Willow Park School Newsletter
12 April 2024
Contact us:
Email: office@willowpark.school.nz
Website: http://www.willowpark.school.nz/
Location: Willow Park School 13 Compton Street, Hillcrest, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: 09 480 9236
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willowparkschoolhillcrest/
End of Term 1
We have reached the end of a long term, finishing Week 11 today. So much has been achieved, and the two week holidays will definitely be an opportunity to recharge the batteries and have some time with whānau. During the holidays there will be some building work at the back of Rooms 1 to 4 so this is all cordoned off. The swimming pool is still open for key holders if you can brave the cooler temperatures.
Thank you for all of the support over this last term, and we look forward to seeing everyone back, safe and sound for Term 2 which starts on Monday 29th April.
Colour Run
Our final fundraising amount came in this week. A whopping $17,133.34 was raised. This means that we will be able to order two sets of goal posts over the holiday period so that we can have these used at school as soon as possible. The remainder will go towards the shade sails, which we hope to have ordered by the end of term 2.
Our prizes have been given out for some amazing fundraising for the 156 students that had signed up to Go Raise It. The top student fundraisers were:
1st prize: Charlee, Room 5 ($2,070), has won the iPad
2nd prize: Jaxsen, Room 18 ($1,905) has won a $40.00 Sushiday voucher, and the opportunity to be principal for the morning.
3rd prize: Luka, Room 27 ($1,203) has won a $40.00 Sushiday voucher
Our Year group prize bag winners were:
Year 6: Luka, Room 27
Year 5: Georgia, Room 20
Year 4: Charlee, Room 5
Year 3: Jaxsen, Room 18
Year 2: Saoirse, Room 9
Year 1: Quinn, Room 1
Our class prize winners were:
1st prize: Room 5 - Pizza Lunch and 15 minutes extra play
2nd prize: Room 18 - Ice Blocks and 15 minutes extra play
3rd prize: Room 27 - 15 minutes extra play
Year 5 Inquiry Learning
This week Year 5 tamariki have put our inquiry learning into action. The children researched snack ideas, ensuring that they met the nutrition guidelines that we learnt earlier in the term. We wanted to have a range of foods, including protein and fresh fruit and vegetables that looked appealing and were tasty. Next, the children created shopping lists and costings using the Pak'n'Save website. We had a $60 food voucher per class to use from Naomi the Foodstuffs nutritionist.
On Wednesday and Thursday we prepared the snacks, and after all our hard work sat down to enjoy them with our movie, 'Inside Out'. We were so proud of all the tamariki; they worked well together, had some very creative ideas, and made delicious and healthy movie snacks!
If you would like to learn more about the Food for Thought program, you can visit their website: www.foodforthought.co.nz
Working Bee - May 19th
On the Sunday after the first three weeks back at school, Sunday 19th May we will be having a working bee at school to target three areas in our school - Enviro Area, Nature Area and the Sandpit. We are looking for volunteers that can provide some time and energy between 9.00am and 12.00pm with gardening work and more. If you are able to help, please could you sign up on the Google Form below. We will provide some morning tea and a sausage sizzle at the end of the working bee.
Contacting class teachers
With the introduction of Hero as our school communication tool, feedback from parents has been mostly positive, however the direct communication with teachers is the area that some parents have requested.
The powerpoint below outlines the ways which you can receive and make contact with your child's class:
1. Class posts will come through from the teacher about learning that is going on for the class
2. Parent Communication - this part of the app allows teachers to contact parents directly, but also for parents to contact directly also.
It is still possible to email teachers directly if that is easier for you. All school email addresses can be found on the staff page of the school website: https://www.willowpark.school.nz/our-staff .
Just a reminder that teachers will be teaching between 9am and 3pm, and will have various preparations times and meetings outside of these hours and so please be patient with the speed of replies. Staff will get back to you as soon as they can.
Starring Year 5 students
At the end of last year, some Year 4 students were involved in the second series of aTV show, My Favourite Dead Person. It was an interview based set up, with the host Josh Thomson, where the
kids got to have fun teaching Josh about an interesting person from Aotearoa's history. Our tamariki spent time learning about the following people: Emily Hancock Siedeberg, Clive Collett and Jean Batten
My Favourite Dead Person explores some of the most interesting, entertaining and inspiring people from throughout New Zealand’s history, told by our tamariki and through comedic sketches and all hosted by Comedian Josh Thomson. The link to two of the three episodes featuring Willow Park students can be found at the links below:
Sports News
Shore to Shore
What an amazing morning and congratulations to all the participants. There were lots of laughs and fun along the way and some very relieved faces coming across the finish line.
Congratulations to Sam Hunter who was our first boy. A timed runner who did an amazing 25mins 19 secs, was 13th overall and 3rd in his age group.
Anxia Fu was our first girl but wasn't a timed runner so we don’t have an accurate time but she was within the first 30 minutes. Well done, what an effort.
Our family movie passes went to Marina Chen and Emmeline Paine.
If you want to check out all the timed results you can find them on the Shore to Shore website along with the professional photos that were taken during the morning.
We also received a bonus of $300 for having the third most entries and I am yet to have confirmation of the amount from the Trust but I estimate it to be around the $900 mark. So a fantastic effort and what a difference that will make to our sports equipment.
Triathlon:
Unfortunately the weather has not been kind to us and we needed to postpone the duathlon and triathlon for today. It will be rescheduled for Term 4, more information to come closer to the time. Thank you to the parents who offered their help, and hopefully you will be able to help at the rescheduled date.
Hockey Players and Coach needed:
We are still on the hunt for at least one more year 3 / 4 player and two year 5 / 6 players. We have enough for a team but with any winter sport and the risk of illness and unavailability to play some weeks we really need subs. This also allows players a break during games. If you think your child might be keen please message me and I can give you all the information. sue.w@willowpark.school.nz
Coach for the year 5 / 6 needed too:
This can be a parent, a high school / university student. Anyone who has some knowledge of the game or is keen to learn and interested in passing on that enthusiasm to this lovely group of children. Even if they take the trainings I am sure there will be a parent of a child playing who would be happy to manage the games. Again please contact Sue if interested or you know of someone who might be. Games start week 2 of next term.
Table Tennis:
We would also love to see a few more table tennis players to build up the interest in this sport. Games are played on a Wednesday after school between 5pm and 7pm. The venue is the North Harbour Table tennis Stadium behind the YMCA in Akoranga Drive. Registrations are still open on Kindo.
Thank you everyone for all your support in term 1 with the many sporting activities. I look forward to another busy term 2. Have a safe and relaxed holiday.
Sue
Pink Shirt Day
Dates and Events
EVENTS:
2024 Term dates (Staff only days confirmed as they are decided)
- Term 1 starts Thursday 1 Feb, last day is Friday 12 April
- Term 2 starts Monday 29 April, last day is Friday 5 Jul
- School closed for King's Birthday Monday 3 June
- School closed for Matariki Friday 28 June
- Term 3 starts Monday 22 July , last day is Friday 27 September
- Term 4 starts Monday 14 October , last day is Tuesday 17 December (1pm finish)
Community news
We are excited to announce that Kids Club is back for 2024. We are starting May 3rd.
Please use the following link to register your Y2-6 child. Registrations open at 5.55 pm for a 6pm start.
Here's the link: https://nbc.infoodle.com/f/NBCKidsClub2024
We are excited to have you join us for the adventure that is Friday nights at NBC. There is food, games, gospel and craft.