Ngaio School Newsletter Term 1 Week 11 16 April 2021 Community Calendar http://www.ngaio.school.nz/welcome ABSENCES: Please remember to advise the office of your child’s absence or lateness before 9.00am using either the App, [email protected] or ph 939 6455. Name, room number and reason for absence is required please. KEY DATES Friday 16 April End of Term 1 at 3:00pm Monday 3 May Beginning of Term 2 at 9:00am Wednesday 5 May Performance - Kōwhai & Pōhutukawa Thursday 6 May, midday Kiwi Competitions Entry Close Tuesday 11 May Cross Country Day (postponement -13th) PTA Sausage Sizzle Friday 14 May, 9:10am - 9:40am Kākāpo Hui - Room 6 Monday 17 May, 9:00am - 1:00pm Year 6 at Raroa Normal Intermediate Thursday 20 May, 6:30pm BOT Meeting, Staffroom Friday 21 May Pink Shirt Day (speak up, stand together, stop bullying) Tuesday 25 May, 9:00am Northern Zone Cross Country (postponement - 27th) Wednesday 2 June, 1:40pm New Parent Seminar, Staffroom Thursday 3 June Yr 1-3 Junior cross country invitational, Amesbury Friday 4 June Teacher Only Day - school closed Monday 7 June Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday - school closed Friday 11 June, 9:10am - 9:40am Kākāpo Hui - Room 6 Tuesday 15 June Yr4-6 Inter Zone Cross Country Thursday 17 June, 6:30pm BOT Meeting, staffroom Friday 25 June, 9:10am - 9:40am Kākāpo Hui - Room 6 Tuesday 29 June Yr5-6 Northern Zone Hockey Tuesday 6 July Yr4-6 Regional Cross Country Monday 12th July Astro Turf replacement scheduled to begin Tuesday 27th July 3 Way Conferences Thursday 29th July 3 Way Conferences Friday 27 August Teacher Only Day - school closed Friday 19 November Teacher Only Day - school closed Dear Parents and Caregivers Well done to Chantal, Sam, Chiara and Caroline for running an amazing camp experience for the year 6 students at Forest Lakes Camping and Conference Centre near Otaki this week. I managed to spend Tuesday afternoon with them and it was so great to see them already settled in and enjoying camp activities. Despite being rained on during the first activity rotation, the weather has been better than predicted which I know has been appreciated. We’re looking forward to seeing all the photos and hearing all about their exciting experiences when we get back next term. Thank you to all the parent helpers who took this time out to assist with camp. WEBSITE We’re pretty much good to go and have day one of term 2 as our launch day for the much awaited new and improved Ngaio School website. We’ll send the link and information towards the end of the holidays so you’ll be able to get in and check it out from day 1. In the transition there will still be some email traffic, but over time we’re hoping for the website to be your first port of call for information. STAFFING On Sarah Smart’s last day teaching at Ngaio School, we are all feeling a sense of loss. I’ve loved working with Sarah as a teacher, leader and Board Staff Representative. Once again we offer our congratulations for securing a position with the Ministry of Education in their Governance Team. The Ministry of Education oversees the New Zealand education system and this will be an amazing opportunity to share her considerable skills in this important area of education - we need clever people like her looking after us! We’re very excited to be welcoming Faye Taylor to teach in Rūma Mānuka (Yr 4 shared class), at the beginning of term 2. Faye is an experienced teacher who has been teaching at Karori West Normal School and is looking forward to joining our Kākāpō team along with Annabel Donnelly who starts in week 4. Thank you for supporting our ‘Staff Only Day’ last week. We joined other staff from the eleven northern suburb schools in our Kāhui Ako (Community of Learning) to learn from colleagues. Two staff from Ngaio School presented to the Kāhui Ako on different teaching and learning approaches. It can be fairly daunting presenting to a group, especially fellow professionals. Ngā mihi: Sarah Simpson and Dan Byrne. We are really looking forward to seeing the newly covered furniture when it arrives back at school next term. Thank you to the PTA and generous sponsors Ben Stevens - Real Estate, Maxey Plumbing & Gas Ltd, Charlotte Minty Interior Design, the Burt and Langford Families and Tania Raelene Brows & Lashes. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and congratulations to the winners. SHOUT OUTS ★ A huge thank you to Caroline Dinniss who stepped into the class for term 1 while we recruited a replacement teacher for James McMullan. We also appreciate Sandra Traut who worked in the class on Fridays. They are great teachers so our tamariki were in good hands during this transition time. ★ Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the incredible morning tea provided for the staff last week. These ‘Staff Appreciation’ morning teas are a hit with the staff and the generosity of this always blows us away. So much deliciousness! ★ As we conclude the swimming season, a huge thank you to everyone involved in both the class lessons and after hours pool use. From Nicki in the office who organises and oversees the organisation of everything from pool testing to allocating keys, to Todd Morton, manager of Easyswim swim school, who supports the care of the pool and provides the lessons for our classes and Charlene Mitchell who is invaluable in supporting the pool care and testing during the holidays and weekends. We really appreciate having the pool and without this input we wouldn’t be able to open it for families. ★ Well done and thank you to Dan Byrne who organised for children to participate in the year 1-4 Futsal Tournament at the ASB Sports Centre this week. Congratulations to all the players and thank you to everyone who transported and supervised the players. ★ Thanks to Diana Price who has been incredibly helpful getting our new website ready for our launch at the beginning of term 2. ★ Well done to the Kōwhai and Pōhutukawa teachers and children for the fabulous assembly this week. They really appreciated the massive turnout of parents and family to share in this end of term celebration. ★ Thank you to the Kākāpō team (teachers and students) who prepared Sarah Smart’s farewell hui and to everyone who attended. ★ Well done to all the year 5 students who took over patrol duties this week while the year 6’s were on camp. This is such an important responsibility so we appreciate them stepping up. Thank you also for the extra supervision from parents during the week. ★ Last but not least, a shout out to all our teachers and support staff (office and library staff, teachers aides, cleaners and caretaker) who have worked super hard this term. We thank them for their mahi. All the very best for the holidays. See you all next term. Ngā mihi nui Raewyn Watson Te Tumuaki Whizzing about on Wheels Year 4’s and 5’s have had a great week with wheels! The year 5’s have been on bikes working with Pedal Ready and the year 4’s have had sessions on scooters. FUTSAL TOURNAMENT Many thanks to Nicola, Mike, Heather, Wei, Rebecca, Mark, Amy, Julie, Ann, Kate, Emma and Jo for driving, managing teams and making the futsal trip possible. It was a tiring and hectic day at ASB but the children had an amazing experience and represented the school wonderfully. “On Tuesday 13th April I got to go to a futsal tournament. Although it was my first time I kinda knew I was going to have a blast. It was at ASB Sports Centre and we had two managers. They were called Nicola and Jo. I was in the very back of the car. Our best game was a 19-0 win. There were six games in total and in between each game there was a 30 or 40 minute break. As each game started I felt a lot more confident. We won 5 out of our 6 games. I had the best time ever and I really want to go again. The managers were really nice. THANK YOU!” By Ashwyn ENVIRO GROUP - Upcycle your waste We have some exciting propagating projects for Term 2 and need help collecting equipment. During the holidays we would love families to save and send back to school the following: - newspaper - paper towel rolls - old plastic plant containers/pots - all sizes - clean tin cans, yoghurt containers, plastic bottles SECURITY Thank you to everyone for keeping an eye out on the school property over the weekends and evenings. We’d appreciate this ongoing support over the holiday break. If you become aware of any suspicious or unusual activity while you are in the school grounds please call the police. Please do not engage with anyone causing mischief or damage. If you believe you have important information regarding vandalism, please report this on 105 (the non-emergency number) and follow up with an email to the principal or board property member. [email protected] or [email protected] A huge thank you to Greg Price who has given us advice about security cameras and to Andrew Sos who has been organising security cameras for us. We are very grateful for this time and advice, and the generous donations Andy has been able to source for us. We’re looking forward to this extra layer of security to keep our school safe.