The Connection Week 7 Term 2
Huapai District School 17th June 2021
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
It takes a village to raise a child. For me, personally, this quote is so true. We cannot do it alone. We all play a role in guiding, supporting, educating and celebrating the children in our lives. When children are surrounded by people who care for them, all doing a little bit to help them on their journey, then the child learns they are valued and supported. In turn our own loads are lightened a little and the world runs just a little bit more smoothly.
Last week we celebrated our support staff during national Support Staff week. While we are so thankful every day for our Ops team, our Teacher Aides, our Garry, our Stephanie and our Cathy, it was nice to stop and take time to consciously say thank you for all the extra miles these amazing people go to ensuring that the children at Huapai have the very best care. We would like to thank you too, as families, for the support you show to our school - the raffle tickets you buy, the journals you put away, the lost property you sort, the Readathon sponsorship you arrange, the sports teams you are involved with, the HFN events you assist with, the pieces of rubbish you see and pop into the bin, the parent help you offer in so many ways. Please know that all these things are noticed and appreciated. When we all pull together, each doing our little bit to raise our children we see the best results - children who are proud to say that they are Huapai kids! Thank you most sincerely to you, our village, for your continued support of what we are doing at school.
Kind regards,
Maree Lloyd
Upcoming Events
- Quiz Night - Friday 18th June
- Learning Conferences - Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th June
The Inside Scoop
Deep learning has a place in everybody’s life experiences. If you think about a skill you have learnt, how did the learning stick for you?
I remember learning to drive a car. It was important to get the ENVIRONMENT in which I learnt right, so I could feel motivated to comfortable enough to take the risk of sitting behind the wheel. So there I was, sitting in my 1986 Toyota Carolla in an empty carpark, an environment that would set me up for success in the initial stages of learning.
Now, I obviously didn’t wake up one day and know how to use the clutch and accelerator. Dad as my LEARNING PARTNER sat in the drivers seat, modelling how to drive with precision, then scaffolded me into step-by-step lessons (which in shop-talk are known as PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES), as I took control of the vehicle and gained confidence to drive on the real highways of west Auckland.
The DIGITAL element wasn’t really a ‘thing’ back when I learnt to drive, however, what I did have was a Sega Megadrive with car racing games with which could simulate my driving skills on a race track!
I firmly believe that having the environment considered, a patient learning partner and different teaching strategies to help me succeed, really were elements that made the skill of driving a car stick with me for life.
As educators, we are extremely mindful of these elements and understand that designing learning experiences with all four elements present, will produce ‘sticky’ learning that is deep, in which our kids will remember for life.
Keryn Annan
Student Of The Week
Ingle says, "Huapai is a fun school. My favourite thing to do is play soccer. I like doing maths and some of friends are Tyler and Max."
Getting To Know...
Garry, our Caretaker Extraordinaire…
Hi, I am Garry. I’ve been at Huapai for about six years now. The best part of my job has got to be the kids. I enjoy hearing their stories and speaking with them. The worst part of my job is easily our sewerage system! I live with my family at Muriwai and am a member of the Royal Enfield Rider’s Club. I am 10 pints away from having my name up on the wall as being a member of the 500 Guinness Club.
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
New School Website
We are very excited to announce the upcoming launch of our new school website, which will be live early next week. This has been a work in progress since late 2020 and is a piece of our communications improvement project. As well as a fresh modern look and feel, the new website syncs with SchoolApps so notifications, newsletters and any emergency updates are updated in real time.
We hope you love the new website as much we do - and enjoy the refresh. Content will be ever-evolving on the site.
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.
Leadership Assembly
Readathon Returns
It’s time to start bringing in your books and sponsorship money into school. We are excited to see who will be winning one of the many spot prizes up for grabs by donating through the Give a Little page. The children who read the most books or raise the most money at each year level will win North West vouchers. The winning class will earn a fish & chip and iceblocks lunch.
Please return all sponsorship to the front office in a named bag before the end of next week.
Character Book Parade
This will be a great event to watch and a wonderful way to start off the week of celebrations - all welcome!
Lenny And Lochy
Quiz Night
Tomorrow Night!
There are still lots of raffles tickets available for purchase, and don't forget the auctions for amazing items throughout the night.
Raffle Tickets
Tickets for this are $5 each. For each ticket there are 21 chances to win! A list of the amazing prizes is linked below, with a copy located in the Office.
Quiz Night Auctions
We have an extensive list of auction items, check them out below. If you aren't able to attend but would like to bid on any of the items, please contact Kelly: kellyahooper@gmail.com
HDS Dodgeball Championship 2021
Five weeks...eight classes...16 teams...128 players...32 games…and two new champion teams for 2021!!
Congratulations to our 2021 Dodgeball Champions - Studio 3A Team A, our Year 7-8 Champions, and to Room 4 Team A, our Year 5-6 Champions!
Our HDS World Championship Dodgeball Tournament has been awesome! Each and every team has played with drive and determination throughout the tournament. Amazing skills, power throws and incredible catches have all been on display., along with fantastic sportsmanship. Well done to all of the players who have been a part of this tournament.
Our champion teams now go on to compete against each other in the Dodgeball Champion of Champions Game, and the winner of that game will then go on to compete against a team of teachers in the hopes of winning the coveted All-Stars Cup! Good luck to our champion teams!
Pink Shirt Day
On Friday 21 May, our school participated in the annual Pink Shirt Day, raising over $450 for the Mental Health Foundation. Throughout that week our Student Council also ran a series of events and competitions to promote this worthy cause. Pink heart, sticker and balloon giveaways, buddy compliment cards, a pink shirt scavenger hunt and a pink shirt design competition all added to the fun of the week.
Congratulations to the following students who participated in the Pink Shirt Day events and were presented with their prizes at our school assembly on Monday:
Buddy Compliment Cards Spot Prizes - Fraser Room 9, Piper Studio 8B, Ethan Room 10 and Estelle Studio 6B
Pink Shirt Design Highly Commended Prizes - Charlotte Room 7 and Indi Room 9
Pink Shirt Design First Place Prize Winner - Tilly Room 8 who also won her very own Pink Shirt Day tee-shirt!!
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!
Bake Sale Next Thursday
Year 7 Deep Learning Inquiry - Create
Our Year 7 students have been carrying out a deep learning inquiry around the theme of ‘Create’ throughout this term. They have formed a business, created a sweet-treat product, and are in the process of marketing and advertising it, before finally selling it at a Studio bake sale, to be held next week. This inquiry has encompassed food technology, business enterprise, design technology, marketing and advertising, geometric nets and measurement. It has been so much fun and the depth and breadth of learning has been awesome!
Next Thursday 24th June, our Year 7s will be selling their products at a Studio Bake Sale. Cookies, cupcakes, slices, cheesecakes…there will be so many sweet treats available to buy!
All proceeds from sales will be used to purchase studio sporting equipment and bakeware, so bring along your gold coins and support our budding entrepreneurs!!
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
Sports Team Of The Week
Introducing the u9 Lightning Basketball team.
These boys are amazing and have played 10 games so far this season and won them all!
Casual Job Available At Huapai Plus
Huapai Plus before & after school programme is looking for a new casual staff member to join our fun team. If you enjoy working with children or looking for some work experence with children, OSCAR programmes are a great place to foster that passion.
Please send your CV to huapaiplus@hds.school.nz or feel free to give Luke Kearney a call on 027 359 5026.
Need Device Advice?
You Could Win A Big Little Sponsorship For Our School
Be in to win a $10,000 sports grant for Huapai District School
AA Insurance are giving one North Island and one South Island primary school the chance to win one of two $10,000 grants. It can be spent on whatever will help the kids tackle their sporting dreams. It could be new turf for the rugby field, extra coaching sessions, bus hire to get all the kids to a game, or even new boots and bibs for all the players. It's game on!
How to enter:
Winning takes teamwork. So spread the word and ask colleagues, parents, friends and the whole community to nominate our school at the link below.
Entries close Saturday 19th June 2021.
HERO Notifications
We use HERO to send classroom updates and to share regular learning posts. HERO sends push notifications or emails. You can now choose how you receive HERO notifications as well as manage devices that receive them.
To set your own notification preferences:
Click on your profile image
Select EDIT PROFILE
Scroll down to My Devices and select your preferences.
Or please see the full instructions linked below.
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