Week 6 - 31 May 2023

Principal's Message

Kia ora Koutou

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching 53 students take part in the Western Zone Cross Country event at Karori Park. The weather certainly challenged everyone running in rain and  muddy conditions. The excitement of running against students from other schools and completing the race made for proud moments for all. Northland stood out by showing our values, cheering one another on and looking out for others.  Thank you to our parents who supported and encouraged everyone to do their best. 

Feedback from students last year told us that our year 7 / 8 students are eager to contribute more to school activities and demonstrate stronger leadership through organising events and taking on responsibility. 

We are excited with the enthusiasm of our 12 student representatives from Team Kākā who are meeting weekly to discuss and plan initiatives that connect with our three pou. Congratulations to Pippa, Eli, Zoe, Anera, Ariana, Sophie, Jack, Eleanor, Matilda, Evie, Haaim and Alisa who are on the team. The key areas of focus that this group are working on are fundraising for charities, sports/arts, planning fun days, caring for our environment, diversity and environmental awareness and action. 

Last week we had around 30 parents who were able to attend our Learning in Action morning and pop into classrooms to see literacy programmes and activities across the school. At Northland we are focused on implementing a structured literacy approach and are already noticing benefits for students in all year levels. Karen, previously our Reading Recovery teacher, is now teaching  groups of students across the school to improve literacy skills.  

Our Teacher Aide’s Jo and Erwin are also supporting groups across the school, Jo in Ruru and Erwin in Tīeke. The groups are approx 5-6 children and they have daily sessions of 20-30 min as needs are identified.  We look forward to you coming to our structured literacy parent information evening on Tuesday 6th June 7pm.

We are looking forward to the Year 4-8 Swimming sports next Tuesday 6th June at Karori Pool. Information has been sent to everyone and students have signed up for events. We are running both competitive and non competitive races to encourage all students to take part.

Once again thank you for making alternative arrangements this afternoon to enable all staff to attend a paid union meeting. We appreciate the support from you.

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

Structured Literacy Info Evening

We will be providing a parent evening on structured literacy on Tuesday 6th June 7pm in the school Library. The session will provide you with the background of this approach and demonstrate how we are running the lessons so you can support your children at home. 

Tuesday 6 June 7pm to 8.30pm please RSVP to the office.

PB4L Positive Behaviour For Learning

At Northland School we are implementing Positive Behaviour for Learning School Wide (PB4L-SW) to enhance our positive and caring learning environment. We believe positive behaviours can be taught. Children need to be taught how to behave just like they are taught how to read and write. Some children require extra time and practice to behave in the way we would expect them to, here at Northland School. 

• We will develop with the community clear expectations for positive behaviour, ways to affirm our expectations and clear guidelines for consequences that are consistent. 
• We expect all staff, students, parents and whanau to model positive behaviours for these expectations to be successful.

• We will develop clear expectations and understanding of steps to use in restorative practices to find solutions that will build stronger partnership and ownership for everyone at Northland. 

It’s not about changing the students; it’s about changing the environment, systems, and practices you have in place to support them to make positive behaviour choices. 

You can find out more  about PB4L here https://pb4l.tki.org.nz/PB4L-School-Wide

School Swimming Sports Year 4-8

Parent Helpers Needed  Please email rachelp@northland.school.nz 

We are hosting our school swimming sports at Karori pool on Tuesday the 6th of June from 9:30-12:00 for all races. Buses will leave school at 9:00am to arrive at Karori Pool for a 9:30am start.

We are trialing having the 50m freestyle during the main event, so if your child has signed up for this race, it would be helpful if your child is wearing their togs underneath their clothes so they are ready to compete. 

While the competitive races are happening, we will run non-competitive races in the learners' pool for those students who are not confident with swimming a length of the main pool. This provides an opportunity for all children to swim during this event.

All children will need to bring their swimming togs, towel and goggles. Please contact your child’s teacher if your child won’t be swimming because any non-swimmers will need to have a note from their parents confirming they won’t be participating.

All races will be timed, which means there are only heats and no finals for all of the races. Once all races have been completed and collated, the finalists will be confirmed. We will notify those who are going onto Western Zone Swimming event by Friday the 8th of June.

We will need parent volunteers to help with timing this year as we do not have the usual help from the NZ Institute of Sport, so please email me if you’re able to help for the day. We will need at least 6 parents to help on the day and if we don’t get a sufficient number of volunteers, you may be asked on the day to help if you are there spectating.  

If you have any questions about the running of the day, please contact Rachel at rachelp@northland.school.nz.

Matariki

Tuesday 27 June 2023 5.30pm -Another great evening of star gazing and fun events and activites to be enjoyed by all,  please join us for a Matariki celebration suitable for the whole whānau.

Joseph Driessen - Becoming the Best Parent You Can Be

Bake Sale - Pink Shirt Day Thank You

On Friday 19th May, we held a bake sale to raise funds for Youthline. Arena, Sophie and Ariana organised this very well. First Ruru were delighted to select an item for morning tea,  followed by the year 4-8 students at lunchtime. There was plenty of lovely baking provided and the school made a $470 donation for a great cause. 

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.

School Newsletter -School newsletters are emailed on a Wednesday by 4pm every fortnight on an even week. This will be sent as a link that you will need to open. The newsletter will also be uploaded to the website. 

School Memo -A brief memo of events or important details that occur in between newsletters will be emailed to you on the alternative Wednesday by 4pm every fortnight on the odd week.

Event Calender Update -Each Friday you will receive an email with Calendar events for the following weeks.

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/  

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.

Absence, Appointments, Change of afterschool plan - If your child is sick or has an appointment please send an email to the school office,  or the absence line.

Pie Delivery

Pies will be delivered to classes this Thursday - if you have a very large Pie order the H&S team will have called you for pick up or delivery options.

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  

BSC - Before School Care

Bridget Hall  runs the Before School Care.  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. 

Library News

The library has a new and exciting book series entitled "The Last Firehawk".  These books are great chapter books for junior students.  Come to the library and have a read!

Wellbeing - Raising Girls / Boys- SchoolTV platform

https://northland.nz.schooltv.me/newsletter/raising-girls

https://northland.nz.schooltv.me/newsletter/raising-boys

Neuroscience and brain mapping has over the years helped researchers gain a clearer understanding into the distinct development of the male brain. When comparing male and female brains, it is necessary to take into consideration the psychology of differences. There are many reasons for these including hormonal, physical, environmental, and of course, brain differences. However these should not translate into limitations or affect how a parent acts towards their child, nor should it influence how you treat them.

Boys should not be considered all the same as they do have individual differences. Girls need positive role models in their lives to step up and help them shine with self-respect and confidence.

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 Confident -Whakamanawa

Our quality is Courage

Courage is a personal bravery in the face of fear. It is doing what needs to be done even when it is really hard or scary. Courage is going ahead even when you feel like giving up. Courage is needed in trying new things. It is admitting mistakes and then doing the right thing. Courage is the strength in your heart.

Term Dates

 Term 2     Wednesday 26 April - Friday 30 June          TOD  Friday 2 June                          

 Term 3     Monday 17 July - Friday 22 September                                                                                                           Term 4     Monday 9 October - Friday 15 December 

Community Notices

Please check out the Community Notices in the attached document - lots of exciting opportunities for students and families to enjoy.   These are also displayed on the New Notice Board in the school office, come in out check it out !