Term 4 Week 8 Newsletter
8th December 2022
Principal's Message
Kia ora koutou katoa,
It has been an exciting week here at West End School. A lot of activity has been happening in each classroom in preparation for end of year Vibe Assemblies and Year 6 Leaver events. Yesterday, as shared in previous newsletters, the children all went to visit their teacher for 2023 along with meeting their new classmates. The classes for 2023 spent approximately 45 minutes together getting to know each other. This event went really well across the school after a lot of time, effort, and consideration has been invested by staff for the placement of each child for next year. Please remember if you have any questions to make contact with your child’s teacher from this year in the first instance.
Next year, we are making a change with our Sports Coordinator. This has been a Board funded position for a couple of years and this important role will now return to a member of our teaching staff. I would like to thank Connor Drummond for his work in this role and for the efforts that he has made to grow sport at Te Kura O Urumutu. Our children have benefited from your work, thank you Connor.
We are looking forward to our Final Vibe Assembly next week being hosted on Tuesday 13th December at 9.15am. This will be our last assembly for the 2022 school year and a chance to celebrate what has been happening at our school this year. We hope to see you there.
You will have received information from your child’s teacher and team leader about Fun Day today. Our fun day is a chance for the staff and children to celebrate all of the whakamana that has been shown this year, the fantastic learning that has occurred, and in the Kotahitanga at West End School. We have been looking forward to spending this time together and having fun.
We have been busy making further appointments to key roles for our school. We are delighted to welcome Kevin Ward who has been appointed as our new Property Manager. Also, we are thrilled to announce Amanda Borren-Lean as our new office executive for 2023 onwards.
We have enjoyed our fun day celebrations right across the school today. The children have been engaged in discos, bike and scooter riding on the track, and much more. Today has been jam packed with activity with the hosting of our now annual Year 6 Leavers Breakfast. This was once again a great event which the children thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you to Hannah Burden and Shea Grantham, and all staff involved with providing our children with this opportunity.
As we head into the final week of the school year, I encourage you to check the dates listed later in this newsletter to make sure you are aware of the end of year activities. Please note that Thursday 15th December is our last day of the school year and we will finish at 12.30pm on this day.
Please remember to check your child’s bag today for their End of Year School Report. This report provides you with an update on your child’s progress and achievement. Additionally, this report contains comments on how your child is demonstrating our school values across their learning and school life.
I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.
Ngā mihi nui,
Matt Kennedy
Matthew Kennedy
Principal
West End School
Te Kura o Urumutu
Last Day of School is Thursday.
Next Thursday (15th December) is our last day of school for 2022. School will finish at 12.30pm. Please pick your child up promptly at this time.
Swimming next week on Monday and Tuesday
We have catchup swimming sessions for all classes who have swimming on Monday and Tuesday. This is from the missed swimming sessions due to Labor Day (Monday), and when repairs needed to be completed to the pool's filters (Tuesday). Can the classes listed below please come to school with togs, towels, goggles etc for these days.
Our Final Vibe Assembly is on Tuesday morning
Our Final Vibe assembly is on Tuesday morning starting at 9.15am. All whānau are welcome to attend! This will be a celebration and reflection of our year together. We hope to see you there!
What to expect from our Final Vibe...
- West End Clubs and Groups sharing
- Mr Kennedy's End of Year Speech
- Reflections of 2022
- Farewells
- Classroom items
- Lots of singing and dancing
Meet Your Class of '23
Yesterday West End School students met the teacher and classmates they will share their learning with in 2023. This is always a very nervous and anxious time for some, but an important part of getting ready for an amazing next year of fun and learning. Information regarding the start of the 2023 school year will be in next week's newsletter.
If you have misplaced the stationery list, these will be posted on the school website from Monday 12th December.
LOST PROPERTY - final week!
We have a lot of Lost Property that needs to be claimed. Please make sure you check the Lost Property for anything that might belong to you.
The Lost Property will be laid out every day next week from Monday to Wednesday. Anything not named or claimed will be donated to a charity shop over the school holidays.
Holiday Music Concert
Yesterday was our holiday music concert where our West End musicians showed off their amazing talents with 5 festive songs. It was wonderful to see our whānau along to join in with our singing, and so many instruments on show, including the piano, clarinet, flute, ukulele, triangles, bells, violins. A huge thank you to Emma Minchin for all of the hard work she put in to this concert, writing out all of the individual parts for each instrument, as well as throughout the year for her Musiclass lessons! Congratulations to all of our musicians who showed amazing Mana Aotūroa and Whakamana throughout the concert - it took great courage to play in front of a large audience so well.
Year 6 Leaver's Breakfast
The Year 6 breakfast took place this morning and it was a great opportunity to celebrate all of the accomplishments that the Year 6’s have achieved during their time at West End School. The students were surprised to see Christmas decorations, pancakes, spaghetti, beans, toast cereal and enjoyed it with their friends. Thank you to Whaea Shea, Miss Burden and the many staff for their hard work setting up and dishing up! The children really enjoyed this event and it was a great way to celebrate our Year 6 leavers.
Tipuranga and Puawaitanga Fun Day
We started the morning with our fun on wheels and a disco. After morning tea, we enjoyed a mixture of slip and sliding and a movie. Puawaitanga had a slip and slide, water balloon fight and games on the field.
A big thanks to the parents for your support in making this a fun and safe day for our tamariki.
Te Wao Nui o Tane Poroporoaki and Lido
- Our poroporoaki (graduation) is on 14th December at 9:15am in the school hall. All are welcome to attend. This should finish around 10-10:30.
- The Year 5 and 6 children will then be spending the afternoon at the Lido. A notice and permission slip is coming home with your child today.
West End Sports
Uniforms:
Can you please return all uniforms and/or equipment back to school before Wednesday. A big thank you to those who already have.
Draw:
Football:
14th December - West End Villa - TBC - Sports Coord/coach will message
14th December - West End United - TBC - Sports Coord/coach will message
14th December - West End Spurs - TBC - Sports Coord/coach will message
A big thank you and well done to all of our players, coaches and supporters. Have a good holiday and see you next year!!
Upcoming Events
WEEK 9
- Final VIBE Assembly - Tuesday 13 December starting at 9.15am
- Year 6 Leavers Assembly/Lido Trip - Wednesday 14 December
- Last Day of School - Thursday 15 December (school closes at 12.30)
TERM DATES 2022
TERM DATES 2023
Contact Details?
Does the office have your correct contact details? And do we have an alternate contact number in case of an emergency? If you have moved or changed phone numbers or have a different/alternate email address, please let the office know as soon as possible. It is very important that we are able to contact you if there is an accident or emergency. We are also sending out a lot of information through our school app, which are connected to the email address the office has on file. If you would like to add additional email addresses onto contact information, please give these details to the office.
Kindo Online Shop
It is very important that families register with Kindo, as this is now the only way to register your child for school sports, and ordering PTA lunches.
Below are the links to register.
If you require help please call the Kindo helpdesk on
0508 454 636
New users need this link
Existing users need this link
Location: West End School, 196 College Street, Palmerston North
Phone: 06 358 2465