Wednesday 13 Sep 2023 No. 15

Kia ora koutou, Namaste, Talofa Lava, Konnichiwa, Ni hao, Kia orana, Malo e lelei, Chao, Hallo, Zdravstvuite, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Salam, Suostei, Hola, Annoyong Haseyo, Caio, Nei hou, Suoday, Ni sa Bula, Kamusta, Xin chào, Gutentag, Bonjour

I hope everyone is doing well. Spring is certainly in the air with our days starting to get longer, our weather starting to get a bit warmer and lots of trees starting to blossom.
Some of the activities I have really enjoyed seeing around our kura over the last couple of weeks have been our tuakana team’s digital character writing, and our junior students doing so well with their phonics. I have the privilege of taking a junior phonics group some times and it absolutely warms my heart to see the effort and progress these students make.

This year, we have been working with one of the top educational literacy experts in Aotearoa, Louise Dempsey. Louise is the author of several literacy books that are used by schools worldwide and she has been helping us all to learn more about best practice when it comes to literacy teaching, planning and assessment. I am very grateful to Louise for all that she has done and is continuing to do for our school. Already, we have learnt so much from Louise and we look forward to learning even more from her.

Digital safety and keeping ourselves safe in this realm is an issue that has always been of concern to me and this week I had an incident happen to me personally that really highlighted our potential vulnerability in this digital space. We are very fortunate to have a digital expert right here on our staff with our Deputy Principal Beth Lamb. Beth is a Google Certified Innovator, Google Certified Trainer and Google Certified Coach. Beth is the only person in Northland to have all three of these and one of only 2 people in New Zealand. Beth will be sharing some of her knowledge around digital literacy and safety with you all in our newsletters from time to time which we can all look forward to.

This week I would like to acknowledge some students who have shown great initiative and kaitiakitanga.

Preston, Paula, Payton, Anabelle and Ava-Leigh have been giving up some of their break times to keep our school clean by collecting up lots of pieces of litter they have found around our school and then putting it all in the rubbish or recycling bins. Thank you very much, we all really appreciate the time and effort you have put into doing this for our kura.

Mauri Ora!

Sharon
Principal Tumuaki

TUPU TAHI – GROWING TOGETHER. STANDING STRONG. REACHING HIGH.

Caught Being Good

Winners of duffy books for the previous two weeks were:

Rm 2: Amaia-Rose, Lochy

Rm 3: Ky-Mahli, Raniera

Rm 4: Ewan, Queens’lee

Rm 7: Ava

Rm 8: Tyson, Brandon

Rm 10: Liam, Khale

Rm 11: Kora-Rae

Rm 12: Kauri

Rm 13: Te Taonganui

Rm 14: Liam, Korbyn

Ngā Mātāpono Awards

Rm 1: Petrice, Te Kaweora

Rm 2: Nolan, Ayla, Chelsea, Te Ririmu

Rm 4: Daelyn, Eva-Maria, Kenzy, Teina, Turama

Rm 7: Amaiayh-Harmony, James, Ethan

Rm 8: Bentley, Dre, Haimona, Jahzahlea, Lilly

Rm 10: Char’Lee, Yalaena, Ryan, Dylan, Archer

Rm 11: Jordin

Rm 12: Anabelle, Paula, Preston, Ava-Leigh

Rm 13: Tukotahi, Zhanica, Alice, Preston

Rm 14: Sebastian, Alohio, Kingston

Free school lunch programme

Menus and detailed information are published on the lunch by libelle website: www.lunchbylibelle.co.nz/current-menu

This week’s main lunch menu:

School Board

The date of the next Board of Trustees meeting is 13th September, 6pm.

Enrolment Day

The school office will be open for new enrolments during the school holidays on Thursday 28th September from 10am – 1pm. Drop in only, no appointments needed on this day.

Please note that we are only able to accept in zone enrolments this year. Please speak to the office if your enquiry is for a 2024 out of zone enrolment. You can check to see if you live within our home zone here: www.totaragrove.school.nz/enrolments/

You will need to bring the following documents for each child you wish to enrol:

*Birth certificate/passport
*Proof of address
*Immunisation certificate/records

School Camp

Camp date for Year 6 students is 15-17 November 2023. Time is running out for whānau who want to come along as parent helpers. Parents must return the required forms to school by Friday 22nd September in order to get them processed in time. Please speak to your child’s teacher for further information.

Snapchat

Lots of our young people have devices that are able to access social media, such as tablets, smartphones, games consoles and laptops.

Sadly some of our tamariki have reported being in snap chat groups.

Snap chat is not appropriate for this age group to be involved in. There is a 13+ age limit as a guide to indicate this when joining. Young brains are not developed or equipped to deal with the pressures of social media.

For a parents guide to snapchat please click on the link: https://netsafe.org.nz/snapchat-guide/

Yummy stickers promo

Our school is collecting yummy fruit stickers to qualify for free sports gear.

Please send your yummy stickers and cut out labels in to the office by Wednesday 20th September. One cut out label is worth 10 apple stickers.

Te Manawa Tahi Timetable

If you have a concern about your child’s language development, learning progress, social and emotional wellbeing, or behaviour, TeManawa Tahi have specialists available so you can discuss your concerns directly with them.

This is a free service and each site will be identified by a Te Manawa Tahi flag. Drop into a hub or make an appointment by phoning 0800 5248 4256 or emailing TT.Support@education.govt.nz.

Upcoming School Events

11-15th Sep – Te wiki o Te Reo Maori

13th Sep – School board meeting, 6pm

28th Sep – Enrolment Day

12th Oct – Mihi whakatau, 10am

19th Oct – 9.30am NZ Shake out – earthquake drill

27th Oct – Wacky hair day & outdoor disco

15-17th Nov – Year 6 camp

1st Dec – Jump rope for heart

School Term Dates 2023

Term 1 1st Feb – 6th April

Term 2 24th April – 30th June

Term 3 17th July – 22nd Sep

Term 4 9th October – 14th December

Community Notices

Join us at Totara Grove Playcentre
We are a FREE early childhood centre where you can come with your children to enjoy a great range of indoor and outdoor play-based learning activities as well as a community of friendly & supportive parents.
Feel free to drop in anytime we are open, email us with any questions or find us on Facebook for some photos of what our kids have been up to recently.

Opening Hours: Monday & Wednesday, 9am-12pm during school term time
Address: 38 Corks Road
Email: totaragrove@playcentre.org.nz

Junior Athletics Whangarei

www.athleticswhangarei.co.nz

We are excited to announce the beginning of the athletics season.

Junior Athletics Season Opening
Tuesday 10th October at 4pm at the track, Park Ave, Kensington.
Ages 5yrs – 12yrs, all inclusive, of all abilities.
We hope to see you there.
Senior athletics 12yrs up at 5.30pm.
Club nights: Tuesday.

Interest is picking up and we have a great committee organizing a fun night to start the season well.