Dear Parents and Friends
Welcome to our first full school newsletter for the year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday, enjoying our fantastic summer weather! The staff have all come back refreshed and ready for the New Year. I had a wonderful holiday visiting Queenstown and Christchurch. I also went to Bluff at the very bottom of the country!
We are starting the year with a roll of 150 and we will reach our maximum of 165 by the end of the year. We have had a great start with swimming in all classes and Kakapo at Tech.
The staff have all spent several hours getting ready for the new school year. We spent 2 days as a staff working on administration and professional development.
At our Whakatau we welcomed:
- Whaea Clare Lewis - Kea Class Teacher
- Mrs Belynda Bird- Special Needs Teacher Aide
- Mrs Lauren King- Masters Student Trainee - Kakapo Class for the year
- Mr Izaac Wallach- Masters Student Trainee - Tui Class for the year
We also welcomed Leti (Year 8- Kakapo) and Jason (Year 3- Kereru) Tui and Pearl Wislang (Year 3 - Kereru ).
We have also welcomed Mrs Michelle Harding- ORS Specialist Teacher/ AP Release and Mr Gerard Sweeney DP release teachers.
Tui class welcomed Bronson Smith, Joachim Ryan, Andy Pereira - Logovae, Oli Wright, Te Malaga Perez, Isla Masina, Kata Ahelemo, Agelo Alesana and Helena Bahia. We know that you will all welcome these new students and their families to our school community. We know you will make all these children and their families welcome in our school.
Congratulations to the Janaszkiewicz family on the recent safe arrival of their new son and brother Alexander.
We offer our prayers and sympathy to Genevieve Hanify, Matt Lewer and family on the recent death of Genevieve's grandmother.
At the end of next week we will be farewelling Alyse Veltman, one of our Teacher Aides. We thank Alyse for all her work over the past 2 years and wish her well for the future.
COVID19 RED level information:
Thanks to all of you for following our RED level processes. These keep us safe. We have a COVID19 plan and we are currently looking at how the school would operate should we have staff isolating.
Managing cases in our school
We will be advised by the Ministry of Health should there be a confirmed case who has been at school while infectious. They will tell us what to do and we will follow their advice. The Ministry of Education will support schools should this occur.
We have a good contact tracing system in place so that if there is a confirmed case who has been at school while infectious, we can quickly identify who was a close contact of that person. We will then quickly advise those contacts of what they need to do. This is why you must sign in if you come onsite.
Only if the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Education advises to do so, would we consider closing a physical onsite school and moving to distance learning for everyone. At Red we will keep everyone learning onsite for as long as we can.
Please make sure your contact details we have on file are up to date, so we can get in touch with you if needed
Please continue to:
- Scan in using the COVID tracer App
- Sign in the visitor’s book in the office. Please make sure if you are onsite you come in through the office.
- Wear a mask while on site
- Follow physical distancing with other adults and teachers
- Stay home if you or your child is unwell
Communications from school:
We send out messages on HERO and our school app. Please make sure that you are able to access both of these platforms. Each week the teacher sends out an email with an update of what’s happening the next week in their class. If you are having problems accessing either of these platforms please contact either your child’s teacher, Anna or myself. All notices which are sent out on the school app will automatically be put on the website. www.sacredheartpetone.school.nz
2022 School Activity Contributions and School Donations:
This year we have opted into the Government Donations scheme again so you will not be invoiced for an activity contribution or school donation. You will have received a request for the Religious Education contribution, stationery and Tech (Year 7 /8). Thank you to everyone who has paid this money.
Sports Fees need to be paid before the season begins please. This term we have Touch Rugby. Invoices for these will be sent out shortly.
With the newsletter today we are sending home an information sheet about your child for you to complete and return to your child’s teacher. Please do this as soon as possible as it helps your child’s new teacher learn about your child.
Road Safety: At school we teach the children to abide by road safety rules and safely ride bikes and scooters. We ask that you help us by parking correctly when you pick up and drop off your children and also by using the pedestrian crossing outside the main school gate. No-one is to ride a bike or scooter in the school grounds. Please be considerate of our neighbours and do not park in or over their driveways. We will be seeking help from the Hutt City Council traffic safety officers if people continue to ignore this request. Please remind your children to take their scooters home each night.
Emergency Packs: All children need to bring their named Emergency Pack to school as soon as possible. Please refer to the details of contents later in the newsletter. Thank you to everyone who has brought their pack to school.
Book Club: The Book Club brochures came home yesterday and this year all ordering must be done on line. The orders for Issue 1 close on Tuesday 22nd February. The website is https://www.scholastic.co.nz/toolkit/ Select the Parents tab and you will be able to order from there.
Uniform:
Thanks to everyone for supporting us by ensuring your children are in correct uniform.
A few reminders:
Please read carefully our school uniform policy in regard to hair styles. There are a few borderline styles creeping in. All hair which is shoulder length or longer must be tied back and be off the child’s face. Rats tails and shavings in the hair are not part of our uniform.
• All hair ribbons and hair ties should be school colours.
• No nail polish.
• Sports shoes are not school footwear.
• All students require a Sports Uniform. Please ensure your child has one which is correct and purchased from the uniform shop. Only plain navy-blue shorts are permitted with the Sports Uniform.
The beginning of the year is always a busy time and we ask for your support as we update our contact information. In the next couple of weeks, we will be updating our contacts lists and permissions. Please ensure that you return to the office your updated details form.
If at any time you have a concern about your child, please contact their teacher in the first instance. We encourage you to make an appointment if you wish to discuss a concern.
We appreciate that at this time of year a lot of information is sent home, but it is necessary to ensure that all our processes and programmes are put in place correctly. We look forward to a term and year full of new learning experiences.
With the newsletter today are the following:
- Pupil Information Sheets
- Rise Challenge information
- Statement of accounts/Stationery Invoices
- Year 7 and 8 (ONLY) - Camp Medical Information
- Attendance Dues Fees Information
- Ice Block Order forms (Friday 11th February)
On our Website you will find:
• The school calendar for the year
• 2022 Behaviour Management Procedures
• Pastoral Care Handbook
Reminder:
• Inhalers – If your child has an inhaler at school could you please call in and check whether it has expired. If it has expired, please provide us with a fresh one.
Thought for the Week
"You are in the world to witness that it is beloved and blessed by God. You are consecrated for the world, which awaits your testimony to achieve a freedom that gives joy, nourishes hope, and prepares the future." ( Pope Francis @pontifex)
God bless
Liz
