Kokopu Newsletter

Kia ora whanau,

It has been lovely to have the sun out again and glimpses of spring on its way. After reporting our strong attendance last newsletter due to the drop in sickness, I was hit by the dreaded “Man Flu“ myself and have been off most of last week. It is a good reminder that if your child is sick, please keep them home until you are confident they are well enough to come back.

A big welcome to Kyle and Akia, and their families, to Kokopu School. Our roll is currently sitting at 122 and on target to finish around 130. If you know of anyone looking to enrol, even 3 and 4 year olds, please encourage them to use our pre-enrolment online form on our website. This enables us to plan for staffing and buildings in the future.

Welcome back to Rhonda Sparrow who is taking over in room 2 until the end of term with Anna Boaz on refreshment leave in Fiji. Also, we welcome Sue Lascelles who will be replacing Barbie Reynolds as a Learning Support Coordinator. Sue is at our school on Wednesdays and works closely with Paul Ruddell and Fiona Baird our RTLB to provide learning support for our students.

We are in full production mode here at school with practices happening most days along with costumes, props and backgrounds being made. If your child has some lines, we encourage you to get them to practice at home in front of the family to build their confidence. Production night is on Tuesday 19th of September with a matinee at 12.30pm for those who can’t attend in the evening.

We had a great day out at Te Horo School participating in the Taniwha Challenge. Our students ran their hearts out and all the cross-country practice up and down our school hill certainly paid off.

We look forward to seeing how our students go at the Whangarei Interschool cross country this Wednesday at Barge Park.

Property update

We have a busy next few weeks preparing for several upcoming projects including a design meeting for new pool changing sheds, covered area roofing replacement, and room 1 and 2 deck and covered area project.

We are getting closer to finalising our plans for the new car park. See below for a draft design that we are working on.

Nga Mihi,

Yaron Overeem,

Principal

This Wednesday 30th is the Cross Country Championship at Barge Park for the following children;

Tahan Bellingham Journey Hughes Eva Gray Caitlin Riley Ana Waterhouse Bella Hill Skyla Bellingham Chloe McMurchy Amelia-Rose Hape Jayne Sheehy Amber Bellingham Fern Simmonds-Gray

Brooke Donker Yvie Pye Holly Gourlay Drake Yearbury Philip Colmer Jordan Donker Toby Noakes Jakob Delemare Lachlan McMurchy Jamie Lockie Ben Slabbert Ethan Reynolds Tristan Woolston-Boys Olsyn Yearbury Eli Donker Max Gray Ryan Delemare Lucan Clay

We still need transport for some of the children please. If you can help out please contact the school office.

Thank you so much to Toni Hughes for coming and giving a tutorial to the students who are raising animals for Ag Day. It gave the kids great insight into how to raise and show their calves, goats, lambs and chickens.

With 9 weeks until Ag Day, don’t forget if you are going to do a fish bin garden that you should be planting your plants so that they are well established by the day.
Check out our ag day website for more information www.sites.google.com/kokopu.school.nz/agday/

Can we please have all Ag Day trophies from last year returned to the school office asap please? I will need to send them in for engraving.

Lamb and goat day-care is available at school. So if you would like to bring your lamb or goat you are raising for Ag Day to school you are welcome. Ensure you bring their feed which can be kept up in the whanau room fridge.

We have a new Ag Day information website ready to go. You can see it at this address. www.sites.google.com/kokopu.school.nz/agday

There is also information available on raising your calf on www.calfclub.co.nz

If you would like to get involved in helping with Ag Day, especially the animal judging please let us know. We would love your input into the website and judging criteria and helping to find judges.

If you are interested in having an Ag Day animal but don’t know where start, drop into the office and we can get you started.

On Friday we had our speech finals and would like to congratulate the following children who placed;

Year 8 1st Ben Slabbert, 2nd Brooke Donker, 3rd Ryan Delemare

Year 7 1st Caitlin Riley, 2nd Riley Bourke, 3rd EmmaLee Delemare

Year 6 1st Skyla Bellingham, 2nd Tristan Woolston-Boys, 3rd Amber Bellingham

Year 5 1st Annabeth Riley, 2nd Lachlan McMurchy, 3rd Journey Hughes, 4th Louie Reynolds

Year 4 1st Tahan Bellingham, 2nd Ana Waterhouse, 3rd Drake Yearbury

The speeches were very interesting and entertaining. What a fabulous effort from all our participants.

Ben and Brooke will represent Kokopu School at the Mangakahia Lions Valley Speech Contest on Wednesday 20th September.

We are supporting Daffodil Day this year to support all New Zealander's who are impacted by cancer. You can donate by binging money into the school office now to receive a ribbon or you can go to our fundraising page to donate...details below.

Fundraising page name: Kokopu School
Fundraising page URL: https://daffodilday.org.nz/k-school

On Friday 8th September Kokopu School will host the country meal dinner at the Mangakahia Sports Complex. We get the opportunity to host this is a lucrative fundraiser for our school once a year. We would like helpers to serve meals, do dishes and clean up please. We also ask all families to provide a salad whether they come along to the meal or not. If you can help please indicate on our Skool Loop App. More info to come.

On Monday 18th September the whole school will be going to Church Unlimited, 10 Mill Road, to practise for our production of Madagascar. The children will be traveling by bus to get there and be there from 9.30am til 2.30pm. On Tuesday 19th September they will go there again to perform a matinee show at 12.30pm to some children from Whangarei Primary. Parents are welcome to attend the matinee performance if they can't make the evening performance which will start at 6pm.

We desperately need an after school care assistant. We need to employee a casual carer to assist Loida on days when our numbers are over 10 children. If you are flexible with your days and can help out from 3pm to 5pm on the odd weekday, please contact the school office.

Natasha has filled in this term and done an amazing job and we thank her for her time in this position.

Term 3 Begins 17 July 2023

• 30 August - WPSSA Cross Country Championships
  
• 21 August to 9 October - Anna Boaz away, Rhonda Sparrow teaching Room 2
• 8 September - Kokopu School Hosting Country Meal at the Mangakahia Sports Complex (we will need help with this fundraising event please) Let us know if you are available via the Skool Loop App.
• 18 September - Production Practise
• 19 September - Production at Church Unlimited, Regent, Whangarei
• 20 September - Mangakahia Lions Speech Contest

Term 3 Ends 22 September 2023

• Monday Tech Year 7 and 8. Technology classes at Manaia View School so please ensure your child is at school by 9am to catch the bus into Manaia View School. Thank you.

• Friday Assembly. On Friday afternoon we have a sharing assembly at 2.30pm for the whole school. Parents are welcome to come along and see what the children have to share.
  

• School Office. Vicki is in the office on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Bexs is in the office on Wednesday and Friday mornings until 11.35am.

• Drink Bottles. Our water issues have be rectified but it would be good to send your child with a drink bottle full of water each day.

• Carpark and gate. Please come to the gate in the carpark to collect your children at the end of the day. We do not want children walking through the carpark without an adult as it is unsafe with the amount of cars and limited parking. We have a teacher on duty at the gate each day to supervise. Can we ask parents and visitors to make sure they close the gates if you use them? We have a few children that may be prone to walking out an open gate. Thank you. Please don't park by the entrance gate or teachers carpark area. Also please avoid parking by the letterbox at the front of the school.
  

• Absences. A reminder that it is important to contact the school before 9.30am when your child will be absent. You can either phone, email or let us know via our Skool Loop app. We need to know where your children are so we know they are safe and can mark them correctly on the roll. See details in this newsletter on how to download our Skool Loop App.
  
• Iceblock Sales. Ice Blocks are for sale again to raise funds for the school. Many children who come to school with $2 like to buy their friend an ice block. Please could you send a note to say they are allowed to do this? The Room 6 children do ask but a note would be easier for them.
  
• Term Dates 2023. Term 1 .. 02/02— 06/04 Term 2 .. 24/04— 30/06 Term 3 .. 17/07— 22/09 .. Term 4 09/10— 15/12

If parents/caregivers want to visit the website https://kokopu.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm to look over our school policies and procedures, please see the following instructions: Enter the username (kokopu) and password (0179). Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.

The Board of Trustees are happy to accept regular automatic payments throughout the school year. All of last years debts should have been paid in full. If you need to have a chat about your account, please contact Vicki. We prefer payment by direct credit if you are able to please; Kokopu School Board of Trustees 12-3099-0419154-01.

Parenting Helpline Do you need specific parenting advice you can implement right away? Are you carrying a lot on your shoulders? Speak to our warm and supportive parenting experts. Call us for support on any parenting issue. Call now for free on 0800 568 856. Available from 9am – 9pm 7 days a week.

The new season is nearly underway.
Seniors - Opening Day. Sept 16 at 10.00 (There after Saturdays at 1.00) New members welcome
Juniors - Tuesday October 10 at 3.30. Includes coaching. New members & all levels welcome
Seniors Twilight - starting Sept 28 at 5.30
All queries to mary.brown.nz@gmail.com

Email: office@kokopu.school.nz
Website: www.kokopu.school.nz
Location: 921 Kokopu Road, Kokopu, New Zealand
Phone: 094346765
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kokopuschool