Newsletter No. 19, 18 November 2022
18 November
Principal's Kōrero
Kia ora rā koe,
I hope you are all well and had a wonderful long weekend with your whānau last weekend.
We are now (rather shockingly) at the end of Week 5! I have no idea where time is whizzing away to, but it's speeding past at an incredible rate of knots! That means we now only have 4 weeks left of our 2022 school year.
It has been another busy few weeks at school with our School Council run Halloween Disco, the Rapanui and Tuawera Athletics Days, Te Onepoto Camp, South East Zones Athletics competition, Canterbury Tennis tournament, as well as Term 4 swimming getting underway. Huge thanks to our Media Team who, as always, have captured all that has been going on in our Sneak Peek (below).
Spotlight on end of year events… As the end of the year is fast approaching please keep a close eye on our Calendar of Events so that you don’t miss out on any of the fun!
- Our end of year celebration assemblies begin on 1 December at 1.30pm where we will be holding a special Music Showcase Assembly involving our Concert Band, Jazz Band, Rock Band and School Choir.
- Following this we have our special Years 5-8 Awards Assembly on Tuesday 6 December at 9.15am where we will be acknowledging the service our ākonga provide the school through our annual badge presentations.
- On Friday 9 December at 9.30am it is our hotly anticipated and very festive Christmas Concert assembly where all teaching teams will be taking to the stage to sing some festive favourites. We will also be encouraging children (and families) to dress festively in red and green. Please see the flyer below with more details about this.
- And finally on 14 December at 1.30pm we will be holding our Prizegiving Assembly. This is a very special assembly where we will be celebrating the achievements of our Awaroa ākonga and farewelling our Year 8s. We will also be celebrating Rachel Kahi's long service to the school at this assembly as we will sadly be farewelling her at the end of the year.
You may notice changes in Prizegiving timing from recent years. This decision has been made so that we can take every opportunity to bring the whole school to join together to celebrate our amazing ākonga. In a year where we have been separated, we want to end the year together.
Spotlight on Sumner School Board review… At this time of year, in line with Ministry of Education guidelines and the school strategic review cycle, the school Board reflects on the past year and begins to think ahead to the development of our 2023 Annual Plan. As part of this, the Board looks to gather feedback from the community on how Sumner School is tracking and how well it is meeting the needs of our children and whānau. As a Board we appreciate this is an incredibly busy time of year but we really hope that as many people as possible will take the opportunity to reflect on our school with us so we can collect a range of views across the full school community as we start to plan for 2023. A link to our annual survey which closes on 12 December can be found here.
Spotlight on finance… A reminder to please log into Hero to check finance statements for your children. Sue Stevens is regularly updating accounts in order to try and get these up to date for families. We would really appreciate your support in making your payments swiftly. Our financial year ends on 31 December and so it would make Sue’s life a lot easier if we receive these by the end of term. Our two camps the children recently attended are currently running at a loss of over $10,000. If you haven't already paid this and are able to do so, we would really appreciate prompt payment. Please email Sue if you haven't received a statement this week.
You can download your own receipts from Hero by clicking 'View Donation Payments' and clicking the desired tax year button. These receipts meet IRD requirements for claiming donation refunds. Please note, receipts are not available from mobile devices. Please don't forget there is an option for you to pay these directly via the Hero App with your credit card (2.9% charge), or alternatively pay through internet banking referencing your eldest child's name and making one payment for the family. If you have any questions regarding your statement please email Sue: sstevens@sumner.school.nz.
And finally… a reminder about learning placements for 2023. As I shared in the last newsletter, we are now looking ahead to begin our planning for 2023 learning placements. Please have a read of the information shared with you on 4 November and then if you have important new and/or exceptional information you would like us to consider when making our learning placements, please share them directly with me (principal@sumner.school.nz) by Monday 21st November.
Have a wonderful weekend with your whānau.
Ngā mihi,
Anna Granger
Important reminder from the Pool Committee and Sumner School
As per the Community Pool rules, please remember that all children under 16 years of age must be supervised by an adult when using the pool and facilities. Health and safety of our children is a priority, as is ensuring that we work together to maintain this wonderful facility for all of our community. Please note, as per our Terms and Conditions, keys will be forfeited (and, if necessary, authorities notified) if key holders do not adhere to this rule. Thanks for your continued support with this.
If you would like to purchase a pool swipe key for the summer please go to: www.sumnerpool.co.nz
Sumner Community Pool Committee and Sumner School
Years 5-8 Athletics Results (School and SE Zones)
School Athletics Day
On Monday 28 October, the Years 5 - 8 students competed in our annual school Athletics. Students competed in discus, high jump, long jump, shot put and sprints. The long distance was optional. Overall it was an amazing day and the students gave it 100 percent. Thank you to all the parents who came to support their child. Many of these students then headed away to the South East Zone Athletics event. The results of the day are above.
Zone Athletics Day
On Tuesday 8 November, 59 students headed away to the South East Zone Athletics event which was held at Hansen Park in Opawa. They arrived full of nerves, but as the day progressed all of the students competed in this large event with lots of perseverance. There were some amazing results as shown above and we have 29 students who will be heading away to the Canterbury Athletics Day on the 30 November.
Paid Union Meeting Reminder - School closed from 12.30pm on 24 November
A reminder that Sumner School Board has been notified that the teachers in our school will be attending a Paid Union Meeting on the afternoon of 24 November to discuss the progress of negotiations for their collective employment agreements. This is an entitlement as part of their Collective Agreement.
The proposed unified public service pay offer and their Wāwāhi Tahā | Time 4 Tamariki campaign aims to win smaller class sizes, more support for high needs students, better recognition of cultural skills, greater job security for our essential relievers and to fairly value and recognise the work of teachers.
In order for teachers to attend this meeting school will be closed from 12.30pm on Thursday 24 November. We understand the inconvenience that this may cause some families, but as all our teachers will be attending the Union Meeting for health and safety reasons we are unable to keep the school open. Please organise for your child to be collected at this time. Mash will be available for supervision from 12.30pm. Please book supervision directly with Mash. Phone: 0800 420 520
Year 5-8 Instrumental Lessons at Sumner School 2023
Sumner School students in Years 5-8 have the opportunity to learn an instrument at school during class time. Information regarding our music programmes, tutors and their contact information can be found here.
Christchurch School of Music will be holding a ‘Blow Test’ at 3pm on 1 December in the hall. If your child is interested in learning a woodwind or brass instrument for the first time next year you are welcome to head along to find out more information. Please note - children attending must be accompanied by an adult.
Te Onepoto Camp - Living Springs
School For Young Writers Magazine
This year a number of our Year 7 and 8 ākonga have been involved in writing workshops here at school. We have also sent groups of young writers to workshops in poetry and speech writing at Tūranga with the School For Young Writers and they have enjoyed the experience and met with success, notably Finlay S, Lily R and Juno I.
Earlier this Term we were notified that one of our youngest writers Charlie C who is in Year 4 received a Highly Commended for his piece called "In Danger - Maui Dolphins" that was submitted to the magazine. This is a fantastic achievement for Charlie!
This week we have been notified that a further four of our amazing ākonga: Phoebe H, Isaiah C, Isaac J and Lennox L from our Awaroa hub have all had submissions to the Write On Magazine 59 edition that will be launched next month at Tūranga accepted for publishing! This is a wonderful achievement for all those writers and we are delighted for them.
Baxter's Lego Project
Mufti day- Wear Black or Dress Like a Cat!
The School Council are organising a mufti-day for next Friday 25 November. The theme is 'Wear Black or Dress Like a Cat!'. They want to raise funds to support our school cat Trixie for a vet check up and any meds she might need as well as covering the cost of her food. Trixie has been a resident of our school for many years. No one knows how old she actually is and what her story is but most people will have come across her, especially around the Rapanui hub which she regards as her personal fiefdom. The School Council have said this is a great example of using our whanaungatanga value by looking after one of our own! Please bring along a gold coin donation next Friday to get behind this great cause.
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/