Wairau Valley School
Newsletter Week 3 Term 3 2021
From the Principal
Dear Parents/Caregivers,
It is great to be back in the swing of our wonderful school. I have had a good few weeks getting back in touch with your tamariki and hearing about their news and changes. There are a few new families and new faces with us now, so a warm welcome from me.
The school is looking great with new signage and the junior playground in full use. Thank you to the parents and staff who helped to prune and tidy the school grounds while I was away, they look great.
You will have noticed the changes we have made to our School Vision and Guiding Principle. Work with these has been underway since January this year. The final step in development of our school-wide changes was made once our Local Curriculum Survey results were received. Staff worked over the school break to pull together a local curriculum for our school, based on the results. Thank you to the eleven families that contributed to our survey. I am delighted with the resulting Vision, Principle, and Local Curriculum plans for 2021-2023.
I have included a link for the following:
Local Curriculum 2021-2023
Have a great week
Nga mihi nui
Karen
CROSS COUNTRY
The Placings are as follows:
Year 1 and 2
Girls: 1st Xanthe Neville, 2nd Aria Dean, 3rd Isabella MacKenzie
Boys: 1st Ollie Chaney, 2nd Charlie Ryan, 3rd Ed Lasenby
Year 3 and 4
Girls: 1st Jemma Anderson, 2nd Hana-Maria Andrews, 3rd Valentina Leov
Boys: 1st Hugo Mackenzie, 2nd Ben Beattie, 3rd Kyan Hoogeveen
Year 5 and 6
Girls: 1st Alice Timms, 2nd Mia Lasenby, 3rd Charlotte Heywood
Boys: 1st Hudson Hale, 2nd Will Fowler, 3rd Billy Ryan
Year 7 and 8
Girls: 1st Willow Hale, 2nd Ivy Hale, 3rd Ruby Leov
Boys: 1st Sam Anderson, 2nd Tom Mockler
WAIRAU ROOM
What a start to Term 3!
The cross country was a grand success. Our junior class ran so well and everyone was a winner for completing the 1km track. Hats off to them!
The students have settled well and are busy learning many things. They have been learning to plan and write in detail. We had hockey practice in the first week of this term and the students have been writing about it. Please see the writing samples below.
They all are becoming amazing readers and put a lot of effort into sounding out words and trying to figure it out by themselves. Thanks for the support from parents by helping them to read at home. They are moving up in their reading levels at a good pace.
Maths - Wairau room is focussing on number knowledge for the first 5 weeks. Children are all working hard at knowing the numerals, numbers and in written form, backwards and forwards, counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10s. The year 2 students are learning Place value at the moment.
Our current Topic is 'Off the Sheeps’ Back'. We have just introduced this topic and the students are all excited to learn more about wool and carry on some experiments to find out the properties of wool. There is art work, knitting, dying and much more. We would like to encourage your children to talk about their learning at home to help them retain information for longer.
Thank you parents and whanau for all your support. Feel free to pop in after 3pm to see me if there is anything that I could help with.
Mrs Kumar and Rachel
Wairau team
CHALICE ROOM
It is fantastic to be back in the Chalice Room full time. The students have made a great start to the term and have now settled into our daily routines.
Learning focus this term:
In reading it is all about reading comprehension. Making sure we really understand what we are reading and digging deeper into the text.
In maths we are working on our number knowledge and fractions.
In writing our focus is about explanation writing, who we are writing for, adding detail and making our writing interesting. We are also working on re-reading our writing, editing and making changes with more independence.
As a class we are working hard to use the schools guiding principles and to take increasing ownership of our own learning and drive our learning with independence.
Another big focus is on perseverance and resilience, in both the classroom and outside the classroom with our peers. It would be great if you can talk about these things at home with your children.
'Off the Sheep's Back' is our topic and this will include learning to knit, science and technology, and finding out about New Zealand's wonderful wool industry.
This is going to be a great term with lots of wonderful learning taking place.
Lisa McDonald
Fire
Flammability experiment, we got to observe the difference in ignition, flammability and fumes between wool and synthetic wool. SEE BELOW.
FISHTAIL ROOM
Wool in New Zealand is unique, and there is a real issue at the moment with its demand. We will be looking at this and putting our entrepreneurial hats on to think of new and innovative ways to use this resource.
We have started by using a fantastic resource that is teaching us a little about knitting and educating us on the value and importance of NZ wool. We already have some very keen and clever knitters in our class.
We are looking forward to learning more about this across the curriculum and coming up with some new ideas of our own.
Gemma Allen
.
KIWICAN
PTA
Our next PTA Meeting is scheduled for Friday 13th August at 3pm in the school library. All new members are welcome.
Pets Day is coming up fast, with a date scheduled for 29th October. The PTA will need to consider all fundraising ideas for Pets Day and Group Day - with as many parent helpers as possible!
SCHOOL LUNCHES
NOTICES
Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura) – The Correspondence School Early Childhood Programme.
Did you know that Te Kura provides a free early childhood programme in your home? Your 2 to 5 year old child may be eligible if:
· you live more than 6kms from your nearest licensed early childhood centre
and
· they attend a licensed early childhood centre for up to or less than 12 hours per week
or
· they have high health needs, special educational needs or there are special family circumstances preventing attendance at a face to face early childhood centre.
You will receive a personalised programme prepared by trained registered early childhood teachers based in Wellington. Teachers work in partnership with families, providing support through maintaining regular contact via free phone, email, online programmes and events held in regional areas. The programme includes termly packs of learning materials for your child, online resources for parents and whānau which contain information on children’s development and ideas for activities using resources from your own environment.
For further information please ask at your school office or call Te Kura on 0800 65 99 88 Ros extn 8753, Ann 8795 or visit our website www.tekura.school.nz/ech
ASSISTANCE REQUIRED - FLOODING
There are still a number of rural people in the Marlborough area needing assistance with the flood cleanup.
For those rural folk who may have been affected with flooding on their properties this is the latest MPI fact sheet https://bit.ly/2WJoIvH
For those needing cleanup help this is the Federated Farmers link to register https://bit.ly/3fjCawS
For those that can assist with cleanup help https://bit.ly/3libqk3
Volunteering for cleanup may just require cleaning debris off fences ...'Many hands make light work', but there is a real need for those with fencing knowledge. This may suit semi retired people with a few extra hours. Register your interest today. Thank you.
Kind regards,
Sarah White,
Coordinator, Top of The South Rural Support Trust.
Ph. 021 872 282
Important Dates Term 3
First bell 8:50 a.m.
Finish time 2:45 p.m.
Last Day of Term 3 - 1 Oct
First Day of Term 4 - 18 Oct
Reminders
Please remember to call or message the school office if your child is sick
(telling the bus driver is not an appropriate method of informing the school).
Please inform the school if you are removing your child from class early.