Newsletter T1W6
Tuesday 9 March - Term 1 Week 6 2021
Tēnā koutou katoa (hello everyone)
We hope that everyone has settled back into the school routines well. The teachers are loving getting to know their new students and are very impressed with the positive mindset many of them are displaying. Starting in a new class or with a new teacher can be worrisome but it is important to persevere, build those new relationships, jump in the Learning Pit and give things a go.
School Vision and Values
Now that we are well underway with the school year, it’s a good time to talk to your children about living our vision of ‘The Whitney Way - The Way We Learn’ at home and out in the community, as well as at school. The vision is what guides us in our words, actions, thoughts, beliefs, learning and the choices we make in our everyday lives. It is what we aspire to as Whitney Street students. The vision is made up of two parts:
‘The Whitney Way’ encompasses our core values of Honest, Caring, Respectful, Learners.
‘The Way We Learn’ is our core business. At Whitney Street School, we learn by being self-managing, thinkers who are collaborative and connected. We explore the qualities and skills that we want our children to possess so that they can thrive in their ever-changing and exciting future.
At the start of the year we talk a lot about following the rules outlined in the vision, as the more we talk about what it means to be honest, caring and respectful in everyday life the more the children’s behaviour will reflect this. At home please continue to discuss what this looks like and sounds like with your children, and praise them when they use these values.
Sports Offered at Whitney Street School
During the school year there are a number of sporting opportunities on offer to your children. Children will be asked to express their interest in class and then a permission slip will be sent home to parents. It is really important that these permission slips are returned by the specific date as each sporting code has a deadline to meet to enter the chosen team. Every sports team will also require parent helpers to coach and/or manage the teams. You don’t have to be a “professional” to take on these positions and most Marlborough associations provide support throughout the seasons to make it an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. If we do not have parent involvement we are unable to enter teams.
Please only sign up if your child is prepared to commit to the sport for the entire season, this includes being available for practices and games every week.
All sports fees will be outlined on the permission slips and need to be paid to the school office before your child plays. We are happy for families to set up automatic payments with Tanya to cover any fees throughout the year.
These are the sports that will be available to Whitney Street School children in 2021:
Term 1
Tennis Year 3-6
Summer Soccer
Summer Hockey
Ki-o-rahi
Ripper Rugby
Term 2
Netball Year 3-6
Basketball Year 4-6
Hockey
Term 3
Hockey
Netball Year 3-6
Basketball Year 4-6
Term 4
Touch Rugby Year 3-6
Tennis Year 3-6
Summer Hockey
T-Ball
If you require any more information on sports in our school please email one of our sports co-ordinators Mary-Anne Dikmans (dikmans@whitneystreet.school.nz), Liz Ives (ives@whitneystreet.school.nz) or Andy Facer (facer@whitneystreet.school.nz)
Wheels
We encourage all of our students to seek active modes of transport to and from school. This is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle and learning road safety rules. Besides walking, active transport to and from school includes bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and rollerblades. A lock is vitally important!
We have noticed that a few of our students are needing to be reminded to walk their bikes and scooters in the school grounds during the busy times (between 8:30am-9:00am and 3:00pm-3:30pm). Please take the time to remind your children about the reasons behind this. The police recommend that no child under the age of ten should cycle to school unless accompanied by an adult. Parents are responsible for ensuring their children get safely to and from school. We recommend you read our policy on SchoolDocs about wheels to make sure that everyone is nice and safe on their way and from school. To access the documents please login to the SchoolDocs website, https://www.schooldocs.co.nz/ and find Whitney Street School. Our username is: whitneystreet and our password is: learners and the search term is Wheels.
Swimming Pool Closure
Please note that this week will be the last week for school swimming and the pool will be closed to key holders as of today due to pump issues. If you have a pool key please return it to the office by Tuesday 16 March.
School Gates
For the safety of all our children, please ensure you close the gates behind you at all times during school hours. We have noticed that the Whitney Street Cul-de-sac gate in particular is often left often when parents call in during the day to pick up or drop off children. Thank you for being vigilant in this area.
Nude food
We are trying to reduce our waste at Whitney Street School. For this reason, we ask our students to take their rubbish back home with them. We have found that this helps our families to realise the importance of reducing lunchbox waste. Please do try to lead by example and attempt to provide reusable packaging when purchasing food and helping your child to make their lunch.
PSG (Parent Support Group) - we’d love you to join us!
Our first PSG meeting for the year is next Wednesday 17 March at 6pm in Room 1. As some of our long serving members are now on the Board of Trustees or their children have moved onto Bohally, we require more members for our team. Please come along next Wednesday to see what it’s all about or ring Cheryl on 027 321 8022 to find out more. It’s a great group to belong to and the main fundraiser that we organise is Lights Over Marlborough. Look forward to seeing you on the 17th!
Whiria te tangata.
Weave the people together.
Whole School Hui this Friday 12 March
Twice a term, we like to have a whole school hui on Friday mornings. You are most welcome to join us this Friday at 9:05am. We will be celebrating with our Whitney Star Award winners, singing and just enjoying coming together as a whole team!
What's been happening in the classrooms?
At the beginning of every year, many classes like to do a pepeha or a mihi. This is a way of introducing oneself. Using a set structure, we identify who we are, where we're from and what is important to us.
Everyone has a pepeha that links them to their ancestors. Knowing and feeling a sense of belonging is important to our Hauora or Wellbeing which is our whole school focus for 2021. Two walls of Te Whare Tapa Wha are held strong by knowing where we are from (Taha Wairua) and about our (Taha Whānau). These visual mihi were made with pride by the tamariki in Room 3.
Room 5 & 6
Guess what Room 5 & 6 made together last week when ‘J’ was the Letter of the Week?
It was delicious!
Writing by Sophia Wiesner in Room 3
In a land, a bit far away from New Zealand, Hindu people have good times at festivals. Here for example is the Paint Festival where everybody is dressed as a colour. People are tall, small, chubby and thin. Everyone is different. We too, in New Zealand have a Festival of Colours in the South Island in Wanaka. In this picture the paint is the brightest, pinkest colour ever! It is being sprayed over the rusty car onto the audience and is going to colour their skin pink, until they have a shower!
By Sophia, 9 years old
Wairau Classes to the NZSO this Friday
Our school calendar is often filled with trips and events and sometimes the dates and details change. The BEST place to keep an eye on what is happening is on the school App in the calendar section.
Download our school App
We encourage all parents to download our school app from the Playstore or Apple Store, as we find this the most effective way of sending out Alerts to parents/caregivers. You can also access a wealth of information from the app as it has links to the school calendar, newsletters, etc.
Please subscribe to Alerts from the classes/groups that your child belongs to. If you want to subscribe to groups later on, you can do this via the ‘Alerts Subscriptions’ which is in the Menu (top left). Please do this to ensure you are subscribed to the classes and Teams that your child or children are in for the 2021 school year.
This is also the way we would like you to inform us of absences. This system streamlines the morning routine for Tanya and Michelle so that they can easily see who is away and why.
Please click here to download the School App.
Hero
Suggestions Box
Bread Tags for Wheelchairs
In line with sustainability, the Wairau Hub will continue to collect bread tags to help support the Bread Tags for Wheelchairs initiative. Save them up, bring them into Room 1 and we will arrange for them to get to where they need to go.
This cool idea supports The United Nations Sustainability Goals of;
* Goal 1: No Poverty donate what we don't use
* Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
* Goal 10: Reduced inequalities
Subway Orders
Orders to the office or online by clicking the green button below by 9:00am on Thursday for Thursday lunchtime delivery.
Automatic Payment Option
The Whitney Street School BOT bank details are: 03 0599 0305934 00
Pretty Things Embroidery
Contact Us
Email: principal@whitneystreet.school.nz
Website: https://whitneystreet.school.nz
Location: Whitney Street, Blenheim, New Zealand
Phone: +64 3 578 3028
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhitneyStreetSchool/