Kokopu Newsletter

Kia ora,

It was a pleasure last week to have another very successful cross country. Our students exemplified our school values and did themselves proud while supporting others. I was particularly impressed with the way in which students supported their siblings.

After a few weeks of lots of winter chills and ills, it is great to see our student attendance come back to normal. We have come back up to 90% for this term so far. Thank you to all parents who have balanced sick kids staying home and making sure they still attend school as much as possible.

One of our strategic goals this year was to improve our student's achievement in fractions. It has been pleasing to see positive progress in this area with an overall lift in achievement from 73% - 88% in the first 6 months of this year and our year 8 students achieving at 95%.

We have also been tracking 4 groups of students in writing over the last 4 years. In that time we have seen an overall average improvement of 16.5% across the groups. Again, our year 8 students achieve highly by the time they leave our school.

These improvements show how hard our students are working and the ongoing commitment from our staff to improve their learning and teaching programs.

A reminder to room 2 students that Anna Boaz is on leave from next Monday. The very capable Rhonda Sparrow will be filling in for her. Rhonda has worked at our school for a number of years and does a great job of filling gaps when needed. She will continue on with the majority of their classroom program and no doubt bring her own creative flair as well.

Nga Mihi Nui

Yaron Overeem

See our new vision statement below...thanks everyone for your input!

This Friday 18th August the whole school will be going to Te Horo School at Pipiwai to participate in the annual cross country run along with around 5 other schools. This is a full day event. We will require parents to transport children please. If you can help out with transport please fill in the response form asap on the Skool Loop App so we can organise transport. We will leave Kokopu School at 9am to be there for events which start at 10am with the junior children. We have a bus for a limited amount of children. The final event is scheduled for 12.50pm for 11 and 12 year old boys. If you plan to leave before the events are over, please let your child's teacher know. There will be food on sale at the event. The forecast is for showers, so please send your children with a warm clothing, a weatherproof jacket and a towel.

WPSSA Cross Country Championships

The Year 4 to Year 8 children who placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd at the Kokopu event can enter the championships in town on Wednesday 30th August. See results below.

11 of our year 7-8 students attended the Whangarei Principals Association Youth Summit last week. They had the privilege of listening to 4 amazing speakers who spoke about “Daring to be Different.” The speakers shared how they used their talents to shine and be uniquely themselves. The speakers included. Luke Bird (TV, theatre, singer) Alex Gilbert (Russian Orphan, TV and media), Kaneisha McKenzie (Local dancer) and Laura Andrews (Antarctica adventurer and local firewoman)

Next Tuesday 22nd August we will be having an Ag Day tutorial for those bringing an animal. We will run through the basics of rearing, calling and leading and also some practical things that will help you through Ag day. We will have a time for goats and lambs, calves and chickens.

With 9 weeks until Ag Day, don’t forget if you are going to do a fish bin garden that you should be planting your plants so that they are well established by the day.
Check out our ag day website for more information www.sites.google.com/kokopu.school.nz/agday/

Can we please have all Ag Day trophies from last year returned to the school office asap please? I will need to send them in for engraving.

If you have any old caps (as per the picture, solid and adjustable) you no longer want, we would love them to use for part of the costumes we are designing for our production of Madagascar please. Just send them into the school office. Thank you.

On Friday 25th August we will hold our speech competition here at school. The 3 finalists from Year 4 to Year 8, will deliver their speeches to our school audience. Whanau are welcome to join us at 9am. We will notify you of our finalists once they have been determined.

We are supporting Daffodil Day this year to support all New Zealander's who are impacted by cancer. You can donate by binging money into the school office now to receive a ribbon or you can go to our fundraising page to donate...details below.

Fundraising page name: Kokopu School
Fundraising page URL: https://daffodilday.org.nz/k-school

We desperately need an after school care assistant. We need to employee a casual carer to assist Loida on days when our numbers are over 10 children. If you are flexible with your days and can help out from 3pm to 5pm on the odd weekday, please contact the school office.

Natasha has filled in this term and done an amazing job and we thank her for her time in this position.

We have a new Ag Day information website ready to go. You can see it at this address. www.sites.google.com/kokopu.school.nz/agday

There is also information available on raising your calf on www.calfclub.co.nz

If you would like to get involved in helping with Ag Day, especially the animal judging please let us know. We would love your input into the website and judging criteria and helping to find judges.

If you are interested in having an Ag Day animal but don’t know where start, drop into the office and we can get you started.

Lamb and goat day-care is available at school. So if you would like to bring your lamb or goat you are raising for Ag Day to school you are welcome. Ensure you bring their feed which can be kept up in the whanau room fridge.

Term 3 Begins 17 July 2023

• 18 August – Te Horo Taniwha Cross Country Challenge
• 25 August - Kokopu School Speeches
• 30 August - WPSSA Cross Country Championships
• 21 August to 9 October - Anna Boaz away, Rhonda Sparrow teaching Room 2
• 8 September - Kokopu School Hosting Country Meal at the Mangakahia Sports Complex (we will need help with this fundraising event please) Let us know if you are available via the Skool Loop App.
• 18 September - Production Practise
• 19 September - Production at Church Unlimited, Regent, Whangarei
• 20 September - Mangakahia Lions Speech Contest

Term 3 Ends 22 September 2023

• Monday Tech Year 7 and 8. Technology classes at Manaia View School so please ensure your child is at school by 9am to catch the bus into Manaia View School. Thank you.

• Friday Assembly. On Friday afternoon we have a sharing assembly at 2.30pm for the whole school. Parents are welcome to come along and see what the children have to share.
  

• School Office. Vicki is in the office on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Bexs is in the office on Wednesday and Friday mornings until 11.35am.

• Drink Bottles. Our water issues have be rectified but it would be good to send your child with a drink bottle full of water each day.

• Carpark and gate. Please come to the gate in the carpark to collect your children at the end of the day. We do not want children walking through the carpark without an adult as it is unsafe with the amount of cars and limited parking. We have a teacher on duty at the gate each day to supervise. Can we ask parents and visitors to make sure they close the gates if you use them? We have a few children that may be prone to walking out an open gate. Thank you. Please don't park by the entrance gate or teachers carpark area. Also please avoid parking by the letterbox at the front of the school.
  

• Absences. A reminder that it is important to contact the school before 9.30am when your child will be absent. You can either phone, email or let us know via our Skool Loop app. We need to know where your children are so we know they are safe and can mark them correctly on the roll. See details in this newsletter on how to download our Skool Loop App.
  
• Iceblock Sales. Ice Blocks are for sale again to raise funds for the school. Many children who come to school with $2 like to buy their friend an ice block. Please could you send a note to say they are allowed to do this? The Room 6 children do ask but a note would be easier for them.
  
• Term Dates 2023. Term 1 .. 02/02— 06/04 Term 2 .. 24/04— 30/06 Term 3 .. 17/07— 22/09 .. Term 4 09/10— 15/12

If parents/caregivers want to visit the website https://kokopu.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm to look over our school policies and procedures, please see the following instructions: Enter the username (kokopu) and password (0179). Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.

The Board of Trustees are happy to accept regular automatic payments throughout the school year. All of last years debts should have been paid in full. If you need to have a chat about your account, please contact Vicki. We prefer payment by direct credit if you are able to please; Kokopu School Board of Trustees 12-3099-0419154-01.

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Email: office@kokopu.school.nz
Website: www.kokopu.school.nz
Location: 921 Kokopu Road, Kokopu, New Zealand
Phone: 094346765
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kokopuschool