolment section on our website to find out more information.

If your child is unwell, please keep them at home to prevent the spread of the illness.

Gastro

• "People with gastro should not go to work, school and early childhood centres until they have been well (symptom free) for 48 hours. There will be viruses in your poos for several weeks after you become well. You should continue to wash and dry your hands thoroughly after you have been to the toilet."
• Here is the link for a brochure: https://www.rph.org.nz/public-health-topics/early-childhood-centres/current-illnesses/gastroenteritis/gastro-brochure.pdf

Covid-19

• If you or someone in your whānau tests positive for Covid-19, please let Kelsie know ASAP and then follow the MOH guidelines: https://covid19.govt.nz/testing-and-isolation/if-you-have-covid-19/