Kia ora e te whānau o te kura o Parakawhara (hello friends & family of Gladstone School). It is hard to believe that we find ourselves at the end of the 2nd week of school already. It has been a busy time and the recent Beach Education trips to Riversdale have certainly been a highlight. Thanks so much to those who stepped in to come along as adult helpers - it is very much appreciated.

Cricket games are up and running as of this evening - thanks to Nigel and Charlie who spent the best part of the morning getting the grass up to (not quite Basin Reserve) standard.

We have one new member on the 150th Celebration Committee - thank you Michelle Alexander, this brings the grand total to 3. If you or anyone you know is willing and able to join us in organising this all important community event, please reach out - principal@gladstone1.school.nz.

School Pool Reminder - please no alcohol in the pool area and be mindful of providing adequate supervision while children are in the pool.

It is fantastic to see Ōnoke taking up the 'Garden to Table' kaupapa to cook with recently harvested zucchini from our school gardens. Eggs from our chickens are also being used for the FoGS fundraiser and we couldn't be happier to see our hard work feeding out into the community.

The Education Sector is in a period of change, one of these being the National Education Learning Priorities which came into effect on 23rd January 2023.

We are keen to proactively support schools in the region to sustain meaningful and innovative engagement and attendance with whanau and Ākonga in schools. The Engagement and Attendance National Strategy focuses on ways to encourage and support whanau and ākonga.

To increase attendance and engagement we need to focus on ākonga being present, participating and progressing. We all have our roles to play.

Present

• Parents, caregivers and whānau are responsible for making sure their ākonga are enrolled in school and attend every day.

• Schools need to set this expectation and communicate to parents, caregivers and whānau when their ākonga are absent. They also need to know when they have a more serious attendance problem.

• Te Mahau needs to prioritise attendance and engagement in its work with schools, whānau and communities.

• Te Mahau needs to bring social services and government agencies together to work with whānau and communities that need help

• with the wider problems that are barriers to attendance.

Participating

Schools need to:

• Provide a welcoming environment where ākonga feel safe.

• Provide engaging learning that reflects the identity, language and culture of their ākonga.

• Develop educationally powerful connections with ākonga and whānau and employ teachers who can connect with their ākonga.

Progressing

• When the above factors are present, ākonga will be attending, participating and progressing in their learning. This will in turn improve their wellbeing and their engagement with school.

We have a fund raising event coming up on 24th February (lunch for the 25th). This is quite a big fundraiser with over 200 boxed lunches needing to be provided by us. If you are interested in helping on the day (Friday after school/early evening) making sandwiches and boxing up lunches, baking either cake, slice or muffins (also need gluten free/dairy free/ vegan), or if you are keen to donate some money to the FoGS account, please let me know on 027 766 5009. Your help on this is so appreciated, and all the profit goes towards our kids, in our school! Thanks in advance Hayley Quirke.

Thank you to those receiving a 'Whetu o te Wiki' ('Star of the Week') award today. Awards went to the following people: Angus Thomson; Simon Richardson; Duncan McGregor; Charlie Post; Christa Ashby; Mel Wenger; Bev McGuinness; Andrew McKay; Bron Wood; Annie Cates; Annie Cates Mum - Anne; Steph Huck; Rachel Nicol; Damelza Cook; Bridget Milburn; Dyana Hanson; Jason Francis & Hayley James for stepping in to help make sure our Beach Education trips could go ahead. Tamariki are on strict instructions to see that the chocolate fish make it home!

Congratulations to the following tamariki (children) who were awarded certificates by their classroom teachers today - our focus this week has been on AKO (Teaching & Learning): Nicolas Francis; Darcy Berryman; Emil Chamberman; Genevieve Taylor; Monty Murnane; Lucy Blake; Jacob Cubitt; James Strang; Blake McGregor; Olivia Orsborn; Maddie Nicol; River McPheat.

A huge thanks goes out to the team at McKenzie Electrical in Carterton who are sponsoring all of the Carterton School subscriptions to the House of Science. We are really grateful for this support.

Ko ngā rangatahi, ngā rangatira o āpōpō, our children are the leaders of tomorrow.

It is time for our ākonga to learn, understand and share our country’s kōrero tuku iho, historical stories that can be passed on through generations.

We have our check and connect meetings next Wednesday and Thursday - please make a booking via the link below. Also coming up is the Wings Over Wairarapa trip and our Carterton Cluster Swimming Event. Information is going out via the app, please check these alerts as they come through.

We wish you a lovely weekend.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Belinda

Each Monday our wonderful FoGS committee organise school lunches for our tamariki. Can an adult in your whānau help one Monday this year with school lunches @ 12:40 pm for approximately ½ hour?

Parent Helpers get the food ready for handing out at eating time. Please contact Liz Mason (lizarthan@hotmail.com) if you can be a parent help.

Thank you to the following fabulous families who have offered help to start the year off. A roster for the remainder of the year will follow once we have volunteers:

Tues 7/2 Paula Dick
Mon 13/2 Bron Wood
Mon 20/2 Liz Mason
Mon 27/2 Paula Dick

In other FoGS news we have a couple of fundraisers in the pipeline - catering for a family reunion (200 boxed lunches for the 25th February). Requests for baking will be sent out closer to the time.

The other event is a Cèilidh or céilí. Which, according to google, is a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a house party or a larger concert at a social hall or other community gathering place.

Each year we offer the opportunity for whānau to check in with their child's teacher/s. It is a 10 minute chance to discuss any concerns, FYI's or other matters before we get into the year. Please us the link below to book a meeting (either in person or via zoom/the phone). If you are wanting a zoom or phone call, please email the teacher advising this. Email addresses can be found under the contacts tab on our app. Please note: due to the size of the class, Ōnoke will only be running interviews on Wednesday the 15th Feb.

Week 3

Tues 14/2 - BoT Meeting, 6pm.

Wed 15/2 - Whānau Check & Connect Meetings

Thurs 16/2 - Whānau Check & Connect Meetings

Week 4

Fri 24/2 - Wings Over Wairarapa

Week 5

Wed 1/3 - Carterton Cluster Swimming Event

Enjoy the long weekend, see you on Tuesday.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Belinda

2022/23 Wairarapa Spitfire Baseball season online registrations are now open!

We have club teams available for all ages and levels of experience.

ROOKIE BALL – Ages 5 to 9 will play on Saturday mornings at Kuranui College at 9am.

MINOR LEAGUE 11U – Ages 9 to 11 will play on Saturday mornings at Kuranui College at 10.30am

INTERMEDIATE 13U – Ages 11 to 13 will play on Wednesday afternoons at Kuranui College and MIS at 5.30pm

13U/16U TRAVEL TEAMS – Baseball in the Wellington Regional Competition. Spitfires teams will be formed mid-September, email mcwilliamae@gmail.com asap if you are interested. Games are on Sundays and played at home and away in Lower Hutt, Wellington and Levin.

Our Have a Go Open Day is on Saturday October 29th from 10am to 12pm at the Kuranui College Baseball Diamonds. Come along for a fun morning learning about baseball and free sausages.

For more information and to register check out our website www.sporty.co.nz/spitfiresbaseball.

Join our Facebook Page: Wairarapa Spitfires.

Contact our Teams Coordinator, Eileen McWilliam, on mcwilliamae@gmail.com.

Netball Wairarapa are running the Future Ferns Term 1 for Year 1 and 2 and Year 3 and 4. This programme is for both girls and boys. It will be played on Tuesday after school at Colombo Road Netball Courts. Starting February 21st 2023.

I am also looking for someone to be the Primary liaison/contact person - who will help to communicate with parents of both schools and get information out to the school communities. Please if you are willing to take on this roll - answer the last question!

Please complete this form by Friday 10th February 3pm so we can enter teams or individuals into the competition.

As per last year in Term 1 we are running a Yeah Girls Community Hub down at Carrington Park for girls in school Year 4-8 to experience cricket games and activities. Starting Tuesday 21st February 3:30-4:15pm

It is lots of fun, games based rather than technique- but as an intro into girls being exposed to cricket and potentially wanting to play for a school / club.

Attached is a flyer- if you could please either share on your school social media or in a newsletter or send out to parents who may have daughters that might be interested. And with the following link to register: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/register/bb695e

It is $10 per participant for the 4 weeks- and they receive a free tote bag with this

For more information on what the programme is head to this website: https://play.nzc.nz/playyeah-girls

Or if you would like this programme or SmashPlay within your school environment aswell please get in touch and we can chat more:

https://community.nzc.nz.main-bvxea6i-7hxdji4zylu64.au.platformsh.site/programme/smash-play-junior-tamariki