KTS Newsletter

Term 1, Week 5, Wednesday 28 February 2023

Coming up...

Wasn’t it great to have a full week of school last week! I am sure we all appreciated the normality of this. It certainly was a busy week as we finished off PAT assessments with our Year 3 – 8 students, had a water safety programme for our Year 3 and 4 students at Epsom Normal School, had our school swimming sports for Year 5 – 8 students, confirmed student leaders and welcomed our Year 5 students back on site.

This week is looking to be just as busy as we have students represent the school at the Year 5 and 6 zone swimming sports, continue the gymnastics lessons for Year 1 – 6 students, have our first training day for our new student coaches and send our 2023 student leadership team off to their GRIP conference on Friday.

zoom_out_map

Thank you so much for the kind donations we received as we raised money for Pakowhai School on Friday. We raised an amazing $1200. Principal Tim Race was just blown away. We have arranged a ZOOM call for Thursday where our head students will let some of their senior students know how much we raised. In the meantime here is the message from Tim:

What an amazingly generous and kind community you have. Also, thanks so much for your kindness towards our school. We are VERY grateful. The MOE has covered most things but the likes of our bike track, sandpit toys etc are to be covered by us. We will be able to put this money either towards the repairs to our bike track (we need diggers and lime!) or towards repairs to all of our vegetable boxes so that we can grow some food for our community.

zoom_out_map

Colour Run – Friday 10th March

We are super excited to be in the final planning stages for the school colour run next Friday – 10th March. This is such a fun event and we are pleased to welcome family and friends to come and join in the run. We do need YOUR help.

Please either put your name in this doc to help throw colour or serve food – Colour run volunteer sheet

OR fill out the form to indicate what curry you are able to donate – Curry / rice donation form

Please come and support the school in this first fundraiser for the year. See below for information from the PTA about their fundraising goal and what it is targeted for.

Three-Way Learning Conferences (3WLC)

We have learning conferences scheduled for Monday 13th March, 1:15 pm – 5:30 pm, and Wednesday 15th March, 3:15 pm – 7:30 pm. We are requesting, if possible, that students be collected at lunchtime (12:40 pm). We will have supervision here for the afternoon and intermediate students are welcome to walk home if we have permission from caregivers. Can you ALL please complete this form to confirm your requirements.

This year we are using HERO for you to book in your time. We believe this will be much easier for you. Bookings are open now. Please open HERO and refer to the menu on the left-hand side under ‘report an absence’ or go to the app on your phone, and then follow the instructions (see images below).

We look forward to seeing you in school for the first set of conferences for the year. Teachers and students will be sharing start-of-year assessments and learning goals for the year.

zoom_out_map

App view

zoom_out_map

Hero menu (left-hand side)

zoom_out_map

KTS PTA

We had a great turnout of parents at our first PTA meeting, all keen to help make the events for 2023 a success.

Your class liaisons will have been in touch to introduce themselves and the ways they can support the class community. We recommend joining the class WhatsApp group as a simple way to stay informed on ways to be involved around the school.

The PTA Fundraising Target for 2023 seeks to benefit KTS students and our school community.

The $25,000.00 target serves to support the resources that grow both the people and place of KTS.

The funds raised would seek to support and serve Kohia te wānanga e tū kite ao mārama – which calls to the gathering of knowledge, from a range of sources, to reach the light.

zoom_out_map

Māra (Garden) Kaitiaki

Over the past 2 years, the planting and growth of the gardens around our school has created the need to further support and utilise the garden space for our young people. The use of sunflowers at the 2022 prize giving powerfully underscored that the fruit of our soil is a beautiful thing! Fundraising would support the role of a Māra Kaitiaki to continue to vision and lead in this area of the school. The Māra Kaitiaki would both manage the gardens and develop pathways for all KTS students to better engage in the development and maintenance of this space.

Assistant Sports Co-ordinator

With the growth of sports at KTS, and school representation at wider events, the need for an Assistant Sports Co-ordinator exists. As a key part of the human-resource team that serve KTS students, the funding of an Assistant Sports Co-ordinator would assure that the current traction and mahi undertaken to build teams across a range of sports, at multiple levels, and with social and competitive focus can continue and be built on.

Y4/5 stairs top up

Assuring that the Year 4/5 stairs are completed to maximise safety and space on campus is a key focus of planning and process for KTS. The focus to future proof retrospective builds and updates, in this case in the best placement of the stairs and how they function, will be supported by and through the work and fundraising of the PTA for 2023.

Fencing around the school and planting

Supporting the security, upkeep and generation of the grounds spaces at KTS.

MacBooks

Supporting the purchase of computers to support student learning, ideation and engagement.

Community Notices

What's on at Epsom Library?

The Epsom Library Coding Class is back every Tuesdays at 4pm. It is suitable for 9-year-olds and up, they just need to bring their own device.
Youth Space is for everyone to have fun together. Every Thursday at 4pm, we will put the table tennis and retro video games out.
Our library will be celebrating the Eco Festival during the months of March and April to promote environmental awareness and sustainable living practices in our community. As part of this program, we would love to showcase some upcycled crafts made by local students.

zoom_out_map

Northern Mystics game this Saturday

The MG Mystics are opening the 2023 ANZ Premiership season against the Southern Steel in their FIRST home game of the season, Saturday 4 March and they need your support!

There will be plenty of entertainment for the whole family including food trucks, market stalls and a Kids fun zone with free popcorn, giant games and much, much more.

Grab your ticket now and head along early to enjoy the market atmosphere: TICKETS HERE

Food Trucks & Market from: 5pm | Doors Open: 6pm | Game Begins: 7pm

zoom_out_map

Brain Play

Brain Play teaches science & technology classes to Kiwi kids aged 5 - 13, right across the country! We offer holiday programmes, online classes, in-person after-school classes, in-school classes, and free events for communities. Our topics include 3D printing, coding, animation, STEM experiments, LEGO & more. Free trials are also available for new students. We also have one off weekend STEM workshops on the 25th of February and the 11th of March. Check out our website to learn more about what's on at Brain Play & book in today - https://www.brainplay.co.nz/.

zoom_out_map

Did someone say FLASH SALE?

The team at Entertainment have a serious case of flash sale fever and for a limited time only you will receive 4 months FREE when you purchase a 12 or 24-month Single or Multi City Membership from us!

You will have access to 1000’s of every day offers at your fingertips for as little as $5 per month! Be quick, as this offer will be gone in a flash!

Order your Membership here