Newsletter No. 17, 21 October 2022
21 October
Principal's Kōrero
Kia ora rā koe,
Welcome to Term 4! I hope you all had a fantastic break away from school. It has been wonderful to see our tamariki return to school this week and get straight into learning programmes.
An extra special Haere Mai to Sumner School to Dylan M, Harper D, Jan de G, Natalia H, Valentina S, Rowan & Scarlett L, Mira & Ole van der S and also returning students Rosie and Austin E.
Spotlight on Term 4 events… Term 4 looks to be an especially exciting and busy term with lots of opportunities and events on offer for our ākonga as we finish off the year. Please keep an eye on our Calendar of Events to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the fun! Coming up over the next couple of weeks we have Harold the Giraffe visiting with Life Education, a special lunchtime performance for our ākonga from our school bands, the Years 5-8 Athletics Day, Sumner Spookers, Christchurch Schools Music Festival, our first whole school assembly of the year and the hotly anticipated school disco!
We are particularly looking forward to bringing the whole school together for assemblies and end of year celebrations during the term after what feels like a very long time - so please have a look at the December dates in particular and get these in your diaries!
Spotlight on Learning… As you will hopefully have seen in the letter sent earlier this week via the app, our whole school focus for learning for this term is on our Health Curriculum. Within our Health Education Programme the following areas are covered, as outlined in the New Zealand Curriculum; mental health, sexuality education, food and nutrition, body care and physical safety, physical activity, sport studies and outdoor education. As a school we choose to deliver our Health Curriculum over a two year cycle to ensure we give the necessary coverage to all learning areas. An overview of our two-year programme of learning can be found below. Further information on our Health Curriculum (including our school position statement) can be found within our curriculum here.
This term all teaching teams will be following the Relationships and Sexuality Education (SRE) programme called Navigating the Journey. This is an age appropriate, whole school resource which is aligned with the Health and Physical Education learning area of The New Zealand Curriculum, and the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for relationship education and sexuality education. This resource presents SRE learning under five themes which continue and progress across all year levels to support schools in delivering a coherent, school-wide programme. As a school we have carefully reviewed all lessons and have chosen to make adaptations to this resource in order to meet the needs of our community and ākonga. This includes moving some of the learning content to year levels above or making adaptations to lessons. Further information on what is being taught this term and information on how to withdraw your child from any aspect of our SRE curriculum can be found here.
There is an opportunity for parents to attend a parent hui focusing on Navigating the Journey on Wednesday 26 October at 6.30pm in our Waiora Space. During this hui there will be the opportunity for parents and whānau to have a closer look at the teaching units and have any questions they have answered. Please complete this form if you are planning on attending this hui and/or have specific questions you would like us to address.
Spotlight on looking ahead to 2023… As a school we are now underway with planning for the 2023 school year. As part of this we will be looking to gain an accurate picture of what class compositions look like for 2023 so that we are able to staff our school appropriately. A reminder that if you have children turning 5 next year who you would like to join our school but have not yet officially enrolled, we would appreciate you completing our online enrolment form. Equally, we appreciate that from time to time families move or parents make different choices about their child’s education, so if you know that your child(ren) will not be returning to us in 2023, we would really appreciate the advanced notice via this quick form. Huge thanks to those families who have already done this. If you have any questions about this, please contact your child’s teacher or the School Office.
Spotlight on uniform... Just a few uniform reminders as we head into the summer term. Our uniform is based around the colours of navy with jade. We would appreciate you having a read of the reminders below and making sure that you are sending your children to school in the correct uniform;
Please try wherever possible to send your child to school in predominantly blue, white or black socks.
Sports uniform should only be worn for sports events, or on days where sports is on the timetable.
For health and safety reasons we fully discourage any wearing of jewellery at school. This includes such items as dangling earrings, necklaces, bangles etc. Taonga and other items of significance can be worn but we ask that they are placed safely under a t-shirt.
We also ask all students with long hair to have their hair tied back to prevent any unwanted spreading of nits and for health and safety.
- We also ask that students do not wear makeup to school, including coloured nail varnish.
And finally... Enjoy the long weekend (hopefully) in the sunshine. A reminder that school will be closed on Monday for Labour Day. See you all back at school on Tuesday.
Ngā mihi,
Anna Granger
Sunhats in Term 4
Please ensure your child has a named navy blue bucket or wide brimmed hat in their bag this term. These are available at The Warehouse, Postie or Mainland Uniforms. Unfortunately students will be required to play or sit in the shade if they forget to bring a sunhat. Your support is appreciated. Thanks.
Huxster Mountain Bike Race - Week 1
Halloween Disco - 4 November
Years 0 - 4 3.30 - 5pm
Years 5 - 8 5.15 - 6.45pm
Tickets on sale now at the Office
PTA News
Only 8 sleeps until Sumner Spookers!! We are super excited about seeing everyone in their Halloween finery. Remember there will be cash prizes for the spookiest costumes, so get creative!
In other Halloween news, the kids will be hitting the dance floor at the School Council’s Halloween Disco on Friday 4 November. Dress up or just wear super groovy dancing gear.
Get a head-start on Christmas shopping by ordering your calendar/cards/other gifts featuring stunning artwork by your very own children. It’s super important to get this order away on time, so don’t delay.
Lastly, a huge thanks to our hotdog team headed by Trudi Dickson and Livvy Yates. Unfortunately we are not able to run this fundraiser in term four so the kids will have to make do with home made sandwiches on Tuesdays again. Huge mihi to Butterfly and Scotch in Redcliffs for supporting Sumner School by providing the hotdogs at a very good price.
Next PTA meeting: Tuesday 22 November at 3pm in the Waiora Space. See you there!
Only eight sleeps until Sumner Schools major fundraiser, Sumner Spookers on Saturday 29 October. We hope everyone has got their costumes sorted? A small number of tickets have become available so please contact boo@sumnerspookers.co.nz, tackle Jess Reid, or see the school office if you would like to join the spooky fun. We can't promise it won't give you nightmares, but we can promise that it will be the time of your life! Thank you everyone for your support!
Scholastic Books - PTA Fundraiser
Your child should have brought home a Scholastic Book brochure this week. Please follow the instructions on the back page of the brochure to place an order online and pay via credit card or voucher. Sorry NO CASH payments. Final day for ordering is 4 November 3pm.
It’s Calendar Art time again!
The student’s have been busy creating art work that can be made into Calendars, Cards, Diaries, Mouse Mats and Sketch Pads.
Each product is made from your own child’s art.
These make unique Christmas gifts for family and friends and are perfect for posting overseas.
Orders can be placed online at www.kidsartworks.com using your child’s unique code. This will have come home to you this week on the order form.
If you cannot find your child’s order form please email sumnerschoolcalendars@gmail.com with your child’s name and class number.
Book Week Report
We had a wonderful Book Week during the last week of Term 1. There were a lot of highlights including an inspiring visit from Wellington author and illustrator Ned Barraud and of course, the annual Book Parade! Thank you to everyone for putting in a lot of effort with their costumes; making the parade a colourful and happy time!
Congratulations to the winners of the Book Week colouring competition Millie G, Ella P, Noah K and Etta J.
A big congratulations also to Monty H, Oak I, Etta J and Lily R who participated in the annual Kids Lit Quiz during Book Week held at Tūranga. They placed 6th overall - a fantastic result!
Thank you to Anna Gilkison for coaching the team.
Kaitiakitangi Update
Planting Days
Did you know that the Sumner Community takes part in planting days? The next one is on
29 October at Mahoe Nui. Check out the Sumner, NZ Environment FB page for more details.
Shoebox Christmas Appeal
Moving forward to next Term, we are taking part in the Shoebox Christmas Appeal. Shoebox Christmas delivers Christmas presents, wrapped in a shoebox, to kids who could do with an extra smile on Christmas Day. They do this by working alongside low decile schools, pre-schools, Women's Refuge, and community organisations. This year we’ve been allocated several children between the ages of 5 -14 to collect for. We will be putting a shoe box in each classroom. If you could donate a small, new gift (not wrapped), labeled for a boy or girl and relevant age that would be appreciated. We will be collecting until Friday 4 November.
Kia Ora
Hapori, Ms Todd and Mrs Reid
Friday Sushi Info
Term 4 School Docs Policy Review
In 2022, we will be reviewing the policies related to Health, Safety, and Welfare throughout the year.
In term four, the review focus is on our Health, Safety and Welfare Policy.
Instructions for reviewers:
1. Visit www.schooldocs.co.nz
2. Search for Sumner School (Username: Sumner, Password: Wakefield).
3. Search for the above policies in the search bar.
4. Read the policy.
5. Check the red Policy Review icon at the right-hand top corner of the page. a new screen will appear.
6. Select your role (Board member, staff member, or parent/caregiver) from the drop-down list.
7. Enter your name (optional).
8. Submit your ratings and comments.
Mana Ake is available to Support families/Whānau
If you would like to meet with one of the Mana Ake team please talk to your child's teacher and they will book in a time for you.
Mana Ake encourage parents to visit https://manaake.health.nz/supporting-your-child/ and the Free Parent Helpline 0800 568 856. This is available from 9am to 9pm Monday to Sunday.
The Mana Ake website has a section on Big Worries - Mana Ake which is particularly relevant with what’s going on in the world currently.
Parents going to this site can be assured of finding up-to-date and quality information on wellbeing and parenting skills. Another useful link for families and parents. https://realparents.org/