Balclutha Primary School

Principal's Report

Kia Ora e te Whānau and welcome to Week 4.

This week has been another busy one.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we were thrilled to see so many parents come in for parent/teacher/student interviews. This was a wonderful opportunity for our team to meet parents and get to know our learners a little better. Please remember that you do not need to wait for formal interviews if you have a concern about your child's learning or just want to chat. Teachers are happy to meet with you. Please email them directly, or ring the school office for an appointment. By working together, we can ensure better outcomes for all our students.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Kā mihi nui,

Vicki

Paid Union Meeting - 2 March 2023

Whakamana tamariki, whakamana kaiako

We all want the best for our kids.

Our teachers love what they do, but not enough funding for schools means that they don’t have the time they would like to support all kids to thrive.

We can fix this though. NZEI Te Riu Roa primary teacher and principal members are making the case to the Government for the best investment in tamariki. Smaller class sizes, more time for individual students and more specialist learning support staffing would make a huge difference.

Keeping and retaining teachers is top of our mind right now, and this term, our teachers will also be meeting to consider a pay offer – and assessing if it’s enough to make sure that teaching is valued and is an attractive profession.

That is why all the teachers at our school will be attending a paid union meeting on Thursday 2 March at 1:30 pm. To enable teachers to get to the meeting, all students will be released for the day at 12:30pm.

When we support our children to learn and succeed, we are supporting whānau and communities to thrive. We look forward to another great year in 2023 – and together with your support building the case for better investment in our tamariki.


Georgia, Aubree and...	...Mary and Kodie, enjoyed taking part in a maths lesson in front of 40 teachers earlier this week!	Jonty, Brooklyn and Mckyah have been having fun reading word games this week.

Georgia, Aubree and...

...Mary and Kodie, enjoyed taking part in a maths lesson in front of 40 teachers earlier this week!

Jonty, Brooklyn and Mckyah have been having fun reading word games this week.

Whānau and School

Whanau and School Update:

Firstly, thank you to the teachers, parents/caregivers who came to our first 2023 Whānau and School meeting last night. There is a lot happening over the next few months. At the meeting Janette Nicolson, School Librarian, displayed the new books she has purchased with the $1,000 donated by Whānau and School near the end of last year. These books will soon be landing on the school library shelves ready for all our children to browse and borrow. Thank you Janette you have done a great job with your selection.

Foodwrap orders - a reminder that Monday 27th February is your last day to get your orders in. All payments are to be via internet banking, thank you :-)

Spud Dig

Are you wondering what this is all about? A flyer with more information will be coming out next week. A great opportunity for families to come and look around the school where our children learn and play each day. It would be great to see who has the biggest spud, the smallest or the funniest shaped spud!

This is a great family evening so keep Friday 10th March free.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Keep safe

Co-Presidents

Sara Sutherland and Carleigh Frisby

E: balcluthapta@gmail.com

Sport News

Walk N' Wheel To School Week (27 - Feb to 3rd March)

We will have more information about this next week! Keep your eye on the school app!

Touch

The touch draw is out for the term.

All children must be supervised at their touch game. Thank you to the parents who are coaching and managing teams.

Hockey

Hockey draw for Monday 27th

Yr 1-2 Court 2 (4:30 - 5:00 every week)

Yr 3-4 BPS Purple vs Catlins/Waiwera South - Court 3 - 4:00pm

Yr 5-6 BPS Green vs Valley Vikings - Court 4 - 4:00pm

Yr 7-8 BPS Blue vs St Josephs - Court 3 - 5:30pm

Netball AGM

Balclutha Netball Club AGM is on Monday 27th February at 7pm in the BPS staffroom. All parents are welcome.

Tania Arthur

Balclutha Primary School

Sports Co-ordinator

Congratulations to this week's Assembly Award Winners

Room 1

Jack Rhodes - for displaying all school values by being a leader and helping all our new tamariki.

Room 3

Kayla Mu Azz Fahmie - for working hard to sound out words to help her read.

Room 5

Aubree Watt - for trying her best, giving everything a go and looking after her things.

Emily Sutherland - for forming neat printing, doing her best and helping in the classroom.

Room 6

Kayden Hapuku Te-Nahu - for showing respect to his peers and putting 110% effort into all his work!

Tilly Field - for being a respectful and kind member of Room 6. She also uses her growth mindset everyday!

Room 7

Lilyana Rolton - for showing kindness in and out of the class and helping her peers during Art!

Corey Newport - for consistently showing the school values and always willing to help others!

Room 9

Logan Gray - for being empathetic towards others and always showing respect.

Penelope Talione Vasa Pene - for always trying her best in her learning.

Room 12

Zane Fraser - for outstanding effort on Athletics Day and enthusiasm in the classroom.

Ella Hore - for clearly explaining strategies in maths to help her peers' understanding.

Room 11

Ethan Scott - for showing a hardworking, positive approach, to being a year 8 student.

Mioné Meyer - for showing respect to her fellow pupils and teachers at all times.

Room 12

The students in Room 12 have been working on Track My Learning (TML) in class. TML sets tasks that need to be completed each day, as well as over the course of a week. Students can choose the order in which they complete their work, and in the process are learning great skills in managing themselves and their time.