Week 2 - 8 February 2023

Principal's Message

Kia ora Koutou

We would like to welcome the following children to our school and look forward to our pōwhiri this Friday at 2:15pm. If you are new to Northland you will have received an email invitation with details of how our pōwhiri is organised. 

Henry, Alma, Johannes, Carita, Albert, Roman, Jingui, Greyson, Clara, Millie, Zoey, Lily, Romy, and Reuben C.

We are very pleased with how all children are settling into the routines of school, albeit four day weeks. Thank you for checking lunches, drink bottles, sun hats and sunscreen. We appreciate you helping your child be ready for the day. Teams have shared the first team newsletters with you this week, these can also be found on the website and give you team specific information. 

We are sharing the teams for 2023 and our staff. Please refer to the website if you need to check emails for staff members.

We are all making the most of being out and about. Yesterday we had some great basketball drills and various mini games taking place.

We are looking forward to enjoying a picnic next Wednesday on the courts so families and staff can mix and mingle. Each team will share with you the class routine, expectations and the teaching focus for this term. It is also a chance to hear from the teachers and ask any questions if you need further information.

We are aware of a number of cases of covid in our school community and a reminder to remain at home if you are unwell and please email the office. For those children who need to isolate for 7 days, teachers will be in contact with you regarding learning. If teachers are away for a period of time we will let you know who will be teaching the class and implementing the team programme.

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 will cook sausages and provide bread and sauce to add to your family picnic. This will be held in the court area.   We have Mr Whippy arriving with his famous ice-cream van, they have eftpos and cash facilites available.

5 - 5:45 - Picnic on the courts

5:45 - Music /Kapa Haka

6:00 - Andrea, Judith, Jane share the key areas of focus for 2023 in Te Kōhanga. 

6:15 - 6:30 Whānau can go and visit a team 

Ruru - Judith, Emma C,Emma Mu, Emma Mc

Kōtare/ Tieke - Katie, Fiona, Angela, Jane

Year 7 / 8 - Alex, Lyndsey, Rachel - Rooms 5-7

 Each team will share with you the class routine, expectations and the teaching focus for this term. It is also a chance to hear from the teachers and ask any questions if you need further information.

Library News

Scholastic Book Club Term 1 2023 - Issue 1 is out now!
FREE BOOK OFFER for Issue 1!  Order via LOOP to get your free book. Spend $30 and you'll receive 1 free book. Spend $50 and you'll receive 2 free books. Spend $70 and you'll receive 3 free books. Place your order and you'll be given a list of books you can get for free. 
Term 1 Issue 1 2023 catalogues have been distributed in your child's class. Deadline for orders is  on 24 February 2023. Please note that we do not take paper order forms or cash payments - all orders are done online via LOOP. Please go to https://mybookclub.scholastic.co.nz/Parent/Login.aspx to register. Any queries to Erwin Palado by emailing librarian@northland.school.nz

New books on display at the library
Every week new library books are on display in the What's New? corner of the library.  These will be on display for a week and could be issued to the students the following week.  Here are this week's books.

Music at Northland School

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.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=48064&G=162154 If you have any questions about the event, please go to https://tryathlon.co.nz/locations/wellington/ for more information. The event is always a great time and I plan on having a tent with the Northland school flag down at the park to have a shared space for our school and and students to come together on the day. I hope to see many of you there.

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.nz/schools/ to download and print out your own. There is more information there as well, but please don't register the school. 

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 - Wed 1st March

 As indicated last week in our newsletter, teachers in our school will be attending a paid union meeting on Wednesday 1st March at 2pm. NZEI Te Riu Roa leaders are calling paid union meetings in late February as members need to discuss and consider important issues, including how we might collectively:

• Ensure our pay and working conditions are sufficient to attract and keep people in teaching.
• Advocate effectively to improve support for children's teaching and learning, including increasing staffing, learning support specialists and reducing class size.
• Make school leadership roles manageable and desirable. 

The meetings will include voting on the outcome of negotiations between NZEI Te Riu Roa and the Ministry of Education for the renewal of members’ collective agreements. As the majority of staff at our school are union members, they will be attending this meeting. Although the school will not be closing, it is important that teachers who are entitled to and wish to attend this meeting are able to do so. A small number of staff will remain on site for the afternoon. 

We have organised with Jan from Northland Kidz after school care to collect children who are enrolled with her programme at 1pm from the Tiger Turf.

We would appreciate it if parents could make alternative arrangements for children this afternoon and either collect their children from school at 1pm, or give them permission to leave at 1pm.  

If you are unable to make alternative arrangements for your child please contact the school office, office@northland.school.nz before Wednesday 22nd February.

BSC - Before School Care

We are very pleased to welcome Bridget Hall who will run the Before School Care for the remainder of the year. On Tuesday Bridget met the regulars and was very impressed with the library and activities that children independently did before the school day began. The cost from 7:30-8:30 is $10 or  from 8-8:30, the cost is $5. We are fortunate to be able to continue to provide this for you to make your mornings run well. 

Wellbeing - SchoolTV Platform

Gratitude is the topic we have selected for the next two weeks. 

Appreciating the little things in life involves focusing our attention on what is pleasurable, nurturing, and sustaining in our lives and away from those events that are annoying, frustrating, or hurtful. It means practicing gratitude for those everyday things that are easy to take for granted or miss altogether. Adopting this outlook won’t stop negative events from occurring, but it may help prevent us from over-emphasising their importance in our lives.

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

At the beginning of each year we focus on collecting school supplies as well as continuing summer clothing items.     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.