Chelsea School Newsletter
Week 4, Term 1 2023
Important Term Dates
- Fri 03 Mar: Pōwhiri
- Thu 09 Mar: PTA Meeting and AGM
- Fri 10 Mar: PJ & Pizza Party
- Tue 14 Mar: BoT Meeting 7pm
- Thu 16 Mar: Y4-Y6 Swimming Sports at Birkenhead Pools
- Tue 21 Mar: Rock Your Socks World Down Syndrome Day
- Thu 23 Mar: Interschool Cricket
- Fri 24 Mar: Y3 Swiming Sports @ Chelsea School Pool 1pm
- Fri 24 Mar: PTA Magic Disco
- Tue 28 Mar: Interschool Swimming Y4 - Y6
- Fri 31 Mar: PTA Colour Run
- Thu 06 Apr: Term 1 Ends
- Mon 24 Apr: Teacher Only Day
- Tue 25 Apr: Anzac Day
- Wed 26 Apr: Term 2 Begins - School Open for Instruction
Kia ora whānau
I hope you are all well and enjoying settling into some full weeks at school. We are well underway now, with settled classes and engaged learners.
We have been loving these sunny days out in the playground, enjoying all that is on offer. There are new basketball backboards and hoops, two new sets of soccer goalposts, lots of new gear in the P.E. shed and an amazing assortment of new sandpit toys and resources on the horizon.
Our learners are so creative in their play, and we love the DNA and Values on display at breaktimes.
We are holding our first pōwhiri this Friday at 9.00am. Families who are new to Chelsea should already have an invitation to this event. We are excited to formally welcome our new learners and their families to our school.
Conceptual Learning for Term One - Turangawaewae
Seeing our kids unleash their curiosities around our concept for the term, ‘Turangawaewae’ has been so exciting. The approximate translation of this concept into English is
standing place (tūranga) and feet (waewae); and is often translated as 'a place to stand'. Tūrangawaewae involves places where we feel empowered and connected. They are our foundation, our place in the world, and our home.
As a community, we represent so many cultures, and this means that we may feel connected to, and ‘stand’ in more than one place.
At school, we are focusing on our local rohe (area), our city and our country depending on the age and stage of our learners. We will look back in time to understand the importance of these areas in history using ‘Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories’ to deepen our understanding of the concept ‘Turangawaewae’.
Sven has worked alongside local experts, including kaumatua and historians to pull together a summary of the history of our local area. What happened in our rohe (area) pre European settlement has always been somewhat of a mystery, but after being involved with some learning around this, including a staff hikoi to places of significance, we have a draft statement to share.
Our Turangawaewae
To help support this concept at home, you could:
Read books together about the history of New Zealand. There are some incredible texts available that tell the stories of Aotearoa. From the arrival of Māori, then European explorers, te tiriti o Waitangi, to more recent events such as WW1, WW2 and the part New Zealand played, Tangiwai, Dawn Raids, the possibilities are endless.
Discuss your family histories and the places you connect with.
Plan a trip to the museum. The New Zealand galleries are a wonderful resource. There is an incredible interactive table to experiment with - check out the short clip in the following link: Stories of Auckland
- Walk/hike some of the key points of interest in Auckland and talk about what has happened at these sites in the past.
The Power of Inquiry
It always touches my heart when one of our learners wants to take action to help others. A couple of weeks ago, Harper from Rito Team came to see me to talk about how upset she was about the Cyclone damage in the Hawkes Bay region. She had a plan to run a bake sale, and we got to work doing the planning to make this idea a success. Harper then took off with our plan, straight back to her Hub to continue planning. Mrs Bottcher and Mrs McLean then supported the class in considering and planing out all of the logistics, including the where, when and things like organising a float so change could be given. Posters were created, labels made, and the day arrived!
Here’s a message from Harper
I was watching the damage from Cyclone Gabrielle, and I thought about people who change the world. Some of them do quite little things, but these have big impacts. I wanted to be one of those people who help others.
First, I talked to my family and made a poster for a bake sale. Then I talked to Mrs Douglas, and we got a plan together. There were a million things to think about! Every day I took little steps like sharing my ideas with the Hub and my teachers, listening to other people’s ideas and then making it happen!
We made posters, organised money, organised families to bake, organised helpers and tables. There was a lot to do!
A big thanks to people who bought our baking - you’ve helped people more than you know.
Thanks to Rito Hub 1 families for your amazing baking!
A huge shoutout to Makenzie for helping to organise the sale, and to Samara from Māhuri for helping with the poster design.
We raised $735, and I think that is amazing! We have donated this to Red Cross to help people recover after Cyclone Gabrielle.
Learning Stories on Hero
Learning stories are written once per term about your child and posted on Hero. By the end of each term, a Learning Story will be published for every child. Your child’s teachers are working hard to get to know your children as people and as learners. Learning stories are snapshots of what is being noticed about your child as they engage with learning inside and outside of the classroom. Our values and DNA underpin these stories. They are very powerful in shaping identity, and our learners love reading them. You will be notified through the Hero App when a Learning Story has been published. You can choose to have push notifications (through the App) or have notifications sent to your email. Please see the link below for these options:
Managing Notifications with Hero
If you are having any difficulty accessing Learning stories or Hero, please contact Sven, sven@chelsea.school.nz
How to find your child’s Learning Story:
Open the Hero App, click on your child and then click on ‘Learning Story’
We encourage you to:
Read these with your child/ren and celebrate what is being noticed.
Leave a comment on the learning story as feedback for your child.
Save as a PDF and share with whānau - Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles - the wider the celebration, the better!
Updating Student details
The office is responsible for maintaining up-to-date personal information and contact lists. To help us do this, it is important that you let us know if any of our child/ren’s details have changed. These include the following:
Student’s address
Caregiver’s mobile phone number
Caregiver’s email address
Emergency contacts names and mobile numbers
Doctors name and phone number
Any existing or new medical condition
Any additional information you think the school should be aware of
Please email Sandra office@chelsea.school.nz
Measles
New Zealand schools have been asked to check our immunisation registers for Measles. Some of you will remember that in 2019, a Measles outbreak in New Zealand impacted many young people, particularly in the Auckland region. The reemergence of measles in Australia is a reminder for us to be aware of the symptoms of this disease. Measles Information
We are currently checking our register and reaching out to those who haven’t provided details to the school. There is no current risk; this process is a regular review and updating of records.
Sandra will contact you in the coming days if you haven't provided immunisation details.
Ngā Mihi
Amanda Douglas
Tumuaki/Principal
Chelsea Primary School
Lucky Book Club.
Thank you for your ongoing support of the Scholastic Lucky Book Club.
Every purchase made by our school community provides us with reward points to spend on new books and resources for our school library and classrooms.
A new brochure is coming home this week with an exciting range of books to suit all interests.
All orders are to be made online by going to mybookclub.scholastic.co.nz.
Please do not bring any orders to school.
Closing date is Sunday 5th March.
Netball registrations are now open
Registration closes Monday 13th March.