Week 1 - 1 February 2023
Principals Message
Kia ora Koutou
A very warm welcome to the start of 2023. It was lovely to meet and greet families on Monday afternoon and again yesterday as you dropped your children off for the day and no doubt took a few deep breaths.
During the break it was good to have families playing on the playground and the courts. Please continue to enjoy our environment after school and during the weekends.
There was a buzz of excitement in the classroom spaces and children enjoyed sharing holiday news and being with friends. We did try to cool them down a little in the afternoon with our traditional first day ice block treat!
We welcome Bridget Hall to run our Before School Care supervision and also as a Teacher Aide across the school, Lin Latornell Teacher Aide and Richard Dobson who is teaching across the school a day a week.
We are looking forward to a positive and successful year. A key message shared with staff and students to start the year:
Be Kind, Be Gentle and Be grateful in our interactions with others.
To welcome all our new families we will be having our first pōwhiri next Friday 10th February at 2:15 outside Te Kōhanga. New families will receive more details. It would be lovely to have parents attend also and support our children who lead our ceremony.
You will have noticed the court markings have been completed and with this great weather the sandpit is open too. I would like to thank Tony for his continual efforts to keep our grounds and buildings looking clean and tidy.
We are thinking of our colleagues and family members in all areas of the Upper North Island that have been impacted by the floods, as we appreciate the way we have been able to embrace a smooth start to 2023.
If you would like to come and chat or have questions or concerns please get in touch with any of the senior leadership team, Andrea, Jane and Judith.
Ngā mihi nui
Andrea
Communication
We will continue to develop our communication about events, more specific details of the programmes in teams and the celebration of our children in their learning. We are making a few changes to the way you receive information.
Emails - Please make sure you know your child’s teacher and their email so you can have regular contact as needed. Teachers will attend to emails generally after 3pm and within 24 hours as they will be teaching during the day. Sport events, western zone events, camps, team trips, cultural events will be emailed to you with details and google forms will be attached to the email if permission or parent help is required.
Phone calls - You may receive a call from the office if your child is unwell. Teachers may call you to follow up on a situation or concern. If you would like to call the teacher they will be available after 3:15, we suggest a quick email to arrange a time that will work best for you.
School Newsletter - For the next 4 weeks we will send a Weekly School newsletter out via email on a Wednesday by 4pm. From then on newsletters will be sent every fortnight. This will be sent as a link that you will need to open. The newsletter will also be uploaded to the website.
On a Friday you will be sent a link with events for the next few weeks and these will also be on the school calendar found on the website.
Team Newsletter - Teams will provide a newsletter twice a term that will provide you with information specific to the smooth running of the team and how you can be involved in supporting your child. This will be sent via Seesaw and also uploaded to the Website.
Seesaw - All families have been invited to join Seesaw by your child’s teacher. Seesaw is used across the school for sharing learning by the teacher and by children as they learn to post. At times you may also receive a quick message from the teacher eg, please remember togs tomorrow.
School Website - Please refer to this - many details such as latest news, staff, calendar, school policies. The banner is checked and changed daily. https://www.northland.school.nz/
Community Picnic - 15 February 5-7pm
To start the year we would like to provide an opportunity for a Picnic at school. We are planning to have a sausage sizzle that can add to your family picnic. This will be held in the court area and during the evening there will be an opportunity for parents to hear from us about the key aspects of our teaching and learning for term one. We are hoping our music group and kapahaka will be able to perform at the start of the evening.
Music at Northland School
Thank you to one of our parents, Eleanore Walker who is very keen to continue to provide a regular music opportunity for our Year 4-8 students. This was so successful last year and we are excited to encourage children who enjoy singing and playing to be involved.
Unmasked 2023
Back for another year, we welcome new and former members to the music group. We’ll be learning and recording many more songs, moving into another decade and beyond with songs from 2000-2015ish. Open to children year 4-8 with exceptions for younger children if keen singers!
Please register children via link : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JD4onAX8X8ZV-KJA1HNofhPTQdBhPANtz2lTQ3hnaR4/edit
School Sport Events
The Weetbix Tryathlon is back on this year!
This is a reminder to register your child/ren to participate in the Weetbix Tryathlon this year. It's taking place on Sunday 19 March at Kilbirnie Park. I have created a Weetbix Tryathlon school group for Northland school. If you would like to register your student to be apart of our school, please follow this link. https://www.
Yummy fruit stickers and labels
Every sticker or label collected will go towards earning sports equipment for us to use at the school. There will be sticker and label collection sheets at the office for you to grab or if you'd like to print out your own, please head to https://www.yummyfruit.co.
Absence
If your child is sick or has an appointment Please contact the school OFFICE and the class teacher. You can email or phone the office directly or go through the website absent form. Ph 04 475 7596 office@northland.school.nz
Teacher Union Meetings
Some of you will be aware that teachers and principals across the country are in a conversation with the Government regarding pay and conditions. Teachers and principals have received a further offer from the Government in response to pay, release time, teacher to student ratios to name a few claims. We are aware that bargaining will continue into the New year and fully support all our staff in working with the NZEI union. There are planned union meetings in the week starting February 20th so we will inform you once the date and time is confirmed.
BSC - Before School Care
We are grateful Ollie Michie has been able to provide the Before School care this week to help parents out in the first week back. We are very pleased to welcome Bridget Hall next Tuesday who will run the Before School Care for the remainder of the year.
Price Change - $10 from 7.30am $5 from 8am
Wellbeing - SchoolTV Platform
Gratitude is the topic we have selected for the next two weeks. You will find some excellent information, interviews in this section to share and talk about.
https://northland.nz.schooltv.me/newsletter/happiness-gratitude
SchoolDocs - Policies
SchoolDocs provides us with a comprehensive core set of policies, which 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.
We invite you to visit the site at https://northland.schooldocs.co.nz (note that there's no "www."). Our username is "northland" and password "orangikaupapa"
Our Value Kind Manaaki
Kindness is showing you care, doing some good to make life better for others. It is being thoughtful about people’s needs. Kindness is showing love and compassion to someone who is sad or needs your help. Kindness is treating yourself and others gently. It is caring about the earth and all living things.
Term Dates
2023 Term 1 Tuesday 31 January - Thursday 6 April TOD Friday 17 March Term 2 Wednesday 26 April - Friday 30 June TOD Mon 24 Apr +Friday 2 June Term 3 Monday 17 July - Friday 22 September Term 4 Monday 9 Ocotber - Friday 15 December
Term 2 starts for children on the Wednesday 26 April, Monday the 24 April is a MOE teacher curriculum day and Tuesday 25 April is Anzac day.
The 2nd MOE teacher curriculum day will be in term 3 - we will advise once the date has been confirmed.
Community Notices
Children’s Used Clothing Collection 16-23 February
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year, hoping that you all had a fabulous break and ready for the year ahead. I will be leaving at the end of term, so I am handing over the reins of this fabulous project to Clare Teal who has kindly put her hand up to be the new co-ordinator for the Children's Used Clothing collection.
At the beginning of each year we focus on collecting school supplies as well as continuing summer clothing items, hoping you have all managed time to clean out the closets and gone through school items not used or still have plenty of use available. The dates for the next collection will be 16th - 23rd of February. Please ensure all donations are in bags and do not include items that are more suitable for the local Opp Shops.
If you have any large donations or if you notice the bin is full on certain days, Clare can be messaged directly on 021 571 665.
All items will continue to be gratefully accepted by our chosen school in the Wellington region.