23rd June 2022, Term 2, Week 8
School Newsletter
Principal's Message
Kia ora koutou katoa,
What a great finish to Week 8 with a sunny and fantastic Whānau Day and Matariki celebration. Today, the school was flooded with smiles from our West End Whānau, our amazing staff, and of course our amazing tamariki. I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who came along and supported the day including those who were brave enough to take on the West End School Colour Run. A huge amount of fun and exercise was had by all including during the Jump Jam warm up. School value spot prizes were identified throughout the day and will be presented next week (when everyone is no longer covered in paint). Additionally, I would also like to thank our amazing West End Staff for their collective efforts to host a successful Matariki week and Whānau Day including our Te Matauranga Māori Team and our Hauora Team. Well done to all.
We also were pleased to have celebrated Audrey Larsen’s contribution to West End School this morning in our assembly. It was wonderful to have Audrey’s Whānau in attendance and a great turn out of West End Whānau to celebrate together. Please view the link later in this newsletter to watch this assembly. Again thank you to all involved in putting this celebration together for Audrey.
As you may already be aware, our very supportive Board of Trustees have hosted several rolling community consultation sessions. These sessions have been very successful with a great level of attendance, a great chance to build Kotahitanga, and a chance to hear from our West End Whānau to support our Strategic planning for the future. As part of the relaxed tone of these sessions we have hosted these in different people's living rooms. We are hosting another Community Consultation on Wednesday 29 June at 6pm at Heather Todd (Board Co-Presiding Member's house). If you are interested in attending please RSVP by clicking on the link. We would love to see you there.
To all I wish you a very happy Matariki and a lovely long weekend. Please remember (as shared in previous newsletters) that we have our Staff Only Day on Monday. The whole staff will be at school working with Dr. John Smith to strengthen our shared vision for West End School. Thank you for your ongoing support for the development of our staff and our school. Please remember that there is no school on Friday and Monday and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday 28th June.
Kānapanapa mai ana a Matariki “Matariki shines on the New Year”.
Ngā mihi nui
Matthew Kennedy
Principal
West End School
Te Kura o Urumutu
Upcoming Events
- Matariki Public Holiday - Friday 24th June
- Staff Only Day - Monday 27th June
- Community Consultation Session - Wednesday 29th June
- VIBE Assembly - Thursday 7th June
- End of Term 2 - Friday 8th July
Matariki Public Holiday tomorrow
Next Friday 24th of June is our first Matariki public holiday! School will be closed on this day, so please enjoy an extended weekend holiday and celebrate Maori New Year!
Staff Only Day 27th June
A reminder that there will be a Staff Only Day on Monday 27th June so school will be closed to our tamariki on this day. This means that school will not be open on Friday 24th June and Monday 27th June. Classes will resume on Tuesday 28th June.
If your child is absent from school.
It is really important under the current circumstances you notify the school if your child is absent.
PLEASE DO NOT TXT OR EMAIL THE CLASSROOM TEACHER.
ALL ABSENCES SHOULD BE ADVISED VIA THE OFFICE.
Please remember to advise the office by 8.30am if your child is not attending school.
You can telephone 358-2465 and leave a message or txt 021 118 0156.
ABSENCES CAN ALSO BE SENT EASILY THROUGH OUR SCHOOL APP
In both cases please give a reason for absence.
Thank you.
Breakfast Club has started!
West End Kick Start Breakfast is in the school hall for any West End student who would like to have breakfast to start their day of learning! Breakfast Club will start at 8.15am and finish at 8.45am.
Our West End Matariki Whānau Day!
Board Elections 2022
In September we will be running the West End School Board election, and soon we will be asking for nominations. The Board is made up of parents or community members who are passionate about West End School. We have a number of exciting things happening across the school and we need passionate and committed members of our community to support this.
Why join a school board?
Board members are active leaders in our schools. They have an important role of supporting strong professional leadership and ensuring effective teaching for all students through informed governance.
Parents/caregivers and people in the wider community can be parent representatives. School boards need to represent the diversity of their school communities to ensure a bright future for all our children.
The school board elections are the opportunity to vote for candidates who will make a positive difference for children’s education. We need more people willing to use their skills and experiences for the benefit of students!
What does the Board do?
Governance has an important role to play within a school. The best way we like to describe governance is ‘hands around - not hands on’. The Board provides the guidance, support and oversight that allows Matt and his team to get on with their work.
This does take some time, it is not just turning up to the monthly meetings but will include reading and preparation time for board meetings, responding to emails between meetings and being available every now and then to support different initiatives or meetings.
What skill do I need?
The number one skill you need is a desire for West End School to be the best it can be, and a commitment to supporting the staff and our students.
Outside of this, any of your expertise can be valuable to support the school. This can come in any form including business experience, diversity, inclusion, whānau and cultural engagement, property management, finance, human resource, employment and personnel, policy review and implementation, learning & pastoral care, etc.
If I would like to know more, what should I do?
If this is something that you would be interested in but would like to know more, you can have a look at School Board Elections | Becoming a board member . Or email office@westend.school.nz “Attention WES Board” and one of the current Board members will get in touch with you.
Vibe Assembly moved to Week 10
Our Vibe assembly will be moved to Week 10 (Thursday 7th July) this term. More information to come out next week.
VIBE ASSEMBLY FEEDBACK
Communication about after school pickup
Please remember to let your child know where you will be picking them up after school. Because of the unpredictable nature of our weather at the moment, please also make a plan with your child as to where you will pick them up if it is raining. Please refrain from sending messages or emails to teachers regarding where you will pick them up, as many emails and messages in an afternoon when teachers are busy teaching is an added challenge. Please also be aware that the office also is very busy, and having to visit different classes to let children know where parents will pick them up can be very time consuming. Letting your child know where you will pick them up when it is fine, or raining would be much appreciated. You are most welcome to come into school to pick them up outside their classroom.
Help needed! Can we borrow a mulcher for our school gardens please?
HELP! We have a lot of branches that have come down during our wild weather that we would love to mulch. Does anyone in our school community have a commercial mulcher that would be willing to lend, or even better help us to put this resource back into our school gardens? Please contact me: Ms Louise Ellis or email me at lellis@westend.school.nz
Sports at West End School
Draw:
Basketball:
No Basketball this week due to Matariki events.
Hockey:
26th June – West End Funsticks vs Ashhurst School, 8:30am on Turf 2F
26th June – West End Ministicks – Cancelled
26th June – West End Goldsticks vs Te Kawau Keas, 10:45am on Turf 1A
Netball:
West End Pulse vs Turitea Pulse, 11:15am at CET Arena court 5
Table Tennis:
28th June – West End A&B – 3:45 – 4:45/5pm at Waldegrave Hall
Practices:
Please see below the days/times for sports practices:
Basketball:
West End Bulls – Wednesday 3-3:30pm on West End Court
West End Lakers – Monday 3-3:30pm on West End Court
Hockey:
West End Funsticks – Friday 3-3:30pm on West End Turf
West End Ministicks – Thursday 3-3:30pm on West End Turf
West End Goldsticks – Wednesday 3-3:45pm on West End Turf
Netball:
West End Pulse – Friday 3-3:45pm on West End Court (this weeks practice is Thursday 23rd June).
Table Tennis:
West End A&B – Monday 3-3:30pm in Room 5
Sent from Mail for Windows
West End School App
All school notices are now being sent out via our school app.
If you haven't downloaded the app, please do so. If you haven't been receiving the email link to download the app, or if you are having problems with the app, please email Dan Minchin dminchin@westend.school.nz. If you haven't set up the app on your device, there will be an easy to download process and quick set up so you can join our new communication platform. If you've downloaded the app already, please just follow the quick username/password set up and for the app users, choose Parent. Once you have set it up, you won't be asked about passwords on that device again. These links do expire, so we will continue to send them out every couple of days to those who haven't logged in.
This free mobile app allows parents to receive pop-up reminders and instant messages. These can run on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices and are designed to help whanau keep up to date on school happenings.
SchoolApps also allows parents to report absences online, receive instant alerts, check the calendar for upcoming events, view newsletters, log into Seesaw and this will also be a way to use Kindo.
You will be able to personalise what information you wanted to subscribe to, such as notices from specific area teams, sports news, or groups such as Student Council or kapa haka.
Remember to go to Alert Subscriptions (through the main menu - the three lines at the top left hand corner of the app) so you get specific alerts to our different groups within the school. You would only receive information directly relevant to those groups, but you will however receive whole school notifications when they are sent out.
Contact Information
Please inform the office of any change of address or phone numbers.
It is really important that we are able to contact you at any time of the day.
Thank you.
West End School Communication Platforms
West End is enhancing our communication so it is easy for our community to know what's happening at our kura. Below is a table outlining the different forms of communication we use at West End to share a variety of things ranging from classwork to whole school notices.
Bikes and Scooters to school
For the safety of our children all children biking or scootering to school MUST wear a helmet. Please also remind your children about road safety - including the safest way to travel to school if on a bike and scooter. While students are on the footpath outside the school , we ask if they can walk their bike or scooter. This is for the safety of themselves and others sharing the footpath, as students are travelling very fast and going past 2 of our school driveways where vehicles are coming in and out of.
West End School Home Learning Hub and team slides
Start and end of day procedures
It is great to have our West End community back on school grounds under Orange settings. Here is a reminder of start and end of day procedures.
- If your child is at school before the 8.30 bell, they will need to come through the wharenui gate and wait in the area next to the turf.
- Students need to wait here until the bell goes at 8.30am.
- Please remind your child to walk sensibly to class. We have had a few accidents with students running and tripping over each other in the excitement of getting to class.
- At the end of the day, students will be let go from class. Please let your child know if you are picking them up and therefore will need to wait outside the classroom or meet you in the designated spot you told them to go.
- If siblings are going home together, please make a plan of where your children will meet each other so they aren't walking around school trying to find each other.
DRINK BOTTLES & SPARE CLOTHES
As there are no drinking fountains at school please make sure your child brings a drink bottle to school.
With Winter approaching and the grounds getting wet please put a spare set of clothes in your child's bag. This includes all West End students - as we'v
Thank you.
The lost property will be laid out every Friday afternoon. Please make sure to come and check to see if anything might belong to you or your family.
CAR PARKING- ADMINISTRATION BLOCK CLOSED TO EVERYONE
Please do not do not be tempted to use the staff car park when dropping off and collecting your children from school. The administration block is closed for building work.
It becomes very busy and dangerous for children. We encourage parents to park on the street and use the walkways coming into school. Please remember to abide by the road markings on Botanical road and park only in designated spaces (not on the yellow lines). This is for the safety of our children and community members.
Thank you for your co-operation.
TERM DATES 2022
Masks
Parents of children who wear masks please remind your child to bring them to school.
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