As we journey towards Matariki we are all taking time to understand the importance of this very special time in Aotearoa. Matariki is traditionally a time when people came together to remember their past, their ancestors and to learn about their whakapapa. It is a time when Māori would prepare their whenua (land) for planting and whānau would come together and share songs, traditions and stories. As a school we are celebrating Matariki with a range of challenges across our learning hubs. Rata Hub are making some Matariki Stars using a range of materials, Rimu Hub are creating their own designer Matariki hats, Hinau Hub are creating Matariki Kites using natural materials and Totara Hub are creating a piece of visual art depicting the Matariki sky. We are looking foward to celebrating their creations on Thursday afternoon. Hubs will then all share in a beautiful Matariki Liturgy. Friday is the first Matariki holiday and this is a great time for families to gather together, share kai, remember those who have gone before us and think about the year ahead.

“Mānawatia a Matariki”

As you will all be aware we have had an incredibly disrupted first half of the year with Covid, student and staff absences and now ongoing sickness as winter hits. We have had a review of our assessment processes to ensure we have reliable and valid data to share with you about your child’s progress. We are currently undertaking our assessments and analysing the results of not only 2022 but 2021 and 2020… As you can imagine there is a lot to take into consideration in regards to the effect of these tumultuous years.

We still want to make time to catch up and have decided that our conversations this year will focus on a conversation between whānau/ parent and teacher.

These conversations will be held on June 29th and 30th.

USE THIS BOOKING LINK
http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code/qd39b

During our conversation we would like to listen to your ideas and aspirations for your child and for our school.

At the end of the conversation you will receive your child’s Learning Journey book for you to enjoy looking through for a few days.

These need to be returned to the classroom teacher by Monday 4th July to ensure that we can continue to add to your child’s learning journey.

Below are the questions we would like you to consider before the conversation.

· What does your child love about coming to school?

· What does your child find challenging at school?

· What are your aspirations for your child’s learning?

· How would you like the school to communicate with you?

· What would you like us to communicate?

· What could our school do to reignite a sense of community post covid?

We are looking forward to listening to your ideas and aspirations for your child and our school at your whanau conversation.

We are currently in the process of changing our school reports to enable us to include our new assessments processes. We recently submitted our request to our Student Management System team and have been advised today that there may be a wait for any edits. We will keep you updated about our new reports and when we will be sharing these with you. When the new reports are shared, there will be a letter which explains the assessments/scores/expectations with you.

This coming Tuesday (28th June) we are very excited to have the opportunity for a very special visitor to come to a St Claudine's assembly. As you will be aware, our hall is unsafe for use at this time. Thankfully, our friends at Wainuiomata Intermediate have offered us the use of their hall. As the intermediate is just around the corner on Konini street, we will walk down as a group. To ensure that we are back at school in time for the end of the day, we will be having an early lunch on Tuesday. At 1pm we will walk down to the intermediate and return at 2pm. All students – from foundation to year 8 will require a rain jacket. We look forward to sharing photos and feedback about our visitors in the next school newsletter.

Over the past two years our student attendance rate has reduced. We are very aware that COVID and new winter illnesses have created disruption for our tamariki and their learning and want to ensure that whanau have support if they are struggling to get their children to school.

We do know that attendance at school is critical for success so we will be focusing more closely on the attendance of our learners.

Please do not be offended if we contact you about your child’s attendance or lateness to school. We are here to help as best we can and have access to additional support if needed.

We have Ministry funded attendance workers who are available to work with families who may be finding attendance at school challenging. If you need support you can contact the school office and we can refer this to the Lower Hutt Awhi Attendance Team.

Statements for all outstanding fees for 2022 have now been emailed to families. Please check your email for your statement including your spam folder. If you have any questions please email Leeanne Neville. leeannen@stclaudine.school.nz

Term One - Wednesday 2 February- Thursday 14 April 2.40pm

Term Two- Monday 2 May- Friday 8 July 2.40pm

Term Three- Monday 25 July- Friday 30 September 2.40pm reminder: (24 June - Matariki & 27 June - Teacher only day)

Term Four- Monday 17 October- Thursday 15 December 12.30pm