We are near the end of Term 2 with both students and staff looking forward to some time to energize those batteries ready for Term 3.
Our students are engaging in good high-quality learning programmes across all areas of the curriculum. Our teaching team are working hard to cater for the needs of our students and working hard to fill in the gaps for those students who have been absent due to illness. I would like to thank our team for their commitment and passion to develop engaging programmes to support the progress of our students.
There are a few factors that support the continued learning progress of our students:
- A committed teaching team
- Whānau support
- Regular attendance
- Student engagement and self-motivation and commitment to their own learning
- A school culture of expecting the best from everyone
Mid-Year Reports
The teaching team have been working hard to complete students' mid-year reports, which will be available next term where you can come in and share your child's progress report in person or online. We will be using the same company that we use for our Website, SchoolApp and Newsletter platform to trial their School Interview booking system. When this is ready we will send out the links so that everyone can make a booking to see your child's teacher. It is important that your child attends the meeting with you so they can share their learning journey with you.
This is also a timely reminder to ensure that if you have changed your address to please let the office know.
Attendance
Attendance monitoring has been a challenge this term as we are trying to balance encouraging regular attendance as well as understanding that whānau are doing the right thing by keeping students home when they have symptoms. I would like to thank parents/caregivers for providing explanations for your child's absence. We have had a few concerns with explanations of absences from school which are not due to illness. I thought I would explain the requirements that schools must follow.
The Education Act 1989 states that all children up to the age of 16 must be enrolled and attend a school with sickness being the main reason for absence. The Ministry of Education have set codes that we must use to record attendance or non-attendance at school so I thought I would share the main ones with you:
- P - Present
- U - Explained but unjustified (An explanation has been provided but not deemed a justified reason for being absent from school)
- T - Truant (We have received no explanation for absence)
- J - Justified - (Explanation provided which is considered a justified absence)
- M - Medical - (Medical certificate received or away due to illness)
We are all hoping that with the 2 weeks break for holidays everyone can rest up and build up their immunity ready to engage in learning in Term 3.
Social Media
Our expectation at Titahi Bay Intermediate is that all students who bring a phone to school must hand it into the office on arrival at school and can collect it at the end of the day. This is for a number of reasons:
- Phones are stored safely and will not be damaged
- Social media occupies and can consume their time
- Students can focus on being a kid and socialising in person with their peers
- Focus on learning and not distracted by online content
- Photos cannot be taken of other students and posted online without the consent of parents/caregivers
We would like your continued support by reminding your child to hand their phone into the office.
We have also had some concerning behaviours where a few of our students are copying the actions of others on the tik tok platform which has resulted in making their peers feel unsafe. Please ensure that you are monitoring what your child is engaging in on their device as they are easily influenced by the actions of others who record and post their behaviours for entertainment and shock purposes.
Vandalism
Over the past few weeks, we have seen for the first time in a while, our own students vandalising our school property. Students think it is O.K to write and/or engrave their names on furniture in the classrooms as well as on our playgrounds. All of these things cost the school money and we must look after them so that future generations can continue to have a good learning environment. I would like to thank the parents who have been supportive and worked alongside our management team to ensure this type of behaviour does not continue.
Building Work
Our building work is moving along with it looking like the scaffolding and wrap will be coming down during week 1 of the holidays. The building work will continue as they continue to re-pitch the roof and carry out remedial work on the administration block.
School Uniform
As the days have become colder, non-school uniform items have begun to creep in. Please remind your child that Titahi Bay Intermediate is a uniform school and we are proud of who we are and what we represent. We do have a number of hoodies that have been left behind with no names on them, so if you need one for your child then please send them to the office. School shorts are available from NZ Uniforms so please go down in the holidays to purchase some new ones as we do not have any spares of this item.
For colder days, NZ Uniforms have plain black sweatpants that we have changed to due to not being able to match the blue of our uniform. These pants are modern pants that were chosen by our students when we changed uniform supplier. The plain navy blue sweatpants, with no labels or markings, are also still acceptable as they are able to be purchased from The Warehouse - so either navy blue or black sweatpants, please.
Staff
Our Teacher Aide Marcus Hewitt is leaving us to study full-time. A big thank you to Marcus for all the support he has given our students and teaching staff. We wish you all the best in the next chapter of your journey to becoming a teacher.
I hope that you all enjoy your two weeks with your whānau and keep safe and warm.
