Kia ora parents, caregivers, and extended whanau

Important update

We have set up classroom groups in schoolsAPP. This means you will be able to receive classroom specific alerts. You will already be receiving 'General' alerts. All you need to do is:

1. Open schoolsAPP on your mobile
2. Click the 'list' icon on the top left of the screen
3. Click 'Alert subscriptions'
4. Select 'Classrooms' and tick the classroom you want alerts from

I am doing a dummy run with Room 11 parents this afternoon. So standby.

As always, our eyes are on the prize. We are all about the CONNECT and SHIFT right now.

Do you remember my top secret idea from last week? I was asking for your help. Well it starts this week. It is called 'Dinner Talk'. Your child's teacher will send it to you via email or seesaw today if they haven't done so already. This could be a game changer. So please get in behind it. Remember that it is between you and the class teacher, so look out for it.

The next thing that will be starting next Monday the 28th of February will be our whole school 'Reading Challenge'. It is a readathon without the fundraising part. It will be running for 5 weeks and finishes on the 1st of April. Classrooms will be awarding special prizes for their classroom readers of the week and the top readers of the challenge will receive the ultimate prize of a special lunch with Mr Tawhiti. Classroom teachers will be 'pumping' this up with their children this week in preparation for Day 1 next Monday. There will be a log sent home later this week, and teachers will have a classroom log as well to track the reading efforts of every student. I am 'big brother' and can see the reading efforts of every child in our school. So I will be watching on with keen interest.

I love reading, and sometimes I have to make a conscious effort to make time to read for pleasure because sometimes other stuff has a habit of getting in the way. I have recently completed reading the entire anthology of acclaimed American crime fiction author James Lee Burke. Despite being a tad macabre, he has a wonderful way with words. I devoured Tiger Woods the biography co-authored by Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict. An engrossing read and at times sad recollection of the golfing great's complex upbringing. I have since shifted into the new 'Orphan X' series by Gregg Hurwitz on a friends recommendation. Think of the Jason Bourne series, the main character- Orphan X- shares similarities. The jury is still out though and I may opt back into some Bernard Cornwall 'Last Kingdom' viking material.

Now, dad's out there! You have a role to play I feel. Get a book out in the evening and read yourself. Role modelling reading is very powerful, particulalry with reluctant boys. No different than when your boys or girls watch and learn when you build something or do a mechanical repair on a car. Turn your back and they will be tinkering in your garage as well. Get a book out in the evening and you will be surprised by how your tamariki will follow your lead.

I am pleased to also add that there have been no further COVID-19 related developments at our school. So that is a positive, but as we know it is moving ground. Thank you to all of our whanau for your sensible understanding and support of the situation. As you would imagine, it has been a complex challenge for the BOT and management to take on, but we certainly appreciate your patience and support.

Noho ora mai

Mr Tawhiti and the Patumahoe School team