Tena Koutou Parents, Caregivers and Whanau.
Hello everyone,
Kia ora e hoa mä.
Board of Trustee news:
At the meeting on Monday evening the following items were discussed:
The Board accepted, with great regret, Emma Schlosser’s resignation from her permanent teaching position effective 20 December 2019. Emma has been on maternity leave. This position has been advertised.
Financial situation – Gavin presented the financial report; the school is on track.
Our roll is 110.
Professional development – Averil Lee has provided valuable professional development for teachers in maths this year. She has observed, taught alongside, demonstrated teaching and given feedback and feedforward to teachers.
Feuerstein Programme. This is going well, and the demands on children’s focus, attention, and precision are increasing as the tasks get harder.
We will be entering Tier 2 of the Positive Behaviour for Learning in 2020.
Lock-down Procedure. Victoria presented this, and there was discussion about various scenarios. It needs some fine tuning, and then will be put in the newsletter for your information. If there were to be a lock-down it is very important that parents know the correct protocols to follow.
Our 2020 staffing and operational funding is much the same as this year as the roll is about the same, and this is what it is calculated on.
Chatbus. Currently some funding has been received and there is nearly enough available to kit out a bus. Unfortunately, this will utilize all funds, leaving none to pay for a trained counsellor. The committee is committed to seeing this up and running, servicing our school as soon as possible.
Teacher Only Days. The Ministry of Education granted schools 8 teacher only days to be used across the three years, to alleviate teacher workload. The Board wishes to advise that on Friday 29 November the school will be closed. Teachers will be working on writing student reports on this day.
Working Bee: After a large amount of discussion, the Board has decided to remove the section of hedge along the footpath by the stop sign. This will be held on Saturday 9th November. Tractors and trailers will be needed along with lots of helpers.
The Principal has been granted a sabbatical for Term 1, 2020, to investigate programmes to support children with learning differences, e.g. dyslexia. Miss Harper will be Acting Principal for this period.
The latest water test was clear.
The Board moved to increase the insurance excesses on the school owned properties, thus reducing the premiums.
Curriculum Reports on student achievement will be presented at the next meeting, next term.
The Board approved the following start and end of school dates for 2020. Start Friday 7 February 2020, finish Friday 18 December 2020.
The meeting closed at 9.20pm.
Coming Up This Term….
Thursday 26 September - Cultural Evening in the school hall, 6.30 start.
Friday 27 September - Last day of Term 3.
Monday14 October - First Day of Term 4.
Monday 28 October - Labour Day – School closed.
Friday 29 November - Teacher Only Day, School closed.
Cultural Evening
See you tonight!
The timetable for the evening is:
6.30pm Children sharing their learning in classrooms. Parents and whanau visit classrooms and look at this.
6.50pm We move to the Hall where children are performing items.
7.30pm Shared kai (supper).
8.00pm Off home after an enjoyable community evening.
Heritage Apple Trees Planting
Students from Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 planted heritage apple trees at the Riversdale Reserve last Friday.
Thank you to Robyn Guyton who donated these.
Home and School Association
A heads up of our activities and events for the rest of 2019.
Fun/Mud Run - Save the date, Friday 1st November. Information for sponsorship will go home tomorrow with children. Baking Mixes - Prepaid baking mixes were a hit last year, so we will be doing them again for this Christmas. Selling early November, so volunteers will be needed for packing at the end of November. Raffles - We will also being doing some raffles at the School Production in December and we will put out a call for donations in the weeks leading up.
As always, thanks so much for supporting our initiatives so we can keep giving back to the School. Join our Facebook page to be kept updated with the latest news, information, and events.
Athletics Gore
Athletics for Term 4 starts on Tuesday the 15th October 2019, 5:30pm at Newman Park. Looking forward to seeing everyone again, new members most welcome! Any queries please contact Vicky Muir 021 2655712.
