Week 3, Term 3, 2024
School Attendance
At the most recent Board of Trustees meeting, school attendance was discussed. In term two only 58% of our children attended school for more than 90% of the term. This equates to attending 45 or more days out of 50 for the term.
The Board has set the target of 65% of all children attending school for more than 90% of term three. It is vital that as parents you ensure your child is at school unless there is a justifiable reason such as sickness or a family matter like a bereavement. If a child misses 5 school days each term, or one day a fortnight, they will miss the equivalent of of one year of school over 10 years.
If there are other reasons why your child is not attending school, and the school is in a position to help, please contact your class teacher.
Introducing Kindo
PTA’s new cashless option
In an effort to make your lives that little bit easier, the PTA are introducing the Kindo app to run their fundraisers (think Pizza lunches, calendar art, cookie time orders etc).
Kindo is going to be the PTA’s preferred method of payment, and we encourage all our families to download and sign up to the App. Order forms will cash payment will still be sent home.
Sign up to Kindo:
Simply scan the QR Code or search “MyKindo” in your App Store and sign in or create an account.
Please ensure that you use the same email address registered with school. As our MyKindo and our school Student Management System talk to each other.
Once you have created your account check that your child(ren) are linked correctly.
Shopping on Kindo
When we have a PTA fundraiser available on Kindo we will send a notices home, post to the School Facebook page and send a text encouraging you to check the app
1. Choose your shop item/s and add them to your cart (e.g pizaa lunch).
2. Select your student’s name and complete options/choices or any additional information required.
3. Once you have made all your purchases, click on your cart and go to the checkout. Review your cart, top up your account if needed, and then simply click ‘complete order’. Easy!
4. Your order will automatically go through to the school, and you will receive an email receipt confirming your top up and/or purchase(s)!
If you run into any issues with downloading or signing up please contact Camille Hill on 027 845 6752 or Ashleigh Rushton on 027 3899 763
Structured Literacy Teacher Professional Development
For the rest of this year and beginning into next year our teaching team will be taking part in structured literacy professional development. This training for teachers will compliment the skills and knowledge they already have when planning, teaching and assessing their literacy programmes.
Structured literacy in New Zealand refers to a systematic approach to teaching reading and writing that emphasizes the importance of phonics and the foundational skills necessary for literacy development. This approach is based on research from cognitive science and linguistics, focusing on how students learn to read and spell.
Key components of structured literacy include:
- Phonemic Awareness: Teaching students to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
- Phonics: Systematic instruction in the relationship between letters and sounds, helping students decode words.
- Vocabulary Development: Building a strong vocabulary to enhance comprehension and expression.
- Fluency: Encouraging reading practice to improve speed, accuracy, and expression.
- Comprehension: Teaching strategies to help students understand and interpret texts.
Teachers from Years 0-3 will undertake the training first, followed by the teachers from Years 4-6. Teachers will have both fact to face learning as well as online sessions. For this reason the school will close for a Teacher Only Day on Friday 30 August.
Parent Interviews
Our teaching team would like to thank all of our families who attended parent interviews of the last two weeks. We appreciate you coming out on cold Winter evenings to catch up with us. If you still require an interview please contact your class teacher and book one with them.
LDA Dance Champs Next Week
All the best to our two teams competing in the Life Dance Academy Dance Champs next week. On Monday night our fabulous Funky Feet storm the stage on Monday night and have been practising hard to make a real impression.
Then on Tuesday the totally in the zone Bop Swoops bring it under the bright lights and strut their stuff. We wish both groups well and look forward to watching them perform.
A HUGE vote of thanks to the teaching team of Miss Gray and Miss Pringle who have made this all possible and dedicated many lunchtimes to coach and encourage our dancers.
Life Education
Welcome back to Harold and a warm welcome to Nakita from Life Education. All classes attend two sessions with the teachers. Life Education finishes next Monday.
Kahui Ako Across School Teacher
Congratulations to Miss Monique Reay who has been successfully appointed to the role of Across School Teacher for our Kahui Ako (Community of Learning). The role has a focus on transition from Early Childhood to Primary schooling, an area of expertise for Miss Reay. This fixed term appointment means Miss Reay is released from her classroom two days a week, and so welcome to Mrs Tania Rive who will be teaching in Room 2.
Brain Play
Year 5-6 Quizlympics
As part of the ongoing Handle the Jandle rivalry between Rooms 10, 11 and 12, students took part in a Quizlympics today. Classes were split into smaller groups and competed for points answering Olympic themed questions. They were also challenged in some physical events including Equestrian! An unknown member of the paparazzi snuck in and managed to capture the following actions shots from the final. Suffice to say these young jockeys are in the early stages of managing their fiery steeds.
