The Connection Week 8 Term 2
Huapai District School 24th June 2021
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
As most parents know, the word of a peer carries far more weight than anything we as adults may say. Our children may refute the idea that they need to bring a jacket after being told 42 times but as soon as a friend mentions that they are wearing their jacket, suddenly the idea becomes far more accepted!
This week I had the pleasure of attending the Year 5&6 North West Soccer Tournament at the Huapai Domain. There were over 250 children at this event. For many of our students it was their first time playing a soccer match, first time playing in a tournament of any sort, and first time competing against students who were bigger and more skilled than them. I overheard a conversation between two students before the matches started. “I’ve never done this before, what if I have to do a throw in, I’m nervous about mucking up.” Firstly, I was so impressed that the child could name their feelings and secondly had the confidence to voice their fears. The second child did not miss a beat - “It doesn’t even matter that you’ve never done it before, we are all trying. That’s all you have to do. Come with me, we will go together”.
It was wonderful to hear the narrative that we use as parents and educators coming out of the mouths of our students. We may feel that the words we use as adults are falling on deaf ears, but they are definitely being absorbed and reused to influence others here at school. It is our job as parents and educators to keep feeding those positive words to our children about learning challenges. They may not appear to be influencing your own child but it may be these words given from your child to another that change the learning day entirely.
Our next few weeks are jam packed with many exciting opportunities - please have a read through the newsletter to see what is coming up this week! I’m particularly excited about Monday...
Kind regards,
Maree Lloyd
Upcoming Events
- Learning Conferences - Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th June
- Book Fair - Monday 28th June - Friday 2nd July in the Library
The Inside Scoop
As you come along on the journey of deep learning at HDS you will begin to understand “LEARNING PARTNERSHIPS” as being an extremely important part of how we activate learning. The emergence of learning relationships reaching out to families, communities and the external world is a feature that can make learning stick.
Connecting students to authentic opportunities locally, nationally and globally means learning becomes more relevant as it goes beyond the classroom and builds on the needs and interests of our children.
We have long known that families play a vital role in students’ success. Families are made up of individuals who are competent and capable, curious and rich in experience. Families are experts on their children. You are the first and most powerful influence on childrens' learning, development, health and wellbeing, therefore the partnership that we can build with you will have great impact on your child’s success.
Our goal as a school is to have families excited, engaged and eager to contribute to the learning experiences of their children. We want to reach out to experts in the community and connect with partners across the globe to establish wider networks and richer resources.
Learning Partnerships, along with the remaining three elements of learning design: learning environment, leveraging digital and pedagogical practices best foster deep learning. With all of these, learning will flourish. Children will flourish.
Keryn Annan
Student Of The Week
Tilly says, "I love Huapai School because I love playing outside on the swings. My favourite thing to do with my teacher is to learn numbers."
Getting To Know...
Emily Soong
Hi, I’m Emily and I teach year 2 at Huapai. I have an amazing class, filled with wonderful jokes and every single day I am kept on my toes. I live in Orewa with my husband and our little puppy, Archie. I love the beach and spending time with my family.
Learning Conferences
This term we are excited to invite you in for a parent / teacher learning conference. We have listened to your feedback and this time the conferences will be a 10 minute bookable time for you and your family to sit with the teacher and discuss your child’s learning journey. Our teachers will support students in preparing learning to show to you. This should focus on their learning journey and progress across the curriculum. Students are encouraged to attend these conferences.
The conferences will be held over two evenings - Tuesday 29th (3pm - 7pm) and Wednesday 30th June (3pm - 5:00pm). Bookings can be made at the link below.
Please note that the booking system will close on Monday 28th.
Booking code: hw67q
Leadership Assembly
Our next leadership assembly will be held in week 1 of term 3. If your child has completed their leadership award booklet, please get this into school before the end of Friday (tomorrow) so we can start the preparation for videos etc.
Readathon Returns
TIME TO RETURN THE SHEETS PLEASE
A huge thank you to everyone who has helped raise money for our library - it’s now time to read your last book, collect your sponsorship and get your sponsor page back to school. In order to be eligible for our great prizes, the forms need to be back tomorrow, Friday 25th June.
All online donations will also go in the draw for plenty of spot prizes.
Next Week Is Celebration Of Learning!
Next week we celebrate the term’s learning, starting with the school wide Book Character Parade on Monday. We can’t wait to see who the children and teachers come dressed up as! Parents are all invited to attend the parade and the sharing of learning, and we look forward to seeing you at the Book Fair in the library and the Learning Conferences which are also happening. The Book Swap being held on Friday is open to any students who bring a book in to swap.
Please note: Montessori and Year 7 & 8 will be sharing their learning during week 10.
Here is what’s on the programme for our students next week:
Scholastic Book Fair
All The Way From England!
Quiz Night
Our first annual Community Quiz was a fantastic event. A huge thank you to everyone who made the night so successful. The buzz in the community was brilliant and we raised 10 thousand dollars for our school library through the quiz night, raffles and auctions. Your support is hugely appreciated. Thank you to Johnny and Kristie and Vaughan - we are lucky to have you here as parents at our school.
The winners of the quiz champions trophy were ‘The Dirty Cowboys’ and the winners of the best dressed trophy was team “Dead Famous”. These trophies will be engraved and will be up for grabs again next year.
Thank you to all our sponsors - without your help this could not have been possible.
More photos can be viewed on our school Facebook page.
All Stars Dodgeball
Last Friday our winning student team took on the staff team in a game of dodgeball. The highly prized All Stars trophy was up for grabs. I’d like to say it was a close match….but the students won convincingly!
Year 5&6 NW Soccer
On Tuesday this week, we took two teams to play in the NW year 5&6 soccer match. It was a cracker of a day - Blue skies, great game play and outstanding team spirit. Both our teams placed third in their division.
Congratulations to the teams and thank you to all the adults involved in making the event so successful for our teams.
Change Of Clothes
Winter has arrived! And with it, a lot more rain (and mud!). Can you please ensure that your child is coming to school with a spare change of uniform in their bag, in case a change is needed throughout the day. While we do have a few spare items in the School Office, these are for First Aid emergencies only. If your child requires a change of clothes but does not have one, we may need to call you to come and collect them.
Entertainment Book
20% of every Membership we sell, goes directly to our fundraising.
Order your Memberships online today! Offer ends June 30th.
Sports For The Sports-Challenged!
If you have been wanting to get a bit more active, but think that running is pointless (it is) and sports clubs can get too competitive (they can), then how would you like to get together with some other mums, dads and caregivers for a bit of casual sports on a Saturday afternoon? It will be low-key and relaxed (read: low skill, NOT competitive) - just a chance to hang out, have some fun, and feel a bit better about the bag of chips we binged in front of the telly the night before! We will have the astro turf available for soccer, or the basketball court for some hoops.
Details:
Time: Saturdays at 2pm
Where to meet: Huapai School Astro Turf
Be sure to register your interest so we know if we have enough people to make it happen. Email Hamish (hamish.taylor@me.com) if you are keen to get into it!
Yummy Apple Stickers
It’s time to start collecting the apple stickers again! Every year we collect these stickers and bag cut outs, which count towards a share of $200,000 free DG sports gear. There is a printable form attached to this newsletter, or children can collect one from the office. Sticker sheets should be returned to school when they are complete.
Tough Guy And Gal Challenge
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Contact Us
Email: office@hds.school.nz
Website: https://www.huapaidistrict.school.nz/
Location: Huapai District School 40 Station Rd, Kumeū, New Zealand
Phone: +64 09 412 5042
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/huapaidistrictschool