KTS Newsletter
Term 4, Week 7, Tuesday 30th November 2021
It is certainly nice to be reconnecting with students as they come into school. My new favourite meeting place is on the front steps - firstly for the open air and secondly it is just a great place to sit and chat!
As I indicated last week, I was awaiting information about the health and safety requirements for schools as we head into the new traffic light system at the end of the week. It has been confirmed by the Ministry of Education that there will be no changes to the current requirements until the beginning of next year. As such, there are no changes to our end-of-year event planning. We are really delighted we can still celebrate students, but of course are disappointed that parents are not permitted to be on site. I receive updates most days and the guidelines can change, hence waiting until now to confirm. Rest assured we are working to ensure there is an effective live feed so you can still be part of the events.
A reminder that reports will be published on Friday; included is a general comment, an inquiry learning comment and a science comment. The graphs and goals for reading, writing and maths will also be updated. Please do not be alarmed if it appears your child has not progressed since we reported to you mid-year. Teachers have made judgements about achievement and have not undertaken formal assessments once students came back to school. We will focus on careful assessment at the beginning of next year and have additional staffing in place to support students who may require acceleration in their learning.
- Alison
ICAS results
Results came through recently for the ICAS English assessments sat just before lockdown. Eleven students were awarded a Distinction grade for scoring in the top 11% of students in their year group across New Zealand. Congratulations to Paige (Y3), Helena (Y4), Logan, Ameera (both Y5), Annemie, Mayoori, Chloe (Y6), Nethuli (Y7) and Adria, Tanishka and Boidehi (Y8).
Four students achieved High Distinction (the top 1% for their year group in New Zealand). We are very proud of Nadia (Y4), Harper (Y5), Samaara (Y6) and Chloe (Y7). Tino pai tō mahi!
Talent Quest
The judges have reached a decision and announced the results, which are available on this short video. The online opportunity allowed many people to get creative in showcasing their talents and we had 45 amazing entries. Thanks to all those who entered, well done to those who were shortlisted and congratulations to the winners of each section. Links to some of the winning performances will shortly be available on the school website.
End-of-Year Events
We can now confirm the following events as we move into the final weeks of 2021.
Prizegiving
We will be presenting KTS Learner badges (what were our Cornerstone badges) for our Year 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 students on Friday 10th December and Monday 13th December, depending on which classes are in for that day. These will be live streamed (ZOOM) as no parents will be able to come on site.
Year 6 cups and KTS Learner badges and the Year 8 cups will be presented as part of their respective graduation celebrations.
Friday 10th December
9.15 - 9.30 Rooms 5 and 7 KTS Learner badges and Sports cups
9.45 - 10.00 Rooms 11 and 13 KTS Learner badges and Sports cups
Mon 13th December
9.15 - 9.30 Rooms 4 and 6 KTS Learner badges and Sports cups
9.45 - 10.00 Rooms 10 and 12 KTS Learner badges and Sports cups
10.15 -10.30 Year 7 KTS Learner badges, head student announcement and Sports cups
Year 6 Moving on Up
This year, the Year 6 graduation, and now also prizegiving, will be held on Monday 13th December at 2:00pm. We invite ALL Year 6 students to attend at this time and will ensure safe social distancing. Again, we will share the event digitally.
Year 8 Graduation
The year 8 graduation on Tuesday 14th December at 6:00pm will still incorporate an opportunity for students to dress up and celebrate their years at Kohia. There will be a simple dinner, prizegiving and then the graduation. As this is an indoor event, parents are not able to attend. We plan to live stream the prizegiving element and then record the individual citation ceremonies; this footage will be sent to parents. This is always such a special evening for students, we have done our best to retain what we can.
Final Day Organisation
We are looking at a different organisation for the last day with each team coming on site for a short amount of time to farewell their classmates, teacher and Carolyn Bowden. I am taking the plans to the Board for approval tomorrow night and will confirm in due course.
Device return
If you have a school device on loan please return it to the office on Wednesday 8 December with the charger. While we realise some distance learning will still be underway at this time, we will be encouraging offline activities for the remainder of the year. Thank you for your support.
Library News
Literacy Awards
Congratulations to the following students, and watch their badges being awarded HERE.
Bronze – Kaylee (Rm 6)
Cobalt – Andrew (Rm 6), Harsh (Rm 8), Catherine H. (Rm 11), Anna Z. (Rm 13)
Silver – Yash (Rm 8), Arthur (Rm 8)
Gold – Eloise (Rm 8), Harper (Rm 12), Logan (Rm 12)
If you are learning at home your badges are at the front desk in the office ready to collect.
I am still interviewing students so if you have finished your award you need to bring your booklet in as soon as possible or contact me to arrange a Zoom.
Book Returns
I urgently need all library books returned – there are 160 books still at home. Please return tomorrow or Thursday. There is a returns box on the front steps to the office. We do charge for unreturned books so please help with this.
Summer Reading
I will be organising this next week for students who want to take advantage of this. Students will need to have returned their overdue books this week and also be returning to school next year.
– Jane
Sports Update
Sports uniforms
Thank you to everyone who has returned their sports uniforms. If you have not yet done this, please return them to the school office as soon as possible in a bag labeled with your child's name, Room no. and their sports team.
Flippaball/Waterpolo
We are looking for interest in Flippaball (Y3–6) and Waterpolo (Y7–8) for next year. For Flippaball, we are going to continue in our Waterwolves competition, as they can provide coaches. For Waterpolo, there is an Intermediate competition that we can enter, but coaching is not provided. Alex Corbett has kindly agreed to coach an intermediate Waterpolo team if we have the interest.
Each team needs a manager. The manager needs to organise the team at the games, email out playing times, etc. Parents must accompany the child to training and games. For detailed information please refer to this document: Flippaball Term 1 information.
If your child is interested for Term 1, 2022, we need to know now so we can organise teams over the holidays. If your child is keen to play next year please email Rachel Ogilvy (rachel@kts.school.nz) by Friday 26th November. If you are willing to coach or manage, please include this in your email.
School stationery 2022
We’ve teamed up with OfficeMax to make getting school ready faster! Your child’s class list is available now on the OfficeMax MySchool website – myschool.co.nz.
We encourage you to order early to ensure your child has all their stationery requirements ready to go in plenty of time for the start of Term 1. Don’t wait until mid-January, order now and avoid the back to school rush.
When you shop on myschool.co.nz you’ll receive free delivery on orders over $46*. You will also help our school earn school rewards* that we use to purchase much needed extra resources for our school.
If you order online in December you will receive a FREE A4 Magnetic Whiteboard Family Organiser* - ideal for keeping activities and events on track throughout the year. Click HERE to find out more.
* Terms & Conditions apply, see myschool.co.nz for details.
School Leavers – notice re ezlunch / Kindo school shop
If your family is leaving our school and moving to another school that does not use ezlunch or Kindo for school payments, you need to close your account. If you’re not sure about the new school, log in, go to My Details and click on the list of schools, scrolling to find your new school.
If your new school is NOT on the list, use the 'close account' button on that screen. You can choose to donate your balance to school or have it paid out to your nominated bank account.
Enrol for music lessons in 2022
Lewis Eady Music School offers group or individual lessons on a range of instruments: piano, keyboard, guitar, ukulele, singing, drum kit… the hard part is choosing which instrument!
To enrol your child for music lessons at school in 2022, complete an online enrolment form at https://bit.ly/LewisEadyMusicLessons
Calendar of events
- Board of Trustees Meeting – Wed 01 Dec @ 07:30pm (online)
- KTS Learner awards – Friday 10th and Monday 13th December (see above for details)
- Year 6 Moving on Up and Prizegiving – Monday 13th December at 2:00pm
- Year 8 Graduation and Prizegiving – Tue 14 Dec @ 06:00pm
- Final day of the year – Thu 16 Dec
Contact Us
Email: office@kts.school.nz
Website: https://www.kts.school.nz/
Location: 3 Kohia Terrace, Epsom, Auckland 1023, New Zealand
Phone: 09 630 4525